The intro session is coming up soon…click here to find out more and Register.

What is Build SA?
“a series of seminars run throughout 2015 with a focus on bridging the gap between what BIM promises and how it is actually delivered on projects in South Australia. BuildSA will give industry leading and proven workflow solutions for anyone interested in getting the most out of BIM…”

Detailed and informative article re-published on AHDC (Australian Health Design Council) website. Quote (underlining is mine):
Managing the technology 
The post-occupancy incorporation of building data into an existing system long has been a tedious and error-prone process that now can be automated via the model’s geometry and data, if structured and formatted correctly. Health facility managers are seeing the value of BIM by integrating it into their existing computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) and computer-aided facility management (CAFM) systems as well as energy or building management systems and electronic document management systems. By not limiting the application of BIM to simply a technology-to-technology interaction, the realistic outcomes that can be achieved by this type of workflow become evident. Often considered low-hanging fruit is BIM’s ability to integrate into a space management system. BIM applications such as San Rafael, Calif.-based Autodesk Inc.’s Revit Architecture are capable of tracking building spaces and easily categorizing that information into departmental areas as well as floor-to-floor or building-by-building breakdowns across a larger medical campus in both graphical and schedule-based interfaces. 

Also:
In its simplest terms, a model’s power to visualize space can contribute to staff and patient recruitment… BIM also can work to improve visitor wayfinding.

And the experience of Ohio State University and its 2D to 3D conversion for FM:
OSU began creating 3-D models of all the medical center buildings, helping the facilities team to understand its buildings and collaborate more effectively with the people who use them. OSU also has started using BIM in energy-use analysis and it is poised to play a key role in helping OSU to achieve its goal of being carbon neutral by 2050.

Now that the medical center has been modeled, BIM is allowing the university’s facility management group to support general space reporting and to mock up spaces in greater detail for more informed decision-making processes and for future project funding. Due to the success of the initiative, OSU decided to extend the BIM program to its main campus.
“The core benefit of BIM for us comes down to being able to make better, more cost-effective decisions faster,” says Joe Porostosky, senior manager of facilities information and technology services for OSU. “Ultimately, our facilities better meet the needs of users without as much time-consuming back-and-forth and expensive rework.”

Source:
BIM’s Role Expands as Health Facility Managers Take Ownership | Australian Health Design Council

 

Heads-up:

I have posted about the Autodesk BIM Curriculum before, but it is worth mentioning again. It is a great collection of resources, videos, whitepapers, downloadables, and targeted lessons that can help improve your understanding and ability when it comes to specific BIM tasks.

For example, there is a focused set of lessons relating to quantity takeoff in Revit and Navisworks.

Some of these videos have also been uploaded to Youtube. Here is a playlist:

Main lesson page:
Lesson 3: Model-Based Estimating and Quantity Takeoff | BIM Curriculum

Check out the survey results from Design Master Software – interesting that 2/3 using Revit over AutoCAD:

And how does MEP industry take-up of BIM compare with what was expected in 2011?

As with any such survey, its value must be regulated by the question:  
“Do the survey respondents represent an accurate cross-section of the industry itself?”

Read more:
MEP 3D-BIM 2014 Survey Results – Design Master Blog

Happily, it is becoming less and less common that we have to actually justify why we do BIM.

But if you do, Daniel Hughes has put together an interesting list based on his experience:
“Here’s my list of the ten best process features in Revit; that can offer the biggest Return On Investment (ROI) in the initial phase of Revit implementation.

  1. Automatic Sheet set Management and Tag Coordination
  2. Automated Floor Planning Tools
  3. All Model & Sheet Views Update When the Revit Model is Edited
  4. Annotation Graphics Resize Based on View Scale
  5. Power of Parametric Dimensioning
  6. Pre-built Building Product Manufacturer Model Libraries
  7. Building Schedules SynchronizeAuto-Update With Model Changes
  8. Views: Independent & Automated Visibility Controls
  9. Multiple people can simultaneously Access and Edit the Project File
  10. Link DWG Files Into Revit Project”

Read the whole post at:
http://bradleybim.com/2014/06/03/revit-implementation-secrets-10-best-revit-process-features/

In a recent Twitter experiment, I posted three different opinions of BIM and have been monitoring the response through Retweets. Here are the results (as these are embedded tweets, the results will change over time).

The results thus far appear to be overwhelmingly positive – that BIM is indeed “awesome”. I guess the majority of my Twitter followers are, unsurprisingly, supporters of BIM.

I’ll keep this page live as a checkpoint for the statistics – it will be interesting to drop in from time to time and see if the results change as more people from outside my Twitter circle weigh in on this BIM thing…