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Component Manufacturing dverti$er
Adverti$er
Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
May 2018 #10226 Page #46
Remembering the “I” in BIM Contributors Robert J. Esposito, II, CPBD Steve Holzer, BIM-R Bradley Madison, CDT, CM-BIM, BIM-R Steve Mickley, CPBD, BIM-R Joseph Sirilla, BIM-R Dustin Smith, BIM-R
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uilding Information Modeling (BIM) has started to become a common practice in the architectural, engineering, construction, and facilities management industries. The benefits of BIM have been recognized in commercial and industrial development, but the potential of BIM technology to facilitate design/construction collaboration and to reduce the construction coordination costs, schedule, and RFIs in residential construction has yet to be achieved. Softwares available today are detailed and precise enough to create shop drawings directly from the model. There exists the opportunity to examine construction sequence and to produce housing that is less expensive, built faster, and be of a higher quality. Home design specialists attribute the shortfall to be related to the “I” in Building Information Modeling. Whether you’re a designer, engineer, or a product manufacturer, you utilize software that works for your company’s needs. Designers use BIM software created for their industry to build virtual designs. They research what software is available and determine which one is best suited for both design and collaboration. When they start talking about building product manufacturers, the availability of information still lacks in residential construction. The truss component manufacturers are beginning to “get it.” The truss industry has developed software for design and engineering. It is proprietary software that allows them to utilize their engineering methods and data to create 3D models of their product along with shop drawings and load calculations. In this aspect, they have been far ahead of the design community when it comes to adopting the technology. Especially 3D modeling. However, as BIM evolves in residential construction, we’re finding there’s much more to it than a 3D model. While the truss industry is striving to provide BIM, sadly they are not, at least not entirely. The “I” in BIM is about collaboration and information exchange. When you work in single proprietary software, you are doing BIM, but you are doing “Silo” BIM where you and your internal team are the only ones coordinating. The design community applauds the truss industry for their efforts but asks that they understand the designer’s desire to collaborate. Receiving a file that allows the designer to work the roof design with BIM authoring tools, such as Revit, ARCHICAD, and Tekla Structures, would allow for full integration of their product into the design model. Not just the top and bottom chords but the webs and plates would be the target. Data embedded such as callout tags, location, heel height, etc., would expedite the designer’s review of the trusses and clash detection analysis well before fabrication. The entire process would allow for the possibility of time and cost savings in a project. The key in this BIM revolution for residential design is collaboration in a neutral, open file format that allows all stakeholders access to the information exchange of the plan, engineering, and models. PHONE: 800-289-5627
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