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Virtual construction & technology
When you hear the phrase “model behavior,” you may think of fashion or mentors rather than construction sites. However, building models, which are created using building information modeling (BIM) software, can be the key to quickly resolving design and construction challenges before they become expensive, time-consuming problems.
Simply having a model is no guarantee that a project will go smoothly. You must know what to do with the information available and how to coordinate it. The people, processes and technologies associated with leveraging BIM and other digital components for the betterment of a project are commonly referred to as VDC (Virtual Design and Construction). This encompasses a wide range of workflows from laser scanning to drones that can help build a project virtually before it is built in the field. The promise of BIM can only be realized when it is surrounded by a collaborative team with well-defined workflows and a shared interest in the project’s overall success. Unfortunately, from my experience, our industry doesn’t always embrace the full potential these workflows can provide. As the leader of Pepper’s VDC services, it’s my goal to ensure that our services are optimized with our clients’ best interests in mind.
What does this look like in our industry today?
Let’s take a look at the current state of VDC in our industry at a high level and then dive into some specifics. VDC implementation on a standard project today might look something like this:
Most members of the design team work in Revit but some do not. Existing conditions are shown based on unverified as-built information. The design team may have someone reviewing models for coordination and generating clash reports for their team to resolve.
Meanwhile, the contractor is reviewing the drawings that come from those models about every other month to provide cost estimates. Once subcontractors are awarded, the contractor will begin a model-based MEP-coordination process and, for the first time, start reviewing design-team models, identifying issues and working to resolve them with their trade partners. As construction begins, the team will identify unknown existing conditions that could result in redesigns. This can force both the design team and the contractor to defend their own interests rather than collaborate for their clients.
In this scenario, a few glaring things are missing.
- The design team and contractor are each leveraging the model in their own silo.
- No one has challenged industry standards for how existing conditions are captured and accounted for during the design phase.
- There has been no effort to develop a custom, collaborative and mutually beneficial VDC plan for the project.
It is likely that the design team and the contractor would both say, “We are utilizing BIM.” But has the project and the client really gained the full value that VDC could bring to this project? I would say they definitely have not.
What happens when we get it right?
I’ve had the privilege of working on a lot of projects where the team has gotten this right. Let’s look at a couple examples.
Accounting for Existing Conditions and Site Logistics During design
On the Purdue Mitch Daniels School of Business project, we collaborated with our design partner to develop a gameplan for how we could leverage VDC workflows to account for existing conditions, site logistics and sequencing during the design phase. While the design was still progressing and construction was more than a year away, we performed an onsite investigation of existing utilities by exposing them, surveying and modeling them and providing that information to the design team to inform the design of new site utilities. We also performed a 3D laser scan of the existing site and surrounding building to pinpoint exact relationships between the new building, site and adjacent buildings. Finally, we developed a sequenced 3D model of all the site logistics and phasing components of the project, including shoring, cranes, excavations and public safety protection plans. BSA then leveraged that information to help inform their design and we continued an ongoing design coordination effort until construction documents were complete.
Measure Twice, Cut Once
Early in the process on two concurrent vertical expansion projects for IU Health, the team identified the importance of ensuring design and fabrication drawings for the structural steel were perfectly aligned with existing conditions. If dimensions were off, correcting those mistakes could have significant cost and schedule impacts. We knew that basing the steel design solely on the as-builts was not going to result in a successful outcome.
Instead, we worked with the design teams for each project to come up with the following multi-step approach that would begin early in the design phase:
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