Browsing by Subject "Building Information Modeling"
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Item A Case Study of the Use of BIM and Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) for Facility Management(2012-10-19) Jawadekar, SalilThis study investigates the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and COBie for Facility Management on three projects where these concepts were used. Factors which affect these concepts are identified through a literature review. The study is divided into the sections of Responsibility for database formulation, Characteristics of database, Technology and Effect on work order response times. A qualitative analysis is conducted to study the application of these concepts and identify any problems encountered. A case study is conducted on three projects where BIM and COBie were used for facility management. It is found that though the database generated by using these concepts is useful for preventive maintenance, the data gathering and formulation process needs to be started during the design and construction phase to make use of BIM for facility management functions like space allocation, 3D mapping, building automation etc. This study can be used as a reference for further research based on quantitative analysis of the factors studied in the case study.Item BIM Principles to Practice: Using BIM to Create a New Model for Producing Animation(2012-02-14) Naugle, Nicholas D.Computer animation projects, specifically feature film productions, require large teams of artists to manage and coordinate the use of enormous amounts of data containing both aesthetic and technical information within a specific time frame and while using finite resources. Mismanagement through information loss or inefficiency can result in both a compromised artistic vision and a financial loss. This thesis presents the conceptualization of a work management system based upon a successful system used in architecture and construction called Building Information Modeling, or BIM. BIM principles are adapted for use in animation production through the use of images as containers of information. The thesis does not include implementation of the management system described but does predict, based upon comparisons with architecture and construction, that a significant level of information carry-through can be achieved from concept art to final frames and we expect a positive gains in the efficient use of production resources. Adoption of this proposed project management structure could reduce production budgets, improve the communication flow between directors and artists, and develop an empirical based record for predicting the resource usage requirements for proposed projects in the future.Item Contemporary Strategies for Sustainable Design(2013-04-05) Farias, FranciscoThis exploratory research examined the degree of adoption and impact of the concepts of Building Information Model (BIM), Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), Integrated Design Process (IDP) and Building Energy Simulation (BES) on the design processes of advanced architectural firms when executing sustainable design. Six offices identified by the press for a strong commitment to sustainable design and influence in the design of high performance buildings were selected as cases. In semi-standardized interviews, these firms presented their perceptions of the influence of BIM, BES, and IPD/IDP. The results show that a generalization of sustainable design processes is possible. A design process for sustainability (DEPROSU) model was created by collecting best practices from data gathered from the interviews and the critical literature review. Secondary contributions show that BIM, IDP/IPD and BES have a synergistic effect in sustainable design methods, and that the human resource profile from these firms has evolved towards multi-skilled professionals knowledgeable in BES, BIM, parametric design, sustainability and construction processes. This research provides evidence of commonalities found in the design processes of the selected firms. These commonalities, which have been represented in the DEPROSU model, can potentially be validated as protocols or standards for sustainable design, providing architectural design practices with concrete patterns for improvement and or validation of their design methods.Item Empirical Study of MacroBIM and Conceptual Estimation(2011-08-08) Gajbhiye, Anand DhanrajBuilding Information Modeling (BIM) has set up a mark in the construction industry over a decade. In order to gain benefit of BIM in estimating the project cost at the early stage of construction with the limited data available, a new concept of MacroBIM has been introduced in the industry. However, limited amount of research has been implemented to determine how MacroBIM has been accepted in the construction industry. Most research was focused on the accuracy of the conceptual estimation. This research attempted to determine the effectiveness of MacroBIM process applied at early stages of construction for conceptual cost estimation. Experts from the discipline of architecture, contractor and owners were interviewed and their professional opinions on MacroBIM were analyzed using grounded theory. The results show that, compared to the traditional conceptual estimating process, MacroBIM is an effective method for 1) saving labor hours, 2) conveying assumptions with the help of its visualization capabilities, 3) enhancing the collaboration among the project participants, and 4) evaluating multiple design scenarios. However, fear of using MacroBIM and trust in its outcome existed among some contractors, architects, and owners because this technology has not matured yet. Moreover, the need of interoperability between the MacroBIM tools and MicroBIM tools, such as Revit, has also surfaced in the study.Item Immersive Representation of Building Information Model(2012-07-16) Nseir, HussamBuilding Information Modeling (BIM) is an emerging technology that utilizes 3D graphical representations to improve communication, collaboration, and data exchange. Immersive Visualization Environment (IVE) is another promising technology that enhances the 3D graphical representation to achieve a higher level of a sense of presence. The connection between the BIM technology that utilizes the 3D graphical representation and the IVE technology that enhances the 3D graphical representation has led many professionals to visualize BIM in immersive environments. This study is an attempt to overcome a systematic issue presented by available immersive visualization systems. The problem is that in order to visualize an information-rich BIM model from a commercial BIM application in an immersive visualization environment, the BIM model needs to pass through a tough conversion process and loss a large amount of its information. This research study utilizes the Application Programming Interface (API) of a commercially available BIM application to develop an immersive visualization environment. This approach was applied on Autodesk Navisworks software by developing a software program that utilizes Navisworks' API to control Navisworks' camera angle and generate an immersive visualization environment. A prototype of the approach was built in the Department of Construction Science at Texas A & M University and named BIM CAVE Prototype. The overall goal of this research was to prove that it is possible to transform a commercial BIM application into an immersive visualization system. A phenomenological study was utilized by interviewing subject matter experts from the construction industry. The intent of this effort was to explore and develop a phenomenological understanding of how research participants perceived the BIM CAVE system. The results show that the BIM CAVE can be considered an immersive visualization environment because it contains a majority of the immersive visualization environment features. However, a variety of technical limitations must be overcome before it can be called a fully immersive and functional visualization environment. Moreover, even though this investigation was to some extent successful, this research approach needs to be tested on other commercially available BIM applications before generalizations are made.Item Immersive Virtual Reality System Using BIM Application With Extended Vertical Field Of View(2012-10-19) Ganapathi Subramanian, AdithyaBuilding Information Modeling (BIM) model contains information about structural, architectural, MEP (Mechanical Electrical and Plumbing) and other numerous components of a building. Among these components, MEP constitutes about 50% of the project cost, and its design is relatively more complex because of the limited headroom available to locate these components. The coordination of these systems involves locating and routing several subcomponents in a manner that satisfies different types of constraints. The earlier version of BIM Computer Aided Virtual Environment (CAVE) did not have provisions to show the overhead components of a BIM model. Conventionally, models had to be tilted to visualize the overhead components. The process of tilting the models to look up is considered counterintuitive. Some of the popular CAVEs developed by leading Universities have a screen on top to show the overhead components but they have a major shortcoming with them. The BIM models had to be converted to a specific format before they can be visualized in the CAVE environments. This study is an attempt to address the shortcomings of the previous version of the BIM CAVE by suggesting a prototype setup with a 55" LCD screen on top of the existing three vertically placed LCD screens. The addition of one more screen on top increases the vertical field of view, that is, the extent to which the user can see vertically in a BIM model. The new BIM CAVE setup is run by a custom built application that makes use of the .Net API (Application Programming Interface) of the commercially available BIM application, Autodesk Navisworks 2012, to control the camera views for achieving an almost seamless semi-immersive virtual environment. The main objective of this research is to validate the effectiveness of the new setup suggested by using a qualitative research methodology called phenomenological study. Semi-structured informal interviews were conducted with the subject matter experts (SMEs) who are experienced in the field of BIM to know about the differences in the user experience after adding a screen on top of the earlier BIM CAVE setup. The main idea behind this qualitative research technique is to develop an understanding of how the SMEs perceived the idea of looking up to see the overhead components of the BIM model. This thesis explains the steps followed to develop the modified BIM CAVE setup in detail and findings of the qualitative study to know about the effectiveness of the suggested new setup.Item The impact of delivery methods on the profitibility of commercial construction(2011-12) Herndon, Michael Brett; Nichols, Steven Parks, 1950-; McCann, Robert B.According to September 2011 information from the U.S. Census Bureau, the construction industry in the United States is valued at nearly eight hundred billion dollars annually. A 2004 collaborative study by Construction Industry Institute and Lean Construction Institute suggests that as much as fifty seven percent of time, effort, and material investment in construction projects do not add value to the final product. When compared with twenty six percent wastes in the manufacturing industry, it becomes obvious that the construction industry has a problem. Construction projects that come in over budget and behind schedule have become the rule rather than the exception, leading to contentious business relationships and costly litigation. This study will strive to identify and analyze the primary sources of these problems. Research and industry experience point to a lack of communication and cooperation among the various entities required to complete a construction project as the leading causes of waste in the industry. Further analysis suggests that traditional forms of construction contracts encourage adversarial and non-cooperative behavior between parties. Additionally, poor communication between various contributors opens the door for additional wasted cost. Fortunately, the development of tools such as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) present new options to construction professionals that are proving to help address some of the challenges the industry faces today. IPD as a project delivery method creates a culture of collaboration and teamwork, where a culture of risk avoidance and conflict once stood, while BIM provides a platform for better communication among parties. When used together, these tools can reduce or eliminate many of the major sources of waste within the industry. This thesis will provide descriptions, analysis, and case studies that demonstrate the use of these tools and the potential they have to make a positive impact on the construction industry.Item Integrating Building Information Modeling with Object-Oriented Physical Modeling for Building Thermal Simulation(2014-09-05) Jeong, Woon SeongThis study presents a Building Information Modeling (BIM) to Building Energy Modeling (BEM) translation framework (BIM2BEM) through the integration of BIM with Object-Oriented Physical Modeling (OOPM) for building thermal simulation to support sustainable building design. A Model View Definition (MVD) is used as a data modeling methodology to assist BIM2BEM, and an application of BIM2BEM is demonstrated by visualizing energy performance in BIM. The framework of BIM2BEM is made of a system interface between BIM and OOPM-based BEM (ModelicaBEM). The interface consists of the following two major phases: (1) pre-processing BIM models to add required thermal parameters into BIM and generate the building topology, and (2) translating BIM to ModelicaBEM automatically and running the thermal simulation. Finally, a case study was conducted to demonstrate and validate the simulation results. The MVD enables efficient model translation consisting of a process model and a class diagram. The process model demonstrates the object-mapping process from BIM to ModelicaBEM and facilitates the definition of required information during the model translation process. The class diagram represents the object information and object relationships for producing the software tool for automatic model translation. In order to demonstrate and validate the approach, simulation result comparisons have been conducted for three test cases, each having two models: (1) the BIM-based Modelica model (ModelicaBEM) generated using the framework, and (2) the model manually created using Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory?s Modelica Buildings library. The results show that the framework: (1) enables BIM models to be translated into ModelicaBEM models, (2) enables system interface development based on the MVD for thermal simulation, and (3) facilitates the reuse of the original BIM data for building energy simulation without an import/export process. The visualization application enables visualizing building energy simulation results in BIM for designers to better understand the relationship between design decisions and the building performances. This new application lets architects use BIM as a common user interface for building design and performance visualization.Item Study of Possible Applications of Currently Available Building Information Modeling Tools for the Analysis of Initial Costs and Energy Costs for Performing Life Cycle Cost Analysis(2011-02-22) Mukherji, Payal TapandevThe cost of design, construction and maintenance of facilities is on continual rise. The demand is to construct facilities which have been designed by apply life cycle costing principles. These principles have already given strong decision making power to the manufacturing industry. The need to satisfy the environmental sustainability requirements, improve operational effectiveness of buildings and apply value engineering principles has increased the dependency on life cycle costing analysis. The objective is to obtain economically viable solutions by analyzing the alternatives during the design of a building. Though the LCCA process is able to give the desired results, it does have some problems which have stood as hindrances to the more widespread use of the LCCA concept and method. The literature study has highlighted that the problem areas are the lack of frameworks or mechanisms for collecting and storing data and the complexity of LCCA exercise, which involves the analysis of a thousand of building elements and a number of construction-type options and maintenance activities for each building element at detailed design stages. Building Information Modeling has been able to repeatedly answer the questions raised by the AEC industry. The aim of this study is to identify the areas where BIM can be effectively applied to the LCCA process and become a part of the workflow. In this study, initially four LCCA case studies are read and evaluated from the point of view of understanding the method in which the life cycle costing principles have been applied. The purpose, the type alternatives examined, the process of analysis, the type of software used and the results are understood. An attempt has been carried out to understand the workflow of the LCCA process. There is a confidence that Building Information Modeling is capable of handling changes during the design, construction and maintenance phases of the project. Since applying changes to any kind of information of the building during LCC analysis forms the core, it has become necessary to use computer building models for examining these changes. The building modeling softwares are enumerated. The case studies have highlighted that the evaluation of the alternatives are primarily to achieve energy efficient solutions for the buildings. Applying these solutions involves high initial costs. The return on investment is the means by which these solutions become viable to the owners of the facilities. This is where the LCCA has been applied. Two of the important cost elements of the LCC analysis are initial costs and the operating costs of the building. The collaboration of these modeling tools with other estimating software where the initial costs of the building can be generated is studied. The functions of the quantity take-off tools and estimating tools along with the interoperability between these tools are analyzed. The operating costs are generated from the software that focuses on sustainability. And the currently used tools for performing the calculations of the life cycle costing analysis are also observed. The objective is to identify if the currently available BIM tools and software can help in obtaining LCCA results and are able to offset the hindrances of the process. Therefore, the software are studied from the point of view of ease of handling data and the type of data that can be generated. Possible BIM workflows are suggested depending on the functions of the software and the relationship between them. The study has aimed at taking a snapshot the current tools available which can aid the LCCA process. The research is of significance to the construction industry as it forms a precursor to the application of Building Information Modeling to the LCCA process as it shows that it has the capacity of overcoming the obstacles for life cycle costing. This opens a window to the possibility of applying BIM to LCCA and furthering this study.