COPYRIGHT © 2006 BY PHILIP J. BONA
2006 AIA Convention Technology in Architectural Practice Conference
Models for the Future of the Architecture Profession:
The Risks, Rewards, and Opportunities of Technology
INTRODUCTION:
Good afternoon…neither ink on parchment nor lead on vellum nor pin-bar overlay nor photo-reprographics, it is not even about layers on CAD. It is even beyond the pyramids, the cathedrals and space stations. Fantasy and imagination are the future for the art and science of the building process. It cannot be left to the innovators like Mayne, Gehry, SOM and Leibskind. But you had better believe that the history books will remember this 21st century generation of buildings as the forefront of organic neomodern architecture as a result of advanced technology.
Having said that, as we move from graphic thinking to data rich visualizations, we will see a future where design is limitless, data is collaboratively shared, details are warranted as industry standards, advanced technology and the internet are exploited, and architects, engineers, and constructors work together with the sense of purpose of a surgical team doing a heart transplant.
This discussion will assume that - You have seen the potential of Building Information Modeling and begun to question the future of the architectural profession,
1. You have an open mind and are ready to explore and plan ahead for this future,
2. You come from a small, medium or large Architecture or engineering firm,
3. You have at least a rudimentary understanding of BIM and one of the 3D software programs,
4. You have been touched in some way by the traitorous world of design and construction litigation,
5. And you have noticed that the number of young architects is constantly getting smaller.
Will we, as architects, lose values, ethics, integrity, and money in the process of transitioning to this future? If we do, shame on us. But, those firms who have values worthy of preserving can surely take technology and information models in incredible visionary directions. Architects have been trained over the past centuries to be the brightest, best, and most creative thinkers in society, but historically we tend to lack business savvy. From the standpoint of the Atelier culture, we have trusted our roots and mostly steered clear of entrepreneurial risk. If we, as a group of environmentally sensitive professionals hesitate, the need for an architect’s involvement in the building process will be further reduced to a minor role while new specialists take on the mantle of the new master builder.
Today, under pressure from competitive bids, legal wedges have been firmly driven between architects, contractors, and owners who frequently argue over responsibility, liability, indemnification, and trustworthiness. Stakeholders have become more adversarial than collaborative, communication continues to suffer and the end results of design and construction are not consistent with stakeholder expectations.
According to a National Institute of Standards and Technology statistic over 4.25% of the total value of 2002 construction was wasted from construction operations and non-scope change orders. With constant cost and time overruns, dissatisfied owners, and billions of wasted construction dollars within the industry, there is a roar for change in the building industry today. To quote an old movie, the customer is “mad as hell and their not going to take it any more.”
It is understandable, that as students of architecture become aware of the limits to their creativity, placed on them by this broken industry, they have graduated on to other business sectors, or to merely subordinate non-licensed architect roles.
The Construction Users Round Table continues to be in front driving efforts to reorganize the industry. They have seen the successes enjoyed by Aircraft and Automotive industries over the past decade and, as owners, are currently forcing this change in localized areas around the country. In order to meet their needs, industry stakeholders must make changes. As Architects we must retool our practices and processes, rejuvenate our abilities to collaborate and integrate with all the diverse participants, and learn new ways to visualize and manipulate 3D objects in a 5D client world. This has the potential of being a new nationwide business opportunity for architects. While it is often human nature to resist change, Architects will face the forces of change on three fronts - client driven, technology driven, and competition driven. Which of these will force you to change?
This new business approach will encourage a new building design, construction, and operations enterprise that will be based on the shared use of pragmatic, parametric, integrated, five dimensional data that will combine real estate market analysis, financing, new contractual structures, new insurance underwriting opportunities, smart building program analysis, architectural and engineering design, constructability detailing, regulatory compliance, sustainability and material life-cycling, product manufacturers and assembly premanufacturing, suppliers and competitive pricing, construction and sequencing schedules, subtrade model development, contractors and construction managers, and facility managers, maintenance schedules and maintenance engineers. This stakeholder based information rich collaboration will be performance centric and will integrate inspection and accountability through project audits using pre and post-construction feedback into a comprehensive interactive lifecycle based model that will be symbiotic with its resultant building.
Architects must remain the first line of the design process. Enhanced by technology, new collaborations and industry wide standardizations will allow us to offer new benefits to current customers, to pull additional profit from on-going projects, and to maximize and explore new opportunities in the building industry.
In the remainder of this presentation, we will present a step by step process describing practical guidelines for various size architectural firms to make a successful transition to BIM through an integrated approach to practice.
Leah Rockwarg will address the legal issues related to BIM implementation and collaboration, such as assigning and sharing risks and liabilities, legal and contractual obstacles, intellectual property, and liability insurance.
Lachmi Khemlani will speak on latest technological developments in the field, the adoption status in the industry so far, and what we can expect ahead in terms of technology.
Finally the presentation will capture comments from several firms who are successfully implementing BIM, including some challenges and obstacles they have faced and the strategies they have deployed to overcome them.
Please remember integrated practice using BIM is not only an advanced technology decision, but it is a business decision, a marketing decision, a practice operations decision, a staffing decision, a legal decision, a risk sharing decision, and a commitment to collaboration. This place and time is not unlike the business decisions that we all made in the 1980’s to buy computers and CAD software, to put down the lead pointer, and to start restructuring the way we produced design and construction documents.
STEP 1. DEFINE YOUR GOALS AND MEASURES FOR SUCCESS
Here are 10 suggested goals:
1. Be prepared for change and develop the capacity to make it good business.
2. Update your business plan to maximize your operations, collaboration, shared AEC recognition, and profit incentives for taking on these new processes while minimizing risk and uncertainty.
3. In building a collaborative team, pre-qualify consultant firms and select the most qualified people.
4. Be truly collaborative incorporating personal integrity and trust as essentials.
5. All participants maintain a fundamental concern for the long term implication of their actions.
6. Utilize state of the art research and technology to help all participants achieve extraordinary outcomes.
7. Assure collaborative measures of team building, facilitation of issues, performance and fiscal auditing and accountability will be clearly defined in the O/AEC agreement.
8. Always define the successful outcomes from construction as well as the roles, responsibilities and expectations for all team members before starting the project.
9. Clearly define the value of information and who provides what and when in the O/AEC agreement in both legal and technical terms.
10. Offer the owner new added value services that enhance an owner’s Business Solutions and project expectations through advanced technology in the model and the building.
Your Measures for Success will need to look something like this:
1. The firm is a diverse services provider that has adopted strategies to stay at the top of the “State of the Art” in materials science, technology, collaboration processes, and building project delivery through various firm certifications and constant staff continuing education training.
2. Business values and compensation for team members meet their expectations and they feel accountable and effective in their daily operations.
3. Performance Audits of the Team’s operations demonstrate highly collaborative and performance driven operations.
4. The design and building process are organized around optimization, performance measurement, communication, incentives, accountability, and risk-sharing.
5. The customer owner is satisfied with the outcomes from construction and has successfully directed the teams overall efforts so that the ultimate project risk has been minimal.
6. The O/AEC team agreement has provided measures for success and accountability and the new shared roles, responsibilities and outcomes were successful using BIM and integrated teams.
7. Interoperability and the standardization of IFC integration in the virtual model have facilitated more successful firm to firm, computer to computer platform compatibility.
8. The building project ultimately meets sustainable and smart building criteria as defined by society and the customer owner through certifiable results and the use of advanced technology.
9. The AEC Team has enhanced the owner’s Business Solutions through new service offerings such as:
a. Strategic Planning
b. Business Process Design & Evaluation
c. Site Selection Studies and Real Estate Pro Forma
d. Project Feasibility Studies
e. Facilities and Maintenance Assessment
f. Facility Life-Cycle Planning and Management
STEP 2. UPDATING YOUR CURRENT BUSINESS PLAN
Strategic Planning for the Future:
As creative individuals, many architects have not paid close enough attention to architecture as a business. Ultimately, an obviously bad business decision by an architect to get a client’s work will reflect poorly on your client’s view of your integrity, your mutual relationship, and their confidence in your capabilities.
A strong business plan will give you the basis for confidence in your decision to retool your practice. A business plan precisely defines your business, identifies your goals, and serves as your firm's resume. The basic components include a pro forma balance sheet, an income statement, and a cash flow analysis. It helps you allocate resources properly, handle unforeseen complications, and make good business decisions. Because it provides specific and organized information about your company, how you will phase purchases, and how you will repay borrowed money. A good business plan is a crucial part of any loan application. Additionally, it will inform your personnel, suppliers, and your new AEC Partners about your operations, strategies, and goals.
1. So do you have a written business plan? If not, you need to gather your firm’s leadership together and hammer one out.
a. Evaluate your business structure and form of ownership
b. Evaluate the potential of your current staff’s talent and your current office procedures
c. Evaluate the partnering potential with your most trusted design and colleagues. Consider new Contractually Collaborative Business Relationships.
d. Develop a pro forma of your firms approach to risk management and define the legal and financial incentives for collaborative risk sharing as a marketing tool.
e. Develop a pro forma of Project Outcomes and Successes as a marketing tool.
f. Update and develop new written policies and procedures to follow for all aspects of your firm’s operation.
g. Foster just-in-time-decision making that eliminates duplication and makes information available when and where you need it.
2. Are you satisfied with the way your firm practices architecture now? What services do you provide?
a. Do you do mostly Planning and Design - usually associating with another firm to do CD’s and CA.
i. If so, you may be less attractive to an owner who wants the full 5D BIM approach
ii. However you may be able to succeed using 3D Virtual Modeling if your models are done compatibly with the full BIM firms that you associate with.
b. Are you a nuts and bolt firm who develops someone else’s design through highly detailed CD’s and CA?
i. If so, you may want to hire a strong designer to offer an owner the full 5D BIM approach.
ii. However, if you can associate with other AEC partners, you may be able to succeed using 5D BIM if your models are compatible with the rest of the team.
c. Do you do traditional full architectural and in-house engineering services?
i. If so, you are well suited to pursue the full 5D BIM approach.
d. Do you do Masterplanning, programming, existing conditions information gathering, analysis, documentation and forensics?
i. If so, you may be a strong asset to an AEC integrated full BIM Team.
ii. You will need to have enough technical staff to assure that your base models are done compatibly with the full BIM firms that you associate with.
e. Whatever the services offered, accountability and continuity of leadership at all levels to the entire firm are necessary and beneficial to your partners who depend upon your contribution.
3. Who are the potential customers for your services and why will they procure services from you?
a. Owners assume all Architects can design.
b. What will make you stand out is your innovative approach to design and the building process. How will you make it happen better, cheaper, and faster than your competition?
c. Confirm with your client that they accept that all decisions must be made early or this new delivery method won’t be any smoother, quicker, or more successful than the old ways.
4. How will you reach these potential customers?
a. In today’s marketplace, customers are asking for greater assurances that service providers meet that industry’s highest standards for performance with quick turn-around and low costs. More and more independent agencies are offering certifications based on a company’s client testimonials, business plan, and commitment to continuing education. It is apparent that the AEC Industry will evolve in this direction to offer clients the benefit of independent prequalification and certification.
b. Marketing is always a multi-faceted enterprise but history has proven that continuous relationship building is always the foundation for getting work.
c. You should know that small firms and individuals will have an equal opportunity with larger firms since small firms can actually react to changes and new methodologies faster, have less capitol expenditures, and bring new processes on line quicker; and without layers of management, they are freer to form new relationships faster.
5. What are the financial considerations in starting this new process?
a. A sound Business Plan along with statistics about the strength of the construction economy of the future should be enough to get a bank to consider your needs.
b. Adopting Technology and Collaboration will require capitol outlay to purchase additional computer hardware and software, laser plotters, wireless computer tablets, etc.
c. You will have Attorney’s fees for changing your business and tax structure to accommodate collaboration with your new partners.
d. You will have continued insurance premium costs until the industry is successful in developing valid wrap-around full project O/AEC Team Policies with insurance underwriters.
6. Where will you get the financial resources?
a. Consider a bank loan, small Business Administration Loan, intra-team assets sharing, leasing, or build the costs into your front end fee for you pilot project with assurances to the client of later savings against your profits.
b. Consider buying or leasing hardware and software with an associated AEC firm and share operational resources.
7. Will you need to change your firm’s environment or add building space?
a. If your operations change, your space needs may change some.
b. If you team up in-house with AEC partners you will need to provide for their divers space needs.
c. Buying more computers, laser plotters, and furnishings will likely necessitate space adjustments.
8. Will your fee structure and billings change?
a. Your first inclination will be to define your operations and billing methods in a traditional fashion. Though you will find after completing several successful integrated team / BIM projects that the horizontal nature of the traditional enterprise may be overcome by a more vertically integrated business organization and likewise alternative billing structures may be more advantageous.
b. This new technology and its collaborative teams allow architects to design and “sell” their services by putting an economic measure on their work. Assembling an expert team and using virtual modeling for the design of healthy green and technologically smart buildings can capture for the owner a significant initial or lifecycle cost savings. Owners who realize an actual cost savings through this design methodology can contractually assign some of those profits back to the AEC team based on comparative traditional approaches.
c. Some initial project initiation services such as site analysis, masterplanning, preconstruction planning, programming, and concept design services could take place on a lump sum or T&M basis much as before.
d. The creation, modifications, maintenance, implementation, and management of the BIM database may be provided as services on retainer at billable rates, much as a tax accountant or legal counsel. This could be based on a long-term client relationship that begins with the need to expand or create an owner’s facilities and could be carried on after construction through ongoing facilities management and business consultant services.
e. If based on a healthy successful mutual business relationship founded on trust, experience, and technological information delivery, an architect/client fee-based relationship could last for decades.
f. The architect’s fee structure using the BIM approach need no longer to be tied to construction as a percentage, rather, it would be based on valued design and information management services, in an effort to continually assess and reassess the needs of the owner’s facilities by modeling against the life-cycle costing of the growth and operations of the owner’s enterprises.
g. Make sure your client is aware that Project setup and Initial Project Planning will cost the owner at least 10% more than the traditional approach but they will see savings in the later phases.
h. Your fee billing distribution will change to match the new front-loaded delivery process.
• 5% O/AEC Team Procurement, Risk Assessment, & Contract Development
• 10% Initial Project Planning and Site Analysis
• 40% Final Project Planning, Design, and Development
• 20% Construction Ready Model, Drawings and Written Specifications
• 25% A/E Construction Support and Supervision
PROJECT PLANNING AND ACCOUNTABILITY
1. An important component for success through collaboration and technology based projects will be the use of Project Planning and Accountability.
2. It will be necessary to promote and constantly improve team member accountability through a proactive training program. Especially while starting a new paradigm, it will be important to prevent procrastination, complaining, and blame that will drag down team member morale and productivity?
3. It will be appropriate to utilize data collection tools, processes and related applications that provide information in a timely manner to support the O/AEC Team’s strategic and performance planning, performance monitoring, budget formulation, project planning, operations management, workforce planning, and accountability activities.
4. The team will need to collect high quality information with minimal burden on its members throughout the collaboration process to ensure consistency in the data collected, and to make the information accessible to the auditing entities.
5. The components of the accountability system should include:
a. An Information System Plan that provides the four primary O/AEC Team managers real time budget expenditures and obligations, as well as performance data summaries via a web-based computer system. It should combine actual cost data with planned data so that comparisons and status of obligations and outlays can be monitored.
b. A Team Performance Plan, which is prepared at the onset of the project, to provide a “roadmap” to successful completion of performance goals. It should contain real, concrete and tangible actions with specific completion dates and responsible individuals.
c. A Performance Results System that provides web-based detailed performance accomplishment data. It should track and monitor team-wide performance goals and progress toward achieving those goals.
d. A Total Cost Accounting System to provide for a Project Team database for recording time and attendance information. It should provide data via a web-based application on how staff resources (staff hours and total wages, staff benefits and total costs) are being used by discipline, phase, and task.
e. A Workload Analysis database to identify the quantity and types of human resources needed to deliver the model and the construction at each milestone. Workload Analysis should focus on O/AEC activities conducted by the Auditing Entity. Data is collected to support workforce planning, resource allocation decisions, and other strategic management efforts.
6. Note that during the early years, contract negotiations between the owner and all the multi-disciplinary designer / engineer / constructor partners will take longer to complete.
7. Under Federal Copyright laws, the architect will continue to retain ownership of the rights to the design portrayed in the model.
8. As intellectual property the model will likely become integral in the buildings legal CCRs (Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions) to be an As-Built representation or an integrated systems maintenance monitoring tool. The owner will retain the rights to the exclusive use of the model so long as he owns the building and then it will legally transfer to the new owner or ownership association. The AEC entity will retain rights and responsibility for the design and construction only if the model is used to accurately monitor the maintenance and upkeep of the building during its lifecycle. The potential is that the building may also be monitored over the internet by the architect during its lifecycle as a requirement of the CCRs and as such the architect is retained by the building’s owner for this on-going annual service.
9. The O/AEC Enterprise will need to contractually define on whose server does the model reside and how is the model backed up during its AEC development.
10. Considering the diverse disciplines and the goal for efficient accountable project development operations, the O/AEC Agreement will also need to determine the Organization and Nomenclature used in the team’s electronic and paper file structures.
11. If the master model is to be developed as parallel AEC models because of limitations in state of the art software, the Architect will need to comprehensively develop the architectural model and then pass it on so the engineer/constructor and subcontractor partners can create their compatible models.
12. With strong client and supplier relationships and a whole-life approach to building design, Architecture firms can be ideally positioned to create intelligent sustainable buildings that can enhance the business performance of our clients and reduce the project’s environmental impact.
These are the core considerations you will need to evaluate within the context of your business plan. Now we’ll go into a little more depth on a couple of points starting with personnel.
STEP 3. WILL YOU NEED PERSONNEL CHANGES OR RETRAINING
People are as important as technology in this new delivery process. Integrated practice requires that architects, engineers, contractors, owners and all stakeholders in the enterprise take on new roles and competencies, and some will be outside of their individual comfort level.
You may find the need for added skill sets in support of management of the collective AEC Team; perhaps hiring someone with significant construction experience, or team facilitation experience, communication systems management, an integrated technology manager, or a facilities planner. You may have to retrain or elevate from within your current staff or you will eventually need to hire as the shortcomings of the teams skill-sets arise.
From a firm point of view, the easiest part of this is buying hardware and software. The hard part is changing the pre-conceived notions of your staff and getting unilateral buy-in from them to pursue this new enterprise.
1. Your ideal employee will be a senior architect with full 3-D modeling technology skills who communicates and works well in a multi-disciplinary team environment and who is knowledgeable about construction and is always a positive influence on the team.
2. Young architects without much on the job training who are highly educated and technologically expert will need to be heavily mentored by senior architectural staff in order to collaborate successfully in a multi-disciplinary (engineer/constructor) team where critically integrated construction decisions must flow quickly and with little conflict.
3. Senior architects without much experience using technology and who are reticent to relinquish control of the design infrastructure as well as the electronic drawing data to the constructors may become an impediment to the successful integration of collaboration and technology. Their ability to be retrained is up to them and your firm’s leadership.
4. It is likely that architectural firms will hire senior construction personnel with experience in cost estimating, scheduling, construction means, methods, and phasing to be a trusted resource within the architecture firm and representative to the AEC collaborative effort.
5. The firm needs to actively seek out one or more internal collaboration and technology champions by establishing growth program opportunities that will generate interest among existing staff and define roles for new staff.
6. In time, young computer-savvy architects will revitalize the profession with innovative designs and building process as well as a team player mentality that fits well into a collaborative environment.
Many believe that there will be an eventual blurring of roles, especially between the architect and the builder, as collaborative teams integrate activities and are held mutually accountable for the success of a common goal.
STEP 4. WHO WILL YOU HAVE ON YOUR INTEGRATED TEAM
COMMUNICATION ISSUES:
1. The use of a project extranet and EDMS (Electronic Data Management System) to manage project specific information between the O/AEC Team as well as from supply-chain partners can be most valuable to the model and project costing and delivery.
2. Web based Project Management Software should be used to optimize team communications. The pace of BIM projects requires that everyone be fully engaged in the project’s information flow through information gathering, design, procurement, and construction. Email and FTP transfers are not dependable or consistent enough in this workflow.
3. Data warehousing is the ability to keep electronic files of existing conditions drawings, digital photographs and design plot files online and available to stakeholders anytime in the future. It extends the usefulness of the architect to the owner over the life cycle of the building. This on-going relationship vs. the traditional relationship where the architect’s role ends with completion of construction means more opportunities for long term, mutually profitable relationships with owners.
BEHAVIORAL ISSUES:
1. Integrity and trust between Team members are essential for true collaboration
2. The long term implications of one’s action are of greater concern than the short term results.
3. Teams make better choices than individuals
4. In building a team, pre-qualify team firms and select dependable people with recognized skill sets.
5. True creativity is the result of discovering and exploiting the best options
6. Change is inevitable; be prepared at all levels and seek out the opportunity in it.
7. The basis for decision-making should be facts and reason, not conventional wisdom and emotions.
8. Truly be a Client’s trusted advisor and you will be called upon time and again.
9. Be the Owner’s advocate during construction as the project representative or construction manager.
10. Be accountable in your actions, watch out for each other, and minimize risk for all Team members at all times.
TEAM-BUILDING ISSUES:
The Collaborative Process Institute, a diverse group of owners, designers and builders committed to achieving extraordinary outcomes, describes “extraordinary outcome” as the “Best combination of cost, quality, function scope and time as defined by the unique needs of the client and the project.” So the best team is the one that is comprehensive in the manner it identifies and addresses the unique needs of the client and the project. You can do this by helping the Team participants in the building process achieve extraordinary outcomes; outcomes based on a healthier enterprise that benefits a lot more stakeholders.
My first collaborative process experience was back in 1998 when my firm was retained to be the School District Architect for the reconstruction of 14 Campuses. The program called for building 29 new buildings and the remodeling of 23 existing buildings on 12 elementary and 1 middle school campus. In an effort led by a principal with our firm trained by the Collaborative Process Institute at Stanford University, a “partnering” type approach, using a Pre-design Construction Consultant, General Contractor and CM at Risk in conjunction with the Architects Design and Project Management Services was suggested to consider the efficiencies of constructing all campuses simultaneously.
An RFQ was sent out to large reputable Construction Manager / General Contracting firms in California to produce a pre-qualified list. In the second stage the top six participated in a formal bidding process based on a given $30 Million dollars of hard construction cost as an allowance and then they completively bid on the percentage of Overhead and Profit, insurance, bonds, and the cost for a Predesign Construction Consultant to work in concert with the Architect / Project Manager during the Design, procurement and construction admin phases.
After design completion and agency approval, the successful bidder provided Project Management Services during the procurement phase assembling multiple prime bid packages for each trade representing the total work for the 13 campus, 52 building project. Coordinating and managing the process collaboratively with the Owner and the A/E team throughout the process resulted in all design, approvals, procurement and construction work complete in 4 years for less than 1 percent over budget. There was no litigation on this contract.
1. If retooling practice means to become project-centric, then as a leader at the beginning of an O/AEC project enterprise, one might embrace the philosophy that the best designers should design; the best managers should manage; the best engineers should engineer; the best builders should build and the best building maintenance staff should maintain the building.
2. The team leader’s responsibility will be to manage data and the team’s needs; and to be accountable for reconciling the predefined outcomes for project success.
3. People with the individual skill sets representing the following professional services will be needed on a large O/AEC lifecycle based design and construction project:
a. Client/Owner and project leader/decision-maker
b. Insurance Underwriters
c. Lawyers
d. Team Facilitator / Project Coach
e. Accountants / Fiscal Auditors
f. Performance Auditors
g. Program Managers
h. Architects
i. Engineers
j. Project Managers
k. Information Managers
l. Communications Managers
m. Construction Managers
n. Contractor/ Contract Managers
o. Construction and Testing Inspectors
p. Constructors/building trades
q. Facilities Managers
r. Product manufacturers; a number of key manufacturers are equipped to produce building material assemblies as a by-product of the computer model software.
4. A small O/AEC Lifecycle based project will pretty much need all the same players but on a tighter more focused and efficient scale.
5. You will need to encourage your staff to be a cohesive, High Performance Team that seeks optimization and monitors performance in its daily activities. Cross-disciplinary personnel will need to be experienced and pre-qualified in the delivery of their skills to be sure of their accountability.
6. Finding your “A” Team
a. Like any business, the relationships you have with those with whom you have a history of trustworthy AEC support and collaboration are going to be the best people to start with.
b. Some professional organizations, like the AIA are already surveying their membership to determine who is in the forefront of the BIM technology and what their qualifications are.
c. Over the next few years, independent rating companies like the Better Business Bureau and American Ratings Corporation/Diamond Certified, will be increasing their O/AEC customer satisfaction surveys and establishing a qualified member base.
7. It will be important to develop “Supply Chain” partnerships with suppliers, contractors and sub-contractors to get the most from the team’s mutual skills so that all benefit. As a result, these partnerships can deliver building design and operations in the format that the supply chain can use most effectively.
8. Early on, it may be necessary to train your consultants and your subcontractors in how to benefit from this data rich model.
9. Similarly, design and construction firms can engage in “End-user” business partnerships that offer customer support to manage and smooth the end-user occupation by:
a. Hands-on End User Training, and cooperative troubleshooting dry run-throughs,
b. Explaining operational performance, short term and lifecycle maintenance, system controls, assembling systems manuals, and contributing to the creation of building log books.
c. Fully validating and commissioning the results
d. Assisting the owner in Planning the turnover and occupation process
e. Designing maintenance programs that are “data-rich” activities that may use the model for lifecycle monitoring for the building and grounds.
10. As more and more owners and construction managers are opting for building information modeling to enable collaborative teamwork, architects who join teams and adopt these new practices will be prepared better to seek out and build new partnerships for the future.
STEP 5. WHAT WILL HARDWARE & SOFTWARE WILL YOU NEED
HARDWARE ISSUES:
1. Buy/Upgrade your computer hardware
2. Project to be developed as one fully integrated AEC model.
a. For a large 500K – 1Mil sq. ft. complex, this will likely require 3-400 Gigabytes RAM and a Terabyte of Hard drive space with double or triple redundant servers and the fastest state of the art processors.
b. For a medium 100-500K sq. ft. complex, this will likely require 2-300 Gigabytes RAM and a ½ Terabyte of Hard drive space with double or triple redundant servers and the fastest state of the art processors.
c. For a small 1K-100K sq. ft. complex, this will likely require 2-300 Gigabytes RAM and a 200 Gigabytes of Hard drive space with double or triple redundant servers and the fastest state of the art processors.
SOFTWARE ISSUES:
1. Buy or upgrade to latest version of ArchiCAD, Revit, Bentley Products, or Catia
2. Things to look for in 3D software include:
a. local/regional Software User Groups or TAP Group
b. Quantity of internal detail components and defined objects
c. On-line software support
d. Quantity of Templates available
e. Ability to reusing saved views on other files
f. Embedded Keynotes grouped by sheet or by Master list
g. Cross link files across buildings
h. IFC import & export
i. Availability or anticipated release dates of Structural, Mechanical, Plumbing, Electrical, Civil and Landscape modules.
3. Other useful software includes:
a. MindManager to study space needs and relationships. These maps are critical to quickly understanding, verifying and communicating space issues.
b. Web based Project Management Software such as Meridian’s Prolog, Constructware, Project Solve 2, 37Signals’ BaseCamp to optimize team communications.
c. 3D High Definition Surveying (HDS) software to provide more complete, accurate, fast visualization and modeling of existing complex structures and sites through precise measurements attained at less cost than conventional methods.
4. Some A/E firms are exploiting the potential of new technologies and diversifying to offer building services engineering, façade engineering, computational fluid dynamics, property and lifetime facilities management, comprehensive asset management service, as well as advanced lighting visualizations, fire, and acoustics consulting. With the use of Computational Fluid Dynamic modeling techniques, the detailed analysis of building airflows, suncast, and heat transfer, glazing and shading analysis, predictions for fire and explosion path of travel and as well as building environmental performance, and overall static and dynamic systems simulation. This is the technology currently being used daily by Boeing Aircraft.
TECHNOLOGY ISSUES:
1. Benefits of the New Technology
a. Virtual Modeling
b. Embedded Information Delivery
c. Virtual Product Assimilations
2. Do you want to develop a model to use for:
a. Integrating construction operations
b. Schematic design renderings
c. System Conflict Checking
d. Integrating objects with Specification data links
e. Creating a full model for cutting CD’s
f. Creating a full model to turn over to the builder
3. The Project Team’s Technology Goals should be to minimize design errors. The full BIM approach is the critical means to achieving this goal. The team should adopt this process by designing and detailing entirely in 3D, which will produce quality documentation as a by-product, all live, from the model.
4. The following requirements should be set as minimum production from the model:
a. All plan views.
b. All elevations and sections from 1:200 to 1:20.
c. Details generated through detail marker tool placed in model, automatically converted to 2D, but always updatable and coordinated from the model.
d. Parametrics: All major façade elements to be parametric library parts for production of drawings and database functionality.
e. Quantities and schedules: Area Schedules, Window & Door Schedules, Car Space Quantities and Prefabricated Panel Schedules.
f. Automated drawing sheet numbering and scheduling.
g. Detail identification – if detail sheet number changes detail marker updates automatically.
h. Seamless export/ import to 2D CAD packages as required by O/AEC project management extranet.
NEW SOFTWARE FOR THE FUTURE:
A few commercial 4D modeling tools allow a user to link a 3D model with a construction schedule to visualize construction over time on a computer screen. While the underlying 3D model and schedule model are based on object-oriented concepts and can be queried by the user about their content and relationships, the resulting 4D model is purely a visualization. 4D CAD has been used at various levels of detail from simulating and coordinating the overall phasing of a project to coordinating the daily work of a group of subcontractors. Integrating the 5D cost into the model is also being developed by several software vendors.
STEP 6. MAINTAINING DESIGN INTEGRITY WHILE CHANGING YOUR PROCESS
DESIGN ISSUES:
The Bentley Continuum states: “It is tempting to say that better tools will facilitate better designs. However, the single biggest barrier to innovation is the natural resistance to any deviation from well-established workflows.”
1. Design and creative problem solving is what lured most of us to architecture. For centuries of classic architectural education, students have been trained in the rudiments of 2 dimensional horizontal and vertical orthographics with forced perspective visuals to represent the 3D views.
2. There has always been a disconnect, except for those who are gifted spatial and visual learners, to accurately visualize the XYZ coordinates of a building’s features and details clearly and accurately inside the mind of the designer.
3. For at least one or two generations, those of us traditionally trained will need to retrain our minds to adapt to pure 3-d visualization and manipulation to achieve the most certain and accurately integrated results. Eventually we will have to assimilate 4-d (time) and 5-d (cost) into each design decision as well.
4. Architectural education will also need to retool to prepare future generations of architects as multi-dimensional integrated thinkers who are strong in both design and construction technology.
5. The Design Process that embraces Collaboration and Technology will be a front loaded, data rich exercise where you do all of your homework upfront and then begin your design.
6. The critical design/model data may include:
a. Real Estate Valuation
b. Business Market Criteria
c. Zoning and Use Criteria
d. Building design constraints including Maximum Floor Area, Height, Massing, Daylight Plane and Local Environmental Impact
e. Existing Conditions and utility Infrastructure Constraints
f. User Programming
g. The Contractual Deliverable of all this data is the “Initial Project Planning Report”
7. For a remodeling or a project addition it is most critical to capture the As-Built Conditions as 3d/Data Documentation for the Virtual Model. This allows design changes and options to be easy and comprehensive without guesswork.
8. This time spent up front will allow:
a. Existing Buildings to be converted to technically Smart Buildings monitored by the model.
b. A higher level of understanding of the opportunities, and the constraints upon future phasing of other additions and remodeling.
c. Ultimately the model becomes an asset to the property and will increase its value.
9. Moving on to the design phases, Conceptual and Schematic Design can actually be relatively traditional as a creative process whether it be on the back of a napkin, on a roll of trace paper, at the computer, or hand crafted.
10. Your talents and skills as a designer will always be the greatest value to the process, and BIM will always be nothing more than a sophisticated tool to be used to represent and communicate your design thoughts to your team.
11. As you ultimately input the design and configure surfaces, massing and volumes, the software can offer checks and balances of the design against the project and code data accumulated.
12. Early AEC Team Collaborative testing of the Base Model will confirm the integrity of the design and keep the project on track. This should be repeated on a regular basis. Tests of the model may run during the night.
13. Manufacturers will soon generate 3D Virtual models of their products for distribution over the Internet as attributes to project models. McGraw Hill Construction Network for Products currently is doing this for 2D CAD representations and specifications for traditional drawings.
14. The contractual deliverable of the schematic design may include:
a. Traditional plans, sections, and elevations
b. 3-D model visualizations around the building.
c. Physical 3-D model of the building.
d. 3-D building zone construction sequencing.
e. A Reconciliation Report of the Design model against the initial project data and code requirements.
f. An Outline Specification and Product Binder generated by the data links to the objects and keynotes used in the model.
g. A preliminary construction phasing schedule
h. Bill of materials level cost estimate with allowances where items have not yet been identified.
15. Once the Schematic Design Deliverables are approved by the Owner and the rest of the AEC team, the Model Structure and Workflow can be set for the remainder of the model’s development. You will find that the model-generated schematic design drawings will look like early CDs.
16. Model plotting in the early phases will be on STL (stereolithic) graphic files or other laser plotter formats that will produce a physical 3d model of the whole project or just the building or just a zone of the building or a just floor plate or a detail or a single component.
17. Once the basic building design, fabrication, and construction sequencing have been finalized, the schematic 3D model is enriched by developing the design and adding detail. At this stage, sub-models may be used to generate prototypes or phased construction modules. These models can be built story by story using tools within the software and by using parametrically developed façade objects created by the AEC design team.
18. The master model can be divided into several different construction zone models. This zoning might reflect the builders’ construction phasing, or the separation that might occur at major expansion joints.
19. The hierarchy of master model, zone models and sub-models can provide for a well managed and organized workflow. Not only does this allow parts of the buildings to be isolated into smaller and simpler models that can be used to study design variations, it also allows components and primary and secondary assemblies to be designed once and re-used across the project. Any change made in a sub-model would be automatically reflected in all the zone (parent-level) models that the sub-model was linked into.
20. Each Zone might have a dedicated "Zone Model Manager", who is responsible for checking the correctness of their zone and generating the physical model and drawing sheets from that zone. They may also coordinate with the material fabricators during construction. The full master model would be used for project reconciliation, system coordination and generating the overall physical model and paper drawings.
21. It takes a tremendous amount of coordinated effort to ensure that multiple data points properly align among the various disciplines.
22. Within this Design / Data detailing development phase, the AEC Team provides collaborative oversight and Construction of an accurate, Integrated, and comprehensive virtual model. Remaining links to Product Data and Component Modules are inserted. These data links will soon be available real time over the internet.
23. More detail, data, and interference checking will take place through the use of sub-models that integrate the complete Structural M.P.E.T. Systems Design and the Civil / Landscape Design.
24. The model will be audited on a regular basis to confirm that the accumulated model data aligns with the Initial project data.
25. AEC Team Collaboration and Testing of Model at each level will confirm the overall integrity of the design and keep the project on track against the desired outcomes.
26. The contractual deliverable of the Final Building Model may include:
a. The electronic model itself.
b. Generation of drawing sheets including traditional site plans, floor plans, sections, elevations, details, schedules, 3-D view sections, and details around the building printed on large format paper.
c. A Reconciliation Report of the Final model against the initial project program and code data.
d. A final Specification and updated Product data Binder generated from the data links to the objects and keynotes used in the model.
e. A final critical path construction sequencing schedule and workplan for step by step implementation are produced by the contractor team member.
f. A final comprehensive bid level /supply chain cost of the project from the AEC team.
i. Electronic file deliverables similar to PDF files will be distributed throughout the entire team. Microstation
has already released the oc2 file format for viewing 3D images using a free viewer.
STEP 7. FINDING A “READY CLIENT”
William Tibbitt of Johnson and Johnson, who represented owners on an AIA Interoperability Panel in May, 2005, stated that architects are not meeting the changing needs of the customer-owner who will no longer tolerate mistakes, delays and team members not being able to share information. “Owners, clients and corporations like mine won’t put up with this situation any longer.”
CLIENT EDUCATION AND PERCEPTION ISSUES
What kind of clients will ask for BIM Solutions?
1. Clients who believe BIM will provide more accurate drawings, who are not interested in collaboration, and who will ultimately default to a design/bid/build result.
2. Clients who believe integrated design and construction partnering will in deed yield a faster, more successful and cost effective project and will accept the risk to make this happen.
3. Clients who will capitalize on the Commercial Facilities Management Aspects of the Model.
4. Clients who aren’t particularly interested in the process but will require a BIM solution through a Contractor-Led Design/Build turn-key team just to save money in construction. Note that this kind of client may make data collection more difficult.
5. Clients who are Contractors who want the model solely as the basis for prefabrication, preparation of shop drawings and analysis of means and methods, and CPM scheduling.
6. Clients who want a highly technical “Smart Sensored” building and want the model to monitor its maintenance supply inventory, energy management and security systems, power drop distribution, lighting conditions, communication and data integrity, air quality, elevator performance, and mechanical system performance after construction.
STEP 8. PICKING YOUR PILOT PROJECT
Morphosis’ Thom Mayne FAIA and this year’s Pritzker prize winner is using 3D modeling for all projects and currently the San Francisco Federal Courthouse that is under construction. With his new capability he is able to develop a model, analyze it, and reevaluate its design in hours. This allows him to make design changes quickly and cost effectively. Thom has said that “Anything you can imagine is possible.” Morphosis primarily uses Triforma for both 3D site infrastructure analysis, masterplanning, and for building modeling, drawings and detail generation.
1. So what is an appropriate project to for you to start with? The answer to this will depend upon how much of this you are willing to bite off and can afford to put together in order to make sure it will be successful and with minimal risk.
2. Another factor is the owner’s commitment, knowledge and comfort level with the Integrated BIM process and with the ultimate construction project delivery method as well as their willingness to commit more funds earlier in the project process to allow for more thorough decision making.
3. The success of your first project is probably more about your firm and the team’s compatibility than the project.
THE PROS AND THE CONS:
1. If you are a Large Firm:
a. A medium or large complicated project that fits the BIM process for all the right reasons with all the right partners is a good candidate but only if you have experience in the project type. Put your best team together for it and use your best contractor and most dependable subcontractors.
b. Stay away from too small a project because your large firm operation and approach will be so unprofitable that it will be a disincentive and not a valid learning exercise.
2. If you are a Mid-sized Firm:
a. Stay away from too large a project to start with because it will be too difficult to keep the risk at a minimum and you don’t want to endanger the firm or its profits.
b. A medium sized, not too complicated project that is a good BIM opportunity for all the right reasons with all the right partners is a good candidate but only if you have experience in the project type.
c. A small sized uncomplicated project that is a safe BIM pilot, considering the learning curve, with all the right partners is a good candidate but consider dedicating a small team of champions to it and convincing your best consultants and your most dependable contractor that it will be good for them too. Don’t look for profits on this one.
3. If you are a Small Firm:
a. Even if you have a solid repeat client, stay away from too large a project to start with because it will be too difficult to keep the risk at a minimum and you don’t want to endanger the firm, its profits, or the client relationship.
b. A small or medium sized, not too complex project that is a good BIM opportunity for all the right reasons with all the right partners is a good candidate but only if you have experience in the project type. Assemble your best team. Don’t look for profits and don’t let it bury you.
4. In all cases treat this as a learning experience, with the intent of training champions - from your firm, your consultants firm, and your team contractor.
5. Joining an owner’s team who already has a contractor that you don’t know anything about will require significant team building and facilitation. Not a good idea to participate if the contractor has not previously done a collaborative BIM project.
6. At all costs, communicate, facilitate, and pay attention to the details; ALL of them.
STEP 9. WHAT ARE YOUR LEGAL CONSTRAINTS - LEAH ROCHWARG, ESQ.
• CONTRACT, LEGAL AND TAX ISSUES:
• PROJECT DELIVERY ISSUES:
• CHANGE AND RISK ISSUES:
• ACCOUNTABILITY ISSUES:
STEP 10. WILL YOU HAVE TO UPGRADE YOUR HARDWARE - LACHMI KHEMLANI, PhD
KEEPING PACE WITH THE FUTURE:
1. Tomorrow’s successful businesses will be driven to improve the quality of their products and services, to adapt to changing markets, and to keep pace with the technological revolution. Design, construction and manufacturing will become closely aligned and I predict that by 2020, over 50% of building assemblies will be custom prefabricated in factories around the globe.
2. Increasingly, owners and tenants are requiring that new buildings be “Smart”, meaning that there is the capability of information exchange through a high bandwidth cabling infrastructure. These micro-processor based controls, located in each building zone, connect all the functional components such as heating, telecom, security, and heating, as well as monitor electricity and other utilities. This allows facility manager to make better decisions that lead to lower energy use and costs. Further, these sensors, tied to the model will eventually monitor air quality, mold, seismic activity, foundation settling and someday even engage corrective measures.
3. The AIA has begun review and re-write of its owner/architect work agreement to support BIM-compatible workflow processes. The AIA’s Master Documents and Contracts will need to be retooled sooner than every ten years to address these changing delivery methods and agreement structures.
4. “There will always be a need for design, but will there always be a need for architects? The only ones who can change this future are the architects themselves. Adopting information technology as a way to communicate, the successful architects will move from traditional ways of doing business to sharing “just-in-time” knowledge, collaborating with team members and stakeholders through a building project lifecycle, and integrating design and construction activities to achieve a shared set of goals.”
STEP 11. SUCCESS STORIES
1. From a recent interview with Marty Doscher, the Technology Director for Morphosis: Marty said: There have been few obstacles within Morphosis to integrate technology. Its hard to miss Thom's enthusiasm for it (it was Thom who was adamant to first bring in the 3Dprinter to the shop, 6 or so years ago) and most of the younger staff already treats it as a given that architectural production is digital, and now model-driven. The manager-level in our office is fairly young- we're all in the 35-45 range, and the spirit has always been to investigate these model-based processes, even while they cause disruptions to existing production processes, and gain benefits by immediately applying them to areas which were suffering under drawing-based delivery. There have been people-related issues, and while not based on the technology, they cause you to adapt the way you implement the change in process. I'd say every context is unique in this regard, since everybody is going to respond differently to requests to change they way they work, and the medium they work in.
2. Regarding collaborative partnerships, Marty offered 3 comments:
a. First, which is where we've had the most success, is with Subcontractors (I say subs because the General Contractor/CM has been mostly back seat in this move towards integration) We've had successful model-based exchange with a myriad of trades though.
b. Second would be across A/E disciplines. We've had had nothing but resistance from our consultants on changing to model-driven delivery. While many engineers make claims about project successes using models to design, even the engineers we work with on a regular basis, none will commit to using it on our projects. Funny but on our last three large projects, the structural model was by Morphosis and the MEP model was by the contractor's subs!
c. Thirdly, the software industry: We are actively working with software developers to steer design tools in the right direction. The tools are far behind our ambitions, and it is important to focus software development in a direction that supports this change in the industry.
3. Webcor Construction’s Jim Bedrick says that they have been using BIM for about 4 years. They create these models from 2D CAD drawings provided by architects, and use them to get quantity takeoffs, visualize schedules, and resolve coordination issues. They have found these models can reduce field rework to almost nothing because the process of construction is worked out thoroughly on the computer model first.
4. According to Russ Sanders of the Orcutt/ Winslow Partnership, “There are BIM tools that actually animate the entire construction process using the model, schedules and cost information. How could a contractor not want this?”
5. Robert Mauck, AIA with Ghafari Associates says 3D modeling has changed their business style using lean thinking and workflow. “The technology part rests with knowing how to exchange 3D model data directly across the design/fabrication/construction supply chain using a time to market advantage and the payback is enormous. He says they use BIM on nearly all their medium to larger projects. On small projects, it depends on complexity, delivery model, schedule, and customer needs.” He is looking forward to being able to use the model for commissioning and asset tracking too.
6. PCL Construction Services’ Shaun Yancey takes a more conservative approach to the use of BIM, saying “In Reality, until all the subtrade community adopts this modeling approach, PCL will continue to rely on dual paper and electronic systems.”
7. The Dallas based architectural firm of Good Fulton & Farrell says that with the new technologies, they have “streamlined the development, review, and management of thousands of construction project documents, cut document management costs by 85%, reduced printer and handling expenses and created tighter relationships with clients that speed and improve service delivery.”
DELIVERING SUCCESS TO YOUR FIRM:
1. As defined here, an “extraordinary outcome” begins with design, requires talent, tenacity and technology, and includes:
a. High economic and energy performance over the Life cycle of the building
b. The speed at which the building can be brought on line
c. The best fit for all users needs over the life of the building and
d. A healthy and safe environment for all users
2. Develop a new integrated practice business structure based on the use of advanced technology:
a. The new model will provide a collaborative framework that protects both the legal and commercial interests of the major stakeholders without sacrificing those of the owner-customer.
b. Integrated Practice simply uses technology to enable just in time information sharing that will minimize conflicts and maximize consistency through early and easy to access knowledge sharing. Once knowledge is accessible to all stakeholders they can function as high performance teams that collaborate on activities and decision making to attain exceptional results and mutual advantages.
c. Integrated Project Teams are rewarded with recognition, profit, and prestige. Overall, the Owner gains greater value, pays less, and gets the building faster with fewer changes and disputes.
3. Make the owner-customer (from whom all business flows) happy and satisfied and this will lead to a more profitable and satisfying professional career.
4. Use BIM software that provides graphic tools to make visualization, drawings and their revisions faster and more efficient.
5. Deliver the virtual model to the subtrades for accurate pricing, preparation of shop and fabrication drawings, and for reference during construction. This will almost eliminate RFI’s and Change Orders.
COPYRIGHT © 2006 BY PHILIP J. BONA
Recent Comments