Five Truths on BIM

In my experience in using BIM, I have become keenly aware of a number of "truths" in the arena of VDC. That said, I'm heading to the zoo with "my zoo" in tow today so I'll make it a quickie if possible.

Truth 1: The Owner owns the information (model).

If you're under contract to an Owner to design, construct and/or operate a building, they own the models and the information, just as they own the building. Our role as designers, contractors and operators is to be excellent stewards of this data as it passes through a building's informational life cycle and to optimize its use.

Truth 2: More information is not better. The RIGHT information is. 

Take a door for example. The Architect is interested in:
- code compliance
- was it sustainably sourced?
- the doors hourly fire rating
- available finishes
- hardware styles
- security level

As the responsibility for the door passes from design to construction, the information needed by the Architect to make good decisions is not the same information the contractor needs. The contractor needs to know:
- how many of each door there will be?
- does the warranty on the equipment match the specification?
- are there local suppliers?
- what are the costs of the doors?
- what is the availability and delivery schedules?

After the door is installed, the facility manager needs to have a certain level of information to do their work. This (on average) is about 10%-12% of what is aggregated throughout design and construction. Information such as:
- When do I oil the equipment?
- Where do I get replacement hardware?
- How do I program the lockset?
- How do I get to the warranty information?

The faster teams understand that some information is needed for the entire informational life cycle and that some has a shelf life; the faster teams achieve real clarity around how to pass useful information to the next project stakeholder. This eliminates the old way of heaving massive amounts of useless data "over the fence" to other team members to sort through and creates a deeper dialog of coordination in project teams.

Truth 3: Subcontractors should NOT run 3D coordination sessions.

We work with some really good subs and while I am sure that most of those are capable of running clash detection meetings themselves... it is our job as construction managers to own the coordination efforts. This theory is due to a number of reasons and experience, but the main reason is when coordinating with multiple trades it is far easier to have a "third party" unbiased approach to systems routing and configuration.

In my experience, I have found that the sub that runs the meetings rarely moves and has other trades move around them. This is particularly true when the project is in the thick of things and everyone is experiencing a bit of project fatigue. Secondly, on contract delivery vehicles such as CM@R, CM led DB, IPD and even hard bid where the CM's or GC's carry the majority of contractual risk; the majority of risk mitigation efforts should lie with the major risk holder. If a CM isn't doing this they are letting a subcontracted party manage their risk with no reward model and this is never a good decision in any business.

Lastly, relying on subs to run coordination meetings creates inconsistency to these efforts. As most CM and GC firms work with different subs on each project, there is a lot of value in providing consistent deliverables for your internal staff, so they aren't re-learning what a set of deliverables may be for each new project.

Truth 4: Establishing a learning culture is more important than creating BIM standards.

For many organizations, this is a toughie.

As new technologies enter the market on a daily basis, successful firms are finding that there is more value to establishing learning as a priority, rather than standards.

Standards, while useful in some aspects of a coherent look and feel or deliverable process, often become outdated before they are widely adopted. For this reason, I encourage groups to look at how to create "one page guidelines" that allow for flexibility and creativity around a process rather than a 213 page BIM standard on model creation. Creating a guideline allows for new technologies and processes to be inserted into a workflow to optimize output. When you create a standard, the clay has already set and there is little to no room for innovation.

Truth 5: If you aren't engaging your CA or field staff in the process you will lose.

One of the most repeated questions I hear is, "How do we take all of this great stuff we've done in the virtual environment and replicate it in the field?"

I have found that the answer to this question is, engage your field team. The team that is going to be responsible for construction administration, or construction management MUST be plugged in to the process. Otherwise your results are often going to be sub-par. Why is this?

Well, to understand we have to begin thinking like a project superintendent.

Here is a guy or gal who has "x number" of years experience in building structures and now they are being told by some VDC operator how to build their project from what a computer is telling them. Guess what?

There's no buy-in. In this scenario, there is no background being provided on the history to the decisions or directions along the way that could very well have created a solid product (this has to do with Truth #2). Thus the confidence level in that deliverable is zero, nill, nada.

Now think about how valuable it would be to have this same human database of information be able to participate in the coordination process with time tested input and real world experience. I won't give away the ending if this is news to you, but it will change your perspective real fast....also as a heads up this will often be where you will get some of the best ideas your organization has ever had.


That's it for now. I may do a part two, but we are going to go look at some monkeys. Let me know your thoughts and Happy New Years!

What Keeps Us Interested?

Had a great discussion not too long ago to a group of students and great minds, where I was asked the question afterwards, "What keeps you interested in BIM and technology?"

[Insert long thoughtful pause here]

I answered, "I guess it would have to be the promise of technology. Not only to design and construction and BIM, but in what we haven't thought about yet."

While this was a very truthful (and somewhat esoteric answer), the reality is that I thought about this question for some time on the plane ride home. Wondering if I had answered in a meaningful way, or if I had just scarred and confused a promising young mind forever?

So what exactly is it about the promise of technology that keeps not just me, but a whole host of people engaged in meaningful dialogs across the world... plugged in and searching for an aha moment, a break through or an app that can read minds?

As I see it, I believe it is the challenge of technology and human connectivity that keeps us searching.

In open retrospect, we all seem to firmly believe that technology will provide us with the means of creating a better world. There have been great examples of how societies have changed for the better or where new advances in science and research have occurred because of technology....but was it technology or was it connectivity?

Some would argue connectivity, such as the stodgy old sales guy I'm sitting next to on this flight to Orlando. Others would argue technology, such as my generation Y brother, who when I last visited him, was playing xBox 360, whilst talking to Siri on his iPhone to find a "western buffet" and listening to his laptop that was streaming a Pandora playlist through Facebook. (Yes I bore witness to this)

It seems to me that the best answer of why we continue to connect, download and search is a blend of both. Simply connecting human to human alone isn't big or fast enough (for right or wrong). Yet technology without human context is a one way street. Then I had my aha moment... what we are building is why we connect.

The HUGE amounts of information that surrounds us in our daily lives is now able to be collected, sorted and displayed in various forms to other humans in increasingly meaningful ways. Whether you are building a historic archive of your life (Facebook, twitter, instagram) or creating a digital 3D model of Seattle that could someday allow a blind man on a bicycle to wear a headset to navigate his way through the city streets...we connect to what we build...and we continue to build information to connect to.

So maybe to the student who asked that question, I would say now, "Because I think buildings will one day be able to talk, people will understand and achieve homeostasis with one another and I'll finally be able to have my iPhone read my mind as I cruise through downtown Seattle blindfolded on my 'Back to the Futur(ish)' hoverboard.

Client Communication Outside of Projects, More Relevant than Ever Before

As I write this, I'm reminded of a number of project pursuits recently that involved early communication with Owners, board members and potential clients about what the latest tools and technologies were and how they are changing the industry. What was really interesting was how many opportunities it opened up, given the meeting wasn't held under the pretense of "give me work". As I work in the construction industry, we are notorious for becoming best buddies with Owners as their projects come up on their program and then losing contact with them like an annoying ex-girlfriend when they don't have any work.

The reality is that the game is changing.

Not just in design and construction, but in all industries. The norm of a sweet PowerPoint presentation, some flashy brochures and a great website is now the expectation and potential Clients are seeking real partners who want to be a part of their business to become engaged in a much larger way than before and to see both organizations grow. While cost continues to be a factor for project selection, it is interesting how it isn't the only factor for selection any more.

In my business, I have found that it's just as important to talk with potential Clients about whatever is relevant to their business, even when they don't have a project on the horizon. Whether it's technology, innovative processes, new tools or a more value focused offering, Clients usually have the time to chat and truly appreciate the connection. Additionally, these same people are usually very well connected with people in similar positions to theirs in other companies. Often these meetings mean so much to a Client that they will extend your network for you and make introductions to people who have potential projects or needs coming up or whom you weren't connected with before.

The real value in communication and information sharing is what "banner" it's held under. To paraphrase Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, "The results of a meeting you have over tea, versus the one you have on the battle field are always different."

Great Resource!

Hey all, just wanted to throw this one out there as well. This is a great free tool from the folks over at Tekla that allows for models to be viewed, organized, run a clash report, collaborate and analyze.

Gotta say, I'm a fan!

http://www.teklabimsight.com/

Smacked Between the Eyes

For starters, I believe that folks who have worked in the AEC industry for anything longer than two years are a bit jaded and think the world "works" a certain way. But every now and then I have discussions, read something or attend a presentation that shakes those constructs up and makes me look at things from a completely different angle.

Recently I gave a presentation to a very smart group of military professionals from the Facilities and O and M side and I was excited to see from the industry's standpoint of Design, Construction and Operations where their heads were.

A number of their questions were very well thought out and they listened very carefully to what I was telling them about BIM enabled processes, VDC technology and an integrated means of delivering projects. I wrote down the following three questions because they hit me square between the eyes, (and for those who know me that's saying something).

1.) Why doesn't the industry understand that everyone uses information for different things and that at some point that information simply isn't useful?

I asked for an example and they said, "well for example right now we get both the native file models and the federated or composite Navis file at the end of the job and inevitably the clearance blocks in front of equipment are still there, remnants of 4D scheduling information and extremely detailed model components with a large amount of model parameters are delivered to us as well." "We spend quite a long time cleaning the models up that we get at the end of a job to use for Facilities Management and Operations, which is quite a bit less and there seems to be a disconnect there."

Epiphany number one. Pull information through the process. Begin with the end in mind and adopt a LEAN methodology of finding what the next user needs and eliminate the rest. We aren't still reading books about how to make fire, we just turn on the stove. All information has a shelf life.

2.) In the military, everyone on your team is responsible for a task and each team member relies on each person to complete it. What accountability measures do teams put in place to make sure all of the team members are pulling their load?

Ideally it starts with picking the right team members from the beginning, just as I'm sure you pick certain team members for each mission. From there, we plan on how we are going to execute the work over time and have routine "checkups" to make sure we are getting there.

So what if someone isn't delivering, are they off the team?

Well...not quite. So contractually they are obligated to deliver, but in the event they decide not to, there are some measures we can take to get them back on track, but it often takes a while to completely remove them from the team.

Sounds pretty weak

Yeah, there's definitely room for progress to be made for sure, but I believe that integrated project delivery methods will continue to improve projects. In fact, there's been a lot of examples of this being successful already. I believe if the team is mutually responsible for delivering the project, there is a lot more at stake and the "blame game" that's plagued the industry really becomes somewhat of a moot point, because everyone has to get across the finish line.

Sounds a lot better

Epiphany number two. Weaknesses in project delivery aren't a secret. There are a lot of informed Owners out there, all with the same goal of building their project without falling short. It's much better to align with this understanding instead of attempting to look "smarter or more experienced". Smart teams are winning projects. Others are going out of business.

3.) Why can't you guys just make a Google for Facilities Management? Google did it for the whole internet.

Great question. I believe there are a lot of companies working on it, us among them that close the information life cycle loop. A lot of this is because Architect, Engineers and Construction Managers are learning quickly that they are not all knowing as much as they think they are. There is an exciting dialog occurring for open minded professionals with Operations and Maintenance colleagues as well as energy managers, software companies and communities to learn how to best understand the impacts a building actually has on the environment and what information is useful as a byproduct from design and construction to help it along.

Epiphany number three. Constant innovation is at the nucleus of any good team. The Japanese have a concept for this called "Kaizen" or the idea of constant improvement. In the book, The Toyota Way this is explored quite in depth. Even when you think you've figured it out...there is still room to improve and innovate.

Wait...What?!

Lately there has been a great trend that we are witnessing first hand in the subcontracting community....the rise of subs who "get it."

I can remember about 8 years ago having a discussion with a leading subcontractor in the industry who essentially told me that he and his mechanical firm were NEVER going to make a move into the virtual environment. Lo and behold I ran into him at the Denver Airport about a month ago and we got to talking.

Apparently he had completely forgotten what he had told me years earlier and was excited to tell me how they had fully integrated BIM and laser scanning tools for their organization! It's amazing to see how time can transition attitudes (and memories!).

This of course got me to thinking and I began to think of all the subcontracting companies I have seen over the years transition into a 3D CAD/BIM environment. While there are still some holdouts, for the most part the question any more is really who DOESN'T have BIM technology integrated into their operations. This is an exciting time for the Design and Construction community, especially since we are now in a much better place of BIM use and understanding of the processes then we were before.

Next I'll give a brief write up on how to get subcontractors to install their systems correctly in the field.

USC Presentation Today

Great topics and fascinating discussion on bim, but more importantly a great talk in application development and information management and sharing.

Good talk from Mario Guttman from Perkins and Will on custom programming and pushing the boundaries of Revit out of the box.

http://arch-pubs.usc.edu/extreme-bim/