Wouldn’t it be great if you could just push the F5 key and your freshly captured point cloud would automatically generate a fully populated BIM model? Then you could start what you really wanted to do:: check and resolve design clashes, exercise energy analysis codes to optimize power consumption (LEED Platinum?) and sequence construction operations so that MEP trades don’t trip over themselves.
You could also get the non-technical people – the ones who can’t read drawings but write the checks, engaged enough to make the decisions you need them to make — and keep the project on schedule. If you’re the PM, you might sleep better knowing that at least some of the project risk was contained –that you hadn’t bet your career on some musty old drawings or some pretty pictures conjured up by a dreamy designer. If you’re the owner’s rep, you might feel better knowing that the contingency reserve might be protected from budget- and schedule-busting RFIs.
Sorry Virginia, there’s no F5 button. But the tools and workflows to get to BIM from scan data are a whole lot better than they were a year ago. And in many instances, it’s not necessary to model everything. Selective modeling for clash detection can deliver 80% of the benefit for 20% of the cost. To mangle former Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King, “modeling if necessary, but not necessarily modeling.”
There’s work out there. A lot of it is going to the organizations that have their scanning and BIM act together.
Here’s what we have coming up at SPAR 2010 in Houston. Make no mistake, scan-to-BIM is real, it’s here and you can start immediately.
Richard Gee, Region 5 BIM Champion, U.S. General Services Administration and Robert Mauck, Vice President, Virtual Design & Construction, GHAFARI Associates will detail how scan-to-Revit model data and work flows were significantly improved for over 1 million square feet of Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago using Cyclone, EdgeWise and IFCs.
Tina Murphy, Project Engineer, HNTB Corporation will present on how HNTB used laser scanning to identify clashes for a revamp of a 32MGD water treatment plant.
Quantapoint Founder Eric Hoffman will present a case study on integrating nearly 2000 scans with Revit directly to allow visual and dimensional verification of the BIM model.
Dale Stenning, Operations Manager, Hoffman Construction, will present case studies from recent projects integrating scan data and BIM.
Josh Oakley, BIM Manager, The Beck Group, will present on how his firm is getting increased accuracy, condensed bid variance, schedule reduction, less rework and improved quality control by using 3D imaging to generate BIM databases.
Optira CEO Mitch Schefcik will detail how his firm has integrated BIM models with IBM’s MAXIMO maintenance management solution.
HKS‘s Manager, Advanced Technologies, Pat Carmichael and Scott Cedarleaf, Provide Solutions LLC will present current case studies on BIM benefits for general contractors.
Deke Smith, Executive Director, buildingSMART alliance will introduce the work of the National Institute of Building Sciences to implement interoperability standards for building information models.
