Until recently, the design and maintenance of buildings and structures, their renovation were based on the concept of consistent work on the project of various specialists: architects, designers, engineers, and technologists. However, the more modern BIM technology is replacing this outdated approach. BIM stands for Building Information Modeling, a technology based on the creation of a virtual model of the entire building, including architectural solutions, engineering networks, landscape, and surrounding area. At the same time, such a model is used throughout the whole work cycle – from the project creation to the building commissioning. This approach allows workers to address the design comprehensively and rationally.
In art, design, and architecture, especially in large-scale works, a model is needed. For this reason, the artist sketches the painting, the designer creates a prototype, and the architect draws a layout and cuts. In the case of an architect, the task of the idea’s implementation is complicated by the fact that many participants are involved in the processes of designing, coordinating, and implementing large objects. Everyone should have comprehensive data to understand the final result clearly. BIM resolves this problem creating an opportunity for everyone involved to work on the project at the same time.
BIM allows not only to approach the tasks individually but also to calculate the only correct solutions to the issues on construction, operation, and repair. Thus, the technology allows structuring all the information about the object, including the economic component. It is a design method that takes into account each parameter related to parameteructure’s life cycle, ranging from construction costs to subsequent monthly power costs. These data, together with physical characteristics, form the information model itself, in which the change of one parameter leads to an automatic recalculation of all others. If an architect uses BIM, it means that he/she has a building model with every detail worked out and remains only to put it into practice.
The use of the BIM approach also helps architects to save money significantly and to avoid exceeding the budget. The essence of the savings is the use of modeling to organize a more productive exchange of information during the design process. For example, if the architectural bureau produced a specific 3D part, the file can be sent to the designers and then to the manufacturer for the further work. It only improves the quality of working documentation but also reduces conflict situations in the construction process.
At the same time, such a model acts as a kind of database of the object. For example, in the case of breakdowns and faults at any time, the architect can see which parts and whose products were used in a particular location to pick up precisely the same one for replacement. More importantly, BIM identifies many errors during the design phase. For example, a water pipeline intersects with a gas pipeline because different specialists designed them. The pre-identified error will save a lot of strength, time, and budget.
Thus, BIM technology is a fundamentally different approach to object design. The basis is a comprehensive complex creation by all participants of the design process at the same time: architects, designers, engineers, technologists. In the newly designed object, everything should be extremely rational. The BIM technology includes all the tools architects need during the design process. It helps them analyze and respond to customer requirements at the early stages of the projects. With the BIM approach, the quality and efficiency of work will rise to a new level.