BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION: Research and Detailed Analysis For Potential Implementation

BIM ( uilding nformation
Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:
RESEARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION
UNIVERSITY OF THESSALYDEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE, VOLOS, GREECE
Chatziandreou Dimitra Kostopoulou Maria Aliki supervisor: Vassilis Bourdakis DIPLOMA THESIS, OCTOBER 2012
BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

RESEARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First we would like to thank our supervisor Mr V. Bourdakis for his willingness to undertake us as students and for his continuous help both during our research and after its completion, to every attempt related to it- Startup Weekend in Volos, Australasian Conference on Innovative Technologies in ConstructionFrom Building Information Modeling to Beyond. To our teacher Mr Farid Mokhtar Noriega, who was the first to introduce us to the concept of BIM during our ERASMUS studies in the Universidad Camilo Jose Cela, and who provided us with all the bibliography referred in the index. To the architects Kimon Onuma and Finith Jernigan who helped us understand the roots of BIM right form the beginning through their on-line interviews in July 2011. To the architects who gave us their opinion about the current state of BIM in Greece through their personal interviews- Kimon Onuma, Finith Jernigan, Polixronis Loulakis, Mathaios Papavasiliou, Vassilis Gastis. Finally, special thanks to the rest of our teachers, to our families and to all the friends that helped and supported us during our studies and keep doing it.
PROLOGUE
Building Information Modelling (BIM). This is a concept we didnt know before starting to think about our thesis theme. At first, we were curious to discover what it is about and why we had never heard about it before. After a quick overview, BIM seems to be the ideal way of designing and constructing. Its basic concepts deal with information and data storage and management as well as the automation of processes. There were, though, some questions that still need to be answered. Does this complete automation eliminate architectural creativity and innovation? Can doing BIM from the first day of the design process be risky? BIM has already started to be implemented in the USA and some European countries, but its not widely known in Greece yet. Could it be implemented and beneficial for Greek architects and the Greek construction industry? These are some of the questions we wanted to examine in our research. So, we started by studying BIM, learning its basic concepts, being aware of what occurs nowadays in relation to it, in order to create a sufficiently complete overview that would help us answer our questions. We also had the chance to interview two American architects who are leaders in BIM worldwide and three construction professionals from Greece who practice architecture using digital design tools and software. Combining the feedback we got from them with all the information we gathered [from books, articles, papers, etc.], we managed to form a more comprehensive and complete opinion of BIM, the possible ways it could be implemented and its possible future in Greece. The research we present below consists of two parts. The first part is a detailed analysis of BIM, its aspects and all the related concepts, using the information we gathered from our bibliography and interviews. The second part is an examination of BIMs implementation in Greece. Unfortunately, as BIM is not yet well known in Greece, we didnt find any Greek bibliography, so that part was written using feedback from the three architects we interviewed and our own critical thinking. Finally, our intention was never to embrace BIM unconditionally. We strongly believe that every new idea has its positive and negative aspects. A critical way of thinking combined with the ability to remain realistic can lead to evolutionary and functional solutions. This is what we have tried to do in this research. Our goal was to find alternative ways of implementing BIM both generally and in Greece. In order to make a step forward, we have tried to implement the knowledge we gained from this research in our thesis project. We designed a wall segment that incorporates the principals of BIM and its goal is to be used in preserved buildings in order to eliminate the space loss that usually occurs in the rehabilitation of old buildings and to automate the process. It is able to be controlled automatically and with a variety of functions, it responds to the needs of the standard office buildings introducing at the same time a new method of space control. Based upon the building of Kitrini Apothiki in the city of Volos in Greece, it may be the first attempt to incorporate BIM techniques in design in a Greek context.

p.1 INTRODUCTION

/general overview /interviewed architects presentation
p. 2
BIM (until today) THE TERM OF BIM
/Building Information Modelling /Building Information Model /IPD /BIM and IPD
INTEROPERABILITY

/the concept /until today /the way to be achieved
COLLABORATION THE TIMELINE OF BIM

/the leadership
INDEX
EXISTING PROBLEMS & DEMANDS

/the effect of the economical collapse /CAD files characteristics /advantages of BIM over former 2D, 3D approaches /what is BIM trying to achieve /misconceptions about BIM & risks /changes in the workflow /BENEFITS: Construction industry, long-term, architects, owners /EVOLUTION: Design, construction, relationship, buildings lifecycle
DIFFERENCES CAD BIM
BENEFITS / EVOLUTIONS
p. 13
BIM TODAY
/general overview /the use of technology /existing software /softwares efficiency /training
CONCEPTS & SYSTEMS

/GIS
REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

/Real-Time BIM /BI in the Cloud /BIMStorm, BIMXML, ONUMA PLANNING SYSTEM, 4Site Systems /case study /our final projec
APPLIANCE
p.19
BIM & GREECE INTRODUCTION

/state of BIM in Greece /interviewed architects presentation and opinions /Greek mentality /economical crisis
ECONOMY / MENTALITY
BIM & CONSTRUCTION
/demands /reasons that prevent the shift
POSSIBILITIES OF APPLIANCE

/potential adjustments /motives for implementation /alternative ways of implementation
INDEX
p.23
THE FUTURE OF BIM

/the future of BIM tools (model servers, programmes, information access) /expected results (productivity, certainty, design, practice) /ubiquitous computing
p.26
CONCLUSION
/general /BIMs role in the future
p.27 p.27 p.28 p.28 p.29
REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY LINKS INSTITUTES AND COMPANIES INDEX OF TERMINOLOGY
BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION: 1./ INTRODUCTION

/General Overview Architecture can be considered as a living organism that needs to evolve eternally as the technology and the construction methods keep changing all the time. Through years, lots of new theories have appeared changing the way we do architecture, some of them more and some others less. The most important issue is to try to absorb the evolution that leads to some kind of facilitation of our work and not just follow each one of them just because they are new or seem interesting. One of the new directions in architecture -and also in engineering, construction, etc.- nowadays is the globalization of the process in order to repeal physical barriers (distance, countries etc.) and take advantage of a more spherical knowledge. In addition to that, the concern about the reduction of the natural resources and the doubts regarding the existing consumer society seem to lead us to a dead end long before expected, if no solution will be found soon. So we are talking about a general change in the nowadays attitude and to each one of us separately at the same time, because although the character of theories is international, their implementation depends on the mentality and the habits of each country, and as so they have to be examined in order to lead us to a real evolution and not to a waste of time and effort. For example it is meaningless to expect to take the same results from two projects of different scale, located in

tion of our country. As the majority of architects, engineers, constructors, etc. has not embrace BIM yet, most owners dont have the option to do or demand it. However, as the construction industry moves towards BIM, they know that they will have to do it in the future.
(Finith Jernigan, interview June 2011)
different parts of the world, addressing to different final clients and have been designed by a different team of professionals. The important thing is to form a process that can be incorporated in every project and serve it for its own needs. Internet of course plays an important role, but the mentality of the world of construction remains to follow the change too. This is what the concept of BIM is standing for. BIM is more a way of thinking and acting than a theory that needs followers. It can be used as little or much as everybody wishes to, in whichever stage of the life of a building, even before its conception or after its demolition, because is about data that can be used over and over again as the point is to remain upto-date. Without general BIMs implementation though, we cannot speak about the understanding of the concept. And doing BIM without understanding and collaborating means huge loss. There is a term regarding becoming an overnight BIM expert and its called BIM washing. This proves that BIM training has already become an important issue.
So, starting from the theory of BIMthrough books but most importantly through the opinion of the architects that had an important role in its forming (Kimon Onuma, Finith Jernigan), through its application with the case study we have designed according to the rules of BIM, but still for a preserved building in the city of Volos, in Greece, and finally through an analysis of the present situation with the help of the professionals that have been interviewed (Loulakis, Papavasileiou, Gastis)-we are trying to figure out if BIM and Greece can look forward to a common future. /interviewed architects presentation Kimon Onuma is an architect and BIM specialist, creator of Onuma Planning System and BIMStorm and founding member of the biggest BIM associations (GDL Alliance, Ship Group, Akrotek). As he is constantly working with BIM since 1993, while being a software developer as well, he was the most appropriate person to describe the existing state of BIM in USA and its possible future tendencies, both for BIM and the existing software.
image 1./ Kimon Onuma president Onuma Inc.
So the question is if a procedure that was firstly designed according to the American standards and scale can be useful in a country like Greece, which is still using the old-fashioned way of personal observance of the construction site in the majority of the now-built projects. Or it is only an illusion to try to convince the professionals to shift towards a new way of working and thinking, even more now with the present bad economical situa-

Finith Jernigan is an architect, educator (University of Maryland Eastern Shore, King Faisal University), author publisher (BIG BIM little bim The Practical Approach to Building Information Modeling Integrated Practice Done the Right Way!), and an expert in integrated practice (Created 4SiteSystemsSM, a standardized BIM based workflow). Also founding member of the biggest BIM associations (Design Atlantic Ltd, SHiP Group) and responsible for a series of government, NASA, the US Corps of Engineers, NAVFAC, the US Army, the US Air Force, the US Marine Corps projects. As one of the first who talked about the theory of BIM, in his interview he explained its philosophy and roots, and also the changes than can provide to the known architectural procedure. (Detailed C.V. can be found in the index)
REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION 2./ BIM (until today)
THE TERM OF BIM /Building Information Modeling To begin with, trying to define this concept, we underline some things that BIM definitely isnt. Its not a software or a contracting method. BIM is not a 3D model without attributes attached to it, nor a combination of 2D files. Its not a linear process with a beginning and an end. Its a continually evolving process that stops only when a facility is no longer alive, aka its demolished. BIM its not for just ones use, its not selfish. Its for an open use. It can be from an excel file to a detailed model of the world. It is not a software. It is a process.
(from Kimon Onumas interview)
building model recognized universally as a repository for all elements of a building, including its properties and interrelationships.
(Design Built Project Delivery, Managing the Building Process from the Proposal through Construction / Sidney M. Levy)
It is an activity and not an object.

(Chuck Eastman in BIM handbook)
image 2./ Finith jernigan author of BIG BIM little bim
A basic premise of BIM is collaboration by different stakeholders at different phases of the lifecycle of a facility to insert, extract, update or modify information in the BIM to support and reflect the roles of that stakeholder. The BIM is a shared digital representation founded on open standards for interoperability.
(Integrated project delivery_a guide. / The American Institute of Architects, The American Institute of Architects, California Council)
It has been described by many ways: An improved planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance process using a standardized machine-readable information model for each facility, new or old, which contains all appropriate information created or gathered about that facility in a format useable by all throughout its lifecycle.
(NIBS 2008)(National Building Information Modeling Standard (NBIMS) Committee of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) Facility Information Council (FIC),
BIM can also be referred as a verb: It is a modelling technology and associated set of processes to produce, communicate and analyse building models.
(Eastman, BIM Handbook, 2008, p. 13)
It is a system conceived to create a single
So BIM is the combination of all the above. It has to do with data and processes. Data related to virtual design, construction and facilities management and a group of processes that is applicable to all kind of contracting methods. It uses virtual models that carry information in order to share it through the entire building industry and reduce errors. Its not the virtual models themselves. BIM is a process that helps people to make better decisions. It needs you to collaborate in order to cooperate. Its goal is to make everything as simple as possible, make everything transparent. BIM places everything geographically on the planet and makes it possible for everyone to be aware of everything about the life of a building and beyond. It is a non-linear process, it links everything, everyone, every software.

Such an open and eternally developing concept cannot be categorized easily. Its more holistic than that. Every different point of view could lead to another categorization. There is a huge difference between examining BIM as a tool and examining it as a process for example. So, a very schematic and general categorization could be like this: A/. Enterprise BIM. In this case, BIM means that everybody is working together. B/. Lonely BIM/Little BIM. In little BIM youre doing BIM in isolation. C/. BIG BIM. BIG BIM refers to the whole world, with design as just a fraction of that. D/. IPD. IPD for BIM is another design and construction method. Its not the goal.

But IPD cant happen without BIM, and BIM should happen at any level of the architectural process.
(Kimon Onuma, interview June 2011)
IPD (Integrated Project Delivery) Integrated project delivery is a delivery system that addresses all the participants of a projects design and construction process (including software and people) to optimize project results. In small words, its a delivery method of minimizing time and cost and maximizing effectiveness. It requires the entire projects lifecycle stakeholders to be collaborative and cross functional during the whole design process, starting as early as possible. All those people share access and responsibility to everything related to the project. /BIM and IPD IPD is a delivery method and BIM is a tool supporting IPD. It provides the database for all the buildings information storage (related to design, construction, management logistics, etc.) and the platform for the collaboration of all participants. BIM supports IPD not only until the buildings construction phase, but also afterwards, in the buildings facility management (space planning, furnishing, monitoring, energy perform, maintenance, etc.). The part of BIM called facility management helps you to prevent data from data rot, meaning that by keeping the data up-to-date you wont have to go back and collect them when needed. With the increasingly more use of IPD and the slow change in the professionals relationship by having architects, builders and owners collaborating between them, we are shifting conservatively into BIM.
BIM vs IPD process enabled method by software of delivery working with It can enable BIG information BIM, it isnt BIG BIM in the built small methodol environment ogy to do BIM
image 3./ Building Information Model in TEKLA image 4./ Representation of the different levels of detail in a model building information. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
INTEROPERABILITY /The concept In the architectural procedure it is very important to make correct decisions at an early stage, for example you can start doing energy analysis even with simple blocks that represent the future building or with a simple excel file of the spaces. The next step then is to be able to deliver the data in a way that owners can understand in order to be sure that the results are going to be consistent to the desirable, as the phenomenon of a difference of 50% percent between the final project and the first goal is not rare . (from Kimon Onumas interview) Interoperability is a concept that BIM is based upon. It refers to people, products, systems or software and it was initially defined for IT systems or services and only allows for information to be exchanged. A more generic definition could be this one: A property of a product or system, whose interfaces are completely
/Building Information Model A Building Information Model includes all the characteristics of BIM. It can be described as: A project simulation consisting of the 3D models of the project components with links to all the required information connected with the projects planning, construction or operation, and decommissioning. This section describes the 3D models, the information contained or attached to these models, and the nature of the links among the individual models, the components, and the information.
(Building Information Modeling, Planning and Managing Construction Projects with 4D CAD and Simulations / Willem Kymmell)
image 5./ Example of the internal structures exchanges supported by a BIM server. To support synchronization, all BIM tools should be able to be accessed and controlled from the server. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)

understood, to work with other products or systems, present or future, without any restricted access or implementation. And with respect to software, the term interoperability is used to: Describe the capability of different programs to exchange data via a common set of exchange formats, to read and write the same file formats, and to use the same protocols.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interoperability)

usable. This has as a result time and productivity loss, which could be avoided if the concept of openness and interoperability in data-exchange was followed. During the common architecture procedure, firstly the building is made, then it is being delivered to the owner in a way al the information about it gets lost, which inevitably diminishes its value. This linear process has to be changed and decisions making and construction need to be a loop that provokes communication in early planning with many different people and mistakes to be made and corrected in that phase in order not to reach the construction site. All these are obligations of the architect as we cant expect from the client to be aware of architecture or technology, let alone BIM.
(from Kimon Onumas interview)
depends on which step BIM is going to be incorporated, the software which is to be used, the compatibility of the different software and the updating schedule of every collaborator. COLLABORATION Nowadays, experts from many disciplines should be brought together and work as a team in order to produce the huge amount of information needed. Architects, designers, constructors, civil and technical engineers, fabricators, planners and facilities personnel should cooperate in order to achieve a successful workflow and design product. Every one of them provides his/hers expertise in the workflow. All these people have to be coordinated and agree upon every matter that will occur. This means collaboration. A BIM design approach can make this collaboration happen, as it enables you to manage a huge amount of information at the same time by different persons and from different geographical points without any false calculations and data loss occurring.
image 6./ Screenshot of Kimon Onumas interview, explaining the term of interoperability.
image 7./ Typical organization of the work team on a construction project. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
To be interoperable means that: One should actively be engaged in the on going process of ensuring that the systems, procedures and culture of an organization are managed in a way to maximise opportunities for exchange and re-use of information, internally or externally. Based upon these definitions, it should be clear that there is far more to ensuring interoperability than using compatible software and hardware, although that it is of course important. Rather, assurance of effective interoperability will require often radical changes to the ways in which organisations work and, especially, in their attitudes to information.
(http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue24/interoperability/)
/The way to be achieved Someone can achieve interoperability between various software applications in several ways. The most important thing is to produce files in formats readable and editable by more than one application. This can happen if they use a suite of software applications from a certain vendor, where the applications can directly read the file format of the BIM software application. One can also use software that incorporates an Application Programming Interface (API) that can enable them to link interfaces from different providers, or alternatively use a software that supports data exchange by reading several file formats and its widely accepted by the industry. The choice of the appropriate procedure
image 8./ From the TEKLA webinar titled: OPEN BIM COLLABORATION WITH ARCHICAD 14 & TEKLA STRUCTURES, 26/10/10
/Until today For many years now, the access to buildings information data is restricted to only few and not being openly available to all those who might need it. The files containing this data are saved in formats that can be opened only by certain software, meaning that they need a translating process in order to become visible and

/The Leadership of BIM Many people have been involved until now in the forming of the idea of BIM. Some of the first, though, are: Chuck Eastman (Georgia Tech), acknowledged as the grandfather of the BIM. He was writing about it earlier than anyone else. Jerry Laiserin, responsible for naming BIM. SHiP group together with European initiatives for their activity in Europe. David Hammond from the U.S. Coastguard, the international leader in enterprised BIM concepts. Richard See, who influenced Microsoft in order Microsoft Product ISC compliant to be produced. Eurostep active in Finland and Sweden. The founders of Graphisoft. Heikki Kulusjarvi with Solibri (model checker). Senat Properties (Finland). International Alliance for interoperability (IAI), which later became buildingSMART in Europe and buildingSMART Alliance in U.S. with introducing the concept of interoperability and industry foundation classes. Center for Integrated Facility Engineering (CIFE) from Stanford University, which did the initial testing over the productivity of BIM by doing research over the 4D, time and scheduling attach to models. Lawrence Berkley National Lab, working on the details occurring behind the scene. U.S. Corps of Engineers, a force related to facility management. EXISTING PROBLEMS & DEMANDS

1. Designer imagines an idea in 3D to solve a clients problem. 2. Designer deconstructs 3D ideas to 2D representations. 3. Designer passes 2D representations to the construction team. 4. Construction team gets fabricators to redraw parts, again in 2D. 5. Construction team attempts to reassemble the 2D information into 3D objects. 6. Designer is often amazed by the outcome!
(Report on Integrated Practice, Technology, Process, Improvements, and Culture Change / Jim Bedrick, Tony Rinella)
Information is becoming more and more important nowadays. Information regarding everything that surrounds us is the ticket that keeps us up-to-date and helps us remain in the first line of the procedure of change. Its normal that the amount of it is becoming bigger and bigger and more complex. So finding a nontraditional way to manage and handle it is fundamental. The way BIM manages information aims to improve understanding. With CAD and the traditional methods, information was missed and changed when passing from one step to another during the process of design and construction. We are forced to make decisions taking into account a limited amount of information every time and not at the right moment. BIM provides you the opportunity to be able to decide when its needed and with all the fundamental information you should consider in order to make the optimal decision. A lot of studies that have been conducted in the past few years have shown that the construction industry suffers from inefficiency in information management, as it is often operated in isolation and is not effectively communicating with other internal and external partners of the design and construction process. The big differences from the traditional design and construction process become obvious by reading its description in the Report on Integrated Practice, Technology, Process, Improvements, and Culture change:
image 9./ The old (first two rows) and the new (last order) process for maintenance work orders. The old process does not only require more work, also require significantly more time in order to be completed. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
image 10./ Screenshot of Finith Jernigans interview, about the value of information.
image 11./ Screenshot of Finith Jernigans interview, about the evolution of BIM the last 4 years.

THE TIMELINE OF BIM *This timeline was formed using information from books and manuscripts referring to BIM and from information provided by the interviews of Kimon Onuma and Finith Jernigan.

First bidirectional Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) model (facility management models) is introduced. First virtual organizations: SHiP (Strategic Hi-performance Integrated Planning group), that actually moved the technology to the U.S. federal government (GSI, Coastguard) with Kimon Onuma, Finith Jernigan and Diane Davis as its founders, and with Triglyph and European initiatives getting involved too.
Appearance of Graphisoft and Hungry, tools able to do virtual design & Construction.
1970s 1988
1990s 2000
2002
First introduction of the concept now called BIM and the possibilities that it could bring, inside universities, a theoretical base as future ideas.
Some small firms get more involved. The large ones resist because they dont consider it necessary. Virtual Design & Construction. Introduction of processes which are doing lifecycle BIM-such as 4site Systems-, and creation of the first lifecycle models. Data-based CAD systems permit the electronic storage of building components, such as doors and windows, concurrently with the design.
First reference to the name BIM by Jerry Laiserin in his article Comparing Apples and Oranges: I am convinced that the building industry cannot move forward with any of the new tools unless and until we agree on a term to replace CAD. I am equally convinced that the best term for this purpose is Building Information Modeling. The term Building Information Modeling, had already been used by Autodesk, but only in order to introduce and present a new series of products that they had put on the market. Generally, until that time, there were a lot of terms being used in order to define what we now call Building Information Modeling (BIM). Terms like single building model, virtual building model as Graphisoft called it, integrated project modeling as Bentley Systems called it project lifecycle management. *

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publishes a report stating that poor interoperability and data management cost the construction industry approximately $15.8 billion a year, or approximately 3-4% of the total industry revenue. Since this report, many have labelled Building Information Modeling (BIM), an emerging technological information management process and product, as the answer to this problem.
(EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING (BIM) ON CONSTRUCTION)
As a result, owners demand the change and ask for BIM to be required in conducting a project. AIA embraces BIM and IPD. The first BIMstorm takes place in Los Angeles.
2005 2004
2007 2008
2009
U.S. Coastguards Short Facility Capital Asset Management Roadmap, the first implementation of commercial BIM is created.
Research and reports reveal a major productivity decline, claiming that it can be avoided through BIM technology: On average, 3.1% of every project can be attributed to the costs of lack of software interoperability. (McGraw Hill Smart Market Report on Interoperability, 2007) The release of the National BIM Standard (NBIMS), which states that a BIM (= a single Building Information Model) is a a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility and, furthermore, that a BIM represents a shared knowledge resource, or process for sharing information about a facility, forming a reliable basis for decisions during a facilitys life cycle from inception onward.
(NBIMS 2007)
The Department of Administration, Division of State Facilities of Wisconsin publishes the implementation of the first segment of DSF BIM Guidelines and Standards. The results and outcomes listed in this report are expected to achieve substantially uniform usage as a standard for BIM applications.
(Building Information Modeling. A report on the current state of BIM technologies and recommendations for implementatio/ Bill Napier Architect and Professional Engineer BIM Specialist, Division of State Facilities)

As is shown in the timeline of Building Information modelling above, it was already present in the academic world in the 70s but just as a future idea. It took it almost twenty years to be acknowledged as a necessary process and an important factor in the development of the construction industry. The early adopters started using BIM long before it became known and without the clients knowledge, because clients didnt care about it. A series of studies on the productivity of the construction industry had to be conducted, a lot of organizations (Open standards organizations) that promoted this idea had to be founded in order for it to become accepted and bring an actual impact to the reality of construction. SHiP and IAI were those who actually convinced government agencies such as Senate Properties, U.S. Coastguard, GSA, Smithsonian, GIS and Corps of Engineers, of the importance of BIM and the needs it has come to cover. Once achieved, these agencies that actually had the power moved BIM into action and made it the path that architecture is willing to follow.

building is loose enough to hint at design, construction and operation. Without delving into the semantics of data versus information versus knowledge, I find that information is clearly suggestive of software that deals with more than just geometry. Combined, building information implies, to my ear, a strong sense of what the design, construction and operation of buildings is about. It avoids techno-jargon, yet remains evocative of technical goingson. Modelling, although a near-jargon word, does connote the mathematical or digital description of objects or systems we have econometric models and weather models as well as physical models of 3D objects. Modelling also implies a process of description or representation that provides the foundation for building performance simulation (essentially, modelling future behaviour) and for the management of building information (information models serving as the frameworks in which information is managed). So, building information modelling, as a description of the next generation of design software, seems to me to come closer to the winning characteristics evidenced by CAD for its generation of toolsspecific enough to evoke reasonably clear, common meanings, yet broad enough to encompass a diversity of commercial and technological approaches. The only fly in the ointment is that Autodesk has been using the term for the last few months to describe their building industry strategy. [..]Now, vendors can competeand users can judge thembased not on how many ways we differ from CAD, but on how well we execute and live up to the promise of BIM.
*In this article, Jerry Laiserin explains why the name Building Information Modeling is adequate, according to his personal opinion, to carry the concept of this new technology and separate it from the CAD. He writes: I find that I prefer the word building over project because there are many kinds of projects (such as software development) that have nothing to do with buildings. At the same time, the word

/The effect of the economic collapse in construction Some years ago, that there was no question about our economy, you were free to make bad decisions because there was no pressure for change. But the difficult economic situation of nowadays can be perceived as an opportunity for those that are willing to change towards the search for more economic solutions.

to be displayed in multiple views and by adding a degree of intelligence, any change in one element in the buildings design immediately affected all other related elements. This process was referred as object-oriented computer-assisted design (OOCAD). BIM can be viewed as the latest iteration of OOCAD software. /The advantages of BIM over the 2D and 3D design approaches 1. The plans, elevations, wall sections, and schedules are always consistent if one changed, all related work changes. 2. The coordination across different disciplines eliminates the problems previously associated with ensuring that everything fits in its allotted space horizontally and vertically. 3. Schedules for finishes, doors, windows, and hardware are easily generated and updated as changes occur in the plan and elevation design. 4. The ability to generate quantities of materials during design facilitates procurement and, particularly in the designbuild mode, constantly tracks design and budget. 5. The data created by BIM continues to have a useful life during commissioning and the continuing operation and maintenance of the building.
(Design Built Project Delivery, Managing the Building Process from the Proposal through Construction / Sidney M. Levy)
The economic collapse of nowadays cant leave construction industry undamaged. Researches have shown huge money waste, such as almost 500$ million per year (data for America) in expenditures during construction. Economical, environmental and social factors demand a change in the building design and construction industry. BIM comes to provide a solution and introduce productivity. DIFFERENCES CAD BIM /CAD files characteristics Computer-aided drafting (CAD) was originally introduced in the architectural process in the late 1980s. It came to replace the hand-drawing and drafting with a digital way to produce more easily and efficiently an architectural drawing. Its purpose was to reduce the time waste in the production of the 2D drawings, so it continued to rely on 2D representations of 3D objects. This as an idea by itself eliminates elements and information of the building and also the opportunity to relate directly the drawings between them and manage them at the same
time. This happens because you may be able to inter-link them in one file but they still remain separate elements and therefore not editable at the same time. These facts make the user responsible for their correspondence of the drawings, which demand extra work and time. CAD files contain simple data consisting of lines, arcs, curves and sometimes surfaces and solids (in the 3D attributes). These elements are 2D graphical representations of building components and not building elements. They are attached to a plot style so that each one of them carries information about their thickness and colour when printed. None of these elements contains information regarding the buildings physical elements themselves such as requirements of a pillar or a wall or the relevance between each one of them. The only relation these elements have between them is their position inside the softwares environment. Computer Aided design when started being used, gave the engineers a chance to introduce productivity into their work, to perform drawings that could be corrected and printed easily. CAD systems, that through time have become more and more affordable and compatible to the computers, were a revolution in the world of architecture because they introduced geometry and accuracy in the designing process. However, the most important thing they lacked in was the information, the presence of time and the capacity to provide the architect the ability to make decisions. This is where comes BIM. The further development of 3D drafting and CAD systems allowed building components
image 12./ Screenshot of Finith Jernigans interview, about economy nowadays. image 13./ Layered structure of a SmartBIM vivlothikis. (Courtesy SMARTBIM LLC.) (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
image 14./ From the TEKLA webinar titled: OPEN BIM COLLABORATION WITH ARCHICAD 14 & TEKLA STRUCTURES, 26/10/10

/What is BIM trying to achieve BIM tools and software work in a very different way than CAD applications. They achieved to relate and link the data with the information because they dont use lines, arcs and surfaces, but simulations of real building components with all the information related to them attached. So they provide you the opportunity to make accurate estimations at any time, regarding the material, the energy waste, the load bearing capacity and so on They help you identify problems and find alternative solutions before you proceed to construction because they contain actual information. /Misconceptions about BIM & Risks Of course there are risks in the assimilation of BIM, as it happens with everything new. It is possible that somebody doesnt understand how to use the tools correctly, or misread the information. He /she can even believe that the technology is going to be the answer and that everything is going to happen automatically without the need of people, but thats not true.
(Kimon Onuma interview June 2011)

is not a software, it is a process.
(Kimon Onuma interview June 2011)
What is the point of doing BIM if the information and data you get is not for common use; if theyre not out there in the cloud? Keeping the information accessible to few leads to an improper use of BIM. The most common misconceptions about BIM are: a.) If approached as technology (it is important to understand that it is not about the technology but about the people) b.) Lack of holistic thinking (wrong structures: think that BIM can be done in a traditionally built scenario, without changing how business is operated or correct organization) c.) Projects as end-goal (important is not to look for the immediate awards of it) d.) The way of thinking: Whats in it for me? (searching for personal benefits and destroy the larger picture by not sharing the data) e.) Confusing process with product (seeing it as a product and not as a process) f.) Suppose that it is : Too complex, too finished and too difficult (thinking that it has to be complex or difficult in order to work)
image 15./ Statistics on the results of BIM compared with traditional methods in various areas of construction. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
image 16./ Cloud laser scan data where each point can be mapped onto the BIM objects to show manufacturing deviations from design to the geometry. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
you have a unique file that includes all the relevant information attached to it. The files that previously were produced separately from each other and didnt have any intelligent connection between them dont exist any more. You leave the interaction management that you previously had to do by your own, among a huge group of unrelated files to the computer and you just work on a single file, accessible by any other person at any time, carrying information networked between them. You are not designing lines that represent walls but wall elements loaded with all the information of the real walls that exist in the building. You now model the building and its systems. Every change you make in the work file is assembled in this underlying database and attached to the element that it belongs. This fact makes the whole process of design a real time process as you have up-to-date information during the whole workflow and an internally consistent model. You leave the computer to make all the processes related to calculations and file management, so that you have more time to make more critical decisions over the design. BENEFITS / EVOLUTIONS The benefits of BIM can be categorized in many different ways, according to the short-term, middle-term or long-term vision of the aspect, according to who is taking advantage of it, architect, owner, constructor or builder, and the kind of evolutions that can bring into the architectural process depending on its use.
One of the biggest risks BIM could have is its improper use, or the so-called selfish BIM.
/The change in workflow The workflow that BIM implies is completely different from the one we are used to follow with CAD methods of designing. Instead of having several files that represent the project and its parts,
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The term selfish BIM is being used to describe the use of BIM for personal advantage, without sharing the produced information. But BIM can be anything from an excel file to a detailed 3D model,

BENEFITS /Benefits in the construction industry The use of BIM and an integrated design approach (IPD) helps us make better decisions before going into construction. You can see for example how the building will impact the environment and estimate the relation between complexity and cost. You can predict the amount of every material you use, the amount of energy that is needed during its function, schedule the construction time and prevent mistakes. The advantage of having the building virtually before it is being created physically, provides you the ability to make decisions for matters that you would only confront in the construction site and would have cost a lot of money and time loss, and overall it provides you with the ability to test variables that would lead you to the optimal solution any time needed. /Long-term benefits A better exposition than the one of the Division of State Facilities of the Department of Administration of the State of Wisconsin, about the long-term benefits of BIM, is difficult to be found: So, the long-term benefits from BIM revolve around data that can be grown over time to include a virtual description of a facility and all relevant information about the facility and its surroundings. To achieve these benefits the data must be consistent and repeatable. Large numbers of people and systems work together to produce and maintain this data. For that

/For the owners About the owners now, embracing IPD means open information sharing from the first stage of design, therefore increased collaboration between client and provider, which leads to elimination of misunderstandings and inconsistencies. By being involved more you get punctuality and you stay within the budget. /For the constructors For the constructors, IPD allows them to participate in the design process. This mean that they can have the overview of the designs decision making, offering optimal solutions regarding construction, as you can get constructing visualization before the actual construction starts. Generally, BIM and IPD provide you with the ability to examine how the building participates in any network related to it. How it will react during its function to any dynamic change and how its state is going to be in the future. It allows you to have a lifecycle relation with it accumulating any information needed at any time. EVOLUTIONS /Design The essential difference that BIM has brought to the design process is that the model is the certain part of its evolution. All project teams communicate through the model. The new attributes that the software provides you enables you to reflect all the ideas you have over the
image 17./ The process from design to manufacture of parts of a custom-made panel. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
reason, the data and systems that people use must be interoperable.
(Building Information Modeling, A report on the current state of BIM technologies and recommendations for implementation/ The State of Wisconsin, Department of Administration, Division of State Facilities)
/For the architects This real time workflow and internal information availability that BIM and therefore IPD provides, makes the architect able to offer new services to current customers and standardize what we call green and smart infrastructure requirements through applying them automatically and at any time. In short, it lets the architect begin designing from an advanced basis and not from zero, every time reducing risk. In general, IPD provokes and evolves a long-lifetime relationship between the architect and the customer, which leads to more and different types of job opportunities. Regarding the architects, BIM and IPD will free the architects to truly be designers again. Their basic role will remain the same; to gather and process information to create a unique physical solution in a clear and understandable manner.
(Integrated Project Delivery, Frequently Asked Questions (2006) / AIA California Council)
image 18./ Schedule at the end of the two month process of ratification of the budget (07/03/07) depicting the start of the warrants on 01/09/07 and submission of structural package OSHPD 16 months later, on 1/2/09. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
Architects have to become conductors. They need to open up. The architect will no longer be seen as the enemy-dictatorial leader.
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project on the model. At this phase, the model may be very schematic but yet quite usable to adopt possible constructive solutions and other possibilities that can help you to take the right designing decisions. /Construction
image 19./ From the TEKLA webinar titled: BIM & PROJECT DELIVERY, 01/12/10

/Relationships between professionals The change of the professionals relationships that BIM meant to bring in the building industry are inevitable, because the working model that implies is that of a collaborative team, consisting of all the stakeholders. Every stakeholder is participating in the project creation throughout the whole timeline of the workflow, fact that involves the architect with the other engineering teams, more than it did up until now. The services that each involved team will provide will not be so distinguished any more, as the workflow will be more collaborative with all the teams working together at the same time, providing solutions at the right moment. The architect, for example, becomes now part of the team. He is not any more the untouchable, gifted designer. His success is attached to the projects and the teams success. The project teams are not any more just cooperating, but collaborating. The architect from the once enemy dictatorial leader becomes a conductor, opens up. He collaborates to create a successful project. He searches for mistakes to correct then before construction.
IDEA REAL ESTATE BUILDINGS LIFE DEMOLITION REBUILT

image 20./ Screenshot of 4D model and photos of the project site. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
image 21./ Typical flow of Building Information Modeling lifecycle.
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In the field of construction, the use of BIM as a tool can lead to significant changes in the way we know it by introducing virtual construction before physical construction, construction sequence planning (4D), construction sub trade coordination, quantity and cost tracking and integrated trades assembly of large components off site. Also the Computer Integrated Environments (CIE) solutions become more and more necessary, as the products designed are getting more complex and demanding. Even the big enterprises dont have all the adequate staff to design and produce all the parts of each product, as the expertise needed is high demanding. This means that in order to design one product you may have to combine a lot of software applications from different platforms and be able to make data exchange. All the information related to this product has to be readable from all the parties involved in order to be managed and reach the desirable outcome. In the constructions industries the building becomes the product, so, interoperability mechanisms between all the different platforms and applications are fundamental, fact that makes Computer Integrated Environments one of the best solutions.
/Buildings Lifecycle BIM is a cradle-to-cradle process. It can be used in any phase of anything in the built environment The buildings lifecycle and BIM:
The buildings lifecycle refers to the view of a building throughout its whole life, from the design phase up to its demolition, including its operation phase. Lifecycle tools are tools that keep providing you with information related to the building during its whole life. This means that theyre not just designing tools, but they can load data extracted and related to all the buildings life states and phases. (from Finith Jernigans interview) The lifecycle thinking leads to a more holistic approach to the building, where every decision and action is considered as a part of a whole that impacts all its components and leads to sustainability. Construction is tied up with design; design is tied up with the building environment and user. Having available data regarding structural frame and MEP systems (Mechanical, Electrical and Plumping) over an existing building, it enables easy maintenance through its lifecycle. This kind of available information can also be used for the design of new buildings, as they provide you with feedback from the function of the existing ones. BIM is referred to data that is constantly alive throughout the life of a building. It means that someone can take information over it at any given time and this information will be valuable. The data is not to be saved. Once it is, occurs the socalled data rot. Data rot happens when you save the data in one format. Then the building model

loses its life, it becomes static. After that, the data you have in your hands is not editable, it cannot be used immediately for feedback, and so its no longer useful.

/The use of Technology The use of technology is an integral part of the BIM concept, and depending on the way it is used and the software that takes part in the process, it can contribute to improve certainty in every aspect of the architectural process. Everything depends on the different types of technologies and techniques that already exist, and keep being improved everyday. According to Chuck Eastman and his book BIM Handbook, these technologies are: 1. Schematic Design Technologies Pre-design BIM applications that can be useful for the project plantation and orientation (Onuma Planning Systems, Trelligence) Tools like Rhino, Form-Z, SketchUp, Maxon that help you produce easily 2D, 3D and 4D visualizations of the design 2. Checking software The kind of software that enables you to check and analyse the compliance of the building model. This kind of applications are Solibri and Navisworks. 3. Analysis/Simulation software Analysis/simulation software contains tools such as Ecotects and Graphisoft that enables you to check the sustainability of the building (integrated energy, daylighting analysis, bioclimatic elements, etc.). 4. BIM Authoring The point where all the buildings models are being combined for compatibility check, coordination and document production. This process takes part periodically during the design. 5. Existing Facility Assessment and Documentation
3./ BIM TODAY

/General Overview Nowadays, the trend in architecture is to explore more and more complex geometries that are extremely difficult to be conceived, let alone designed and constructed by the human mind without any additional help. Even a whole team of professionals cant predict all the possible needs a very complex building can have, and that is where BIM can be proved a very useful tool, as it can keep track of every little detail, categorize them as wished, and manage them according to the introduced rules. This way, it relieves you from having to pass all the amount of changes to every single format of the drawings manually. It can be made automatically in the 3D model. In this landscape, complexity is still very high, but the production of drawings is now the by-product of building a virtual 3D model composed of constructive elements. These elements are loaded with data that describe not only geometry, but also cost, manufacturer, count, and just about any other meta-data you can imagine. With an integrated parametric 3D model, its possible to detect spatial clashes between the multitudes of systems in the building. You can know with confidence whether duct work will interfere with the structural steel long before construction starts.
(Mastering Revit Architecture 2008 / Tatjana Dzambazove, Greg Demchak, Eddy Krygiel)
image 22./ Team working remotely with other groups over the internet for fast development and evaluation of alternative design solutions using the system Onuma (OS) during a BIMStorm event. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
image 23./ The increasing complexity of data to different types of data exchange. The horizontal axis represents the approximate number of grades in fig. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
image 24./ Screenshot of Kimon Onumas interview, about the use of mobile technology.
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The documentation that contains high quality documents related to bid and construction. They accrue from BIM checking tools such as Solibri, Autodesk Navisworks, Digital Project, Onuma planning systems and AEC infosystems. 6. Programming and Planning Technologies These technologies provide you with bid and construction documentation that comes from elements accurately designed and related, namely, software with its own database of element libraries. Tools: Graphisoft, Bentley Systems, Autodesk Revit 7. Quantity take-off software Spread sheets extracted from certain software naming the quantity of each element used in the building. 8. Design Development Technologies (BIM authoring for architectural and structural, BIM authoring for building systems (MEP), HVAC modelling, Plumbing and Electrical, IFC as a data transfer method, Civil BIM Authoring, MEP software applications, 3D files) 9. Construction Document Technologies Two categories: Construction drawing generation and specifications technology. The first one relates to the ability of the automatic production of drawings and schedules of a building out of a single model with accuracy, when specification technology is the conversion of simple word processing master files into sophisticated database driven systems. 10. Optimizing the Capital Facility Planning process This process has to do with the cost

control from the first steps of the project. One of the tools is Beck Technology. 11. Interoperability with the use of the existing exchange formats Interoperability between software can be achieved with three ways: Through proprietary file exchange formats as DXF and DWG, proprietary direct links (API), Open standard formats (file formats readable by all the BIM applications) like Extensible Markup Language, XML. /Existing BIM Software Since the concept of BIM has been introduced in the architectural process, a lot of different software have been designed from different companies in order to cover every necessity of a building, from the designing phase all the way through the construction and maintenance. (c.f. toolkit) Forthwith some of them are more popular among the professionals, like Revit Architecture, ArchiCAD or Onuma Planning System. Even though every software has differences from the others, they have some common characteristics in order to be able to do BIM. In their basis, there is a central database and every element of the model is coordinated by it and attached to it. A group of information is loaded to every element, therefore saved in the database. This can be proved useful when for example in Revit Architecture, every change the user makes in one document is reflected to all the documents that contain this element or are related to it automatically. This database also contains libraries with elements ready to be used in the design and most importantly, it allows users to work on the project at the same time from different access points through internet. Usually, the BIM software for design is operating as parametric modeller too in order to facilitate the architectural process by not having to switch applications al the time, which complicates the process even when the applications support file formats created by a different platform such as DWG, DXF and IFC formats. /Softwares Efficiency Nevertheless the advantages or disadvantages of every BIM tool, there is no one that can be considered more appropriate than the others, neither can any on them do BIM correctly and effectively if used alone. The important matter is to be able to combine many tools in order to have the best result in each part of the process. There is no single BIM tool. Dont get stuck in one program, just be aware of whats out there.
image 25./ Screenshot of Finith Jernigans interview, the different software used is a single BIMStorm.
image 26./ From the TEKLA webinar titled: OPEN BIM COLLABORATION WITH ARCHICAD 14 & TEKLA STRUCTURES , 26/10/10
image 27./ Screenshot of Kimon Onumas interview, about software compatibility.
All the information about a building can be loaded on one program, but then the model gets so heavy that it is difficult to get to the information. We could say that the easiest way to do BIM is to find or create a single tool or platform that could do everything and link everything and everyone. However, this would lead to a very complex file, or a very complex tool that only a small group of people would be able to use it. And BIM is not a process related to few. Its a process related to everyone.
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/Training The most important and difficult fact about BIM training is not learn to use the tools that do BIM, but learn and understand the new state of mind that it came to establish, as it is completely different from everything existed until now.

Very important though is every single thing to have latitude and longitude to be able to manage the location in order to choose the appropriate materials and the energy control for sustainability. But except from location, in BIM you can also attach time in everything and manage it according to the day-week-year schedule.
software for you. The software training period is called grey period.
According to Finith Jernigan: the huge step in order to be able to do BIM is to understand its basic concepts. What BIM trains you to do, is basically being able to know, at any given point, which choice is appropriate by analyzing and criticizing its faults and benefits. It is completely wrong start using BIM just to have some short-term benefits in your work, because BIM wrongly used will be ineffective and eventually a lost of time, as referred above. What matters is to really be aware of the defects existed in the traditional way of working in the field of construction, and furthermore, be willing to change in a different direction in order to save time, labor and money and make your work more efficient and accurate. The biggest challenge of BIM is not the training. The training time needed depends on the training level wished. But the point is to have the willingness to change, not to be able to manage perfectly just one tool, even though you can succeed integration with this tool, the future lays upon the use of many.
As expected, tools so different from everything that already exists, demand a completely different range of capabilities in order to be used properly. And as they are by nature so demanding by their user, somebody must always be aware of the potentials of the programs, and also be able to choose the parts needed according to the desirable result. If not, it is easy to get overwhelmed them and loose architectural quality and personal way of designing. A person who is competent in operating BIM, apart from being able to manipulate different kind of software to his or her own benefit, should be able to overview at any certain point the projects state and needs. This, apart from technical knowledge demands critical thinking. BIM actually helps in the development of it because it gives importance to elements apart from form and aesthetics. Every step of the designing process is being analysed regarding its function, if its doable or not, if its the most beneficial etc. This leads to a different approach towards architecture with space being the main character. CONCEPTS & SYSTEMS /GIS An essential rule of BIM, which is incorporated in every BIM tool, is to always be aware of the position of the building that you are designing in order to be led to a more sustainable design.
The BIM model can be considered as a virtual representation of the real world, and if not treated like that is nothing more than another 3D model with no additional use. Everything, even a single thing, even a chair, has latitude and longitude.
(Kimon onuma, interview June 2011)
image 28./29./ Prefabricated pieces of roof panels with simultaneously installed HVAC, electrical and sewer systems. (Top right) 3D view of the model (Courtet al. 2006) and (Down) prototypes manufacturing (Pasquire et al. 2006). (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
Of course software ability is required but it can also be minimized, as youre able to choose the most adequate and simplest
The combination and interaction of all the factors of a building can lead to more efficient energy control by controlling climate factors like sunshine, temperature range between seasons, windflaws, location control, etc to design in respect of the surroundings built situation- and election of the appropriate materials to use materials that can be found in the area, and are the ones that last longer and are more effective for the construction. The best solution that exists nowadays and enables you control all these factors, is GIS technology (Geographical Information Systems). GIS are digital environment systems that relate data with location. It consists of all types of data that have to do with geographical references. The main characteristic of a GIS system is that it uses spatial data from different points and reaches to conclusions through the combination of
image 30./ Screenshot of Kimon Onumas interview, implementing geographical data in 3D modelling.
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them together with a location reference system (longitude, latitude, elevation). It can also use different types of information (not just those in map forms) to reach to location centred conclusions. Through the GIS systems, BIM can be involved into geospatial applications, for instance Google Earth. /Real-time BIM
image 31./ Screenshot of Finith Jernigans interview, explaining the term: real-time BIM.

computer and doesnt need human intervention. Conclusions and results can be gathered automatically without processing. The combination of the structured data and the dynamic information gives you the real-time BIM, which is actually a process that comes from intelligent data manipulation. In the BIM process every piece must be simple enough to connect to the next. The way to achieve that is by subscribing one programs data to another instead of importing it.
need to work on just one virtual machine, while in the background, a whole grid of computers serves the client requests. /BIM in the CLOUD Cloud computing is a concept related to the net and computer networks generally. Its neither a particular technology nor software. Its a group of processes that share data and resources over computer networks. Every software that supports BIM is dynamically in the cloud. Several companies have popularized different approaches of cloud computing. Data in the cloud, supported by Amazon Cloud Drive and Dropbox, Software Virtualization in the Cloud, supported by Citrix XenApp, Web Applications in the Cloud, supported by Google and Business Logic in the Cloud, supported by Apple. All four approaches mentioned above contain a server where all the data is saved and the user handles them from his/hers computer through the network. They can also function with virtual applications where the user handles them without installing them in his/hers desktop. In small words, we talk about editable data from any point. Until now, the higher-level model servers are quite expensive, therefore, unaffordable for the small companies. In order to make BIM widely used, they need to be cheaper and more available and also its appliance to become a part of every case of the design.
image 32./ Screenshot of Finith Jernigans interview, implementation of real-time data in a 3D BIM model.
image 33./ Screenshot of Kimon Onumas interview, BIM in the cloud and its use in 3D modelling.
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Going even further with the ability of data exchange that is offered from the concept of BIM, the net can also be a very useful tool in the hands of the construction professionals. It is capable, not only to free professionals of their compulsory physical presence at the office and let them be able to work from any point of the world, but also to allow them to save valuable time by giving the possibility to share information holistically between them. The concept of BIM provokes us to convert the idea of static information to that of dynamic, which consists of structured data and is able to lead us to the so-called real-time BIM. The difference between static and dynamic information is fundamental. Static information is information related to a certain moment. Once its completed it doesnt have the possibility of change. Dynamic information represents the state of a project/building with relations to its past and future states. It provides us the possibility of frequent access to eternally updated data, from different access points several times. Structured data is the data that is gathered and coordinated directly from the
Real time BIM is actually BIM in the cloud (referred below). The model is saved in the main server and its editable from several locations through web-applications; therefore by any user. The factors that should be taken into account in order for it to remain effective are accessibility and system performance. When we talk about its accessibility, we refer to the ability of direct, concurrent access to the model by any user through a local network (LAN). This access can be achieved through mobile, web applications. It should also be considered the offline access to the BIM model. The user should be able to access it while being offline, but ensure there are no conflict edits among the other team members upon next model synchronization. The issue of the system performance is about the way it is responding as the model is being developed. There should be enough space, memory and processors in order for it to be able to handle the increasingly bigger size of the project. Additionally, all the client computers

/BIMStorm Cloud computing is changing the landscape of architecture by running software on the Internet. The power of BIM combined with cloud computing running on the Internet, enabled BIMStorms to become a reality. 130 teams around the world working for 24 hours, for 400 buildings explained in 2,8 million papers. This is BIMStorm. A non-stop procedure which needs tools connection and people collaboration in order to be successful. As an architect, if you dont collaborate, you become irrelevant too quickly.

project plantation and checking as well as model editing-using its own libraries- in more that one BIM project and by more than one person at a time, through the Cloud and doesnt need installation as its not a desktop software.
(http://onuma.com/products/OnumaPlanningSystem. php)
The data of a building can be represented as dots on a map. Data with GIS: <Angle georeferencing = 0 Latitude = 38 .89293798399300 | Longitude = 77 .05 | 073693019006 Altitude from sea level = 23.322 | />
/BIMXML (Building Information Model Extended Markup Language) BIMXML is a non-linear process which relies upon the concept of information attached to the object, whatever this object may be (from a single dot to a detailed 3D model), and its purpose is to relate the object with the world. Without this correlation it is impossible to make good decisions about the building because the single building itself is less valuable that the information about it. The data about the facilities is more valuable than the physical facility itself.
BIMStorm has similar principles to realtime BIM. It unites knowledge with processes and tools, using BIM and data. Its main characteristic is that its by default in sync, meaning that any work occurs in real time. It enables experts to be able to work together; from any location in the world, to identify problems and project patterns, to find solutions, etc. on the spot. (Some useful tools in order to do a BIMstorm are: Archicad, City GML, DDS, Elite CAD, Google Docs, Google Earth, Go To Meeting, IFC, Knowledge, MS Excel, MS Word, Navis Works, Onuma, Onuma BIMXML Converter, paper, PDA, pencil, Revit, Skype, Webex, OGC WFS, 3G cell phone)
(http://onuma.com/services/BimStorm.php)
BIMXML describes building data (sites, buildings, floors, spaces, and equipment and their attributes) in a simplified spatial building model (extruded shapes and spaces) for BIM collaboration. The XML Schema was developed as an alternative to full scale IFC models to simplify data exchanges between various AEC applications and to connect Building Information Models through Web Services. It is currently used by the Onuma System (Onuma, Inc.), DDS Viewer (Data Design System), vROC, Tokmo, BIM Connect, and various Plugins for CAD Applications (Revit, SketchUp, ArchiCAD).
(http://bimxml.org/)
The Onuma System is not only about electronic tools but also working with paper and pencil, in order to help the natural way of the architects thinking, give them more time to spend on things you cant automate, like decisions making. Thats why a building is being used as a reference in order to capture the information that is not worth creating every time. It is also a way to communicate with the team as it uses model servers so you dont have to upload manually the information you need on the project, you just find what you need in real time. The problematic of the architects about the automating the design process doesnt have anything to do with Onuma System, as the only thing that is being automated is the process and not the result. The future goal is to be able to connect many systems in order to make the process even simpler.
image 34./ Screenshot of Kimon Onumas interview, BIMXML points on USA map.
image 35./ Screenshot of Kimon Onumas interview, explianing the term of BIMXML.
image 36./ Screenshot of Kimon Onumas interview, GIS data in Onuma System.
/4Site Systems 4Site Systems is a system created by Finith Jernigan. Its a software that allows you to validate the project by estimating the buildings program, make cost analysis and quick representations during the design process. It also provides you a fast,
/Onuma System Onuma System is a Web Based BIM Planning, Programming and Project System, constructed by Kimon Onuma. It gives you the ability to do facility management,
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parametric way to see the needs of the future building.

in order to get data and results regarding the buildings function, sustainability, efficiency, etc. These results may be used for possible future alterations in order to optimize the buildings function.
and eternally changing building using the existing building stock that already exists.
APPLIANCE When we refer to BIMs appliance, we mean its implementation with acknowledgement methods and processes directly related to it. Though, as BIM is a concept, a process, a way of thinking, its range of implementation can be huge. BIM makes information the centre of attention, targeting optimal design results and eternal possibility of change. Every project that follows these principles can be considered BIM. The software used is irrelevant. /Case Studies The huge majority of building projects are the existing ones. Therefore comes the need to work with the building stock that we already have. Although information provided for existing buildings is very little, it can be proved beneficial because it can lead to different building solutions, such as renovations, damages predictions, etc., that are definitely costless than constructing.
(Finith jernigan, interview 2011)
(See images pag.19, 20)
image 37./Case Study Medical Center, CASTRO VALLEY Imported model and data model plot in Tekla. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
image 38./ Case Study Bridge CRUSELL Incision and sides enhanced details in conjunction with other materials, such as large cable anchor assemblies. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
Over the years a lot of case studies have been made to examine the function and effectiveness of an existing building However BIM provides the possibility of a more detailed and accurate examination in order to form specific alteration planning with already predicted outcomes. Regarding the structure of a beneficial case study, the most important issue is to produce all the related to the studys subject documents in order to be able to process them afterwards and to coordinate the whole process in order to achieve effectiveness (getting the Logistics right). /Our Final Project The majority of the owners are not exactly aware of their belongings because they have no data for them and even if they have they dont update them. And the thing is that the existing buildings nowadays are a fertile soil for architecture because of their number.
image 39./ Case Study Music Center HELSINKI Model that combines the layouts and detects a possible collision data. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
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A very large part of BIMs appliance is connected to the existing buildings. Apart from the facility management possibility that BIM provides you after the buildings construction, we have the case studies. Case studies have to do with creating BIM documentation for existing buildings, most of the times not created with BIM,
What if we could preserve an old building, avoiding demolition, and create a whole new design inside its shell that can change dynamically in order to cover every possible need that can come up in the future? This is what we tried to do designing our final project. Implement the principles and innovations that BIM introduces to create a multifunctional
BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION: 4./ BIM & GREECE
INTRODUCTION /State of BIM in Greece BIM, as a process, has not yet been implemented in Greece, due to many causes related to the way public and private constructions are being assigned and to whom, to how construction differs from the rest of America and Europe, to the culture of Greeks-professionals and individuals-in construction, and many other parameters analysed earlier. So, the only approach that could make sense on the issue of BIM in Greece, is the analysis of todays reality in construction to determine whether its feasible and efficient its implementation in our country. The main and perhaps the only data that we could rely on in order to describe the present situation in Greece when it comes for BIM, were three interviews of people that have been involved with it. Mr. Polichronis Loulakis, mr. Papavassiliou and mr. Gastis told us about it, each one from his one point of view as they are working in completely different fields of the architectural process. /Interviewed Architects Presentation and Opinions Poluxronis Loulakis is an Autodesk certified program trainer with experience in drafting, 3D and BIM software. He firstly got in touch with the BIM concept during his university studies. He was selected to be interviewed in order to explain if there

I personally comprehend the concept of BIM. [...] Even more nowadays that the potential amount of information that we can have about a building is huge, and its not necessarily only about design. For me this is BIM. Meanwhile, Mr. Papavasileiou considers that: BIM can help to work upon the lighting, the environmental information and various other data related to the design. But its use, of course, does not ensure you the creation or the completion of a better architecture. Mr. Gastis is referring to it as: Its a commercial trick of large software companies to promote new products that have recently designed. In Greece it doesnt work and I dont think that it will work, as the sector of construction is characterized by a lack of willingness in collaboration and improvement in the way of working. ECONOMY / MENTALITY /Greek Mentality The three main factors that diversify the Greek construction industry from the one of the other countries are: A. Historical and cultural elements B. Method of Construction C. Specialized construction crews A. In his interview, Mr. Papavasiliou said: In a country where everyone builds on his own, there is no need for architects, if the client is convinced that he can build on his own, is reasonable not address to an architect.
is any interest by the Greek market (by professionals or university students) in BIM software training and the evolution sees in the existing software. Matthaios Papavasiliou is an architect and educator at the Civil Engineering Department of Metsovio University of Athens. As he was one of the first architects that imported BIM ways of working in the architectural process in his office, he was capable to describe the advantages or disadvantages of such a choice. Vasilis Gastis is a Mechanical Engineer specialized in steel construction. Because of his dedication to BIM tools and the use of them in every project that he is working on, his opinion about the coordination or not of the design and the automated construction, was covering the last step of the architectural process, the one of the realization. (Detailed C.V. can be found in the index) As it was expected their opinions about the need and the way BIM can be implemented in Greece differ a lot. Mr. Loulakis, when questioned: What is BIM for you? replied: Any architect who thinks about a solution makes virtual BIM in his mind. The thing is to be capable to exceed the physical limits of his/her mind according to the amount of information that can be managed by it and find the way to transfer the information to his/hers colleagues, engineers, builders, etc. When doing BIM to design, practically we are trying to trace much information as possible so that it is readily available to us or anyone else involved. That is how
Indoor climate conditions control system, graphical representation.
Exemplar floor plan for 70 users (both researchers and visitors).
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As the opinion above describes more or less the thought of the majority of the individuals who decide to build, we are talking about a culture that does not need an architect at the architectural design because of the lack of architectural education. Architectural theory is not taught in primary and secondary levels of education, so whoever does not choose to follow a sector relevant to it, does not ever come into contact with it and concepts such as functionality of the built space and aesthetics, remain completely unknown to him/her. It is obvious that were talking about a theory that is closed, not understood by everyone, which makes questionable the necessity of its implementation and an approach of quality towards it. /Economical Crisis The relationship between the Greek financial structure and the BIMs appliance can be approached by two totally different aspects, the conservative one, which suggests the continuation of the current state, and one that suggests radical change. The financial crisis is our chance to look right through our real needs, see the landscape that surrounds us, how we should build on that landscape, whats important from it, check the environmental state. This check though, doesnt need complicated systems, but only knowing the way to do good architecture.

In order for BIM to be applied, a change is required in all the fields that are related to the architectural design, from the training of architects, to the renewal of the equipment used by factories of building materials making. If someone chooses BIM, he should know what it is, which rules it follows and the tools for its appliance. This takes time and cost and a society whose economy fails is difficult to decide in investing in such processes that dont have short-term benefits. If we also consider the extreme fall of the construction field due to the financial difficulties in Greece, BIMs appliance in the near future seems like utopia. On the other hand, it is widely known that the state of the architectural and construction field is radically changing, and the way construction operates in Greece isnt so effective, so it is possible that we will turn towards BIM much faster than expected. If this happens, the route of Greek economic policy should change and the Greek construction field should restrict to the global rules, as the current stream is towards designing low efficiency buildings. In due time, the adaptation of a low cost policy will have positive results, but the time needed cannot be calculated with the current data. BIM & CONSTRUCTION /Demands Trying to describe the construction industry in Greece, probably we will not be led directly to architecture as known internationally neither to the architectural community. Except from the fact that it is an industry that doesnt really contribute to the economy of our country, it is also an industry which does not recognize the value of the involvement of an architect in the process, but characterize his presence as a luxury, since the range of his/hers powers is small and not involved much with this of the rest of the construction specialists in developing a project. However, BIM as a process requires the architect to stop being a dictatorial leader, as stated in the interview of Finith Jernigan, and to collaborate with other disciplines so that the flow of work becomes more efficient. Another issue for discussion, as already mentioned above, is the nature and the projects developed in our country. We constantly hear about large sums of money being wasted for a projects construction, regarding government and major projects mostly, without this project to meet the cost, with questionable quality, structural design and functionality. Surely, this is not the sole responsibility of the unskilled crews that undertake more complex constructions and larger scale projects than their abilities There are many different issues that can be defined as problems in connection with the architecture in Greece. But all lead to one conclusion: the need of change and the awareness of this need. This means, at first, a shift in the attitudes and later in the proceedings. Only by groups of young people that are willing to work in this way the situation could slowly begin to change. Someone needs to do the principal, prove that the new way of working is feasible and effective.
Automatic space reconfigurations system, graphical representation.
(Mathaios Papavassiliou, interview December 2011, question: Do you think that architectural design should point to BIM, especially during the financial crisis, reducing the construction expenses?)
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Like that, the motivation to change will be created for the rest.
we could talk about change in Greek architecture?)

lot from the existing designing procedure of Greece, making its appliance impossible - without adjustments - in the Greek reality. /Potential Adjustments Information, productivity and cooperation are the most important characteristics of the concept of BIM. The appliances and the tools used to implement it are based upon these features, combining also the requirements of the market for which it was created. Construction and design differ a lot between Greece and the US. I had already conceived this when I had tried to create the Greek edition of AutoCAD Architecture, a program based on the American way of construction. The Greek mentality is completely different and inconceivable by the US. says mr. Loulakis. Taking these facts in consideration, we can conclude that it can be applied in every market, but it needs various adjustments in order to be effective in every country separately. This doesnt mean that we should decline BIM, but that we should interpret it differently. A different point of view over BIM, could lead us in adjusting its appliances and its tools to achieve better use in the Greek construction domain. The possibility of developing new appliances increase if we taking into consideration that the Greek projects differentiate than the others. In our office, despite the generations difference, we try to use BIM. So we have developed some digital tools-we dont use pre-made ones- which we implement in every new reconstruction. These tools
(Vassilis Gastis, interview December 2011, question: How
especially in cases of industrial, automated manufacture in large-scale projects, a fact that is very different from the Greek way of construction. C. It is possible that respectively in Greece the cost from empirically building is much smaller. But I do not know if this fact has changed until now. Its something that requires research. Perhaps it started because of low budgets or lack of knowhow and expertise. [...] Just this raises the question of whether the recipient of the construction information is able to understand it and whether the architect has taken into account all the parameters necessary in the design.
(Polixronis Loulakis, interview December 2011)
/Reasons that Prevent the Shift The architects responsibilities concerning a project in Greece are still to get established, as there are specialties -such as the civil engineers- who can undertake the entire preparation of the project. When we start by not considering the architect as necessary then how can we talk about him becoming more productive through the use of BIM? B. As mentioned above, BIM is a concept developed to cover the needs of a very different market from the Greek one. In Greece, where you mostly built with concrete, BIM can not be applied, because of the fact that in a building that is very detailed in its design, the deviation of 2 cm that the concrete can have is an important loss. In our country though, this way of construction is acceptable, as concrete is usually made through the process of moulding, where the loss is expected. So one cannot order the frames, for example, before the construction has reached a certain point. They will have to be measured and made to fit, so either predesigned or not, the result is the same. That means that someone who is doing good architecture in Greece can work even with Pikionis tools, to design for example on a pack of cigarettes and give instructions to the manufacturers.
(Excerpt from the interview with Mr. Papavasiliou)
When doing BIM in order for the information generated to be valuable, it has to be manageable by everyone who is involved in the project. When the crew in charge of the construction is not able to read such information, then its use automatically becomes undoable. The training of construction crews in Greece is mostly empirical and therefore limited, except in case of large construction companies, which do not form the rule. POSSIBILITIES OF APPLIANCE The use of digital design in Greece till now, is limited mostly in drafting tools, starring AutoCAD and 3d modelling programs, which help the users (mostly architects) to develop their own architectural proposition easily, avoiding the traditional design patterns. The buildings design and implementation process that BIM suggests, differs a
BIM is a process that offers productivity,
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though, elementary ones, help us insert hatches, make snap bases, etc, things that are difficult to be managed inside big projects. These add-ons could be considered as BIM, but in 2d form.
(Mathaios Papavassiliou, interview December 2011)

familiarize with something similar. Most of Greeces constructed projects are small-scaled designs. Thus the information that implements them is rather manageable by the architect, the civil engineer, the contractor, the worker, etc. Using BIM in such constructions seems like adding an intermediary between the involved parts, when the information can be transferred directly. Taking into consideration the difficulty in its import in a difficult program and the lack of the ability of translation by the receiver, we can suppose that BIM in such cases cant be productive. To make it more efficient as a process, the projects that use it should be of a size and type that need a management process and the software to become more widely known. BIM hasnt yet been introduced to the educational process in Greece, making it hard for architects or civil engineers to know its existence. We should note though that there are many conflicted opinions considering its entry in the university. In general, my opinion is that BIM should not be introduced in the architectural training. I believe that because these tools have integrated designing tools, most of which have certain libraries that offer certain architectural aspects such as openings and a general designing pattern. Under my consideration this could be an inhibitory factor in architectural composition. {...} These are important tools for an architect who has clearly defined approach in architecture, which allows you to understand his/hers work when you see it.
(Mathaios Papavassiliou, interview December 2011)
/Motives for Implementation In Greece, digital design is used in the majority of architectural projects. What we should consider as development in our field, is the use of specialized tools and the increase of productivity leading to increased quality and reduced mistakes.
(Polixronis Loulakis, interview December 2011, question: How could digital design help the construction field in Greece?)
BIM is directly related with the buildings information. This information constitutes of data describing each building, its construction method, and its management by every involved recipient in all aspects of its life, from concept design to facility management. BIM ensures the decrease of mistakes of inaccuracy or lack of know-how, leading to better estimation of building costs. When the size of the data is big, making it impossible for the human brain to manage it, BIM takes control. What happens though if the data size is rather small and thus manageable by the human brain? What happens when BIM-based data cant be conceived due to lack of knowhow? The tools that do BIM are still quite complicated and dysfunctional, making it hard to implement the buildings data through one of these programs, especially for a community that never had the chance to
When the theoretical background of a new way of thinking, such as BIM, has not been assimilated by its audience, it is impossible to be judged from it , its appliances to be correctly used, and to get transformed in a way that adjusts it to this audiences needs. So, while the architects and engineers dont know what BIM means, they wont ask themselves if they need to adopt it, they wont learn to use the tools and its appliances, they wont suggest it to their customers who of course wont demand it either. In another point of view, almost the whole built environment in Greece is constructions of armed concrete. This way of construction is simple in comparison to other ways of construction with more specialized materials and can be easily implemented by experience without asking for automated programming of its stages. If we consider a new reality in building construction in Greece, with buildings made by different materials, and with more industrialized process of production that will not look like handcrafted (as mr. Loulakis expresses in his interview), then BIM can be used as a tool for increasing productivity and be considered as one of the most effective ways that architecture can follow. Until then, it remains unknown for the masses and a dysfunctional tool. /Alternative ways of Implementation Architectural design in Greece, as mentioned above, is fragmentary. The job that each professional is undertaking (from the architect to the static) is limited to a very small range of jurisdiction that
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prevents the cooperation between them. The designing material which each engineer delivers is always incomplete and forces the next one to reprocess a large part of it, scaling it his/hers specialty needs. A really good example is set by mr. Vasilis Gastis -co-owner of SDENG co., a metal construction company basted in Volos- who uses TEKLA Structures. TEKLA Structures is a software specialized in metal construction, considered a BIM tool, regarding that the elements of each model contain some kind of information. Every project that he and his partners undertake has already been implemented architecturally, most of the times statically also, which means that there is already a digital model and a series of designs that describe it. The problem is that this material most of the times is wrong and read-only. This means that for each project they are forced to redesign the digital model, leading to the repetition of a process already been made, but not made correctly. The above isnt a solitary event, but the usual way of receiving and sending data from one scholar to another, from the architect to the static, from the static to the engineer etc. Thus, the architectural process doesnt flow and becomes expensive and time consuming. But, by taking advantage of the BIM workflow, and by using platforms that can cover the requirements of more than one specialty, the nature of the relationships and the rights between the professionals can be changed in benefit of the architecture. Reinforcement of the productivity through 3d programs can be applied with
5./ THE FUTURE OF BIM

BIM is a tool that is constructed according to the directions of nowadays civilization. It responds to globalization, specialization, the need of sustainability and the commercialization of the architecture and engineering. It enables factors regarding the building that are becoming more and more important, such as facility management. On the other hand, factors like technical barriers, liability issues and regulations, become obstacles to its development. Trying to imagine where BIM is leading to, we could say that it will be all about information. We will move from focusing on processes to focusing on information. The data about the facility are more valuable than the facility itself, says Finith Jernigan. Complexity will go behind the scenes, while some things will be made easier and some others more complex.
the exchange between the different fields, when for example there is cooperation with a expert for the bearing structure of the construction. While this process takes place, some things that are considered as basic for your study, can be differentiated, that leads to the need of redesigning them. With such software you have the ability to redesign elements without affecting the rest of the project and in advance, you can provide these changes to the other professionals, the engineer for example. If you want to do the same process for a 2d design tool, some data could be lost, as traditionally not everything is designed in 3d shape.{...} Thus with the use of such a platform or software, you can design everything in the same digital environment, with the cooperation of the requested specialty, so you can have an interaction with the rest of the professionals.
(Mathaios Papavasileiou, interview December 2011, question: In which part of the design can BIM be of use?)
The attitudes that BIM comes to offer, such as freely distributed information, can be applied with various different ways, having a positive effect in the bureaucracy that comes with every architectural project and is delaying significantly every construction in Greece, in the architectural culture of the clients by making them co responsible for the outcome since they are fully informed for the upcoming construction, and making easier to change the functionality of the building if considered necessary. It seems that for the Greek reality, first has to come the appliance of the BIMs rules and then its design platforms.
/The future of BIM tools In the present, many software like Grapgisoft, ArchiCAD, Revit Architecture, Solibri and so on are doing BIM, but the future stands for open-standard organizations, like BuildingSMART. The future stands for always-related-data and being able to manage them from whichever point of the world. As the architectural process will become more and more independent from the physical idea of the office, so the impact of i-phones, smart phones and i-pads will
image 40./41./ The workers are using tablet computers to search for information on prefabricated parts and production, delivery, erection, and approval by the color coding in the model plot. These computers are equipped with detectors that receive information from the RFID tags that are associated with the precast concrete pieces. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
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increase and the training period will be demanded to be as minimum as zero, if possible. Imagine walking inside a building and automatically having all the data you need about it loaded to your smartphone, for example. (from Kimon Onumas interview) BIM tools are supposed to cover and follow these demands, although theyre not there yet. Therefore, the future of the BIM tools leans towards the direction mentioned above: 1. The import and export capability of data through certified and open standard protocols like IFC. 2. The ability to work on a single BIM platform (through the increase of the number of each platforms applications), without having to change platforms and make data translations or have file formats compatibility problems. 3. The development of Web Applications that support design everywhere with no need for powerful client computers (as it happens with desktop applications). 4. BIM tools that support detailed designing of complex products that can be used later as a warranty of the products quality. 5. Applications capable of 4D scheduling.

are moving from file administration to a central server as the administrator of all actions. This change is leaded by the huge amount of data needed in every aspect of the technology use, which is impossible to be managed by each application separately. Once the central server is in use, the whole amount of documents should be accessible from all client computers. This leads to the common use of just one file format editable by all BIM platforms and Applications like IFC. One of the important developments I can see coming is that all information is going to be kept in a database instead of files, while the final will de administered by terminals and client applications.
(Polixronis Loulakis, interview December 2011, question: Do you thing that there is an important development going on concerning the concept of BIM?)
image 41./42./ Sentral servers network and their position on USA map. (BIM Handbook / Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks, Kathleen Liston)
integrated design process. The real difference will be the combination of all the factors analysed above, in order to create a living architecture, the kind of architecture that could interact with its environment continuously and be able to inform you about the changes made or needed, through a holistic flow of data between the building and the architect. /Practice Inevitably, apart from the changes that will cause in the strictly technical part of the architectural process, BIM will affect other aspects too. Aspects that are somehow connected with it, like the type of contracts signed from now on, the professionals relationships, the regulations, the workplace as a concrete sense, the whole process of the projects done and finally the education too. Every one of these factors will be influenced differently, and the most probable prediction is as described below. Contracts and Relationships: The relationships of the players in an integrated project delivery team are fundamentally altered, shared risks and shared rewards. Regulation: With the rise of integrative concepts and methods there will be fundamental changes regarding professional standards of care and how the building process is regulated. Indeed, the meaning of professional licensure itself will change as the boundaries between design and construction blur, and the meaning of responsible control will change dramatically.
image 43./ From the TEKLA webinar titled: TEKLA BIMsight, 11/09/12
/Model Servers, Easy Access to Information, Productivity, Certainty A significant change has already started to happen in the field of technology, and of course it is affecting BIM too. We
Because of the highly automated nature of BIM, the new potentials expected from the field of technology, will undoubtedly affect the as-known designing techniques in a very desirable way. They are expected to expand the designing options and possibilities and remove the unnecessary effort of the architectural process. Techniques like parametric modelling and exchanging data between model and designing team will be highly developed. The model will be able to provide information related to GIS, orientation, sustainability, open standards requirements, facility management, etc. However, we cannot baptise BIM as the unique solution and be done. BIM is just a tool that helps us reduce time and work waste. Our critical thinking and action combined with BIM can lead to a more
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Workplace: Flexible project structures coupled with collaboration technology will facilitate the integration of global, extended project teams and allow organizations to find talent anywhere and shift work to remote locations as neededincreasing the overall flexibility of the building industrys workforce. Project process: Traditional project phases will be adjusted and refined to accommodate an integrated project team and their project participation. Education: As the building industry becomes more integrated, the education of future professionals will no doubt follow suite with altered curriculum that reflects the increasingly large footprint of building design and construction.
(Improving Building Industry Results through Integrated Delivery and Building Information Modeling, Autodesk Whitepaper / Autodesk)

had the software platforms, we now have the building itself. So, we load all the data on the building instead of the virtual model inside the platform. And where we had the predictions, possible forms, functions, solutions that we got from the design process, we now have the buildings particular states at any given points inside its lifecycle. We could say that this way, the information is the given, concrete element and not the building.
/Ubiquitous computing We have already talked about the information management and its value. How the parallel virtual representation of a building can be beneficial to its every aspect. From a point of view more centred to the information itself and to what it could create, we can lead ourselves to new paths of designing. Instead of attaching information to the virtual model on a digital platform, what would happen if we managed to attach information to the physical building itself? If we made the building more intelligent, how would it react and which would be the outcome? We have heard about the concept of
ubiquitous computing and the world where someone could extract data from everywhere. Taking into account all the facilitations that BIM provides us, it is possible to create buildings that can load and manage information on their own and to their own benefit, maybe even without our intervention. These smart buildings could be detached from form and size. They could keep changing eternally in order to achieve optimal conditions of function, in terms of aesthetics and sustainability. We would then speak about a fluid reality where nothing stays static. Everything has the possibility to change, so everything is up-to-date and capable of satisfying every new need that will ever come up. The work of the architect will be then to create the conditions of that fluidity. Until now, the architect created the rules under which the entire project would be based on. She/he tried to identify the optimal scenario and design the building according to it. What if there is no optimal scenario and the architect should only draw the path in which the building can be expand and altered? BIM, as we already mentioned, puts the information in the centre of attention. However, putting the information in the centre of attention doesnt only mean to be able to manage it in a beneficial way. It means that we no longer design the building. We design the information related to the building. And if we make an exact parallelism with BIMs principles, where we had the building before, we now have the information. So, the architects and the designers design the information and not the building. Where we
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6./ CONCLUSION
/BIMs Role in the Future BIM at first comes to present procedures, but also obeys in rules that have extensions in mentality. When we talk about collaboration for example, databases, central servers, object libraries, open information sharing and the ability to be accessed and managed by everyone, nondesktop software with internet playing an important role in every step, minimum software training and combination of platforms, up-to-date data and virtual models attached to location, automated control of the building from far away and life-long surveillance, it is obvious that we refer to a remodelled reality, with possibilities of further development and hence growth. BIM itself cannot be considered the only way in which Greek architecture and construction have to be turned to. But by keeping certain rules and endorsing the new procedures that comes to impose, also in combination with a different way of interpretation and adaptation, perhaps it can attribute more towards productivity. The thought is not to keep anything locked. A drift to computers, a drift to productivity in general.{...}BIM is not the only solution. It is a tool that will help someone solve problems if they cannot be solved otherwise. It is not a one-way solution. Thus BIMs appliance can have a meaning under certain conditions. This example*, as surprising as it may seem, it personally made me consider that everything is relevant and that there is not just

one solution for every problem says mr. Loulakis during his interview. As for Greece now, if implemented properly and carefully it could be a great help in some major problems of the Greek construction nowadays. The BIM way of documenting the buildings, which can be updated anytime needed as it is linked with the virtual building, the bureaucracy could possibly be avoided, one of the major aspects in the delay of the realization of every construction in our country. And by having the data shared between the individuals concerned, the process of assignment can be transparent and fair. Fact that is happening really rarely until now and emanated from the closed architectural circle and the small amount of international participation in Greek competitions. By avoiding these barriers, the construction time could be deescalated and the projects budget as well as the role of the architects could go under serious consideration. Additionally, by having recorded in digital libraries the existing buildings or archaeological sites, the separation of the ones that deserve to be preserved as well as the budget needed, could be more distinguished and furthermore their research would be facilitated importantly and our cultural heritage could be evaluated as its truly worth it. With such important changes taking place, new working places would be created, not only in the fields of architecture, design and rehabilitation, but also in the automated construction field and in the practical training of the construction workers. Two fields that until now are either based on the import of materials, construction techniques and workforce from abroad, or on the empirical knowledge of the professionals. This would inevitably lead to new working places openings, a really critical factor if we take into consideration the temporal economical situation of Greece. Hopefully, the future leads to creating buildings released from the limits of the form, the programme, the size and the location. Smart buildings that take advantage of the abilities of every professional, respect the environment, stay into budget and become a source of worldwide knowledge by having their data open to everybody. A completely different kind of architecture from the one that we know until now. But in order to succeed that, we have to focus not on a blind full implementation of BIM but on using the procedures needed for the best outcome and criticising the results on every step. BIM has to be used as a tool, with the human factor being in charge, maybe with an even more extended role than before as the complexity keeps rising.
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BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION: REFERENCES

Kimon Onuma Architect, Software Developer, President and Founder of FAIA (on-line interview 2011) Finith E. Jernigan Architect, Educator, Author and Publisher (4Site Press Ltd), Expert in integrated practice, Presidents of AIA (on-line interview 2011) Polixronis Loulakis Writter, Publisher and Autodesk Authorized Trainer (interview October 2011) Mathaios Papavasiliou Architect and Lecturer in the National Technical University, Athens, Greece (interview October 2011) Vassilis Gastis Mechanical Engineer (interview October 2011) BIBLIOGRAPHY

Strategy for the 21st Century Building Industry (Doing More with Less while Creating Value), 2009 L. R. Bachman, Integrated Buildings, the system basis of Architecture, 2002 R. Binnekamp, L. A. van Gunsteren, P. van Loon, Open Design, a Stakeholder-oriented Approach in Architecture, Urban Design and Project Management, 2006 L. Lesniewski, E. Krygiel, B. Berkebile, Report on Integrated Practice, Roadmap for Integration, 2006 The American Institute of Architects, California Council, Integrated project delivery, a guide, 2007 Autodesk BIM Curriculum, Instructor Guide, 2011 Autodesk Whitepaper, Improving Building Industry Results through Integrated Delivery and Building Information Modeling, 2008 AIA California Council whitepaper, Integrated Project Delivery, Frequently Asked Questions, 2006 McGraw Hill Smart Market Report on Interoperability, Evaluating the impact of Building Information Modeling (BIM) on construction, 2007 DSF report presented by to the Construction Industry Institute (CII), Construction contract change orders, Internal Benchmarking and Comparative Functional Benchmarking
C. Eastman, P. Teicholz, R. Sacks, K. Liston, BIM Handbook ( 2008) S. M. Levy, Design Built Project Delivery, Managing the Building Process from the Proposal through Construction, 2006 W. Kymmell, Building Information Modeling, Planning and Managing Construction Projects with 4D CAD and Simulations, 2008 B. Napier, Division of state facilities, Building Information Modeling. A report on the current state of BIM technologies and recommendations for implementation, F. E. Jernigan, BIG BIM, little bim, 2007 T. Dzambazove, G. Demchak, E.y Krygiel, Mastering Revit Architecture 2008, 2007 J. O. Jonassen, Report on Integrated Practice, Changing Business Models in BIM-driven Integrated Practice, 2006 G. Aouad, Y. Arayici, Requirements Engineering for Computer Integrated Environments in Construction, 2010 J. G. Burns, Report on Integrated Practice, Applications in Engineering, 2001 E. Krygiel, P. R., J. Vandezande, Mastering Revit Architecture 2011, 2010 R. Cheng, Report on Integrated Practice, Suggestions for an Integrative Education K. K. Fallon, S. R. Hagan, Report on Integrated Practice, Information Facility for the Life Cycle K. Onuma, From Abundance to Scarcity. A
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LINKS Amazon Cloud Drive: https://www.amazon. com/clouddrive/learnmore/ Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/ login?cont=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dropbox. com%2Fhome%23%3A%3A%3A Citrix XenApp: http://www.citrix. com/English/ps2/products/product. asp?contentID=186&ntref=prod_top Web Applications in the cloud, Google: Gmail: https://www.google.com/accounts/Se rviceLogin?service=mail&passive=true&rm=f alse&continue=https%3A%2F%2Fmail.google. com%2Fmail%2F&bsv=llya694le36z&ss=1&s cc=1&ltmpl=default&ltmplcache=2&from=lo gin Google Docs: https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=writely&passiv e=1209600&continue=https://docs.google. com/?pli%3D1&followup=https://docs. google.com/?pli%3D1&ltmpl=homepage Google Chrome OS: http://www.chromium. org/chromium-os iCloud: http://www.apple.com/icloud/ GRAPHISOFT BIM Server: http://www.graphisoft.com/products/archicad/teamwork. html
REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION INSTITUTES AND COMPANIES
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) www.aia.org/ip_default The American Institute of Architects, California Council (AIACC) www.ipd-ca.net IAI: International Alliance for Interoperability Subset of the International Standards Organization (ISO). IAI is an alliance of organization dedicated to bring about a coordinated change for the improvement of productivity and efficiency in the construction and facilities management industry (Building Smart). http://www.iai-na.org/ buildingSMART allianceTM: Organization within the worldwide International Alliance for Interoperability, and council of the National Institute for Building Sciences (NIBS), with the mission of improving all aspects of the facility and infrastructure lifecycle by promoting collaboration, technology, integrated practices and open standards. The NBIMS-US Project Committee: is a project committee of the buildingSMART alliance.
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INDEX OF TERMINOLOGY A C

computer, organized so that it can be expanded, updated and retrieved rapidly for various uses. A centralized database implies all the data in a singlecentralizedlocation and managed all together by a single entity. A federated database consists of various databases managed by different entities that have agreed upon a system of working together to permit access to each of those databases. E Enterprise BIM: everybody needed in the construction of a building process working together at the same time on the same project. F FM: Facility Management. G Georeference: Refers to exactly locating something in the virtual world, via coordinate systems. GIS (Geographical Information System): everything, even a single thing, has latitude and longitude that helps at the energy control and therefore the sustainability of the building, and give you the data of the buildings location at any time which helps in the appropriate materials choice. GSA: (General Services Administration): management of all the US Government buildings H I ICA: Independent Component Analysis is a computational method for separating a multivariate signal into additive subcomponents supposing the mutual statistical independence of the non-Gaussian source signals. It is a special case of blind source separation. IFC: Industry Foundation Class Interoperability: is the ability to exchange and manage electronic information seamlessly and the ability to comprehend and integrate this information across multiple software systems. Integration: The introduction of working practices, methods and behaviours that create a culture in which individuals and organizations are able to work together efficiently and effectively. IPD (Integration Project Delivery): design & construction method. A project delivery approach that integrates people, systems, business structures and practices into a process that collaboratively harnesses the talents and insights of all participants to optimize project results, increase value to the owner, reduce waste, and maximize efficiency through all phases of design, fabrication, and construction. IT (information technology): a term that encompasses all forms of technology used to create, store, exchange, and use information in its various forms (business data, voice conversations, still images, motion pictures, multimedia presentations, and other forms, including those not yet conceived). Its a convenient term for including both telephony and computer technology in the same word. It is the technology that is driving what has often been called the information revolution. J K
A&D: Architecture and Design AEC: Architecture-Engineering-Construction API: application program interface(API) B
CAD: Computer-Aided Design or Drafting (Computer-Aided Drafting - CAD) CIE: Computer Integrated Environment Is the type of innovative integrated information system that helps to reduce fragmentation and enables the stakeholders to collaborate in business. (CIE) Collaboration: Collaboration means working together cooperatively, as a team. True collaboration requires all participants to have a similar understanding of these goals so that their efforts can be supportive and complementary of one another. Communication: This is the transfer or exchange of information, generally between individuals or groups. Communication takes place when information is both provided and received; a form of confirmation that information was in fact transmitted and received is important. CM: Construction Management Cloud Computing: Cloud computing is changing the landscape by running software on the Internet. D Data Rot: If you dont keep the data up-todate you will have to go back and collect them. DatabaseCentralized and Federated: A database is a large collection of data in a
Building model repository: a building model repository is a database system whose schema is based on a building object based format. It is different from existing project data management (PDM) systems and web-based project management systems in that the PDM systems are fi le based, and carry CAD and analysis package project files. Building model repositories are object-based, allowing query, transfer, updating and management of individual project objects from a potentially heterogeneous set of applications BIG BIM: refers to the whole world, designing is a tinny fraction of that. BIM washing: to become an overnight expert BIMstormTM: a software as a webservice project for real-time collaboration using open standards. BIMStorms are virtual online events involving many participants worldwide in condensed scenarios for project planning. BIMXML: is a non-linear process for attaching information to an object and associate it with the object so that every object to become data-related and not just a 3D model. (Kimon Onuma on-line interview)
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tools too. P Parametric Objects: A limited form of parametric modelling, where a single object can be created or edited through its parameters. Q R REAL TIME BIM: generate a BIM model, its visualization, blocking & stacking, costing sensor data, its sustainability and carbon footprint working a the same time from all around the world. RDP: Remote Desktop Protocol S Selfish BIM: use of BIM in order to use it just you & make construction documents. SHiP: Strategic Hi-performance Integrated Planning group SMEs: Small and medium-sized enterprises T U V Lonely BIM (little bim): doing BIM in isolation. Lifecycle: A life cycle refers to the entire life of a project; this includes from the earliest planning until its demolition and the recycling of materials. M MEP: Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Model Server: system in which isnt necessary to upload, store a file, it allows you to find only the information that you need in real-time. N

X XML: Extensible mark-up language Is a simple and flexible text format originally designed to meet the needs of large-scale publishing, but is now playing a major role in exchanging data over the Internet. Y Z 0-9 4D: Building information model with the addition of time (virtual building model with scheduling). 5D: Building information model with the addition of time and construction information additions 4SiteSystems: a system that helps at the validation (program estimation), cost analysis, quick representation (not the final one) of a project, means that is a fast parametric way to see the needs of the future building.
NBIMS: National Building Information Modeling Standard Is a document which spells out the NBIMS-US Project Committees (the National Building Information Model Standard Project Committee - United States) vision and describes the results NBIMS-US expects to achieve. O Object-based Parametric Modelling: The technology on which most BIM design applications are based. Includes the ability to define individual objects whose shape and other properties can be controlled parametrically. It also applies to assemblies of objects, possibly up to the building scale that allows the assemblies to be controlled by parameters. Onuma System: is an off-the-cloud system that can do BIM, made from the architect and software developer Kimon Onuma which manage the planning and organization of the project depending on working with other
Visualization: is the creation of a clear picture of something in the mind, or a clear picture of something created in the mind VID: Virtual Desktop Infrastructure VE: Virtual Environment W
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BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION: Research and Detailed Analysis For Potential Implementation

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BIM ( uilding nformation

Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

RESEARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

UNIVERSITY OF THESSALYDEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE, VOLOS, GREECE

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

/general overview /interviewed architects presentation

BIM (until today) THE TERM OF BIM

/the concept /until today /the way to be achieved

COLLABORATION THE TIMELINE OF BIM

EXISTING PROBLEMS & DEMANDS

DIFFERENCES CAD BIM

CONCEPTS & SYSTEMS

REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

BIM & GREECE INTRODUCTION

BIM & CONSTRUCTION

/demands /reasons that prevent the shift

/potential adjustments /motives for implementation /alternative ways of implementation

THE FUTURE OF BIM

/general /BIMs role in the future

p.27 p.27 p.28 p.28 p.29

REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY LINKS INSTITUTES AND COMPANIES INDEX OF TERMINOLOGY

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION: 1./ INTRODUCTION

It is an activity and not an object.

image 2./ Finith jernigan author of BIG BIM little bim

It is a system conceived to create a single

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

IDEA REAL ESTATE BUILDINGS LIFE DEMOLITION REBUILT

image 21./ Typical flow of Building Information Modeling lifecycle.

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

3./ BIM TODAY

REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

image 27./ Screenshot of Kimon Onumas interview, about software compatibility.

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

(See images pag.19, 20)

Indoor climate conditions control system, graphical representation.

Exemplar floor plan for 70 users (both researchers and visitors).

REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

Automatic space reconfigurations system, graphical representation.

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

(Vassilis Gastis, interview December 2011, question: How

BIM is a process that offers productivity,

REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

5./ THE FUTURE OF BIM

REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION: REFERENCES

BIM (Building Information Modeling) AND GREEK CONSTRUCTION:

REARCH AND DETAILED ANALYSIS FOR POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION