Applying and advancing Building Information Modeling (BIM)

A lot of people, said Bachmann, think of BIM as just a 3D model.

“Yes, it’s building information modeling, but it’s basically information management. If you click on the properties inside that model you can see that this thing knows it’s mechanical equipment. It knows that it’s a fan. It knows its spatial relationships, so it knows that it’s on level three in room 305.”

It starts with the graphical model but builds quickly to include non-graphical components in an effort to be made useful by integrating into a building management system post-construction.

Lifecycle Adoption

Another component not to be overlooked, Bachmann explained, is that BIMs are living things. An edit in the BIM needs to persist as an edit in all connected docs. For those of you also wondering how the BIM lives on post-delivery and into building operations, check out the recording and be sure to stick around for the Q&A.

But before you go throwing all the bits of data you’ve got into your model, it’s critical to understand the total lifecycle adoption plan for the model.

“We need a digital brief,” Bachmann offered. “And that digital brief needs to incorporate and explain to us what digitally needs to be delivered as part of this project.”

And doing this is quite a big ordeal, he says, because of everyone on the client side who needs to be involved. 

“It’s not just the capital expenditure team that needs to decide this.” 

It’s OPEX and CAPEX together and there’s a typical back and forth to determine the BIM use cases and define the data that really needs to be available in the model, from all sides. 

Customers looking to create a BIM for their asset need to consider their business drivers. Bachmann offered a few:

“Is it zero carbon? Is it the fact that you want to run your facilities more efficiently? Is it ESG reporting at a high level to organize and manage assets?”

Then it gets into the nitty gritty details of determining what systems to include, what specific information you must have. The ISO standard is a helpful starting point, Bachmann noted without (thankfully) diving into the alphabet soup of acronyms and terms used to help create structure around these efforts.

BIM vs. Digital Twin

Bachmann admits there is a lot of crossover between BIM and Digital Twins (as they’ve come to be defined thus far in the marketplace). 

“I think that this idea of gathering within a smart building all the information about what’s happening in the facility [plus] the spatial relationship to [that information] it starts to move towards what my understanding of a digital twin is, which is that a digital twin is trying to solve [for] understanding a facility holistically - to understand everything in the past and present and be able to predict the future in the context of what’s happening now, in 3D.”

He cautioned that focusing on the 3D or graphical elements of the models, either BIM or Digital Twin, will be to the detriment of operational users. 

“I don’t think you’re going to be clicking on things in a 3D model trying to shut them off.”

But, Bachmann and others on the call conceded, the graphical components are what excite the executive teams so it’s likely to continue to be an area focus for developers of BIM and Digital Twin software.

The existential questions for BIM models are clear to everyone on the operations side, and to Bachmann too. 

“What will the FM team use the BIM model for when it’s delivered?” 

While the non-graphical information is likely the portion more relevant to operational teams, “does that mean you throw the 3D model away?”

If it’s procured in support of a larger organizational asset management strategy, Bachmann thinks either component can live on to be useful to Facility Managers and the systems they use to run their buildings. An interesting discussion around operationalizing the BIM ensued, with Nexus Pro members sharing the challenges they’re experiencing with BIM post-construction. Watch the recording for that dynamic discussion, and keep your eyes peeled for details on the next SME workshop.

A lot of people, said Bachmann, think of BIM as just a 3D model.

“Yes, it’s building information modeling, but it’s basically information management. If you click on the properties inside that model you can see that this thing knows it’s mechanical equipment. It knows that it’s a fan. It knows its spatial relationships, so it knows that it’s on level three in room 305.”

It starts with the graphical model but builds quickly to include non-graphical components in an effort to be made useful by integrating into a building management system post-construction.

Lifecycle Adoption

Another component not to be overlooked, Bachmann explained, is that BIMs are living things. An edit in the BIM needs to persist as an edit in all connected docs. For those of you also wondering how the BIM lives on post-delivery and into building operations, check out the recording and be sure to stick around for the Q&A.

But before you go throwing all the bits of data you’ve got into your model, it’s critical to understand the total lifecycle adoption plan for the model.

“We need a digital brief,” Bachmann offered. “And that digital brief needs to incorporate and explain to us what digitally needs to be delivered as part of this project.”

And doing this is quite a big ordeal, he says, because of everyone on the client side who needs to be involved. 

“It’s not just the capital expenditure team that needs to decide this.” 

It’s OPEX and CAPEX together and there’s a typical back and forth to determine the BIM use cases and define the data that really needs to be available in the model, from all sides. 

Customers looking to create a BIM for their asset need to consider their business drivers. Bachmann offered a few:

“Is it zero carbon? Is it the fact that you want to run your facilities more efficiently? Is it ESG reporting at a high level to organize and manage assets?”

Then it gets into the nitty gritty details of determining what systems to include, what specific information you must have. The ISO standard is a helpful starting point, Bachmann noted without (thankfully) diving into the alphabet soup of acronyms and terms used to help create structure around these efforts.

BIM vs. Digital Twin

Bachmann admits there is a lot of crossover between BIM and Digital Twins (as they’ve come to be defined thus far in the marketplace). 

“I think that this idea of gathering within a smart building all the information about what’s happening in the facility [plus] the spatial relationship to [that information] it starts to move towards what my understanding of a digital twin is, which is that a digital twin is trying to solve [for] understanding a facility holistically - to understand everything in the past and present and be able to predict the future in the context of what’s happening now, in 3D.”

He cautioned that focusing on the 3D or graphical elements of the models, either BIM or Digital Twin, will be to the detriment of operational users. 

“I don’t think you’re going to be clicking on things in a 3D model trying to shut them off.”

But, Bachmann and others on the call conceded, the graphical components are what excite the executive teams so it’s likely to continue to be an area focus for developers of BIM and Digital Twin software.

The existential questions for BIM models are clear to everyone on the operations side, and to Bachmann too. 

“What will the FM team use the BIM model for when it’s delivered?” 

While the non-graphical information is likely the portion more relevant to operational teams, “does that mean you throw the 3D model away?”

If it’s procured in support of a larger organizational asset management strategy, Bachmann thinks either component can live on to be useful to Facility Managers and the systems they use to run their buildings. An interesting discussion around operationalizing the BIM ensued, with Nexus Pro members sharing the challenges they’re experiencing with BIM post-construction. Watch the recording for that dynamic discussion, and keep your eyes peeled for details on the next SME workshop.