So, I obviously got sidetracked - I was expecting to post every couple weeks, and now I'm looking at a couple months since I started this thing! Well, everyone always says I go at my own pace...
So, as promised, here's a little intro to "that 'BIM' thing" for the uninitiated.
First, you pronounce the acronym as a word, not as three separate letters. That's all I'm going to say on that subject. Next, BIM actually stands for a couple things, and depending on how you look at it, there's Big BIM and little bim (starting to sound like a Dr. Seuss book, you say?), or Social BIM and Lonely BIM as my boss puts it. So first, the disambiguation of the acronym:
Building
Information
Model(-ing/-er)
Sounds cool, eh? The basic premise requires a little background, which I'll get into later. Essentially, you build the building virtually before you do it physically, and embed info into the computer model. Walls understand that they're walls, roofs know they're roofs, doors are attached to walls, and so on. This digital model of the building enables enhanced coordination and collaboration between the people involved in a building project, and when everyone plays nice it can enable a higher quality product at a lower price and in less time (the magic triangle of which before only two options were possible at the expense of the third). Basically, it offers the potential of a more integrated understanding of the project to flow between design, construction and operation.
Essentially, Building Information Modeling is a collaborative process, during which a Building Information Model, a digital thing, is generated using a Building Information Modeler(s), the tool(s). Now, the mistake is to think it ends there.
However, I was very deliberate in the order in which I placed that explanation - I went from greater importance to lesser. The process is the most important thing - it's a whole mental shift, a paradigm shift in the industry (again, more on that later - all part of the in-depth background). The digital model is what enables this process, and the tools help to create the model. The tools will change with time, which is why focusing on them will make you miss the big picture. The model by itself may have only limited potential and use, if each user is only focused on their immediate benefit. The process of collaborating, working together and getting over the divisions in the industry is what makes that model most useful, and pushes the whole thing to its full potential.
So, now I've either lost you, or you're waiting with baited breath for more (or this is all old hat to you and you find my writing style somewhat entertaining, I hope...). However, this post has gotten rather lengthy already, so I think I will save the in-depth discussion for the next post. So until then (which won't be two months again - I already started it), I will bid you adieu and good evening.
