BIM and Integrated Design E-Book

Randy Deutsch

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 489

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

"Ready or not, it's high time to make BIM a part of your practice, or at least your vocabulary, and this book has as much to offer beginners as it does seasoned users of building information modeling software." --Chicago Architect The first book devoted to the subject of how BIM affects individuals and organizations working within the ever-changing construction industry, BIM and Integrated Design discusses the implementation of building information modeling software as a cultural process with a focus on the technology's impact and transformative effect--both potentially disruptive and liberating--on the social, psychological, and practical aspects of the workplace. BIM and Integrated Design answers the questions that BIM poses to the firm that adopts it. Through thorough research and a series of case study interviews with industry leaders--and leaders in the making out from behind the monitor--BIM and Integrated Design helps you learn: * Effective learning strategies for fully understanding BIM software and its use * Key points about integrated design to help you promote the process to owners and your team * How BIM changes not only the technology, process, and delivery but also the leadership playing field * How to become a more effective leader no matter where you find yourself in the organization or on the project team * How the introduction of BIM into the workforce has significant education, recruitment, and training implications Covering all of the human issues brought about or exacerbated by the advent of BIM into the architecture workplace, profession, and industry, BIM and Integrated Design shows how to overcome real and perceived barriers to its use.

Leseprobe

Contents

Introductory Statement by the American Institute of Architects

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I: Bim As Though People Mattered

Chapter 1: What You Adopt When Adopting BIM

Bogged Down in Detail

BIM as Though People Mattered

Mistaken Beliefs Surrounding BIM

Social Benefits of Adopting BIM

Challenges and Obstacles to a Comprehensive and Effective BIM Adoption

Chapter 2: The Social Implications of Implementing BIM

Strategic Implementation of Work Processes

How to Overcome Barriers to Successful BIM Implementation

Social Implications of BIM Implementation

Working toward BIM Implementation

Challenges and Opportunities while Implementing BIM

Chapter 3: Who Works in BIM and Who Doesn’t

BIM Roles and Responsibilities

Part II: Leading Integrated Design

Chapter 4: Working with Others In BIM

Working Alone in BIM

Working with Others in BIM

Chapter 5: BIM and Integrated Design

BIM and Integrated Design

Tenets of Integrated Design

Part III: Leading and Learning

Chapter 6: Leading from the Model

BIM and the Return of the Master Builder

Chapter 7: Learning BIM and Integrated Design

Impacts of BIM Education and Training

Epilogue

Index

Copyright © 2011 by Randy Deutsch. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Deutsch, Randy.

BIM and integrated design : strategies for architectural practice / Randy Deutsch. — 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes index.

Summary: “Building Information Modeling (BIM) software combines 3-D elements and information in all aspects of the design of a building. While many books are published on BIM related to technology and computer programs, this one focuses on the practice-related information needs of architects, showing them how BIM and integrated practice can transform their practices. It features:

Methods for addressing the obstacles and challenges to implementing BIM How to implement it in an efficient and effective manner How to use BIM as a tool to transform the role of architects “—Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-0-470-57251-1 (hardback); ISBN 978-1-118-08644-5 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-08647-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-08649-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-13018-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-13019-3 (ebk)

1. Architectural practice. 2. Building information modeling. I. Title.

NA1996.D475 2011

720.285—dc23

2011022703

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT BY THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS

In this book, Randy Deutsch describes building information modeling (BIM) as a means of coordinating project information. Like the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Deutsch recognizes that while these methods and tools play a vital role in integrated practice, the collaboration essential to integration can be used with any type of project delivery.

As stated in the Primer on Project Delivery by the AIA and the Associated General Contractors of America, “At the present, there are no industry-wide accepted definitions of project delivery methods, and many groups, organizations, and individuals have developed their own. In so doing, they have often used different characteristics to define the delivery methods. The result has been a multiplicity of definitions, none of which is either entirely right or entirely wrong.” Groups may use the same term to articulate different organizational concepts for project delivery as well as the tools used to bring about a successful project.

Deutsch’s text describes the BIM process to be a dynamic, continuously evolving strategy for designing and making buildings. Because it is an emerging form of practice technology, the AIA acknowledges that other definitions of BIM may appear over time. The term building information modeling as used within the following pages may also be used to describe other operational arrangements by different groups. This book is an important step forward in the definition and discussion of a BIM-enabled project delivery approach that holds great promise.

PREFACE

Figure A Building Information Modeling (BIM) platforms can be used to design just about anything. Zach Kron, www.buildz.info

This is not another technology book on Building Information Modeling (BIM), the software tool and process for generating and managing building data during its complete lifecycle, from conceptual design through fabrication, construction, maintenance, and operation of the building. While there are several excellent resources at your disposal that can answer many of your most pressing software-related questions concerning BIM, this is not one of them.

Nor is this a business BIM book that measures your return on investment (ROI) or provides business models or value propositions.

While these subjects are discussed in these pages, this is a different sort of BIM book.

That’s because his book addresses you.

BIM and Integrated Design addresses obstacles faced by design professionals and their organizations in their use of technology, offering strategies—and in doing so—clearing a path toward success, however defined, for yourself, your firm, the profession, or industry.

Until BIM use is ubiquitous, until BIM permanently enters the lexicon and design professionals start thinking in terms of BIM’s impact on all trades—until that day comes—you have this book to guide you.

This book originated with something I overheard. Charles Hardy, director of the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Office of Project Delivery, put it bluntly when he said that “BIM is about 10 percent technology and 90 percent sociology.” And yet to date 90 percent of the focus in training, education, and media has been on the innovative and admittedly visually appealing technology, or equally on the business model and value proposition of BIM. (See Figure B.)

Figure B “BIM is about 10 percent technology and 90 percent sociology.” Charles Hardy, Director, Office of Project Delivery at U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

Think about it. If the difference between a successful BIM implementation and a failed or even potentially catastrophic one has as much or even more to do with the mindsets and attitudes of those who use it as it does the technologies and work process the technologies enable and require, how will these necessary practical, attitudinal, and behavioral changes come about? (See Figure C.)

Figure C The misperception is that BIM is about 90 percent technology and 10 percent sociology.

But 90 percent sociology? If that’s the case, why are we spending 90 percent of our time attending webinars, seminars, and conferences on the technology? Why are 90 percent of the websites, user groups, and blogs devoted to the software? If true, we’re perhaps asking the right questions but focused on the wrong outcomes. That’s because it’s mastering the process—not the technology—that leads to exceptional results, both aesthetically and financially. (See Figure D.)

Figure D Alternatively, 10 percent is what happens to us as a profession and industry, while 90 percent is decided by how you react to it.

There is a gap in our research and in our understanding. This book seeks to fill that gap by asking questions of and gathering insights from those who have worked in the BIM environment, used the software, adopted and implemented the programs and work processes in their organizations, taught the subject in a university setting, and struggled and watched the tools and process evolve over time.

Of the triumvirate of business, technology, and culture, culture is by far the least studied, analyzed, and, frankly, exploited. It is also the least understood. Human habits, social relations, social interaction, and intelligence—these are taken for granted and are the last frontier for garnering the greatest gains from the technology and work processes. The business and technology cases for BIM have already been made and largely accepted. It is about time that somebody made the cultural case for BIM. That is what this book sets out to do. (See Figure E.)

Figure E The business and technology cases for BIM and integrated design have already been made. It is time to make the social case for firm culture, including working relationships, interactions, and intelligence.

Where were the answers to my questions concerning what it is like to be someone in the design professions or construction industry that works in a BIM environment? How is it different from the way we used to practice? How is the workflow changed—and what exactly is meant by “workflow”? What’s with all those large screens and monitors? What exactly is a Big Room or iRoom, and do I need to have one? What’s the difference between a BIM manager, an IT manager, and a CAD manager, or between a BIM operator and a BIM coordinator? Whom do I hire, whom do I mentor, and exactly whom do I select to work in BIM? Is it necessarily the employee who excelled at CAD, or is CAD expertise a potential impediment? Is it true that BIM takes as much social intelligence as technical competence? What changes to the workplace should I expect? How will we share data among the parties involved?

Everyone says you need to work collaboratively, but no one tells you how that’s supposed to come about. All of a sudden, with a long history of confrontation, we’re supposed to hold hands and sing “Kumbaya”? As soon as I started to seek out answers to these questions, other questions arose. (See Figure F.)

Figure F The one element propelling you and your organization today toward achieving your goals in the future is people—people with the right attitudes and mindset to benefit the most from using the new tools and collaborative work processes.

The book you hold in your hands is the result of having asked these questions. Like integrated design itself, there may be one author listed, but, as in the best of collaborative efforts, the book is informed by many. In this sense, the book less expounds the theory of one than shares the collective, unified wisdom of multitudes. I hope you find the responses I received and the answers I’ve uncovered insightful, informative, and ultimately invaluable.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The fact that there is but one name on the cover of this book has not been lost on the author. Writing a book—much less one that promotes and fosters collaboration—always involves the work and thinking of many people. This book is no exception.

I would like to acknowledge Wiley vice president and publisher Amanda Miller; senior editor John Czarnecki, Assoc. AIA; editorial assistant Michael New; production editor David Sassian; marketing manager Penny Makras, and Sadie Abuhoff for their guidance and assistance in helping bring this book into being.

Thanks to Phil Bernstein, Charles Hardy, Jonathan Cohen, Rich Nitzsche, Yanni Loukassis, Kristine Fallon, Paul Durand, Allison Scott, Andy Stapleton, Peter Rumpf, Aaron Greven, Jack Hungerford, Bill Worn, and David Waligora, all of whom made significant contributions to the building of this book through the generous sharing of their time, resources, and hard-earned insights.

Thanks to Paul Teicholz, James Vandezande, Zach Kron, Markku Allison, Howard Ashcraft, Gregory Arkin, Paul Aubin, John Boecker, Laura Handler, Brad Hardin, Dan Klancnik, Steve Stafford, Phil Read, Tatjana Dzambazova, Lachmi Khemlani, Christopher Parsons, Deke Smith, Kimon Onuma, Michael Tardiff, Sam Spata, Dean Mueller, Mark Kiker, Barry LaPatner, Jerry Yudelson, Professor Bryan Lawson, Andrew Pressman, James Salmon, Howard Roman, and James Cramer for their thought leadership and continued inspiration throughout the writing of this book.

Thanks to Dan Wheeler, FAIA, an exceptional role model to countless architects and a tireless integrator. To Brad Beck for once again going beyond the call of duty, his modus operandi; and to Marcus Colonna for his unrivaled enthusiasm, persistence, and guidance.

And thanks to my wife Sharon and kids, Simeon and Michol, for the sacrifices they have made in providing me with the freedom to write this book.

To my parents, Irene and Manny, for their belief and encouragement, I dedicate this book.

INTRODUCTION

Rethinking Our Work Processes, Roles, and Identities

Figure G Collaboration: one person writes the plug-in, another compiles the source code, and a third writes the installer, resulting in a generative design curtain panel with a divided surface. Zach Kron, www.buildz.info

This book addresses something that most firms don’t even consider when implementing and working in BIM—and such firms are at risk for not giving this factor their full consideration.

What is the one element that stands between where you and your organization are today and achieving increased success, leadership opportunities, and increased commissions?

Looking Ahead

Business issues such as value proposition and ROI will work themselves out, as will legal issues, ownership issues, issues of responsibility, standards of care, and insurance.

Technology will become easier to use, software will become more or less interoperable, and file sizes will become easier to manage.

The fact is that none of these things are up to you. There is, however, one seminal element that will determine your success—and your organization’s—while working in a BIM and integrated design environment.

And that element is people (see Figure H).

Figure H The case for BIM is incomplete without the people case.

A Focus on People

This book addresses the number one problem of BIM implementation in the workplace: not technology or business value propositions, or even ROI, but rather people.

People are the crux—the key—to advancing BIM and integrated design. You—your organization’s people—are the one remaining question mark that needs addressing. Your firm culture will not work itself out. Issues of playing well with others cannot continue to be addressed on a piecemeal basis. Human factors such as personal initiative, mutual respect and trust, human nature, ownership and authorship, comfort with work processes, workflow, impact of technology on design, work habits, preferences, identity and role, personality, legacy, collaboration and communication—all of these impact the efficiency and effectiveness of your BIM efforts. Moving ahead, it will be increasingly necessary to align people’s attitudes, mindsets, and work habits in order to continue to not only survive but excel in this new BIM environment. Helping you and your firm to do so is the purpose for, and focus of, this book.

How, you ask, can something as obvious as people be overlooked and underrepresented in the vast literature on BIM and integrated design?

Severely underaddressed and currently seemingly unresolved people issues brought about by the introduction and adoption of BIM represent a crisis in the implementation of this exciting and potentially revolutionary technology and integrated design process.

The focus needs to be on people and the strategies they use to manage and cope with the transition to the new digital technology and the collaborative work processes it enables, as they adopt, implement, and then take the technology and process to a higher plane.

Where can you find these firm culture issues addressed thoroughly, convincingly, and effectively in a way that is universally applicable?

Human-Centered BIM

This is where BIM and Integrated Design can help to address these pertinent questions and rectify this situation, putting implementation of the new technologies back on track by making them manageable, understandable, and approachable in people terms.

Up until now the focus has been on the business case for BIM, on ROI, on software and technology—but not on the one factor we can do something about. For an organization built on human values—client service, trust, and relations—suddenly introducing a project on a 54-inch flat screen TV monitor, holding or “attending” meetings via satellite, challenges and changes that situation and relationship. Too often, people are left out of the equation. This is such an important theme throughout this book that the book’s first part is entitled “BIM as though People Mattered.”

If you and your organization haven’t yet benefitted from all of the promises of working with BIM, it’s the contention of this book that when people issues are addressed, all of the other issues will work themselves out.

Despite articles and books having been written on the subject of BIM, the problem—the people problem—persists. Very little has been written specifically on which elements from the traditional design process change with BIM and which stay the same, or on what knowledge, methods, and strategies must be let go of with BIM and what is critical to keep. What, in the learning process, needs to be unlearned?

Unlike other BIM guides, BIM and Integrated Design is less focused on the mechanics of the implementation than the “sociology” that makes a smooth adoption and implementation possible—the difference between an aborted or abandoned effort and one that sticks.

The vast majority of BIM-related literature has been focused on the technology, not on the people who use it. This is a problem, given that people issues and people’s thought processes, mindsets, and attitudes are the main impediment to widespread adoption and implementation of the technology and, as importantly, of the integrated design work processes enabled by the technology (see Figure I).

Figure I Three drivers of change factor into the industry’s implementation of BIM.

People problems, human issues, issues of communication and collaboration, firm-culture issues, issues of motivation and workflow: all brought about or exacerbated by the advent of BIM into the workplace, profession, and industry, these people-oriented factors are a greater challenge than solving the considerable software, business, and technical problems this approach requires. This is the subject addressed in this book.

Social Implications of BIM for Firm Culture

For years the software resellers and for-profit educators, beating the technical/business drum, have been pushing BIM as a way to increase the output of junior staff, improve document accuracy, and reduce the number of change orders. All well and good. Senior management would listen to the sales pitch and consider the cost of implementation in terms of dollar value, learning curve, and perceptions of the track record of these tools and software programs.

This book looks at these benefits and results as well, but it considers the costs and gains in terms of the social and firm-culture factors of implementing and working in BIM.

Dealing with Change in an Environment of Change

What design professionals do—what they produce—is neither just facilities nor documents but change. Yet, ironically, when it comes time for them to confront it they seem to have such a hard time swallowing change themselves.

It is the difference between technical and systematic companywide change, as indicated in this report: “In its haste to introduce a BIM capability Company X purchased software, but did not factor in the process changes/training required to implement new workflow and design processes that would optimise the way the BIM system fitted with current and future business needs.”1

Within the context of this book, BIM refers to Building Information Modeling as a process—as opposed to software, technology, or tool—of generating and managing building data during its complete lifecycle, from conceptual design though maintenance and operation of the building.

Integrated design here is a collaborative approach—inclusive of delivery methods such as integrated project delivery (IPD)—to building design marked by the qualities of early participation by all team members, sharing risk and reward, among other benefits that attempt to resolve efficiency and waste concerns and overcome historically adverse relations while creating the most value for the owner in the resulting completed project. Integrated design also implies “integration,” connoting a sense of acceptance, even transparency, within the user environment. Together, BIM and integrated design support and reinforce each other to mutually beneficial results.

What is that factor and how does it work? This book seeks to explain just what that missing factor is—and how best to utilize it for you and your organization to work more fluidly and effectively. With the social impacts of BIM addressed and mastered, ROI should come more naturally, and more effective use of the tools come more easily (see Figure J).

Figure J Your success and progress with BIM occurs where the three drivers of change overlap.

The Situation Today

BIM adoption and implementation are no longer the main challenge most firms are currently grappling with, as they were a few years back. Today, the challenge is the social implications of the technology and associated work processes on firm culture and workflow brought about by implementing BIM. Firms want to know how best to optimize their work processes to become more efficient at what they do best, to remain competitive by utilizing the competitive advantage of BIM and integrated design.

Today, most organizations face economic uncertainty, greater competition for projects, and clients demanding less waste, more efficient use of labor and resources, shorter schedules, projects on budget, fewer unpleasant surprises, and less finger-pointing and litigation—the very issues that have brought BIM and integrated design to the fore.

The movement to BIM and integrated design, though largely driven by owners and government, can take place only when design professionals and others in the construction industry have a compelling reason to change. Together, the technology and work processes enabled by new technology are seen as one of the drivers of change in the industry to help keep construction lean and achieve these goals.

About the Book

BIM and Integrated Design is an implementation book from a firm-culture standpoint, addressing Building Information Modeling as a cultural process with a focus on the technology’s impact and transformative effect—both potentially disruptive and liberating—on the social, psychological, and practical aspects of the workplace.

Neither a technology nor software book per se, BIM and Integrated Design addresses the questions that implementing BIM poses to the firm that adopts it. Through thorough research and a series of case study interviews with industry leaders—and leaders in the making, out from behind the monitor—and with a focus on real-world practice, process, and people, BIM and Integrated Design is the first book devoted to the subject of the social impact BIM has had on individuals and organizations within the ever-changing construction industry.

This book presents multiple snapshots from varied viewpoints of the state of BIM implementation and of what’s holding back design professionals and keeping them from reaching a widespread leadership role in the AECO industry, as well as offering recommendations and strategies for regaining a leadership position.

Who ought to read this book? BIM and Integrated Design is for those who want to be prepared with the right attitudes, mindsets, skill sets, and aptitudes for when they adopt BIM and the collaborative work process of integrated design throughout their organization, as well as for who seek to attain a solution that leverages the skills, experience, and insights—as well as prevailing attitudes and mindsets—already present in your organization.

BIM and Integrated Design is for you if you

Are curious about BIM but would like the facts and know what impacts are involved—the full picture.Have the software but feel that you are not completely utilizing it—or are utilizing it less satisfactorily than you had hoped.Find yourself in transition between the old way of doing things and things to come.Are already running with the technology, but have run into roadblocks—unexpected issues that you would like to resolve effectively, once and for all.Have mastered BIM but would like to learn more about how others use this knowledge to leverage integrated design in practice.

While the book assumes vendor software neutrality—I was trained and work in Revit but have also worked in ArchiCAD and am familiar with other programs—“BIM” is used generically throughout. And while the book does not promote any one proprietary BIM program, the interviewees frequently mention design data created in an authoring application such as Revit or ArchiCAD.

Research Methodology

Because the focus of this book is on the sociological impacts of the various new technologies and work processes, besides the stated and cited data a good amount of the information is empirical, garnered from a variety of reliable sources including in-depth interviews with individuals immersed in the technology and the industry, including industry leaders and technology experts revealing actionable strategies through their insights and experiences. These interviews provide a balance of qualitative as well as quantitative research and evidence.

As important, in this book I write from the perspective of having served for twenty-five years as a lead design architect working on the design of large, complex projects; on the front lines in BIM and IPD environments where BIM was used both alone and collaboratively; having run my own design practice and served in senior management in organizations both large and small; having helped inaugurate and teach an integrated building science/design studio for a number of years in one of the finest graduate architecture programs in the country; and having served on the board of AIA–Chicago chapter for many years. In other words, I write as one of you—immersed in a profession and industry that I want to see not only survive but flourish in the years to come.

How To Use This Book

BIM and Integrated Design is organized into three parts: “BIM as though People Mattered,” “Leading Integrated Design,” and “Leading and Learning.”

Chapter 1—What You Adopt When Adopting BIM

Chapter 1 introduces the human factors in BIM and integrated design; discusses owning the process and managing change and transition; covers the biggest myths and misconceptions regarding BIM and introduces the many co-benefits of working in BIM. Questions this chapter will attempt to answer include: Firms intend to start every new project in BIM, but do so in actuality only a fraction of the time. Why is this? Why does BIM take so long to implement? And why it’s not BIM that you implement, but rather your decision, your choice, to adopt BIM?

Chapter 2—The Social Implications of Implementing BIM

Chapter 2 addresses social implications of working in a BIM environment, including work processes and workflow; makes suggestions for how to overcome barriers to successful BIM implementation and how to conduct a BIM self-assessment for individuals as well as for your organization. It concludes with two interviews. The first is a case study interview with leaders of a successful design firm that, through the creative and bold use of BIM, has not only been able to hold its own but grew during the recent economic downturn. They share what worked, what didn’t, and what they believe is necessary to accomplish similar results for yourself and your organization. The second, a conversation with a BIM and integrated design consultant who has extensive experience working in BIM with designers, a design/build firm, and constructors, explains how his peers and clients went about successfully implementing BIM.

Interview with Paul Durand and Allison Scott, Winter Street Architects

Interview with Aaron Greven, BIM Consultant

Chapter 3—Working with Others in BIM

Chapter 3 describes the ten most commonly encountered obstacles to successful collaboration; suggests strategies to overcome these obstacles and for making collaboration work; and follows with an in-depth interview with a clinical and organizational psychologist, executive coach, and organizational consultant working with architectural firms—and in the construction industry himself—for over thirty-five years. The chapter concludes with a conversation with a pioneer in applying information technology to architecture, engineering, and facility management in the design and construction industry and in helping AEC firms and government and corporate facilities groups evaluate and implement technology systems.

Interview with Jack Hungerford, PhD

Interview with Kristine K. Fallon, FAIA, Kristine Fallon Associates

Chapter 4—Who Works in BIM and Who Doesn’t

Chapter 4 describes the new roles design professionals play on teams, in organizations, and in the profession and industry, as well as what happens to former roles (such as project designer, project architect, and project manager) in the transition to BIM. The chapter culminates in a conversation with one of the industry’s most well-informed and strategic CIOs, a registered architect and LEED AP who is responsible for the strategy, supervision, coordination, and delivery of all information systems and services for his top-tier firm.

Interview with Rich Nitzsche, CIO, Perkins+Will

Chapter 5—BIM and Integrated Design

Professionals in the building and construction industry have been slow to jump on the integrated design bandwagon. One goal of this book is to rectify this situation.

Before one can suggest and promote the integrated design process to owners, we need to thoroughly understand what it entails. If the best way to learn is by trial and error, this book aims to keep the mistakes—and associated pain—to a minimum. Chapter 5 serves as a brief but incisive overview of integrated design and closes with two interviews: the first with two construction professionals who are helping lead their organization’s efforts in the development of Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) and BIM for the advancement of technology in construction; and closing with a discussion with an architect, development advisor, past-chair of the Integrated Practice Steering Committee of the AIA California Council and author of Integrated Project Delivery: Six Case Studies, published by AIA, AGC, and Mc-Graw-Hill.

Interview with Andy Stapleton and Peter Rumpf, Mortenson Construction

Interview with Jonathan Cohen, FAIA

Chapter 6—Leading from the Model

Leading at any time is hard. Leading during turbulent times is even more difficult. Due to disruptive technologies and new ways of working together—the introduction of collaborative work processes—learning how to shift into the mindset essential to leading the BIM and integrated design process has become especially critical. Chapter 6 will help you—working in a BIM and Integrated Design environment—to become more effective leaders no matter where you find yourself in the firm hierarchy or on the project team. The chapter concludes with a conversation with a project architect/BIM manager for the highly ambitious Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR). He was charged with the transforming of 2D Design Development documents into a complete 3D Building Information Model that is currently being utilized as an aid in construction. A second interview is with the director, Office of Project Delivery, at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Public Buildings Service National Capital Region.

Interview with Brad Beck, BIM Manager, Architect

Interview with Charles Hardy, GSA

Chapter 7—Learning BIM and Integrated Design

The introduction of BIM into the workforce has education and training implications as well—factors that impact firms and practices, especially those that hire directly out of school. This impacts HR, hiring practices, recruitment, and ultimately the makeup of the firm—its organization, if not its organizational chart. The ultimate goal for the architect is to lead the process and create the ultimate BIM and Integrated Design experience for all involved. It is not a question of learning software. It is a question of becoming familiar with the process and how this awareness is learned and acquired. Chapter 7 features two interviews with exceptional educators, authors and thinkers: The first with a postdoctoral associate in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT, where he studies human-machine-environment interaction, having served as visiting lecturer at Cornell University, bringing an interdisciplinary background in architecture, computing, and ethnography to his work.

The second is a candid interview with a vice president at Autodesk who is responsible for the company’s future vision and strategy for technology serving the building industry. He is a former principal with Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects; educator of Professional Practice at Yale where he received both his B.A. and his M. Arch.; coeditor of Building (In) The Future: Recasting Labor in Architecture, published in 2010 (MIT); a senior fellow of the Design Futures Council; and former chair of the AIA National Contract Documents Committee.

Interview with Yanni Loukassis, PhD, MIT

Interview with Phil Bernstein, FAIA, Autodesk VP, Yale University

Do You Have What It Takes?

Perhaps Phil Bernstein, FAIA, explains it best when describing what he personally went through in his first well-publicized and documented IPD project:

Our project involved a certain amount of me just going around and saying, “I’m just going to jump off the cliff.” I cannot in good conscience be running around the world talking about this process revolution and technology and we’re going to run another one of these jobs as a CM at risk. And everyone is saying, “Are you sure this is going to work?” And, “Do you have any way of demonstrating that this is going to work?” And I said, “No, except go read our marketing materials.” Since we’re talking about this we need to have the intestinal fortitude to actually go and try it. That’s not a learned thing. I don’t know how to convince people to do that. We just did it ourselves. We just jumped off the edge of the cliff.2

Whether or not you have the intestinal fortitude to “jump off the cliff,” reading the book is a much safer—and more enjoyable—way to learn.

Notes

Note: Unless otherwise noted, interviews refer to those conducted for this book.

1. “BIM Implementation: Learning from the mistakes of others,” BIM Journal, August 1, 2009, http://bimjournal.com.

2. Phil Bernstein, interviewed by the author, October 15, 2009.

part I

BIM As Though People Mattered

In Part I, you will uncover mistaken beliefs surrounding BIM and its social benefits. Here you will explore the most commonly encountered obstacles to successful collaboration, as well as the challenges this technology and process create for individuals and organizations in their initiatives toward a comprehensive, successful adoption and implementation. You will discover the social implications of working in BIM for individuals and firms and how to overcome real and perceived barriers to its use.

Read these chapters to discover proven strategies for managing the disruptive change brought about by BIM, how to assess your team’s progress, and how to own not only the software but also the process. You will learn about the recent proliferation of BIM-related professional titles and roles, the current state of transition of the industry from CAD to BIM, and what the real distinctions are between BIM-, CAD-, and IT-related roles, including distinctions between BIM managers, CAD managers, and IT managers. In this part, you will read about a design firm that struggled with adopting BIM, only to find itself growing through the recent downturn, thanks in large part to its attitudes and approach to BIM. You will also learn how firms have successfully implemented BIM, from the varying perspectives of a consultant with extensive experience working in BIM with designers, a clinical and organizational psychologist who works with design and construction professionals who are contending with constant change, and a firm owner who has strategically and successfully worked with BIM since the application’s inception.

chapter 1

What You Adopt When Adopting BIM

Figure 1.1 Whether the project is a wall sconce or a city hall, the workflow that results from working in BIM is as fascinating as the imagery and as vital to its success. Zach Kron, www.buildz.info

Adopting BIM. Good or bad idea? Is there even a choice? Should you wait until they work out all the kinks and it becomes easier to learn and less cumbersome to use? Should you hold out until it becomes a more intuitive design tool?

Your firm is considering BIM or has already acquired the 3D software, perhaps is even using it to some degree and making strides. Why read a chapter on BIM adoption? Why refamiliarize yourself with BIM’s many benefits? We’re sold, you say. Can’t we finally move on? Why read about the challenges, roadblocks, impediments, and hurdles that stand in the way of a full, successful BIM adoption for you and your organization? Anyone working in BIM must be well aware of these. Right?

It all depends on what is meant by BIM adoption. Too often it just means purchasing software, implementing, and moving on.

Read this chapter first—even if you are already working in BIM—because you need to understand the full implications and impacts on the people you work with and for, or who work for you, as well as those impacts on the profession and industry you are an important part of—not only in business and technology terms, but also in terms of how you and your organization have been impacted socially and culturally by the new work processes the industry is currently absorbing in response to the latest software (see Figure 1.2).

Figure 1.2 CAD versus BIM adoption chart. BIM has been adopted twice as quickly as CAD. Dennis Neeley, AIA

Design professionals are moving to BIM [at least two] times faster than the transition from hand drawing to CAD, which took about fifteen years. BIM will be the predominant tool of choice throughout the professions by 2011.

—Dennis Neeley, AIA Convention, 2009

There is a larger impediment to the full, speedy, and widespread adoption of BIM by the design professions, and that has to do with the social impacts of the technology on individuals, organizations, and even the profession. You can be assured of a much smoother entry to this new technological process by understanding the social—communication, collaboration, and culture—impacts on your firm. As Autodesk’s Phil Bernstein asks, “The productivity and economic benefits of building information modeling (BIM) to the global building industry are widely acknowledged and increasingly well understood. Further, the technology to implement BIM is readily available and rapidly maturing. Yet despite the obvious benefits and readiness of BIM software, BIM adoption has been slower than anticipated. Why?”1

In this chapter we will take a look at a design firm that struggled with adopting BIM—only to find itself growing through the recent downturn, in large part due to its attitudes and approach to BIM adoption. We’ll cover not only BIM’s technical and business benefits but also its social benefits, as well as the challenges to individuals and organizations that this process creates. This chapter closes with proven strategies for managing this disruptive change. Whether you are new to the BIM world or have been working in BIM for some time, you may not be getting the best and highest use—and return on investment (ROI)—of this phenomenon unless you consider the concepts described and explained in this chapter.

Bogged Down in Detail

BIM adoption and implementation are often used interchangeably, but they are not interchangeable—and part of the reason for failure by firms to fully embrace BIM is because they mistakenly confuse the two concepts.

It is not enough to say BIM was adopted. How was it adopted? By what approach? Top-down or bottom-up? Enthusiastically or begrudgingly? All at once or slow and drawn-out? By a select team, then gradually spread out? Or on all projects from “go”?

Firms that have purchased the software have been getting frustrated with it, bogged down in detail, or have abandoned it altogether after initial pilot projects or efforts. Why is that? (See Figure 1.3.)

Figure 1.3 Adopting BIM without a plan can be like taking a trip unaware of all the baggage that can slow you down.

Although uptake has occurred quickly, BIM adoption is not widespread among all design professionals, and where adoption does occur it is not sticking in all cases. The big picture—beyond industry announcements to the contrary—indicates that BIM adoption is sporadic, incomplete, and prohibitively shallow. Technological and business adoption has occurred or is currently occurring at the majority of larger firms, but social adoption, and a full understanding of BIM’s impacts on the firm and the individuals that make up the firm, is not. Impacts to the profession—thought to be game-changing—are understood by few and being watched closely by many. Deep, meaningful, and lasting BIM adoption has stalled not because of technological or business factors but because of human factors.

Owning the Process

Where are you and your firm in the adoption process right now? Where do you find yourself along the continuum? You may

Not have gotten some initial traction—you may have given the software a test run or even ventured into a pilot project.Be wondering how to get BIM to stick and become a competitive part of your firm’s future.Have installed it and are running with it—but have run into roadblocks, unexpected issues that you would like to resolve effectively.Be looking for a clearheaded explanation of what is involved and what impact this technology will have on your practice.Be in search of an objective explanation that separates the facts from the marketing hype.Own the software but perhaps are not completely utilizing it or are utilizing it less satisfactorily than you had hoped—not for its highest and best use, or to its full advantage. (See Figure 1.4.)

Figure 1.4 BIM as process: Where on the path are you? How far will you take it?

Though BIM use reached the 50 percent mark among design professionals, business leader and author Rex Miller has taken announcements of BIM adoption rates to task. “It is an accurate number,” Miller notes, “if counting the number of architectural firms who have bought BIM software.” Miller continues,

However, this is where the mirage comes in. My take is by no means scientific but I have probably visited close to 100 firms in the last two plus years and I always probe how firms are using BIM. Here is what I hear. Most use BIM for visualization and some for clash detection. The clash detection is again a derivative of the visualization. Both of these applications only require “dumb objects.” A dumb object is a door, a run of ductwork or any part of a building that includes the geometric information but none of the objects properties or rules for how it behaves in relation to other objects. In other words these have the “M” or modeling part of BIM but none of the “I” part that provides analytics. . . . Half of the architectural firms are now out telling their clients that they “do BIM” when less than 10 percent are fully using analytics.2

The message is clear. Firms may own the software but not yet own the process. What firms are looking for is some sense of control and assurance that they are utilizing the technology to the fullest advantage. For true adoption to take place—and be counted—other criteria must be considered. There are almost as many definitions as there are practitioners. What does BIM adoption involve? (See Figure 1.5.)

Figure 1.5 Where are you—and your organization—on the BIM adoption continuum?

Firms may own the software but not yet own the process.

To some, BIM adoption means acquiring software. To others it implies embracing BIM, which is not just a matter of buying seats. To what extent in your organization is BIM adopted? What are the scope and scale of the adoption? Although there remain some significant and surprising BIM holdouts, it would be hard to find a leading AEC firm today that is not using BIM in some form or capacity; however, the breadth and depth of the implementation can vary widely. One thing is certain: acquiring and adopting BIM tools are not the same thing. As trainer and blogger Gregory Arkin wrote, “Just because a firm has seats of Revit doesn’t necessarily mean they’re using Revit actively.”3

It is a contention of this book that buying seats does not constitute adoption because despite having the right tools, many BIM efforts have failed as a result of having the wrong people in place, the wrong attitudes (“We paid for the software—use it!”), and the wrong mindset (“Everybody else is doing it—we’d better get up to speed and fast!”). As Arkin predicts, “People investing heavily in a product will eventually demand that their employees use that product and deliver a return on that investment.”4

Four Rules from the Start

Rule 1: Adopt first. Then implement.

Rule 2: What you adopt when you adopt BIM is change.

Rule 3: Change is inevitable. Transition is a choice.

Rule 4: BIM is both a tool and a process.

Tradition and the New Technology

What role does tradition play in this process? Do we just adopt this technology and throw away all we’ve worked on and built up over the years to get to where we are today? In addition to being known for design, business practices, or delivery, your firm has a tradition of taking in and taking on technology as it has been introduced. You may not talk about it or even recognize it, but how you have reacted to new technologies over the years is also part of your firm tradition (see Figure 1.6).

Figure 1.6 No longer drafting, today we model. BIM changes everything.

You don’t want to just break with the past altogether. Legacy software and projects can be referenced and in many cases adapted or incorporated into BIM projects. The important thing is to see your work as part of a continuum. You are not throwing it all away. Your values, ethics, and focus continue. You recognize that in order to continue you need to remain relevant, and it is for that reason that you have agreed to enquire into this new technology and adopt—and adapt. Tradition isn’t a staid and static thing—it is a process. It changes, however slowly. Take it at your own pace—but do change. (See Figure 1.7.)

Figure 1.7 BIM impacts and changes all levels, from the individual to the industry.

Architects don’t want to give up the traditional ways of doing things. In part, they are held back by their identification with drawing and being artists and ideators, combined with their fear—however mistaken—of becoming information inputters, slaves to technology.

Tradition is a powerful force—almost as powerful as the technologies and processes that seek to overcome it. A large, internationally recognized architecture firm in the Midwest refuses to adopt BIM because, they say, it is too convoluted. In the midst of the technological maelstrom around them, they’re waiting until BIM software and processes become simpler, easier, less complicated before embarking on a new path. That’s tradition talking.

Managing Change and Transition

What if a well-informed, trusted authority figure said you had to make difficult and enduring changes in the way you think, feel, and act? If you didn’t, your time would end soon. Could you change when change mattered most?

—Alan Deutschman, Change or Die

So, you want to change? What works and what does not work?

Give people a better story to believe, Alan Deutschman tells us, and their actions will be consistent with the new story. He encourages them to practice the story line even if they don’t yet fully believe in it. One goal of this book is to help you create a better story to tell.

Tradition is in transition. Architects who are not convinced that their time—that is, the world as they’ve known it—will soon end are living in denial. We have heard this before, they say—with CAD, with design-build, even with green design. But this time is different.

BIM and IPD yield an eight-in-ten chance of completing a project on schedule and within budget, a notable improvement from design-bid-build project statistics.

—Jacqueline Pezzillo, LEED-AP, communications manager at Davis Brody Bond Aedas, “AIA Navigates the Future of BIM and IPD,” e-Oculus, April 28, 2009

BIM as Though People Mattered

None of this would be a concern if BIM were designed primarily with people in mind. Building information modeling is often explained as a business process supported by technology—or as a technological phenomenon resulting in business outcomes.

We are all by now familiar with the many technological and business benefits offered by the adoption of BIM, the specific practical benefits and computer program innovations that make BIM and integrated design appealing options. These opportunities and changes in thinking are often put forth to promote the benefits of the tools, but lack insights concerning workflow and communication that are essential to successful teams and projects. This book was written in part to rectify this situation and decrease this disparity.

What we are less familiar with—but need to recognize—are the benefits to human behavior that BIM and integrated design bring about, the sociological factors that can make or break an outcome and experience for you and your firm. What are the sociological and cultural benefits that integrated design and BIM bring to a firm utilizing these practices?

It is the human factor that makes a smooth adoption and implementation possible and makes the difference between an aborted or abandoned effort and a successful one that sticks. You and your firm are looking for a solution that has legs—that leverages skills and insights but also considers prevailing attitudes and mindsets already present in individuals in your firm (see Figure 1.8).

Figure 1.8 You, your team, and your organization continuously revolve around the BIM experience.

The Missing Human Factor

The vast majority of BIM-related presentations, articles, and books are focused on the technology—not on the people who use it. This is a problem, given that people’s thought processes and issues—people problems, human issues, issues of communication and collaboration, firm-culture issues—are the main impediments to widespread adoption and implementation of the technology. People-oriented factors are a greater challenge than solving the software, business, and technical problems of BIM implementation. What are these human factors?

Human Factors in BIM and Integrated Design

Communication

Collaboration

Trust

Respect

Firm culture

Workflow and work processes

Identity

Roles

Working across generations

Mindset

Attitude

Control

Managing change

Transition

BIM etiquette

Leadership

Training

Learning and education

The number one problem of BIM implementation is not technology or business value propositions but rather behavioral, temperamental, emotional, and mental attributes: the sociocultural impact of BIM and integrated design on the design professions and construction industry. This means addressing a situation that many design professionals and their firms don’t even think of when considering BIM—people, you—the social impacts, benefits, and challenges brought on and about by this still relatively new technology currently being introduced into the workforce. Understanding this concept will help you put BIM adoption and implementation back on track by making it manageable, understandable and approachable in people terms.

Yes, clash detection is a low-hanging fruit. Anyone with all trades modeled and a license to NavisWorks can do it. But here’s the thing about it—it’s really, really satisfying.

—Laura Handler, Tocci Construction, (bim)x, October 2, 2008

Adopt First, Then Implement

BIM adoption and implementation are often used interchangeably—but they are not exchangeable, and part of the reason for failure by firms to fully embrace BIM is because they merge the two concepts, if they consider them at all. It is critical for the successful launch of the process that each is addressed separately. Neither step can be skipped.

BIM adoption has to do with familiarizing yourself—as you are doing right now by reading this book—and informing others. Gathering information and seeking out sources; making a decision and making a commitment; changing your mindset and attitudes about the technology for the long haul (see Figure 1.9).

Figure 1.9 The speed and ease of BIM adoption is dependent on approach and attitudes.

BIM implementation of the technology is critical—we’ll be covering it in the next chapter—but BIM adoption is its own first step. And unless it is addressed directly and experienced head-on, the likelihood for success of your BIM implementation will lessen. Why is this?

The challenges one faces in trying to learn a new technology while serving clients and turning a profit can be daunting. We’ll cover some of the steepest challenges later in this chapter. First, it must be acknowledged that working in and with BIM can be difficult. Many new skills and habits are introduced and must be learned, understood, and mastered to make the most effective use of the work process and technology. Another important reason is because inevitably you will hit a snag, a technical difficulty, and you will feel like giving up; senior management will be dismissive of—or discouraged by—the meager ROI of the firm’s initial attempt; or you will make it through your first project but will have no clear way to determine whether it was an improvement over previous pre-BIM processes (see Figure 1.10).

Figure 1.10 The most widely cited challenges to a smooth, firm-wide BIM adoption.

BIM Adoption in Context

BIM adoption refers here to the stage in which a technology is selected for use by an individual or an organization. Why adopt a new technology? While we’ll soon cover the benefits and co-benefits of BIM, here suffice it to say that past adoptions of a new technology for architecture and other fields have “indicated confidence in its potential to alleviate a particular problem or to make a job easier or more efficient.”5 Problem solving, ease of use, and efficiency: if it were only so easy. Why does BIM have to be so hard to adopt and implement?

Mistaken Beliefs Surrounding BIM

Even with a working definition of BIM, it is easy to confuse the BIM process with others. In this section we will look at some of the most common BIM misconceptions—those that can serve to undermine your team’s progress, efforts, and success.

If your firm has existing problems, adopting new technology will either exacerbate the problems or mask them. It won’t solve the problems. Of course, architecture is not the only profession facing this situation. Health care, for example, has also found that throwing new technology at every problem won’t solve it.6

Five Misconceptions Regarding BIM

1. Productivity suffers during the transition to BIM.

2. BIM applications are difficult to learn.

3. BIM disrupts established workflows.

4. Owners and contractors benefit most from BIM—not the designer.

5. BIM increases risk.

BIMManager, “Five Fallacies Surrounding BIM—an Autodesk White Paper,” July 1, 2009, http://www.bimmanager.com/2009/07/01/five-fallacies-surrounding-bim-from-autodesk/.

Some say that you can’t design in BIM (you can.) Others will tell you that you can’t detail and complete CDs in BIM (you can.) Still others will contend that BIM will completely replace CAD right away (they’re wrong.) CAD will be around a long time, and firms using BIM ought to maintain at least one copy.

It’s a misconception to think BIM is a panacea that will solve everything. The model is only as good as the information or data put into it; the program is only as good as the competence, design, and construction experience of the modeler. “A key misconception that many make about BIM is that it is a product. Wrong. It is not a product it is a process, a process made up of sharing intelligent data and reducing repetitious user input.”7 (See Figure 1.11.)

Figure 1.11 Make it your goal to separate BIM facts from BIM fiction by learning to recognize the hype and myths.

Misconceptions are rampant and all over the board—especially for those who are not intimately familiar with the software. As indicated in this discussion, “BIM will destroy our ability to produce good-looking drawings. The argument, or concern, here is that ‘extracting drawings’ or re-symbolizing a 3D model to represent 2D information produces substandard results.”8

BIM Myths

BIM requires a different project delivery method.When using BIM, you cannot tell who is responsible for what or who owns the model.When using BIM, anyone can change anyone else’s model.BIM blurs the distinction between design and construction.The architect is not in “responsible charge” of the design.You cannot have some information in the model and some only in 2D details.The model cannot be a contract document.You cannot rely on the dimensions of the model.The architect is subject to more lawsuits from contractors and subs because now there are direct privities of contract.

Douglas C. Green, New York City Revit User Group.

BIM is often presented as the cure-all for whatever ails the construction industry. And although it has the potential to address and resolve many owner concerns, the tool itself is only as robust as the data fed into the model. When one considers using the BIM model for energy analysis, for example,

Contrary to the popular notion that BIM makes energy analysis a snap, it turns out that BIM, in fact, does not actually help that much. This is because building geometry is only one of the inputs needed for analysis, and a relatively easy one at that, as it is completely objective. Much more effort is involved in defining the conditions and assumptions for the analysis, as those are very subjective. Also, analysis tools need the building geometry to be specified only at a certain level of detail, while BIM provides the complete detailed model, which is usually overkill for the tools. For BIM to become really useful for analysis, what is needed is for BIM tools to have filters so that the required information can be abstracted out for input to analysis tools.9

In presenting the positive attributes and capabilities of the BIM program, setting and managing client expectations from the start is one of the design professional’s most important tasks.

There is another somewhat common belief that architects bring ego and visions of grandeur to a project and not true value to building design, leaving the client to pay for monuments to one’s perceived greatness. Undoubtedly, this belief is based in fact and a few true instances, the exception rather than the norm. But is also a burgeoning belief that I’ve witnessed that B.I.M. applications will “solve” this perceived problem by distilling the design process down to a couple of “buttons” that when pressed in the correct sequence will produce a building meeting all the requirements of a client’s program, compliant with all state and local building regulations, free from errors and omissions, and completely describing the construction process; and by pressing the desired “style” button, details will be applied to the building design to make it look like the desired style. Providing all the value without the “cost” of ego (you just disable the “ego” button.)10

What is BIM, and why is the industry so confused? To answer that question it is probably easier to first define what BIM is not. As Nigel Davies posits, “BIM is not 3D. There is no added intelligence to give you any ‘data’ about the project. BIM is not Revit. The terms BIM and Revit are becoming interchangeable. BIM is not a single database or ‘single building model.’”11