Building Information Modelling BIM in Design Construction and

Building Information
Modelling (BIM) in
Design, Construction
and Operations III
Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Design, Construction and Operations III 1
BIM AND LEAN CONSTRUCTION INTERACTIONS:

A STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW
MARÍA DOLORES ANDÚJAR-MONTOYA1*, ANTONIO GALIANO-GARRIGÓS2,
CARLOS RIZO-MAESTRE2 & VÍCTOR ECHARRI-IRIBARREN2
1
Department of Architectural Constructions, University of Alicante, Spain
2
Department of Building Sciences and Urbanism, University of Alicante, Spain
ABSTRACT
The construction industry needs contemporary approaches in order to improve the performance of the
construction process, in terms of both time and cost. Currently, the most significant trends applied for
this purpose are building information modelling paradigm (BIM) and Lean construction philosophy.
Following the rise of both paradigms, many studies have been conducted to explore the benefits
of its application in isolation. As a consequence, the aim of this paper is to bring to knowledge a
state-of-the-art overview of literature about BIM and Lean construction synergies. Firstly, a general
overview of each paradigm is presented. Secondly, the synergies between both principles and their
theoretical and practical applications are also covered. Finally, conclusions and recommendations for
future researches are presented.
Keywords: building information modelling, BIM, Lean construction.
1 INTRODUCTION
During the period 2002–2009 Spain had an uncontrolled growth in the building market, this
period was called the construction bubble and made housing prizes raise. This spectacular
and uncontrolled growth did not only affect the private housing market, but also public
administration started new developments in many cases without any control and even without
the proper finance. One of the main consequences of the crash of the construction bubble was
the trend related to big budget deviations in construction projects, which in many cases
reached outrageous costs. The problem of cost overruns is also a reality at the international
level, in relation to this some works set a mean cost overrun of 12.22% in construction and
engineering projects [1], [2]. Many factors contribute to these deviations with diverse origins
such as human-induced causes associated with people involved in the process, where the lack
of communication is a constant barrier that appears as a consequence of the concurrence of
diverse companies and participants in the construction phase, climate of competition, and
tightness of the information [3]. These issues lead to information not flowing to all
stakeholders or not flowing on time, generating bottlenecks, unnecessary works and reworks
[4]. Indeed, up to 30% of construction activities are rework tasks [5], being understood as
rework the unnecessary effort of re-doing a process or activity that was initially badly
performed, affecting the budget and project planning [6]–[8]. Specifically, from 6 to 12% of
construction costs are wasted on rework of defective components detected late during the
construction phase [9], [10], and this situation is often aggravated by the lack of motivation
and participation of subcontracted companies and own workers [11]. Furthermore,
human-induced causes are reinforced by the high dependence of the construction sector on
manual tasks and procedures that could be automated through the use of advanced
technology. However, technology scarcity and technology gap is a constant in the sector that
contributes to the general inefficient performance of the construction industry, promoting
again the tightness of information, duplicities and errors and ultimately lack of transparency
*
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8250-1954
WIT Transactions on The Built Environment, Vol 192, © 2019 WIT Press
www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509 (on-line)
doi:10.2495/BIM190011
2 Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Design, Construction and Operations III
during the construction process [12]. Although technology represents one of the main allies
for companies to optimize resources, the utilization of these technological advances in the
construction industry is still quite low [13]. In addition, the inherent causes of construction
projects derived from the complexity, uncertainty and variability of the construction process
itself are also noteworthy [11]. Some of these unforeseen causes can be categorized as delays
in the delivery of materials and equipment, design errors, changes in orders, breakdowns and
malfunctions of tools, labour absences, environmental effects, accidents and physical
demands of work that affect productivity [14]. These causes usually generate mismatches
between what was initially programmed and what was actually built, encouraging
improvisation tendencies before decision making [11]. Finally, some authors include other
political causes [2]. Lack of control during the contracting and construction phase is being a
worrying issue for both researchers and participants involved in the sector, who claim that
a change in regulation is needed in order to avoid uncontrolled budget bids commonly known
as wild bids, since there is a direct connection between these bids and budget deviations
during construction [15]. Specifically, in Spain initiatives from the public and the private
sector have been developed, and a sample of it is the report published by The Spanish
Confederation for Entrepreneur Organizations [16] with a proposal for improving the legal
Frame and the contractual procedures for hiring building companies, and at the same time,
remarked the need of transparency and the improvement of the project. Also, in 2018 the
Government of Spain published a new contracting law for the public sector introducing many
initiatives to promote the transparency in the process of hiring a company and setting clearer
steps to control quality in the construction project and the building process. At the same time
measures to digitalize the construction process were introduced, proposing the use of BIM,
based on the experience that other UE countries had and that many researchers have analysed
[17]. As a result of the foregoing, a rethinking of the practices and procedures used until now
is necessarily needed, being unavoidable the definition of new guidelines of action for greater
efficiency in construction projects.
According to this idea, this paper examines the application of the most growing trends in
the sector at the moment in order to improve the efficiency of the construction process, both
in terms of time and cost. Currently, the most representative paradigms which are spreading
more rapidly not only in the research world but also in the professional field are the
collaborative work methodology building information modelling (hereinafter BIM) and
the Lean Construction philosophy. BIM is an emerging technology that provides an
integrated solution for managing construction projects throughout its life cycle, from the
definition of project objectives to the fulfilment of its useful life, centralizing all project
information in a digital information model accessible by all stakeholders [18]. Another
growing approach within the construction industry is the application of the Lean Construction
philosophy, and its associated tools. Lean Construction is an adaptation of the Lean
Manufacturing philosophy to construction, and it focuses on improving performance during
construction works through the reduction of waste while maximizing value [19]–[22],
understanding waste as any activity that consumes resources but does not create value such
as errors requiring rectification or reworks, unnecessary movement of labour, material and
resources from one place to another without any purpose, bottlenecks or underutilized
resources due to waiting or delays. One of the most effective tools within the Lean
Construction background is the Last Planner system tool which enables agile and proactive
management of construction projects [23].
2 CURRENT APPROACHES TO OPTIMIZE THE

EFFICIENCY OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
2.1 Last planner system
As stated in the previous paragraph, Lean Construction is based on the management of

construction projects following the principles of Lean Manufacturing. One of main focus
of Lean Construction is to reduce cycle time, simplifying and minimizing the number of
steps, parts and links to increase production flexibility, process transparency, and to focus on
controlling the entire process globally, reducing variability and establishing continuous
improvement [11]. Its most significant tool within the framework of construction project
management is the Last Planner system which enables agile and proactive management of
construction projects, compared to traditional methods of project management that focus on
activities proving ineffective, especially those based on the critical path method where the
identification of deviations often occurs too late. Although these methods are widely used in
the management of construction projects, for example Gantt Diagrams, their ineffectiveness
in producing predictable results has been recognized in various studies, as well as the lack of
adaptation to the reality of the project construction management [23]. These methods do not
provide a concise description of the actual development of the project, becoming mere initial
assumptions that will later be corrected and adjusted during the construction phase, often
involving delays and increases in contractual deadlines [23], [24]. In addition, the
interrelationships between project variables and surrounding factors are actually complex
causality and effect relationships, non-linear as traditional methods suggest [25]. Faced with
this Last Planner system is characterized by the generation of a predictable workflow through
a collaborative planning process distinguished by participant commitment and agility.
These characteristics determine the adequacy of the system for project management,
especially suitable for projects in complex environments, by reducing variability,
improving performance and flow reliability, thus ensuring quality, decision making, and
stakeholders’ commitment.
All this from different phases of the Last planner system spread over different time
horizons throughout the management of the construction project: Master schedule, Phase
Scheduling or Pull schedule, Look Ahead Planning and Weekly Work Plan. As it is
developed in [26], Last planner system begins with an initial meeting where milestones and
deadlines from the Master Schedule are established. This phase is known as Phase
Scheduling, also known as Pull Schedule by the use of the Pull system to carry out
the schedule of activities in a collaborative way among all participants, starting from the
milestones or completion date from the end to the beginning, i.e. in reverse to the date of
termination [26], [27]. This collaborative planning becomes the starting point for the Look
Ahead Planning phase, which serves as a bridge between long-term planning and short-term
commitments [28], where workflows of each activity in that period are identified, usually 6
weeks in advance. Then, an analysis of the restrictions that affect the beginning and
development of the works is performed, categorizing them and developing a plan for their
elimination before the activity begins. After that, restrictions are categorized, and a plan is
drawn up for disposal before the activity begins. From the activities free of restrictions, a
weekly schedule (Weekly Work Plan) is done, presenting the highest level of detail before
executing the work. Finally, performance of planned activities is evaluated through the
indicator Percentage Plan Completed (hereinafter PPC) that enables a comparison between
what was initially programmed and actually executed.
2.2 BIM paradigm
The most widespread technological improvement in the sector is the implementation of BIM
as a growing trend that provides an integrated solution for managing construction projects,
throughout its life cycle from the definition of project objectives to the fulfilment of its useful
life [18]. It is the new technology standard based on an improvement of the building data
management that is renovating the building market. This information, gathered during the
building process, becomes an added value during all the building life cycle. This is achieved
because BIM is based on a digital representation of the building process that facilitates the
exchange and interoperability of information in digital format. In parallel BIM is being
progressively introduced in the project life cycle. This is due to the fact that national
administrations must adapt its construction procedures to the publication by the European
Union (EU) of the European Directive for Public Procurement, which promotes the use of
electronic tools like BIM in construction projects financed by EU public funds. But although
some countries like The United Kingdom, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and Finland
already require BIM for public works, there are other countries, as Spain, where the
awareness and the adoption among construction stakeholders is currently spreading [29], and
the implementation has not started for the administration and is still at an initial stage above
all for SMEs.
There are several authors that have been focused on the acceptance and implementation
of BIM in the sector [30]–[34]. The use of BIM technologies during the design and
construction phases avoids design mistakes allowing visualization and therefore conflicts,
interferences and clash detections [35], [36] achieving savings of up to 10% of the contract
value through these clash detections [36]. Indeed, BIM has been proven to reduce document
errors and omissions by up to 52%, it can also reduce reworks by up to 48%, and reduce cycle
time of specific workflows 39%, and cycle time of specific workflows by up to 39% [37],
[38]. Also, it is remarkable the benefits related to the cost reduction and control through the
project life cycle [39] since BIM provides predictable information with regard to quantity,
cost, schedules, and materials [40]. Furthermore, BIM creates and makes available
information early, this fact together with the ubiquity of mobile technology that facilitates
access to site information at any time and from anywhere shortens the gap between
information availability and response times. In addition, BIM facilitates information flow
since participants have a clear understanding of their role and responsibility in a
project aligning expectations, and increases transparency as it shows how to integrate best
practices and capture knowledge sharing from one project to the next, promoting
continuous improvement [41].
3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The present research started with the problem identification that has been addressed in
Section 1, thus, a study of all the relevant literature regarding delays and cost overruns in
construction works managed in a traditional way was performed. Subsequently, as Fig. 1
shows, a second stage included the identification of the partial solutions to face these
problems. For this, extensive research was identified on BIM and Lean issues in isolation as
paradigms that counteract the causes of delays and cost overruns. These current approaches
to optimize the efficiency of construction projects have been briefly presented in Section 2.
It is beyond the scope of this paper to show the detailed review of BIM and Lean as isolated
paradigms, since the paper sampling is only focused on the synergies of both disciplines. A
detailed review can be found in previous works of the authors and also in some relevant
works [11], [32], [33], [36], [42]–[45].
Figure 1: Flow diagram showing the research process.
In a third stage, searches for relevant articles focused on BIM and Lean construction
synergies to include in the paper sampling were performed using selected databases such as
Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Accurate keywords choice is relevant to ensure
a precise search. Keywords used for searching the articles included BIM, building
information modelling, Lean Construction and Last planner system.
Finally, in a fourth stage the study adopted a qualitative research approach where were
identified improvements brought about by the implementation of these paradigms
simultaneously, in order to counteract the problem generally presented by the management
of traditional construction projects that were identified in Section 1. Furthermore, a
quantitative analysis of the paper sampling provided an overview about the lifecycle stage
where the researches are focus on, the main discipline of the research, the research
dissemination vehicle and the profile of research according to if it is a theoretical work or a
case study.
4 CONTENT ANALYSIS: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

According to De Carvalho et al. [46] the content analysis is a research technique that allows
the collection and classification of information in order to identify trends.
The main characteristic of the content analysis is that it is a method that intrinsically
combines observation and the interpretation of the data or data analysis. The present work
focuses on a content analysis on the BIM and Lean synergies. Only works based on this
synergy and published in scientific journals and in the most representative international
conferences were included. Research and representative international conferences focused
on BIM or Lean in an isolated way were not included. The papers focusing on prefabricated
building system were not included either, since the issues identified in Section 1 Introduction
have their origin in the traditional management of construction works carried out completely
on site.
4.1 Qualitative research results
Although BIM and Lean construction are two paradigms that have evolved independently,
BIM acts as a facilitator and catalyst of Lean philosophy improving its application. About
the mutual synergy of BIM-Lean is written in Dave et al. [47] where it is shown the relevance
of these two methodologies throughout project life cycle: early design, design and detail,
construction, fit-out and handover, and facilities management and operations. BIM
contributes directly to Lean goals enabling Lean processes but at the same time Lean
processes facilitate the adoption and use of BIM. The synergy of both paradigms has strategic
advantages in the organizations that implement it, through improvements in projects related
to customer focus through early identification of value, clash detection and fast evaluation of
alternatives, and collaboration, among others.
Specifically in Mollasalehi et al. [48] was studied how the integration of the BIM
technology capability with the theoretical foundation of Lean at the design stage can
contribute to the considerable reduction of construction waste in the construction process.
The authors identified that the most significant causes of waste at the design phase are related
to design changes, poor decision making, lack of information exchange, and poor
communication, among others. Consequently the integration of both disciplines at this stage
would reduce design time, reworks and conflicts [49], at the same time that increases
predictability, and stakeholder interaction [47], [48].
Also about design error management, Al Hattab and Hamzeh [50] analysed how BIM and
Lean practice reorganize the structures and communication of the participants in the design
phase in order to identify omissions and errors at the design stage before they can have severe
impacts on subsequent phases and the overall project, and reduce their recurrence.
Other authors extend the synergy to other stages of the project life cycle as the
construction phase. Specifically, in Tauriainen et al. [51] Lean is presented as a BIM
Facilitator to foster collaboration through Lean tools like big room, knotworking, Last
planner and set based design is highlighted to overcome barriers related to human relations,
such as unclear responsibilities, inadequate instructions and lack of communication, that
impede the correct implementation of BIM. Furthermore, is widely known the benefits of
BIM in terms of the visualisation as 3D modelling software. However, not only will allow
the construction process visualisation in the design phase but also will enable Lean principles
to be used in construction projects to achieve better project performance by increasing
productivity and quality and reducing cost as well as project delivery time [36].
The review of the literature shows the scarcity of works on the synergy of both paradigms
taking into account the extensive literature on Lean and BIM separately. Furthermore, if we
look beyond the theoretical literature reviews, we observed that this low percentage extends
also to the case studies works, so there are hardly any researches in indexed journals or papers
in highly relevant conferences on the subject that focus on the integration of these paradigms
collectively through case studies.
Within this scant existing literature, in Clemente and Cachadinha [52] is studied the BIM
and Lean synergies through a case study. But despite it was developed in the construction
phase it only focuses on the management of MEP works such as plumbing and electrical
facilities. Also in De Mattos Nascimento et al. [53] the BIM and Lean alignment is studied
through its application on a real-world case study, but it is only focused on the facility
management stage and not in the construction phase. Likewise, in Bhatla and Leite [54] is
achieved the integration of BIM and Lean concepts such as the Last planner system in a case
study, but again in the operation and maintenance phase.
During the literature review just a few articles that include case studies and are focused
on the construction phase have been found. In Koseoglu et al. [55] the construction project
of the Istanbul Grand Airport was carried out within a BIM Lean comprehensive approach,
achieving a successful management not only at the design stage but also covering the
construction phase. As well in Mahalingam et al. [56] a case study of a metro rail station
project in India with the implementation of BIM and Last planner system was compared with
another metro rail station project were only BIM was implemented. The main results showed
how Lean practices create a culture of coordination, improving coordination within a project
team and enable BIM adoption maximizing its use for decision making.
About BIM assistance in decision making on short and medium term planning and control
was also described in Garrido et al. [57] where two case studies of residential construction
projects were carried out. Another main result identified in the research were single
information source, automated clash checking, visualization of process status and online
communication of product and process information. Similarly, synergies and integration have
been analysed in Toledo et al. [58] where a coordinated use of Last planner system and BIM
facilitates the interaction and communication of different project stakeholders around BIM
management in planning meetings.
As it is shown in Fig. 1 the content analysis after the paper sampling derived in two types
of information. First, a qualitative analysis was performed and as a result the following sub
section presents a summary of the state-of-the-art in BIM and Lean synergies. In addition,
Fig. 2 shows the benefits of the synergy of both paradigms and how they empower each other,
according to the revision of contents of the paper sampling (Fig. 2). The benefits of the left
column are associated with Lean techniques, while the benefits of the right column are
associated with BIM benefits, according to literature analysis.
Also it was stablished a matrix (Table 1) that shows the correlation of these benefits with
the problems regarding delays and cost overruns in construction works managed in a
traditional way previously detected.
Figure 2: BIM and Lean construction synergies according to content analysis.
Table 1: Correlation between the synergies and the problems previously identified.
Improvements through BIM and Lean Construction paradigms
More clearly defined deliveries between parties

Fosters communication/ coordination
Improves document version control
Controls the entire process globally
Creates and uses information early

Provides predictable information
Improves scheduling capabilities

Increases production flexibility
Increases process transparency
Fast evaluation of alternatives
Facilitates information flow
Clash detection capabilities

Avoids design mistakes
Proactive management
Allows visualization
Reduces variability
Problems regarding
delays and cost
overruns
Poor communication ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Lack of motivation ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Labor absences,
accidents and ■ ■ ■
physical demands
Changes in orders ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Design errors ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Delays in resources´
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
delivery
Project duration
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
overestimation
Lack of information
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
exchange
Duplicities and errors ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Lack of transparency ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Breakdowns and
■ ■ ■
malfunctions of tools
Environmental
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
effects
Lack of control ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Poor decision
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
making
Unclear
■ ■ ■ ■
responsibilities
4.2 Quantitative research results
Second, a sample’s quantitative analysis was developed and provided an overview about: the
lifecycle stage where the researches of the paper sampling are focus on, the main discipline
of the research, the research dissemination vehicle and the profile of research according to if
it is a theoretical work or a case study. The findings of the quantitative analysis are shown in
Fig. 3, where is highlighted that most of the research on BIM and Lean construction synergies
published indexed journals or papers in highly relevant conferences on the subject are
focused on the design phase, compared to the rest of the life cycle phases. Furthermore,
results showed that most of them are focused on the architecture discipline versus MEP
discipline. In addition, it was detected that despite the fact that most of them use journals as
the research dissemination vehicle, contributions to specific international relevant
conferences on the subject also represent a high percentage. Finally, it was detected that there
is a balance between the percentage of theoretical research and case studies in this field.
Figure 3: Quantitative research results.
5 CONCLUSIONS
This study reveals that research on BIM and Lean construction synergies converge in the
bidirectional improvements of both paradigms, as they empower each other. It has been
concluded that they enhance improvements in throughout project life cycle: early design,
design and detail, construction, fit-out and handover, and facilities management and
operations. In this sense, BIM contributes directly to Lean goals empowering Lean
processes contributing to the considerable reduction of construction waste in the construction
process such as design changes, poor decision making, lack of information exchange, and
poor communication. At the same time Lean processes facilitate the adoption and use of BIM
overcoming unclear responsibilities, inadequate instructions and lack of communication, that
impede the correct implementation of BIM.
Also, the review of the literature shows the scarcity of works on the synergy of both
paradigms taking into account the extensive literature on Lean and BIM separately.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the interaction BIM and Lean Construction is an area still
little explored that can open future lines of research associated to Lean tools beyond the Last
Planner system, and other agile management systems.
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REWARDING PERFORMANCE IN CONSTRUCTION

JAMES HARTY
Copenhagen School of Design and Technology, Denmark
ABSTRACT
Copenhagen, among many, wants to be the world’s first carbon neutral capital in 2025. This is
an ambitious plan requiring long-term action, but it is none-the-less realistic. In 2011, Copenhagen
had reduced CO2 emissions by 21% compared to 2005. At the moment, design decisions can be said
to be all about reputation. A design that is seen as “good” enhances your reputation as a designer.
In the future designs will be measured against performance. And that performance has a very direct
effect on the financial reward you can expect from good design, from commissioning a good
designer. Meanwhile, we are placing ever-greater demands on our built environments, and by
adding multiple components to our buildings, we increase the risk and probability of errors. The
ability to just delete or change something in the model is much easier than with paper drawings. The
model also allows better control over buildability, progress, access to solutions and project economy.
The technology likely to have the greatest impact on the next few decades has arrived. It’s called the
Blockchain. Architecture, Engineering and Construction professionals, (AEC) have always
struggled to recover the intrinsic value of their labour. Blockchain with its properties of
transparency, immutability and consensus validation now offers them an opportunity to develop a
“new value proposition“ to extract reward not just for their collaborative services that they have
provided, but also the intrinsic intangible value of their collaborative professional service over the
lifecycle of a building. Blockchain can offer a method of rewarding stakeholders who procure
projects that perform better with a running contract, which if it performs pays out and likewise
withholds payment for non-compliance.
Keywords: Blockchain, BIM.
1 INTRODUCTION
Copenhagen’s Lord Mayor Frank Jensen wants to rapidly move toward a zero-carbon future
[1]. Adrian Malleson, in the RIBA Journal, noted that the UK government’s mandate for BIM
meant that performance was to the fore and would reap benefits [2]. Don Tapscott saw a
move from a passive internet to an active one as signalling the dawn of the Blockchain [3].
Finally, Malachy Mathews sees the Blockchain, interlaced with BIM, as heralding a new
paradigm where both the Latham report, “Constructing the team” and the Egan report
“Rethinking Construction” can be delivered [4]. This heady mix asks the question, how!
Traditional construction contracts generally are Design-Bid-Build [DBB] where the
lowest or most preferential tender is awarded the work. This has been hailed as flawed for
many reasons, topmost being that in order to secure the contract, the bid usually has to be
the lowest, and that the only remedy to increased revenues comes from shortfalls within the
contract, the documentation or the drawings. These are litigiously examined and result in
Requests for Information (RFI’s) or Change Orders (CO’s) resulting in rework, delays and
poor workmanship [5].
RFI’s usually seek to clarify further information, or to provide information that was not
complete at the time of signing the contract. It is good practice to include in this information,
the affected parties, dates, any supporting documentation, as it will form a chain of
information, creating a matrix to be tracked, answered and distributed appropriately. If this
process constitutes a variation it might qualify the relevant party to an extension of time, or
a claim against losses or expenses, delaying the completion date and budget if not carefully
managed. It becomes a phenomenon in itself [6].
doi:10.2495/BIM190021
BIM can mitigate this process for the better, and various contract forms strive to address
these deficiencies. They range from Design and Build (DB) to Integrated Project Deliveries
(IPD) and lately; Insurance-Backed Alliancing (IBA) where the whole team makes joint
decisions from day one for the benefit of the project [7]. This involves the insurers keeping
checks and balances in the form of three new roles. These are the Financial Independent Risk
Assurer (FIRA), the Technical Independent Risk Assurer (TIRA) and also an Independent
Facilitator (IF). The first checks the cost plan, while the next assesses feasibilities, while the
last stops the team reverting to type with adversarial behaviours. Its intellectual position could
be said to align with the Latham report of 1994 [8].
This report wished to delight clients by – in Latham’s words – promoting openness,
co-operation, trust, honesty, commitment and mutual understanding among team members
[9]. Incredibly all of these aspirations have remained on the agenda right up until and
including today. Finally, he identified and determined that efficiencies, especially in savings
of the order of 30%, were possible. In the report, he condemned existing industry practices
as being “ineffective, adversarial, fragmented, incapable of delivering for its customers” and
“lacking respect for its employees”. Even at this early stage, he urged reform in the industry
and advocated partnering and collaboration by construction companies. He went on to say:
“‘Partnering includes the concepts of teamwork between supplier and client, and of total
continuous improvement. It requires openness between the parties, ready acceptance of new
ideas, trust and perceived mutual benefit’ and ‘Partnering arrangements are also beneficial
between firms’ without becoming ‘cosy’ (sic)”.
Many would say that BIM is delivering this nirvana and that collaboration is growing and
benefitting better construction, but only to a degree, I would argue. There is no commitment
to occupation, circular economies or sustainability, especially with regard to carbon.
Handover is still seen as the end of the contract, and in this, all responsibilities vaporise
shortly after the building is finished and the snagging complete. Increasingly, we are seeing
owners/occupiers not taking over the facility but leasing it back from the builder, ensuring
that the risk remains with the contractor, safeguarding any building malfunctions, whilst they
are in residence. While this is a tendency, it is not the solution either, the risk can be sold on.
A better method is needed to deliver the environment we need and deserve. A better method
is needed to encourage those providing this environment to perform. And finally, a better
method is needed to reward such practices and document them. This is where Blockchain
enters the stage offering solutions to all these needs.
2 BLOCKCHAIN
In its simplest form, a Blockchain is a series of blocks of information set in a sequence, or
linked together, making a record of transactions, as in a ledger. What makes it unique is that
it cannot be tampered with and this is for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it has
a distributed ledger technology, which means that it replicates the data so that there is not a
single source which can be altered or hacked. Secondly, transactions are transparent, which
means that there can be no cheating, no lying through omission and no obfuscation through
complexity. It is also considered and accountable, meaning it encourages good faith and
discourages blame [10].
This can be best explained using the field of accountancy, which relies on managers to
swear that their books are in order. Human error is a leading cause of accounting mistakes.
Nearly 28% of professionals reported that people plugged incorrect data into their firm’s
enterprise system [11]. Little is done to curb accounting fraud due to the growth of
complexity involved and lastly, traditional accounting methods often cannot reconcile these
new business models [10].
3 LOW MARGIN MENTALITY

Construction is generally perceived to be fragmented, it is bedevilled with notorious low
margins due the traditional tendering process and it often pays twice to correct poor or faulty
workmanship [9]. John Egan [5] and Michael Latham [8] correctly cited these evils within
construction and identified corrective measures, without incentive or reward [4]. Arup [12]
also acknowledged the same problem in their report about Blockchain Technology:
“However, the sector is limited by the existing data processing and exchange
methods which remain characterised by analogue methods that support old
adversarial behaviours”.
Whenever a project is handed over, there is a procurement process that reaches the end of
a cycle mentality. Increasingly, there are methods being tried that seek to prolong or engage
that contractual agreement, whether it is soft-landings, life-cycle assessment or facilities
management. What none of these embrace is unpredictable performance. There is also no
incentive to do so, or a reward system in place to encourage better performance.
4 LITIGATION
Data has value that the owner wishes to maximise should it be exchanged by recovering the
costs of it and increasing its value in the form of a profit. There is no moral incentive to
(freely) share data, even if it makes the job easier. Onerous Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) contracts, can place burdens on parties in how data is exchanged, and who
holds ownership, copyright and intellectual property. Now I am not condemning them, of
course not, they have heralded and made the availability of sharing data possible.
The development of smart buildings also has effects on automated systems, intelligent
building management, adaptive energy systems, assistive technologies, remote monitoring
and the Internet of Things (IoT) allowing feedback to be collected and the data harvested.
Considering that the design life of a building may be 50 years or more, ICT in its current
form, might become redundant before completion and occupation. This becomes a bigger
problem on an urban scale, where major infrastructure programmes will impact on the
economy for years, but an ICT product may last only as long as procurement before it
becomes obsolete [13]. Insurance-Backed Alliancing addresses this conflict but remains
largely passive in an incentive or reward scenario.
5 NEW VALUE PROPOSITION

“For the last two decades, the (construction) sector has tried to apply the collaborative
mantra. But at the end of the day, when the chips are down, it is the contract that shapes
behaviours and outcomes” [12].
Arup also tells us that the solution craves openness, transparency, honesty and
immutability. Blockchain offers permanent, secure and valuable transaction methodologies,
they add. Don Tapscott sees the difference as stark as that of the internet of information,
compared to the internet of value [10]. Arup goes on to describe a Blockchain of circular
BIM things. This is a live BIM (model), “whose components could continuously be fed usage
data from real building throughout their operation” [12].
Using Levels of Development (LOD’s), this is akin to going from LOD-300, to LOD-400
to LOD-500 and/or even LOD-350 in between [14]. LOD-300 is the level of development
that broadly defines the designers’ requirements. 350, is the contractors’ take on the
designer’s requirements. 400, then, is what is ordered to be built, while 500 is the “as-built”
completed project. Arguably, there should be no changes through these stages, but this is
clearly not the case, as can be seen most glaringly in a project like Grenfell Towers in London
[15], where the project went through too many iterations from the architect’s intentions to
the completed refurbishment, resulting in disaster. New replacement windows were 150 mm
too short in width to fit the openings, to meet new energy requirements. These gaps were not
properly filled out, allowing the fire unabated access to the interiors [16].
Having a ledger to document this process, and having it decentralised makes it transparent.
But it does not end there, by having methods to monitor the use of the building and sensors
to report this data back to a database means that algorithms can process this information and
establish if the building is delivering what was claimed at the design phase, i.e. accountability
is introduced to the contractual obligations, which was not there before.
Being able to measure these savings (should they accrue) in energy use, embedded carbon
and optimal occupancy, allows for them to be documented and a method of rewarding such
endeavours becomes real. A corollary, of this is that once this is realised, then the actors in
the design team and construction team, will find ways to improve this new vertical source of
income, becoming better at buildability, sustainability with better performing building stock.
Thus they become incentivised [4].
6 INTRINSIC INTANGIBLE VALUE

So, an intrinsic value has been found – for a previously intangible value – and it is
performance-based, which now can be rewarded. Brooklyn Micro-Gird is a community
network, sharing excess energy locally, rather than uploading surplus energy to the national
grid. This means that it benefits the community both environmentally and economically [14].
Its emphasis is on purchasing locally sourced power, changing the role of the consumer to
that of a prosumer [15]. It works quite simply with a request for electricity, which is verified
by the network, approved, recorded and entered into a block of data added to the chain. Once
the transaction is complete the energy is delivered.
It uses a TransActive Grid smart metering which is a meter installed in each user’s house,
beside the distribution box and the domestic fuse box. If a household produces an energy
surplus, either through solar power or whatever, the demand is calculated through a token
system with no intermediary required. Buyers and sellers use the app to specify their
preferences at what price and with whom.
Through Blockchain technology, LO3 developed “Exergy”, a permissioned data platform
that creates localised marketplaces for transacting energy across existing grid infrastructures
through Peer to Peer (P2P) prosumers. Through the Micro-Grid, it is transacted locally,
creating more efficient, resilient and sustainable communities. It has a Distributed System
Operator (DSO), which has access to building management systems, and using price as a
proxy it manages energy use, load balancing demand response at negotiated rates. When an
electric vehicle has a surplus of energy, it can be available for purchase on the network. The
Micro-Grid can also act as a back-up in power outages.
7 REWARDING PERFORMANCE
Coen van Oostrom, a developer in The Netherlands, wanted to create the world’s best
sustainable building, according to the BREEAM rating method [16]. BREEAM measures
sustainable value in a series of categories, ranging from; energy, health and wellbeing,
innovation, land use, materials, management, pollution, transport, waste and water [17].
Previously he claims, there was a building in London, which reached a 96% rating.
His client, a well-known firm; Deloitte and the building The Edge, are situated in
Amsterdam. It has over 32,000 sensors measuring occupancy, lighting, temperature and air
quality, and is connected to your smartphone via an app, so that it can see who is where
and when. This means that they could reduce 4,000 workspaces to 2,000, based on your
schedule, ranging from sitting-desk, standing-desk, work-booth, meeting-room, balcony-seat
or concentration-room. It also knows your preference for light and temperature, and it tweaks
the environment accordingly [18].
They achieved 95% through their methods, and upon inquiry found out that to get the
extra credits that something innovative was needed. They talked to Siemens and General
Electric, but it was Phillips who had a new system called “Light over the Ethernet” or PoE
(“Power over the Ethernet”, now), which did not use normal power cabling but rather the
ethernet [19]. The significance of this is that while the cable supplied power to the fitting, it
became a two-way street, which also allowed the fitting to be monitored, (when it was on,
for how long, etc...) to meet sustainable goals for optimisation and productivity. This brought
the rating up to 98% and officially the world’s best sustainable building.
At the end of the TED Talk, van Oostrom, pointed towards smart-cities and talked about
being off-grid and sharing excess energy, but without mentioning how. Blockchain could
have provided a structure to implement this. Brooklyn Micro-Grid does just that [14].
8 CONCLUSION
Smart contracts will be one of the most fundamental and disruptive innovations [12]. There
are no middle men, and it is effectively executed, once pre-defined conditions are met.
They lead to faster settlements and are very accurate. Risks are lessened and costs are reduced
because there is no reliance on third parties, especially with legal costs and dispute
resolutions. As the Big-Data aspect increases not only will the construction branch improve,
but society in general, will appreciate the scalability and maturity of the technology.
It will improve the supply chain with its track and trace capabilities, and this will improve
the disparity between LOD’s 300–500, as discussed earlier. Given that buildings impact 37%
of primal energy use, 38% of all carbon dioxide emissions [20], a new mindset is required to
challenge the climate emergency. Bringing BIM and the Blockchain together, enables an
entirely new paradigm for building data collection leading to truly live BIM (models). This
extends the modelling to the circular economy. BIM currently integrates 3D with 4D and 5D
(geometry to time to resources) and will grow to 6D and 7D (sustainability and performance).
8D addresses optimisation and this will make Copenhagen’s desire to be carbon neutral by
2025 possible.
REFERENCES
[1] Gerdes, J., Copenhagen’s ambitious push to be carbon-neutral by 2025. The Guardian,
12 April 2013.
[2] Malleson, A., Ahead of the game. RIBA Journal, 123, pp. 46–47, 2016.
[3] Tapscott, D., The Blockchain will Change EVERYTHING!, 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK6Ldefgbl0. Accessed on: 6 Mar. 2019.
[4] BIM+Blockchain: A solution to the trust problem in collaboration? CITA BIM
Gathering, 23–24 November, Croke Park, Ireland, 2017.
[5] Egan, J., Rethinking construction. The report of the Construction Task Force, 1998.
[6] Aibinu, A.A., Carter, S., Francis, V. & Serra, P.V., Necessary evils: Controlling
Requests for Information [RFIs] to reduce cost and improve margins. Construction
Research and Innovation, 9(4), pp. 103–108, 2018.
[7] Thompson, M., IPI not PII for realistic collaboration. RIBA Journal, 126, pp. 49–50,
2019.
[8] Latham, M., Constructing the team. The final report of the government/industry review
of procurement and contractual arrangements in the UK construction industry. Turner
& Townsend News, 1994.
[9] Harty, J., The Impact of Digitalisation on the Management Role of Architectural
Technology, 2012.
[10] Tapscott, D., Blockchain Revolution, Penguin Random House: UK, 2016.
[11] Berry, K., Human errors: The top corporate tax and accounting mistakes, 2015.
https://www.accountingweb.com/aa/auditing/human-errors-the-top-corporate-tax-
and-accounting-mistakes. Accessed on: 10 Mar. 2019.
[12] Kinnaird, C. & Geipel, M., Blockchain Technology How the Inventions Behind Bitcoin
are Enabling a Network of Trust for the Built Environment, Arup, 2017.
[13] Designing Buildings Wiki, Information and communications technology in
construction, 2019. https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Information_and_
communications_technology_in_construction. Accessed on: 10 Jun. 2019.
[14] BIM-FORUM. Level of development specification guide, 2017.
[15] Moore-Bick, S.M., Grenfell Tower Inquiry, 2019.
https://www.grenfelltowerinquiry.org.uk/. Accessed on: 11 Jun. 2019.
[16] Barratt, L., Grenfell council was warned about gaps in windows by resident of flat
where fire began, 2018, https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/grenfell-
council-was-warned-about-gaps-in-windows-by-resident-of-flat-where-fire-began-
56882. Accessed on: 13 Jun. 2019.
[17] Brooklyn Energy, Brooklyn Micro-Grid, 2019. https://www.brooklyn.energy/.
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[19] van Oostrom, C., Smart Cities: How technology will change our buildings, 2016.
https://youtu.be/hT4ZsaZsEgc. Accessed on: 12 Jun. 2019.
[20] BREEAM. BREEAM Category Issues and Aims, 2019.
https://www.breeam.com/discover/how-breeam-certification-works/. Accessed on:
12 Jun. 2019.
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USING BIM AND MR TO IMPROVE THE PROCESS OF

JOB SITE CONSTRUCTION AND INSPECTION
CHUNG-WEI FENG & CHUN-WEI CHEN
Department of Civil Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
ABSTRACT
The well-documented construction inspection record is important to the success of the construction
project. Along with the development of information technology, mobile devices have been widely
employed to record construction inspection. In addition, building information modeling (BIM) is also
used to provide information for construction inspection. However, even with the help of mobile devices
and BIM, the quality of inspection heavily depends on the information retrieved to examine the on-site
condition. Therefore, there is a need to develop a system that can retrieve necessary information and
compare it with the on-site condition in real time to improve the process of construction inspection.
This research combines BIM and mixed reality (MR) technologies to develop a construction inspection
system. Within this proposed system, the construction engineer can employ the head-mounted MR
device, HoloLens, showing the BIM model on the construction job site with the exact scale to retrieve
the required information for inspecting the jobs in progress. In addition, by employing the function of
spatial mapping of the MR device, the construction engineer can also measure and record the on-site
jobs to identify the differences between the planned and the actual works in real time. Furthermore, the
inspection record can be uploaded to the database on the cloud for better management. The process and
quality of the on-site inspection can be effectively improved by employed the proposed BIM-MR
integrated system.
Keywords: building information modeling (BIM), mixed reality (MR), construction inspection,
constructability.
1 INTRODUCTION
To ensure the quality of the work at the job site and track the progress of the construction
project, construction engineers need to inspect the construction work and record the progress
of the work items on a daily basis. In recent years, as construction projects become large-
scale and complex, construction engineers need to spend more time and put on a lot of effort
to record, organize and transfer the data which can reflect the status of the project [1]. In
addition, a variety of information is required by the construction engineer during the
inspection on the job site. For example, the associated drawings and specifications of the
work under inspection. However, construction engineers may have a hard time accessing this
type of information, especially if it is not in the digital format. Even the information in digital
format, the three-dimensional space is not easy to present on drawings. On the other hand,
the daily inspection form can only be recorded in written or in image, which cannot clearly
describe the situation on the job site, and all inspection results are not systematically sorted
out [2].
Several system frameworks have been proposed to assist construction engineers to inspect
construction jobs with mobile devices, which makes the data retrieving and recording
construction site data more efficient [3]. For example, cost and material management can be
more efficiently carried out through the link to the database [4]. Furthermore, building
information modeling (BIM) technology with the capability of the three-dimensional display
is also applied in the field of construction inspection [5]. Through the display of the three-
dimensional model, it is easier for construction engineers to understand the construction job
site situation. Although BIM can contain and provide a lot of information, most of the models
doi:10.2495/BIM190031
developed do not connect to work items. Moreover, due to the lack of employing the
positioning system in these frameworks, excessive amount of information could still cause
trouble for construction engineers to get the correct and necessary information.
Consequently, even with mobile device that can retrieve information from BIM, construction
engineers could still not obtain the sufficient information when conducting daily inspection
for different work items on the job site.
Several new technologies have been proposed to help the construction engineer improve
the construction jobsite inspection. Augmented reality (AR) is considered a new technology
that can promote BIM information and improve the efficiency of operations on the job site
[6]. Augmented reality can superimpose virtual objects in a real-world environment to
provide more location-associated types of information. The screened information carried by
the BIM model can be presented in the real environment through the AR device according to
the location of the user, which can help the construction engineer obtain sufficient and
necessary information for inspection on the job site. In addition, the mixed reality (MR)
technology that uses environmental scanning devices to obtain environment information can
record the local conditions into the system [7]. This new technology can help the construction
engineer record the construction site status and compare it with the required work planned.
Besides, the head-mounted MR device can let the construction engineer use his or her hands
to do other inspection works, which could improve the efficiency and convenience.
Based on the above analysis, there is need to employ BIM and MR to improve the process
and quality of jobsite construction and inspection. This research developed the construction
inspection system on the head-mounted MR device, HoloLens, showing the BIM model on
the construction job site with the exact scale to retrieve the required information for
inspecting the jobs in progress. This system displays not only the BIM information in the
actual environment but also allows the construction engineer to conduct inspection by
measuring work performed at the construction site and complete the required form on the
cloud. In the remaining sections, this paper first describes the problems of inspection on the
construction job site. Then the research method is explained in detail. Furthermore, a case
study is employed to verify the inspection system developed. Finally, the conclusions and
future development recommendations are presented.
2 ON-SITE INSPECTION
The well-documented construction inspection record is important to the success of the
construction project. However, as the scale of the project becomes large and the design of
engineering is more and more complicated, the workload of the construction engineer to
perform inspection increases as well. Therefore, how to improve the progress of the
construction inspection to reduce the workload of the construction engineer but maintain the
necessary steps of inspection is the essential issue to engineering management. To analyze
the process of the construction inspection, several factors that affect the quality of the on-site
inspection work are identified as follows.
2.1 Inspection form
The inspection form is used to help construction engineers record each necessary task when
performing inspection on the job site. An inspection plan must be developed before the
project begins to ensure the integrity and effectiveness of the auditing [8]. In addition, the
format of the form will affect the performance of the inspection. A concise form can help the
construction engineer perform inspection, but an overly succinct form could increase the
chances of making errors by the construction engineer [9].
In general, all the construction daily reports and inspection records need to be properly
kept for future reference. Through the database, this type of information can be classified and
accessed more efficiently so as to improve the process of data transfer between different users
[10]. A construction daily report with completeness and accessibility is the key to the success
of the construction project.
2.2 Information required
In the process of construction inspection, a lot of information needs to be transferred,

exchanged, and processed between different participants. The construction engineer looks
for the building plan, details, relevant specifications and other related materials according to
the work items under inspection. On the other hand, tracking the progress of the job
performed requires different input data according to the work item. Therefore, the
information required for both inspection and progress tracking should be carefully identified.
In addition, completing the traditional paper form is a time consuming and cumbersome task.
With the merge of employing the mobile device in recent years, the construction engineer
can use digitalized form over the cloud environment, which can be timely and reduce the cost
of data transfer as well.
2.3 New technology
In order to improve the efficiency of construction inspection and progress tracking,

augmented reality technology has been proposed to help engineers understand the space
situation on job site to develop a construction plan. On the other hand, the 4D BIM model
combining BIM model with time-related information has been employed to effectively
reduce conflicts and the rework [12]. In 2013, Park et al. [13] proposed a system framework
that combines BIM and AR technologies to conduct construction inspection. With the help
of the proposed system framework, problems in construction jobs can be immediately
discovered. Along with the development of augmented reality technology, mixed reality
technology providing environmental perception function was also proposed for construction
inspection. The environmental scanning can make the size of the model more in line with
the actual scale as well as record the status of the space by collecting environmental
information [7].
The research procedure of this study is shown in Fig. 1. First the construction inspection is
analyzed to identify: (1) the information required for employing BIM during inspection; and
(2) the functions needed to perform inspection by using MR devices. Then the BIM for
inspection is built with work item data according to information needed. In addition, the
required functions of the inspection system on MR device are developed. Finally, the
integrated system for the MR device is developed.
3.1 Demand analysis
The regular construction inspection form serves for multiple purposes. Therefore, several
work items are usually listed within a single form, such practice causes confusion in
identifying the progress and quality of the work items and presents difficulties for subsequent
classification for records. Therefore, before the system development, the format of the
Figure 1: The research procedure of the construction inspection system development.
inspection form needs to be analysed first so that only the data input in line with the on-site
inspection needs. In addition, this research also analyzes the inspection process to determine
the demand of measure tools and develop several functions to improve it.
3.1.1 Progress tracking and inspection information

To better understand the information needed for inspection, this research analyzes the
measuring unit of work item to design a more efficient format of the inspection form used on
the MR device so that the data collected can accurately show the work progress. For example,
Table 1 shows the regular unit used for several work items. In the work items “structure-
column-concrete”, volume is used to indicate the progress. Although the construction
engineer usually records the volume of the concrete poured by tracking either the order to the
ready mixed concrete plant or the volume of the concrete mixed on the job site, the volume
of the concrete can be be recorded by multiplying the section area and height obtained by the
MR device. An alternative way of measuring actual amount of concrete poured. However,
the weight of rebar is hard to measure on the job site. Instead of measuring the weight of the
rebar, the detailed allocation and arrangement of rebar can be identified by employing BIM.
Therefore, if the progress of rebar related work item is going be identified by using MR
device, the stage of the rebar completion can be defined in advance so that by counting the
number or the set of the correctly installed rebars can determine the progress of the rebar
related work items. For the finishing work items, such as “window frame” the progress can
be recorded as completed or not depending on the set of the windows installed. by the set.
Table 1: Unit information for progress tracking.
Type Element Work item Unit Information need

Column Concrete Volume Section area/height
Structure Column Formwork Surface area Section perimeter/height
Column Rebar Weight Count or set
Wall Painting Surface area Wall height/width
Finishing Window Window frame Perimeter Window perimeter
Window window glass Set Completed or not
Table 2: Information required for inspection.
Work item Inspection item Information examined Inspection type

Material property Type SW420D T
No rust on the surface T
Section size Length and width L
Main rebar Quantity C
Size D
Column rebar
Stirrups Spacing L
Size D
Stirrups arrangement Staggered T
Standard hook > 75mm T
Tightening T
Inspection type: T = Toggle box, L = Length, C = Count, D = Drop-down list.
In addition, the regular form for inspection is designed for hand writing or typing.
However, with the help of using MR device, several types of data input can be automatically
recorded to simplify the process of inspection. Table 2 is a typical inspection information
required for the rebar of the column. The material property and the tying situation of the rebar
can be recorded by applying toggle box to indicate if the job is completed or not. To inspect
the correct number of main rebars installed, the count capability of the MR device can be
employed. As for obtaining the length of inspection items, such as section size and spacing
of the stirrups can be determined by using the measuring tools of the MR device. The drop-
down list can show the type list, such as rebar size, arrangement type. Through classifying
different types of information required, the inspection form can be recorded more efficient.
3.1.2 Inspection process

To better understand the function required for the on-site inspection. This study also analyzes
the process of the inspection work. Fig. 2 indicates the traditional construction inspection
flow. First, the construction engineer should prepare the associated information, such as the
associated drawings and specifications and forms needed, for the inspection before going to
the job site. Nowadays most of construction engineers can acquire the digitalized data to
review the associated information with the mobile device. However, the construction
engineer still needs to obtain the right information for inspection, sometimes, this searching
process could be troublesome since the construction engineer has to screen out the
information in advance before conducting the inspection job. For the large-scale construction
projects, the positioning device is usually used to help the construction engineer to quickly
find the area where he or she conducts inspection. Similarly, the positioning device can be
used to assist the construction engineer to obtain the information more efficient to improve
the process of the construction inspection. In addition, the construction engineer needs to use
various tools to measure distance, quantity, horizontal level and vertical degree during the
inspection. Furthermore, all associated information and forms required should be accessed
through the cloud. From the above inspection process analysis, it is evident that the MR
device can employed to provide all necessary functions and acquire the associated
information according to the location of the construction engineer through the positioning
capability of the MR device.
Figure 2: Traditionally inspection flow.
3.2 Information and function identification
Through the above analysis of the information needs and the inspection process, it is clear
that BIM and MR are the suitable technologies used to develop an innovative inspection
system to improve the process of construction inspection on the job site. As indicating
previously, BIM should be developed according to the information needs for inspection.
The procedure and the requirements for BIM development is described in the following
section. In addition, the MR device should provide the functions needed to help the
construction engineer perform inspection. The function identification is also presented in
the following section.
3.2.1 BIM
This study employs BIM as the information integration platform to obtain the necessary
information for inspection. Autodesk Revit 2018 is used to develop the BIM needed of this
study. Since Revit is element-oriented authoring software, as shown in Fig. 3, the attributes
of an element are important features for determining the quantitative information needed for
Figure 3: The information of BIM elements.
Figure 4: The Uniformat II coding system in Revit.
the work items. For example, the geometry properties of the BIM element have length, width,
height, thickness, area, volume, and etc. These properties can be used to calculate the
quantitative information needed for the work items. In addition, structural properties such
as covering thickness, coating, interlayer and core layer thickness can be added to the
structural elements.
Several important issues should be also pointed out regarding the BIM development. BIM
does not contain the information of work items by nature. Several coding systems are used
to identify BIM elements and their links to work items. Similarly, the work items of the
project should be coded. The work item can be coded according to any cost coding systems
preferred by the contractor. In addition, what information that the work item should obtain
from the BIM elements should be identified. An additional UNIFORMAT II code [15], as
shown in Fig. 4, is required on each BIM element for subsequent data link. Through this
coding system, BIM elements can be linked to related work items.
3.2.2 MR functions
Milgram and Colquhoun indicated that the mixed reality can achieve the interaction of
virtuality and reality [16]. The MR device can display virtual information in the real
environment, and also obtain environmental information through its various sensing
functions. MR technology also has many applications in engineering. Examples of applying
MR device are information visualization, remote collaboration, human–machine interface,
design tools, education and training [17]. This study uses Microsoft HoloLens as the MR
device to operate the construction inspection system. Since HoloLens is a head-mounted MR
device, construction engineers can use it while performing various operations by their hands
free without any constraints. In addition, HoloLens supports gestures and voice input,
providing the versatile and convenient data entry interface. Furthermore, the construction
engineer can employ HoloLens to obtain the spatial information of the environment through
its scanning capability and acquire location associated information according to his or her the
position over the internet.
Fig. 5 shows the interface of the proposed construction inspection system on the HoloLens.
The functions of this system are explained as follows:
Figure 5: The functions of MR system.
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Figure 6: MR functions. (a) Length ruler; (b) Counter; (c) Level measuring; and (d) Spatial
mapping.
1. Inspection mode: This function presents the virtual model of the work item under
inspection on the real construction job site according to the location of the user. The
virtual model of the work item can appear with various types of colours as the progress
of the work items advances, which helps the construction engineer find the work item
for inspection more efficient.
2. Locate: It is a positioning function provided by Vuforia, which can recognize the
imagine associated with the BIM model and position the virtual model with the exact
scale according to the predefined location.
3. Inspection List: The inspection list shows a list of inspection items on the simplified
form. The content of the list changes according to the work item to be inspected.
4. Length: It is a distance measuring tool that can help the construction engineer measure
the length of the target, as shown in Fig. 6(a).
5. Counter: The function that is used to identify the virtual object by gestures for counting
the number of targets, as shown in Fig. 6(b).
6. Level: A measuring function employed to determine the slope of the selected object for
assisting the construction engineer in the vertical or horizontal level inspection, as shown
in Fig. 6(c).
7. Scan: The environmental scanning function. Through HoloLens’ unique spatial mapping
function, the user can scan the actual space condition, as shown in Fig. 6(d).
3.3 Development of the BIM-MR on-site inspection system
Fig. 7 shows the information links of MR on-site inspection system development. BIM model
is integrated with the information of the work items through the coding systems, uniform II
and cost item codes. The work item related information, such as detail drawings,
specifications and forms are linked by acquiring data from the cloud. HoloLens carries the
MR operation functions developed by this research to load the virtual model to the location
of the construction engineer.
Figure 7: The information link of MR on-site inspection system development.
4 RESULT
Two case studies are used to verify the proposed construction inspection system, one is the
progress tracking of the interior decoration work items, and the other is the inspection of
rebar work.
4.1 Progress tracking
The number of interior decoration related work items for a typical building project is large.
Construction engineers usually track the progress of work items by either visual inspection
or determine the approximate completion percentage subjectively. Consequently, the actual
progress is not tracked and the project manager usually finds the problem of low productivity
after the delay occurs.
The proposed construction inspection system allows the construction engineer to the
perform the efficient progress tracking operation. When construction engineers arrive at the
location they are going to track the progress of work items, the associated work items
according to the location can be displayed with the virtual model linked to the information
for identifying progress. As shown in the Fig. 8(a), the associated inspection forms pump up
once the construction engineer clicks on the virtual model. Different work items require
different measurements to determine the completion percentage. Construction engineers can
employ the functions provided by the proposed construction inspection system to measure
(a) (b)
Figure 8: (a) Inspection list; and (b) Work item list.
the quantitative data. As shown in the Fig. 8(b), the progresses of three different work items
can be recorded automatically after the construction engineer finishing measurements.
4.2 Construction inspection
The structural work items, as shown in Fig. 9, are used to demonstrate the efficiency of using
the proposed construction inspection system. Again, as construction engineers arrives at the
place where they need to conduct inspection, the associated virtual models of the wok items
appear, they can click on the virtual model to examine the required items. The inspection
form, as shown in Fig. 10(a), pimps up and shows the tasks need to be performed. The toggle
and the drop-down list can be entered by hand gestures. The measurement of the quantitative
data can be performed by using the functions of the proposed construction inspection system.
In addition, all the measured data will be automatically recorded into the form. Furthermore,
if construction engineers need to acquire any associated information during the inspection,
they can click on the specific the work item and the detail information, such as drawings and
specifications, can appear as shown in Fig. 10(b).
4.3 New process of the construction inspection and progress tracking
Applying BIM and MR to the on-site construction inspection also changes the process of
inspection. Nowadays, most of the projects employ BIM to many stages of the project life.
Figure 9: On-site MR construction inspection.
(a) (b)
Figure 10: (a) Inspection forms; and (b) Assistant information.
Figure 11: Inspection flow diagram.
BIM is no longer unique but becomes popular and serves as the requirement of the project
deliveries. Fig. 11 shows the new process of the construction inspection and progress tracking.
BIM linked with the information work items should be accomplished before inspection. The
data observed and measured at the construction job site can be performed by using MR
device. A paradigm shift of the construction inspection and progress tracking from the
traditional approach.
5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

In this study, a proposed system that combines BIM and MR is developed to improve the
process of construction inspection and progress tracking. Engineers can efficiently perform
inspection and progress tracking by using the MR device to compare the difference between
design and actual result on the job site. In addition, with the help of the MR inspection tools
developed, observing and recording the on-site conditions is no longer time consuming. All
inspection related documents can be easily downloaded, recorded and uploaded, according
to the location of the construction engineer. Furthermore, automatic recording of the
measurement of work item under inspection and progress tracking can reduce the chance of
making mistakes and provide better data integrity.
BIM and MR technologies become prosperously applied to the field of construction
engineering. The system proposed by this research is mainly for assisting construction
engineers to perform inspection and progress tracking operations. However, along with the
development of image capture and image recognition technology, there is an opportunity to
develop an artificial intelligence system that can be more efficient to conduct inspection and
progress tracking on the construction job site in the future. BIM and MR technologies also
present a paradigm shift in the project management. It can be expected that the quality and
progress of the construction project can be substantially improved as more advanced software
of BIM and hardware of MR devices developed.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan under Grant
MOST 107-2221-E-006-078- and 107-2622-E-006-010-CC3
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COMPUTATIONAL BIM FOR GREEN RETROFITTING

OF THE EXISTING BUILDING ENVELOPE
YAIK-WAH LIM1,2, TAKI EDDINE SEGHIER1, MUHAMAD FARHIN HARUN3,
MOHD HAMDAN AHMAD1, AZURAH A. SAMAH3 & HAIRUDIN ABDUL MAJID3
1
Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
2
Centre for the Study of Built Environment in the Malay World, Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
3
School of Computing, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
Green retrofit is crucial to turning existing buildings into green buildings, but its design and analysis
process is dependent on numerous disjointed methods. Various decisions are required to optimise the
building efficiency, such as the choices of building materials, opening sizes, and glazing types.
Therefore, this study explores the application of computational building information modelling (BIM)
to automate the process of design decision-making for green retrofitting of the existing building
envelope. A BIM tool (Revit), a visual programming tool (Dynamo) and multi-objective optimisation
algorithm were integrated to create a computational BIM-based method for building envelope
retrofitting by optimising overall thermal transfer value (OTTV) and construction investment cost. The
proposed model was validated through a case study; the results showed that the optimised design
achieved 44.78% reduction in OTTV with investment costs of RM (Malaysian ringgit) 369,182. The
newly formulated computational BIM-based approach can improve the level of automation in green
retrofitting design decision-making.
Keywords: automation, existing building, overall thermal transfer value, cost, efficiency.
1 INTRODUCTION
Existing buildings are often constrained by the old equipment, aging infrastructure and the
lack of environmentally sensitive design, which causes poor sustainability performance and
high energy consumption. Therefore, green retrofitting of existing buildings is vital to
mitigate the negative environmental impacts caused by the building sector. Nevertheless,
green retrofitting works are facing challenges such as high investment costs, loss of
information, intensive labour, use of old technology, and low level of automation [1], [2]. In
the green retrofitting design process, architects or designers normally vary multiple
parameters at once in an unsystematic manner of decision-making (DM) with a low level of
automation.
The development of building information modelling (BIM) allows complicated building
modelling to be digitally constructed with precise geometry and accurate information. Data
from BIM can be extracted and analysed to generate information for design DM. Especially,
4D BIM, 5D BIM and 6D BIM referring to time, cost and sustainability analyses can be
employed to solve the challenges of green retrofit design. Therefore, the aim of this study is
to develop an innovative approach by integrating BIM functionalities with the green retrofit
DM process using computer programming to facilitate green retrofit measures for the existing
building envelope.
1.1 Green retrofitting of the building envelope
Due to growing concerns regarding climate change, depletion of non-renewable resources

and limitations on land use, great attention is being paid to retrofit existing buildings. As a
result, some governments and international communities have made serious attempts in
doi:10.2495/BIM190041
promoting energy performance in existing buildings [3]–[8]. Due to the limitation of existing
building conditions, choosing the best possible measures is important to achieve efficient
results and promising returns of investment.
Errors in information exchange among different parties is one of the challenges in a
retrofitting project due to the large quantity of paper-based documents and drawings that are
not well managed [9]. Thus, it is necessary to manage the information properly so that all
parties in the retrofitting projects can receive accurate and relevant information. Besides,
implementing green retrofitting faces time limitations, difficulties in convincing building
owners to pay for investment, a lack of as-built documentations of buildings, outdated
information and uncertainty of existing building conditions [8], [10].
In retrofitting projects, architects or designers need to vary multiple design parameters for
DM on the retrofitting measures. The analyses for varied building performances, such as
energy, thermal and visual, are usually disjointed and unsystematic, with a low level of
automation, resulting in difficulties in investigating the impacts of individual design
parameters [11]. An optimal combination of several strategies, which should be verified with
different building energy simulations, is required to achieve retrofitting objectives for
significant building performance improvement [3], [12]–[16]. Hence, the process of DM for
selecting the best possible retrofit measure is a trade-off among several factors, such as
energy, environmental, economic, technical, regulations, social, etc.
In existing building retrofitting, renovating the external building envelope is one of the
most practical and efficient strategies because it can improve the building energy
performance with minimal disturbance on the internal spaces and functions [17]. Heat gain
and heat loss through the building envelope is one of the important aspects and it is usually
controlled by specific standards and regulations. The choices of building envelope, opening
sizes and glazing types are the contributing factors to achieve performance and cost-
efficiency in retrofitting an existing building envelope.
One of the commonly used building envelope thermal assessment methods for air-
conditioned non-residential buildings is the overall thermal transfer value (OTTV)
calculation. This calculation is one of the mandatory requirements under several green
building certifications and standards of several countries, including Malaysia, Thailand,
Singapore and Hong Kong. OTTV has been developed to guide project design teams to cut
down on the external heat gain and hence reduce the cooling load of the air-conditioning
system [18]. It is a mandatory requirement for both new and existing buildings. The
complexity of the OTTV assessment resides in the process of collecting the necessary data
to perform the required calculations.
In Malaysia, the OTTV calculation is based on the equation specified in the Malaysian
Standards (MS) 1525:2014 [19]. From its equation and description, the OTTV calculation is
derived from the following six design parameters: building orientation; correction factor of
wall; window-to-wall ratio (WWR); shading devices; wall material and thickness; glass
specification. The equation of OTTV for commercial buildings is given as follows:
𝑂𝑇𝑇𝑉𝑖 15 𝛼 1 𝑊𝑊𝑅 𝑈𝑤 6 𝑊𝑊𝑅 𝑈𝑓 194 𝑥 𝑂𝐹 𝑥 𝑊𝑊𝑅 𝑥 𝑆𝐶 , (1)
where:
WWR is the window-to-gross exterior wall area ratio for the orientation under consideration;
α is the solar absorptivity of the opaque wall;
Uw is the thermal transmittance of the opaque wall (W/m2 K);
Uf is the thermal transmittance of the fenestration system (W/m2 K);
OF is the solar orientation factor; and
SC is the shading coefficient of the fenestration system.

SHGC is solar heat gain coefficient where SHGC = SC x 0.87.
1.2 Computational BIM for green building analysis
BIM can characterise building geometry, spatial relationships, geographic information,

quantities as well as properties of building elements, cost, materials, project schedule and
other energy performance-related information, therefore, can be useful for solving green
retrofitting DM and optimisation problems [20]–[25]. However, despite the increasing
implementation of BIM in new building projects, the use of BIM in existing buildings’
retrofitting is still limited [10], [26].
The integration of BIM-based rules and programming algorithms for data extraction and
management, which is called computational BIM, helps the users to meet the design
objectives. The application of computational BIM includes various aspects in the building
industry, such as spatial, geometrical and structural design, and building energy performance
analysis. Visual programming language (VPL) tools, such as Grasshopper and Dynamo, are
used to perform the functions that include manipulating the geometric and metadata
embedded in BIM. VPLs can automate repetitive tasks and make efficient the workflows of
solving complex design problems.
Computational BIM can support sustainability analysis in the early stages of the building
design process. Previous studies have adopted the computational BIM-based method to
create workflows for building performance analysis [27]–[31]. VPL has been used to develop
a framework for building passive performance optimisation [30], energy efficiency and
daylighting [32], structural analysis [33], acoustical analysis [34] and building envelope
performance assessment [31].
1.3 Multi-objective optimisation
The process of selecting the best possible solution during green retrofitting design DM faces
the problem of conflicting objectives. This is because the optimal solution requires a trade-
off among several factors, namely energy, economy, technology, environment, regulations
and social aspects [35]. Therefore, the use of computer algorithms for optimisation to support
green retrofitting design DM can help to determine the optimal solution and increase the level
of automation throughout the design process.
Previous research has integrated optimisation algorithms with the BIM-based process for
building performances. Genetic algorithm (GA) and Pareto optimality were employed to
solve a multicriteria optimal design problem of a BIM-based energy performance simulation
model [36]. Search algorithms in combination with parametric models and dynamic energy
simulation software were used to determine the optimal configurations of several building
components including the building envelope [37]. In addition, some studies presented
optimisation of the thermo-physical properties of the building envelope [38], [39] and the
insulation thickness [40] of the opaque envelope.
There are many multi-objective optimisation (MOO) algorithms, which have different
types of approach, and most of them require at least two conflicting objective functions to
operate [41], [42]. This study employed an elitism MOO algorithm called non-dominated
sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II), which was developed by Deb et al. [43]. It is easy to
apply and use the GA mechanism for the data manipulation, which is a perfect fit for
combinatorial problems.
Figure 1: Conceptual framework of computational BIM-based method workflow.
2 METHOD
In this study, a conceptual framework (Fig. 1) of a computational BIM-based method for
building envelope retrofitting was developed through four consecutive stages.
The first stage is the preparation of the BIM model for data extraction. The preparation
process requires a BIM model of the existing building, which should conform to certain
modelling rules and contain all the parameters required for building envelope performance
assessment, such as thermal properties and construction cost. Second, Autodesk Revit (BIM
authoring tool) and Dynamo (computational BIM tool) were selected for data extraction from
the BIM model. This study employed Revit 2017.1 as the BIM authoring tool and Dynamo
V.1.2.1 as the visual programming tool. Third, an NSGA II was selected and customised
using MATLAB to perform the MOO of building envelope elements. Fourth, a Dynamo
script was developed to push back the optimised data from MATLAB output to the BIM
model to update the building envelope design automatically based on the optimum solution.
In this study, the OTTV and investment cost were selected as the building envelope green
retrofitting design objectives for optimisation. This is because OTTV is one of the mandatory
requirements under several green building certifications and standards to evaluate building
envelope performances, whereas investment cost is a vital factor for choosing a promising
green retrofit measure. The investment cost is defined as the construction cost of changing
the original building envelope wall and window materials or quantity; if the optimised design
remains as the original design, there will be no cost incurred.
The newly developed computation BIM-based method to optimise the OTTV and
investment cost for green retrofitting of the building envelope was tested on an actual existing
building and the generated optimisation results were compared to manual calculations for
validation purposes.
3 DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTATIONAL BIM-BASED

OPTIMISATION METHOD
A workflow was established to optimise the OTTV of an existing building against the
investment cost. As shown in Fig. 2, it performs a cycle of data starting by extracting the
OTTV-related data from the BIM model using Dynamo. Then, this data is exported to
MATLAB for MOO. Finally, the optimised data is pushed back again to update the BIM
model automatically (i.e. window/wall type, window/wall area).
The components of the workflow include:
1. A BIM model (existing building) which contains the required data.
2. Two Dynamo scripts to extract the relevant data from the BIM model envelope
(walls and windows).
Figure 2: Logic workflow for OTTV and cost optimisation of existing building.
3. One Dynamo script to extract the library data of Revit (walls and windows), which
will be used for optimisation process in MATLAB.
4. One multi-objective optimisation (MOO) algorithm (NSGA-II) was customised
using MATLAB for OTTV and investment cost optimisation.
5. One Dynamo script to push-back the data of the optimum design option from
MATLAB output to the model in Revit.
3.1 Dynamo script for data management
Four (4) Dynamo scripts, namely Script A1, A2, B and C, were developed to support the
workflow of the computational BIM-based method for building envelope OTTV and
investment cost optimisation. The scripts were used to extract data from the Revit model and
library as well as to push back data to update the optimised model in Revit.
Script A1 and A2 were developed to extract data of the exterior opaque wall and window
that are related to the OTTV requirement, including U-value, windows and walls area,
window and wall orientation, shading coefficients (SC1, SC2), wall pitch angle, WWR (%)
and the solar orientation factor (OF).
Script B was intended to extract the library data of Revit wall and window elements for
creating the new design alternatives during the optimisation process in MATLAB. The Revit
library should contain different types of walls and windows of different sizes and a variety
of thermal material properties to get accurate optimisation results. Apart from that, the cost
parameter of each element in the library and the case study model should be assigned with
its relevant value.
Script C was established to push-back the data of the optimum design option from
MATLAB output to the Revit model to automatically update the model with the new solution,
which consists of the best design alternative in terms of OTTV performance against
investment cost.
3.2 MATLAB programming for NSGA-II
In this study, the optimisation problem is to find the best combination of wall and window
material that produces optimum OTTV and investment cost. MATLAB 2017 was used as the
environment for NSGA-II, where the objective functions and NSGA-II algorithm were
modelled. The programming process involves customizing NSGA-II to suit the case study.
During the development of NSGA-II, research constraint was also applied to ensure the
output produced is accurate and feasible to use in the validation process.
The optimisation framework for this study focuses on three phases. The first phase is the
data set preprocessing where the related data set is pre-processed to ensure the optimisation
performs better. The second phase is the optimisation phase where NSGA-II is applied to
find the optimum combination of OTTV and investment. The final phase is to export this
solution into Excel for post-processing analysis. The optimisation process is only focused on
the numerical value for OTTV and investment cost.
The optimisation also needs to consider each material as the optimisation includes
changing the WWR, and each window in the library has its own default area where not all
windows can fit into the combination due to invalid wall and window area ratio. Any OTTV
or cost generated from a flawed design cannot be used because when it is pushed back into
the Revit model, it will produce an invalid wall area ratio.
For the NSGA-II optimisation, the population count was decided based on the data set
count. A higher number of populations can lead to a higher rate of solution duplication in a
single iteration, which will lead to a setback for the algorithm performance. As the calculation
was complex and needs constant connection with the database, the computational time was
quite long. Thus, 300 runs were tested by observing Pareto behaviour and during the 250th
iteration onward the convergence is stopped, indicating that it is starting to over-fit.
4 CASE STUDY
A case study of an existing building was conducted to test and validate the newly proposed
computation BIM-based method to optimise OTTV and investment cost for green retrofitting
of the building envelope. The selected case study is an existing four-storey office building
with a gross floor area of 7500 m2 (Fig. 3). This building is located in the Faculty of Built
Environment and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia with
latitude of 1.56°N and longitude of 103.64°E.
Every level of the building has air-conditioned spaces and naturally ventilated spaces. The
building has four different façade orientations, which are facing north-west, north-east,
south-east and south-west. Each façade consists of opaque brick walls with plaster finish and
windows with single glazing. There was no existing BIM model available, thus the case study
building was modelled in Revit based on 2D computer aided drawing (CAD). The building
does not contain any external shading devices and most of the building elements were
modelled with level of development (LOD) 300, including thermal properties that are
required for OTTV calculation.
Figure 3: Case study of an existing building. (a) Photo; (b) BIM model.
Table 1: Current OTTV and cost for the case study building.
Current condition
Orientation
OTTV (W/m2) Material cost (RM)
North-east 49.47 101,292
South-east 64.26 114,189
North-west 48.83 108,522
South-west 63.17 111,478
Overall 56.09 435,481
4.1 Evaluation and optimisation
Evaluation for the case study building was carried out firstly by determining the original
value of the OTTV and the cost for the original building envelope. Table 1 shows that the
current OTTV was 56.09 W/m2, which exceeded the requirement of ≤ 50 W/m2 as stipulated
in MS 1525:2014, therefore, optimisation was required. The construction cost of the current
building façade envelope was RM435,481. By using NSGA-II, it was expected that an
optimised solution, which has lower OTTV with reasonable retrofit cost, could be achieved.
The optimisation of the building was carried out based on each orientation. Hence, during
the evaluation it was crucial that the OTTV of each orientation should not exceed 50 W/m2,
so that the overall OTTV would not exceed the requirement as stated in MS 1525:2014. The
optimisation tests were conducted under two different conditions. The objective for multiple
test condition (scenarios) was to determine a suitable setting that could be used with the
current case study building. The proposed conditions of optimisation are listed as follows:
 Scenario 1: optimisation for window only; window area increment or decrement was
limited to 20% variation.
 Scenario 2: optimisation for both wall and window; window area increment or
decrement was limited to 20% variation.
The variation of window area was limited to 20% only in order to avoid any significant
change of window sizes that may cause a design error or clashes with building structure
components, such as beams and columns.
4.2 Comparison of optimised and existing designs
The optimisation results demonstrated that MOO could produce a lower OTTV than the
original design. From each experiment, it can be concluded that the investment cost was
acceptable because total material retrofit cost did not exceed the total building cost. The
percentage of increment and decrement for each scenario is shown in Table 2.
In Scenario 1, when the optimisation was limited for windows only, the investment cost
was the lowest, although the OTTV was not significantly reduced (27.54%) due to the
changes only affecting the windows. The cost produced was low because the wall area was
larger than the window area for each orientation. In fact, both OTTV and cost were majorly
affected by the wall area and construction materials. Although the drawback of Scenario 1
was that the OTTV produced was higher than Scenario 2, if the retrofit cost has more priority
than OTTV, the solution produced by Scenario 1 can be considered as a good solution.
Figure 4: Original and optimised design of north-west façade (Scenario 2).
Table 2: OTTV reduction and investment cost for all tests.
Scenario 1 Scenario 2
OTTV OTTV
Orientation OTTV Investment OTTV Investment
reduction reduction
(W/m2) cost (RM) (W/m2) cost (RM)
(%) (%)
North-east 39.62 19.91 31,374 25.96 47.53 92,832
South-east 42.50 33.87 57,571 41.65 35.19 83,553
North-west 39.23 19.65 36,874 25.57 47.64 96,134
South-west 41.40 34.46 62,845 31.38 50.32 96,663
Overall 40.64 27.54 188,664 30.97 44.78 369,182
Scenario 2 was a more open test where it involved changes of both wall and window, thus
it was expected to produce a wider range of optimised OTTV than Scenario 1. As presented
in Table 2, the OTTV produced by Scenario 2 was lower than both the existing condition and
Scenario 1. Scenario 2 OTTV is 44.78% lower than the original OTTV, which was almost
twice reduction than Scenario 1.
As for the cost, Scenario 2 required a higher investment cost than Scenario 1. Scenario 1
consumed RM 188,664, while Scenario 2 needed RM 369,182, which was almost two times
more than Scenario 1. The cost was increased due to the changes of wall materials in order
to achieve lower U-value than the existing condition.
From Scenario 2, it can be concluded that the wider the range for material selection, the
wider also the OTTV range, which can be lower than Scenario 1. When Scenario 1 was
limited to only changing the windows, almost all windows were changed. This has proved
that NSGA-II managed to control the trade-off by changing either the wall or window section
rather than changing both materials.
In this study, the most optimal solution can be achieved when both walls and windows
were optimised, with the window having no more than 20% of area changes using the
available Revit library. However, depending on the priority of the green retrofitting, Scenario
Table 3: Manual validation for the original design.
OTTV (W/m2) Cost (RM)

Orientation MATLAB Manual MATLAB Manual
output calculation output calculation
North-east 49.47 49.47 101,292 101,291.95
South-east 64.26 64.26 114,189 114,188.65
North-west 48.83 48.83 108,522 108,521.88
South-west 63.17 63.17 111,478 111,478.25
Overall 56.09 56.09 435,481 435,480.75
Table 4: Manual validation for the optimised design.
OTTV (W/m2) Cost (RM)

Orientation MATLAB Manual MATLAB Manual
output calculation output calculation
North-east 25.96 25.96 92,832 92,832.04
South-east 41.65 41.65 83,553 83,553.34
North-west 25.57 25.57 96,134 96,134.11
South-west 31.39 31.39 96,663 96,663.83
Overall 30.97 30.97 369,182 369,183.34
1 and Scenario 2 can both be considered as a good solution if the priority for the retrofit
project was investment cost and OTTV, respectively. It is worth mentioning that the data
push-back to the Revit model took around 3 minutes, nevertheless, the time may vary
depending on the BIM model size and its design complexity.
4.3 Validation
The manual calculation was computed to validate the programmed OTTV and investment
cost. The validation compared the MATLAB outputs with manual calculations. Table 3
presents the comparison between the two methods of calculation for the original design, while
Table 4 tabulates the calculations for the selected optimised design (Scenario 2). Overall, the
OTTV was calculated by using the Overall OTTV equation and overall cost is the total
investment cost for all orientations. The comparisons show that the accuracy of the MATLAB
output for both OTTV and cost is high.
5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Green retrofitting the building envelope requires the design team to analyse the performances
of various potential design options for design DM. Nevertheless, the process of evaluating
the performance and altering the design is normally disjointed and time-consuming.
Therefore, the findings of this study have provided a higher level of automation for green
retrofitting design DM of the building envelope by using the newly developed computational
BIM-based method. The integration of BIM (Revit), VPL (Dynamo) and MOO (NSGA-II in
MATLAB) has opened up the possibility of automating and speeding up the process of green
retrofitting performance evaluation and design DM with accurate, reliable and improved
results.
The computational BIM-based method has been validated through a test case of the OTTV
and investment cost optimisation of an existing office building as a case study. The results
demonstrated that the method is able to give optimal solutions based on the priority of
optimisation − for instance, Scenario 1 is better for minimal investment costs while still
achieving the required ≤ 50 W/m2, whereas Scenario 2 can provide the lower OTTV but with
higher investment costs.
This research was carried out for the Malaysia context; the OTTV calculation and
requirement were based on MS 1525:2014, which takes into consideration the tropical region
near the Equator; the construction cost was based on Malaysia’s construction industry.
However, the proposed computational BIM-based method for green retrofitting the building
envelope is applicable to other climatic and economic contexts by modifying the data inputs,
calculation equations and objective functions. In addition, the method can also be further
implemented for other objective functions apart from OTTV and cost in order to formulate a
comprehensive integrated computational BIM-based optimisation tool for the green
retrofitting of existing buildings.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge the research funding by Ministry of Education,
Malaysia (MOE) through Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), project no. 5F103,
titled “Computational Building Information Modelling-based Method for Green
Retrofitting”.
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BIM-BASED LCA THROUGHOUT THE DESIGN

PROCESS: A DYNAMIC APPROACH
GIANLUCA GENOVA
Digital Innovation Laboratory, Basler and Hoffman, Switzerland
ABSTRACT
As design projects become more and more sophisticated, it becomes increasingly significant for the
designers to consider environmental aspects when selecting building materials. A promising solution
to tackle this challenge is an integration of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data into Building Information
Modelling (BIM) platforms. The implementation can support the spreading of sustainability assessment
to make informed choices of construction materials during the building design phase. This paper shows
how a real-time environmental assessment method can be implemented to all design phases by
integrating a BIM-based approach with known LCA methodologies. Mainly two environmental
assessment methods are investigated and compared. The first method is called the static approach,
where the LCA is done with known methods at the end of each milestone of the project. A second
method is a dynamic approach where the environmental assessment is done continuously during the
planning process. Several possible LCA workflows in a BIM environment with the help of the Revit as
a BIM author tool and Dynamo as an integrated parametric solution are shown. The idea is to link
building objects and their material specifications with national LCA databases to be able to calculate
the embodied energy directly from the building information model. Taking all the data from the
information model and LCA databases reduces the effort of the repetitive data input into LCA tools.
The streamlined LCA methodology allows building professionals to use LCA efficiently in their daily
work. Finally, this work suggests a workflow of integrating LCA with BIM for the decision-making
process during the design phase to boost sustainable development in the construction industry.
Keywords: BIM-LCA integration, dynamic LCA, parametric LCA, data integration, LCA tool.
1 INTRODUCTION
Environmental sustainability concept encourages some essential changes in a built
environment to reduce the consumption of energy and natural resources. However, the
construction industry, compared to other industries, has been criticised for being a significant
carbon emitter and a relatively unregulated discipline regarding control and management of
environmental impact [1].
The design phase of a project has a high potential for adding value to the project regarding
the reduction of the environmental impact. The initial phases have great potential for
implementing changes, studying different alternatives, improving performance and reducing
costs [2]. Therefore, the design phase should be considered as the first and most crucial stage
for achieving sustainability. The British Government stated: “Good design is synonymous
with sustainable construction” [3]. Building professionals use the Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA) methodology in order to estimate the environmental impact of the building in the
design stage. At this point, seeing LCA as a decision-making tool would be the right approach
to sustainable project development [4].
Environmental considerations need to be integrated with the choice of building materials.
If the key to sustainability is to use LCA as a design-support tool, the next step would be then
to evaluate how LCA can be used effectively to influence the design choices. An encouraging
possibility is an integration of building systems’ LCA data into Building Information
Modelling (BIM) platforms. Such implementation can support the spreading of
environmental assessment and conscious choice of construction materials during the building
doi:10.2495/BIM190051
design phases [5]. Therefore, BIM-integrated LCA approaches could be applied in the early
phases to influence the decision-making process.
2 OVERVIEW OF LCA METHODOLOGIES

In this study, all known LCA-BIM integrated environmental sustainability assessments are
classified into three principal methodologies.
2.1 Conventional LCA methodology
The most commonly used environmental impact assessment is conceptually summarised as

the conventional LCA methodology, which is presented in Fig. 1. For every project, there is
a source data, which can be an advanced BIM model, a 3D model or a 2D drawing. In any
case, there is the need for material take-off from the project primary source data, which in
the best case, is a BIM model. The take-off can be automatically generated from the primary
source data if it is hosted in a parametric software like Revit or ArchiCAD [6]. However, if
the project is based on 2D drawings, this material take-off has to be done through a manual
calculation, which can be challenging.
Figure 1: Convectional LCA methodology.
After the material take-off list is generated, there is a need to get the relevant LCA
information from a material LCA database to be able to calculate the environmental impact
of each component. This calculation can be done in a developed LCA software where the
data entry has to be done manually. Usually, licensed software tools already have a link to
LCA databases. However, if the LCA calculation has to be done in a spreadsheet-based tool,
it might be that both material input and environmental impact information have to be typed
in directly into the spreadsheet.
Conventional LCA methodology was the commonly known method to generate LCA
results for buildings, but there are some difficulties with this kind of approach, which does
not make the LCA acceptable for the building professional in everyday work. For example;
if the design software tool does not have a parametric interface with the database behind the
material, the take-off has to be done by hand, which can be very challenging where the error
rate is also very high. As the existing software tools are usually standalone solutions, there is
a need to transfer the data from the platform to another. Having such inefficient and repetitive
data entry will cause enormous time consumption. Because of manual data input, there is a
high potential for mistakes in information transfer. Human-based errors will cause wrong
LCA results in the end, which do not represent the project’s real environmental impact.
Another drawback is that the whole information flow is one way where there is no direct
feedback to the building designer. Having too many manual entries during the process and
also having a separate LCA software with several settings, obligate the industry to have an
expert with a certain level of LCA knowledge in this process to be able to do this
environmental impact estimation.
2.2 Static BIM-LCA approach
The second LCA methodology is a static approach, where the LCA calculation is done based
on a frozen state of the BIM model. Information is directly extracted in a standardised
exchange format to allow the LCA tools to make the calculations. This flow of information
is one-way only.
Direct access to the information in the BIM model in order to calculate the LCA by using
an interoperable IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) format and inserting it in LCA software
can be defined as “Static Approach”. Static approaches evaluate the entire life cycle of the
building, thus achieve a more accurate approach to LCA evaluation compare to conventional
methods. As the whole building information is extracted in one format like IFC or gbXML
(Green Building XML-Schema), there is no need to enter the building information in the
LCA tool again, and this will avoid any manual re-entry. As every extracted data will
represent one state of the project, different alternatives can be compared and documented.
The results can highlight the hotspots where intervention is required and thus enhance
environmental performance. (Fig. 2)
Figure 2: Static approach diagram.
On the other hand, a static approach has some drawbacks. As the performance of the LCA
is not developed in the BIM software itself, any changes in the BIM model can only be made
by going back to the BIM software and re-importing the model into the LCA platform, which
can be very time-consuming [4]. Also, the interoperability between BIM models and LCA
tools has not been fully developed yet. The transmission from a BIM platform to
LCA platform is done via IFC format into a common database, where it can be combined
with the LCA inventory database. The accuracy of the extracted BIM model in a standardised
data format is limited and has a narrower range of environmental information, which makes
the importing of the file into the LCA software and the calculation less accurate. The
challenge is not to lose information during this method.
2.3 Dynamic BIM-LCA approach
The last LCA methodology, which is also the focus of this research, is called the dynamic
approach where the environmental impact assessment is done with real-time monitoring
during the entire planning process. Environmental properties and all the relevant LCA
information are included in the BIM models, objects, and materials. The information flow is
bi-directional, which allows a potential optimisation and a feedback loop.
The inclusion of environmental properties in the BIM objects allows the extraction of
environmental quantities directly from the model. Such an approach is more comfortable and
faster and sets environmental criteria highlighted for decision-making. Nevertheless, it is still
necessary to improve the availability of information on construction materials as there are
unsolved issues regarding automatically inclusion of information related to transportation,
location and regional characteristics of the project [4].
The dynamic approach seeks to find an automatic and efficient link between BIM models
and environmental information included in the LCA databases. Therefore, there is a need for
an LCA tracking number in the native material library of the design software. Once this
material mapping is done, all the material used in the BIM model will be matched with its
corresponding real material recognised in the national LCA database. Once the geometry and
material information are extracted, with the help of a parametric tool and LCA information
coming from LCA database, the environmental impact of each element used in the BIM
model can be calculated. This LCA results can be forwarded back to the BIM model in order
to create a feedback loop to the designer (Fig. 3). This feedback can allow real-time LCA
monitoring, which can be followed by an LCA optimisation directly in the designer’s
software. As the parametric tool is continuously analysing the LCA results, they can be
extracted at any moment as a report for further uses.
Figure 3: Dynamic approach diagram.
In the dynamic approach, BIM objects have continuously updated environmental

properties based on LCA calculations in their properties. In this way, it is possible in the pre-
design and design phases to include environmental criteria in the decision-making process
regarding the choice of materials and building elements. LCA monitoring allows the designer
to make an environmental optimisation at any given time directly in design software. In this
workflow, it is essential that designers can understand the environmental information given
and its meaning in order to able to compare between different alternatives. Since any input
to the building information model with the dynamic approach will directly result as
environmental impact result. It has direct feedback to the BIM model, as the information flow
is multi-directional.
Since the BIM-integrated LCA solutions are not that advanced and are lacking an updated
link to LCA databases, the LCA results, which will be gathered from a dynamic approach
will be less accurate compared to a static approach. Further developments are needed to
improve the efficiency of this approach. The LCA of this approach is still material and object-
oriented. Also, it does not include the environmental impact caused by the production of the
material, transportation, and installation. This information can be included in the BIM model
based on different characteristics, location, time and features of each project. However, once
the accuracy of BIM models is increased, it can be considered as a prototype for the building,
which is going to be realised.
3 DEVELOPMENT OF DYNAMIC LCA TOOL FOR BIM

Revit supports creating BIM models, which are object-based data models containing relevant
information of each object. There are several parametric LCA tools, which help to assess the
environmental sustainability of buildings. Every visual programming tool requires several
inputs to generate results [7]. The aim is to keep the same configuration of the previously
developed LCA tool and investigate the requirements to integrate it into any BIM platform.
To be able to do this, the input data should come from one BIM model where every included
data behind should be carefully understood [8].
In this study for the LCA calculation, the relevant geometrical information like material,
volume, area is taken from the BIM Model hosted in the Revit platform. The necessary
environmental impact information is extracted from the swiss material-based life cycle
assessment database from KBOB (Coordination conference of the building and real estate
authorities of public clients, where KBOB in German stands for “Koordinationskonferenz
der Bau- und Liegenschaftsorgane der öffentlichen Bauherren”). This link is done with the
help of visual programming tool called Dynamo, which is running directly over the Revit
interface as a plugin.
In order to develop an LCA tool in Dynamo, which can read LCA information directly
from a building model via a link to a database with environmental data and reference service
life (RSL) data of the components is needed. Dynamo/Revit can calculate the mass of the
original materials, which is used to do the multiplication for LCA information. Every LCA
result can be written back to every single element object in the BIM model.
3.1 Concept: dynamic LCA with BIM
Among LCA-BIM methodologies, a dynamic approach has the most promising possibility to
have direct feedback to the building professional at the exact time where the design decision
is taken. For the dynamic approach, the critical thing is to have a material mapping between
LCA database and native material library. This mapping can be done with one standard LCA
ID number, which matches on both platforms. As the material in the native material library
will be able to get the material properties and environmental impact values from the LCA
database. Together with the geometrical information from the Revit BIM model and
LCA information from the database, Dynamo can combine and calculate all the LCA results
directly from each building element in the BIM model. The LCA results can be extracted as
an LCA report for reporting purposes of discrete states and be transmitted to each BIM
element properties directly. The environmental impact information of each element will
allow the designers to have a continuous monitoring capability. Also, by illustrating these
results, designers can optimise the building directly in the design software.
3.2 Material mapping for LCA-BIM
The material mapping between the design tool and the international LCA database is one of
the primary keys for successful LCA-BIM integration [9]. As the material names may vary
in each project because of language differences, regional or local definition, creating a name-
based mapping is not the optimal solution. Therefore, there is a need for a general material
identification that can match differently named but the same materials. This identification
can be made with a common LCA ID number. If this number is successfully distributed to
the native material library, it is also possible to match the necessary LCA information to the
element. The biggest challenge in a material mapping is that it must be done manually. This
way, the potential incorrect matching due to wrong name inputs leading to inaccurate LCA
results still exists. As it can be seen in, for the same material, the names from LCA databank
to native material database can vary a lot.
Table 1: Example of material mapping from KBOB to Revit native material library.
KBOB ID Material name in KBOB Database Material name in Native (Revit)

01.014 Armierter Beton (HB, CEMII/B) GHA_Beton Typ BE2
3.3 LCA parameters in Revit
Next to using the BIM data together with the LCA database and generate LCA results, one
of the primary goals is writing all the calculated values back to each element in the design
software. In order to do so, there was a need to define specific parameters that are used for
the calculated LCA values on the element level.
The first parameter of an element ID, LCA Category, is used for the identification of each
element. The indicators Global Warming Potential (GWP), Eco-points (UBP – based on the
Swiss method of ecological scarcity), and primary energy non-renewable (PEF-ne) from
the KBOB database are used and represent the total environmental impact of all BIM
element. The floor area-based values for PEnr (MJ/m2ꞏa), Minergie index (kWh/m2ꞏa) and
GWP (kg CO2-eq/m2ꞏa) are showing the ratio of total environmental impact to area and
year in order to be able to make a comparison with other building elements.
For the LCA calculation, there is a need for information that is valid for the complete BIM
model such as reference service life, gross and heated floor area, as well as the model version
to separate different results from each other. All this information is written under the
global parameters.
4 DYNAMO SCRIPT MODULES

Dynamo is a visual programming plugin for the Revit design software, which creates a direct
link to the building information model data and allows to make some processing based on
the scripts. In order to make LCA calculation based on the BIM model and KBOB database,
there was a need to link them logically. Depending on the project size, there might be
thousands of element objects that have to be calculated and the results written back to every
single element. This kind of process might require too much computing power, and therefore,
there is a need to split the environmental impact assessment into logical work packages.
These scripts need to be run one after another to have a successful LCA calculation. There
are modules for model preparation, for Structural/Envelope/Interior Elements, for building
system and finally modules for LCA optimisation and result modules.
Table 2: Dynamo script module overview.
M0_Material List Fill: Based on a pre-trained material mapping

spreadsheet the missing KBOB numbers are filled in the native material
library
Preparation M1_Create Project Parameter: LCA parameters for each element as well
as the global parameters are generated
M2_Fill Global Parameter: General information about the project model
to the global parameters are added
M3_Wall: Analyse all wall elements and calculate the environmental
impact
M4_Floor: Analyse all floor elements and calculate the environmental
impact
Construction M5_Structural: Analyse all structural elements and calculate the
elements environmental impact
M6_Envelope: Analyse all external and facade elements and calculate
environmental impact
M7_Interior: Analyse all interior elements and calculate environmental
impact
M8_Technical Routing: Analyse all technical routing elements like pipe,
Technical ducts, cable trays and calculate the environmental impact
elements M9_Technical Devices: Analyse all technical device like lightings,
equipment, plumbing fixtures and calculate the environmental impact
M10_View Duplicate: Duplicate the open 3D view to illustrate the LCA
Results
M11_Visualisation: Color the elements in the duplicated view to
Results
illustrate the ones are above or below limit values
M12_LCA Report: Generate a summary report from the LCA of the
BIM model and export to a spreadsheet
4.1 Preparation modules
Before any dynamic LCA calculation, there is some pre-work that has to be completed. As
new materials might be added to the native material library in ongoing projects, there should
be one script that assigns the material ID to the materials and makes sure that all the materials
are taken into consideration. Another script should assign all the required parameters to the
BIM objects to be able to fill later on the environmental assessment results. Finally, the global
parameter containing general information about the project, such as assessment year or total
floor area has to be added. After running Module 0 to Module 2, all the parameters are filled,
and the native material library is updated so that the dynamic environmental assessment can
proceed.
4.2 Construction elements modules
Module 3 to Module 7 have a similar logic of their algorithms. First, they extract the
containing materials for each element and then their volume and area information
respectively to those elements. Breaking down each building element to its composition
allows to extract the material units from each element and do the LCA calculation
accordingly. Every material unit is matched again with its elements and based on the element
properties; the LCA categorisation can be done. Finally, all Revit elements’ LCA parameters
are filled with the calculated LCA result values (Fig. 4).
Figure 4: Dynamo script module 3 – walls (example for structural/envelope/interior

elements LCA calculation).
4.3 Technical elements modules
Technical elements are slightly different from other building elements in the model.
Technical elements can be grouped into two subgroups, which are technical routing and
technical devices. Technical routing elements are the pipes, ducts, cable trays and their
fittings, i.e. elements that are generated by extruding a cross-section through a line path.
Table 3: Dynamo script concept for technical elements.
Technical routing elements represent 1/3 of the whole BIM model element quantity,
which might cause in a complex project performance problem to the design software. To
overcome the performance issue, as such that technical routing elements do not have a high
level of geometry, but they are there for a better level of information. Dynamo cannot access
directly to the volumetric information of these elements, which makes the material mass of
components calculation more difficult. Therefore, a straightforward solution is to calculate
each cross section and multiply it with the reference line length. The necessary information
to calculate the area from the cross section was written as information in these elements.
Based on this information, it is feasible to generate the volume and correspondingly the mass
value for each element, which allows calculating the LCA impact afterwards.
Technical devices consist of all the products that are bought and installed in the building
where usually the dimensions and contents are fixed by the producers. These elements are
categorised in Revit as duct and pipe accessories, air terminals, lighting fixtures, electrical
and mechanical equipment, data services and plumbing fixtures.
In building information models, the geometry is usually simplified for performance
reasons and used as a placeholder. Ideally, their producers know how much environmental
impact is caused by each of their product, and it would be easier to make the LCA calculations
and provide the information. Therefore, it is essential that the producers provide the material
content of their products and if possible, directly also the environmental impact included as
information to the element.
4.4 Results modules
After running all the modules from 0 to 9, all elements’ LCA parameters are filled with the
corresponding calculated environmental impact values. One way to illustrate the results is by
providing a colour code on the 3D model to the building professional to indicate the
possibilities for optimisation. Another way is to extract all the information as a summary in
a report. The dynamo script module 12 extracts a total value for four LCA categories
(Structural, Envelope, Interior, Technical) and as well as total value for each Revit category.
The LCA report allows monitoring the LCA development for that stage of the design process.
The overall LCA results for each category can also be illustrated graphically in order to
point out the element groups, which have the highest environmental impact. The report
provides a model version and execution time, which allows comparing different data in a
continuous planning process.
5 CASE PROJECT
After developing the method to realise the BIM-LCA integration through Dynamo, the tool
is used in a real case project. In this study, the design process of a real case study building is
analysed. The case study is the three-storey extension of an office building of the engineering
company Basler & Hofmann in Esslingen, Switzerland. The project was a BIM pilot to test
the building process only based on the digital model without printed 2D plans.
The design process of a building is continuous, and correspondingly the BIM model
evolves continuously. To be able to track the development of the BIM model, the current
state as a sample model was analysed. The building permit was taken in the mid-December
2018. Until then, the LOD (Level of Development) of the model was low. Therefore, it was
sufficient to get a sample from each month in the building permit stage until December 2017.
From January 2018 on a sample was taken each week, which resulted in a sample
of 34 models.
Fig. 5 presents a preliminary but informative overview of the LCA development process
of the design. The most striking feature is that, as the design develops further down, the new
entities and placeholder objects are replaced with more specifically designated identifiers.
These changes in the curve based on the time axis leads to a much refined and desired design
solution designated with the region of the settled curves. Another importing thing to notice
in this graph is the environmental impact of all categories reach an absolute constant after
week 18, and there are only slight changes afterwards.
Another advantage of gathering all the LCA data from each element in a BIM model
allows focusing on specific categories. Fig. 6 represents the environmental impact
development through design processes for all structural, interior and envelope
element categories.
Figure 5: LCA development through the design process.
Figure 6: Structural, interior, and envelope element number through the design process.
6 CONCLUSION
BIM-LCA integration has enormous potential for future sustainable development of the
construction industry. Using all available building information and linking them with existing
LCA databases has the potential to illustrate the environmental impact of the decisions being
taken by building professionals. Any LCA result during the decision process might lead to
sustainable development in the early stage of the planning, where the changes are
still affordable.
This study aimed to realise a fully automated BIM-LCA integration in order to reduce the
effort of LCA, to increase the acceptance, to eliminate the need of particular LCA expertise,
to create a shared understanding, and to develop a real-time LCA monitoring during all
design phases to continuously influence the decision-making process by building
professionals. To reach this goal, a BIM-integrated, and fully automated LCA tool was
developed in order to test it on a real case planning process to see the limits and potentials.
A BIM-based dynamic LCA with a parametric tool throughout the design process has a
lot of added value to the building professionals in order to reduce the embodied energy from
their design. First, having a fully automated LCA tool will scale down the effort to generate
environmental impact results and save time. The integrated dynamic approach will also
reduce the cost of carrying out LCA, which will increase the acceptance from the construction
industry. BIM-LCA integration will allow illustrating LCA results directly in the design
software environment. Thanks to this integration, environmental aspects will get a parallel
workflow to the existing planning process. Integrating LCA into a regular planning process
will escalate the acceptance and understanding of sustainable planning. This feature will also
help to cut down on the individual need of LCA expertise from every building professional
to be able to evaluate the building regarding sustainability. Another advantage of
parametrising the LCA methodology based on BIM is to diminish the human error mistake
by preventing the repetitive data re-entry, which will increase the reliability of LCA results.
Merging BIM and LCA methodology shifts the understanding from having a component
level environmental impact assessment to the element level. Regarding optimisation, this will
allow having a better overview of environmental impacts on the element level. Finally, the
real-time LCA monitoring over the whole building for each element will potentially
influence the material choice and the design decision process at the exact time where the
decisions are taken.
As the public awareness of the consumption of energy and resources increases, BIM and
LCA integration becomes a necessity to promote environmental assessments during the
standard planning processes.
To sum up, the necessity to integrate LCA and BIM in the decision-making process at an
initial stage cannot be ignored in the future. The methodological challenges and limitations
of existing LCA-BIM tools show that there is still an immense research potential for the
development of new evaluation tools and methodologies. Once the integration has been
successfully done, thanks to information-based building modelling, the LCA will take part
in all stages of construction planning and will be done continuously in real time.
REFERENCES
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[7] Hollberg, A., A Parametric Method for Building Design Optimisation Based on Life
Cycle Assessment, Bauhaus-Universität: Weimar, 2016
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for Environmental Building Design Optimisation, 1st ed., Bauhaus-Universität:
Weimar, 2017.
PARAMETRIC MODELLING IN CONSTRUCTION:

INVESTIGATING THE QUALITY OF
RULE-BASED CHECKING
DENE WARREN
Faculty of Science and Technology, Middlesex University, UK
ABSTRACT
As thinking moves away from 3D visualisation towards information quality and speed of data exchange,
[1], the architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) industry is seeking efficiency via the
automation of checking. This study aims to examine the current quality of the checking in design, how
it is controlled, and the adoption of automatic checking using rule-based checking software. It is based
on the hypotheses that there is a need for automation that will improve quality; a need of a means to
achieve automation and a need for understanding in industry. After the investigation of quality in
design, this paper poses three questions: first, can a quality system be applied to automatic checking
in design?; second, if the potential for rule-based checking is understood and utilised, could quality be
assured?; and third, can we identify the optimal balance between manual and automatic checking? The
conclusion shows that AEC professionals have low confidence in the quality of design data; the current
balance is heavily in favour of manual checking, and while the potential for automatic checking is
known, its current utilisation is lacking due to complexity, poor software support and a lack of training.
Alarmingly, there is an indication that the majority who deal with automatic checking have no system
of validation for new checking rules and only a minority had training in rule authorship.
Keywords: quality, productivity, rule-based, automatic, checking, parametric, BIM, 3D-model.
1 INTRODUCTION
The development of open-standard object-based 3D modelling based on Industry Foundation
Class (IFC) has given rise to the possibility of computer-based interpretable models and the
automation of checking based on rules [2]. Structured around a standardised data schema,
data can be efficiently checked and cross-checked multiple times for quality. Here quality is
defined as conformance to requirements [3]. In contrast to manual checking, automatic
checking systems promise consistent, rapid verification of data [4]. They use pre-set rules
and applied logic, the quality of which is fundamental to the quality of the finished product.
Automated rule checking here is defined as algorithmic software that does not modify a
building design but instead assesses a design by the configuration of objects, their
relations or attributes [2]. Software such-as Solibri™ Model Checker (SMC) use 50 or so
out-of-the-box rules that can be amended or augmented to suit individual needs, but this can
be problematic. Expert knowledge is often required to interpret the meaning of regulatory
requirements in a particular context with domain-specific assumptions, general knowledge
and knowledge of the combinatory effect of related rules [5]. While automatic checking is
more efficient, manual checking can ensure an expert review is applied in a domain-specific
context and can avoid false positives and multiple negatives. Research has shown, however,
that the cognitive challenges of drawing-based checking are such that even experienced
professionals are inconsistent [6] and can detect only a small fraction of errors present [7].
Complexity is often underestimated and the application of a quality system by design
professionals inconsistent [8]. Clearly, a balance is needed between manual and automatic
checking. This study aims to examine the difficulties of using rule-based checking software,
the quality of the checking, and how it is controlled.
doi:10.2495/BIM190061
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
The research into methods of generating computable rules for checking has been
broadly divided between two schools of thought; manual logic-based interpretation and
language-based interpretation of rules into computable form. The first method is to manually
interpret standards and codes and write computer language encoded rules, Eastman et al. [2]
and Lee et al. [9] where individual Boolean logic tests are manually written to represent the
constraints and test for compliance. The second is Natural Language-Based Interpretation [4]
[10] or Natural Language Processing (NLP) technique [11] using semantic web methods to
generate rules. In this way, the computer is used to interpret existing standards and codes and
automatically derive logic tests to operate on a 3D model to test for compliance. While both
processes can generate rules that give automatic alerts due to non-compliance, they still
require the intervention of the designer to report and correct the design. The ultimate aim is
to automate the system entirely [12].
2.1.1 Manual logic interpretation and definitions of rules

This is achieved either by interpretation and translation of written rules or the human
language statements into first-order predicate logic [2]. This type of logic functions can be
nested together with other rules as ‘rule-sets’ and can be a powerful means of definition. It is
able to return a TRUE or FALSE evaluation but relies on the model being modelled correctly,
on the correct application of classification Uniclass 2015 [13] or Omniclass [14], and
definitions of building elements defined in the international framework of dictionaries (IFD).
Armstrong [15] characterises the formalising of a set of rules to represent a design process
as not straightforward. It is based upon the evaluation of options, both qualitative and
quantitive as often there is no one optimal design. Sowa [16] cited by Hjelseth et al. [17]
highlights that the process of translation of codes, standards and specifications written for
human interpretation is difficult. He calls this the result of ‘knowledge soup’:
overgeneralisation, incomplete definitions, conflicts of defaults and unanticipated
applications. Gross [18] emphasised that a lack of understanding in the end-user will lead to
a lack of trust of the results and so it is essential to understand where automatic checking
ends and manual checking begins. After work in Singapore on CORENET, Eastman et al.
[2] warned that results could be compromised both by rule checking algorithm errors and by
building model definition errors but the biggest challenge is to detect the false positives, these
are rules that simply do not identify the non-compliance. Highlighting the complexity of rule
writing Bell et al. [19] proposed a process to generate standardised computable rules based
on the principles of knowledge-based engineering. Hjelseth et al. [17] suggested an
AEC-based method of development of computable rules. (Section 4.1).
To focus the development of manually interpreted rules Solihin and Eastman [12] made
an initial effort at classification by complexity; Class 1 – Rules that require explicit data,
Class 2 – Rules that require simple derived attribute values, Class 3 – Rules that require
extended data structure that encapsulate higher-level semantic conditions, and
Class 4 – Rules that require a ‘proof of solution’. The author’s suggestion here is that logic
complexity is but a subcategory of the primary purpose of functional, presentation and
data quality.
While sophisticated checking processes based on manual logic-based Interpretation are
successfully deployed, they are recognised as being inflexible and automatic language-based
rule interpretation would allow a degree of extensibility so far unknown [20].
2.1.2 Natural Language-Based (NLB) interpretation of rules

Dikbas et al. [4] proposed that for every code of regulations or standards there is some part
of which is simple enough to be easily translated into computer logic. Park et al. [10],
introduced a high-level rulemaking language with a sentence-cantered approach. Having an
intuitive naming convention directly mapped to the predicate logic of the code sentences
made it easier to follow the function and check the logic. This has developed further in the
SMARTcodes project [21], a joint project with the International Code Council (ICC), AEC3
Ltd and Digital Alchemy [19]. It enables the translation of building codes and standards from
written language rules to computer code, using a dictionary of domain-specific terms being
developed as part of the IFD and semi-formal mapping methods [22]. In this way, regulatory
codes can be converted into logic rules in a fraction of the time it takes to convert manually,
and since the text is so closely associated with the rule logic, it can be considered as a
complete quality system. Consequently, rules derived using the NLB technique could
revolutionise rule-based checking software, but these are not yet commercially available.
3 SOFTWARE
Interoperability is a challenge in the AEC industry which is divided into a discipline and
functional specialisms (domains), heavily driven by commercial interests. Technology study
estimated that inadequate interoperability led to $15.8 billion in unnecessary annual costs
[23]. Software interoperability is defined as the ability for multiple software components
written in different programming languages to communicate and interact with another [24].
Often software platforms do not match to the open standard IFC and must be manually
mapped. Table 1 gives an overview of a range of currently available checking software and
their functions.
Rule-based checking software has developed rapidly over recent years. A Norwegian
study [19] found that AEC codes and standards could be accurately represented using manual
interpretation and implemented rules using XML or EXPRESS language and this forms the
basis of all commercially available rule checking software available today. Checking rules
can test geometry (spaces and components) and data (parameters and classification). From
the point of view of efficiency, the most useful platform is that which accommodates both
geometry, data and workflow checking, and can accept input from models based on
Table 1: Overview of a range of currently available checking software and their functions.
buildingSMART [25] open standards – IFC common data schema. The most widely used
platform is Solibri™ Model Checker (SMC) and is the focus of this paper. Based on IFC
input and its own classification system, SMC provides a library of checking rules for
classification and range, pre-checks to pre-defined rules and rules sets for geometric and data
checking, concerning information management, space management, and others.
SMC will federate 3D model files and mount onto a viewer for initial screening based on
an internal classification system. It is a general check of the model form looking at common
errors such as missing information, duplicate components, range, clashes and space
validation. Then a detailed geometry and data check can be run using internal rule-sets for
conformance to constraints. The power of SMC is that it can check the IFC instance file
against any definable rules. SMC provides standard out-of-the-box rules which can be
amended or augmented to suit any project or application. The rules are offered as examples
and need to be verified for use. Rules do not yet include building regulations and application
of safety rules [26], [27], and so limits the scope of automatic checking. Solibri™ have now
opened the programming interface (API), for public consumption based on the principle of
open standards and it is now possible to add entirely new rules based on JavaScript.
3.1.1 Example of logic complexity

Rules can be nested allowing tests to be passed from parent rule to sub-rules to form complex
logic checks. As an example of nested logic consider corridor widths specified in Approved
Document M, 2015, Provision 3.14, other than dwellings [28]. This provision requires that a
corridor has a preferred width of 1.8 m but maybe a minimum of 1.2 m if unobstructed
passing spaces 1.8 x 1.8 m square are present. This constraint can be interpreted in one of
two ways. The first (a) is to test the width of the corridor is less than 1.8 m wide and greater
than 1.2 m wide and has 1.8 m square passing, the second (b) is to test the width is at least
1.2 m and has passing spaces 1.8 m square and is less than 1.8 m wide. Both interpretations
are shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1. The equivalent logic yields different results in SMC,
see Fig. 2, because the last condition passed is the only one reported. This example is easily
corrected within SMC by diligent testing of the nested rule but demonstrates the warnings
given by Eastman et al. [2] and Bell et al. [19].
Figure 1: Logic flowchart showing nested rules.
Figure 2: Screenshot of SMC results.
4 QUALITY FRAMEWORK
Formal guidance for a Quality Control Framework is embodied within given PAS1192 [29],
BS EN ISO 19650 [30], BS EN ISO 9001 [31] and BS EN ISO 29481 [32]. Where quality
control is an activity intended to demonstrate compliance with quality requirements [33], and
quality assurance is to demonstrate compliance. The quality framework shown in Fig. 3 is an
assemblage of the above, showing the aspects that are currently manual and semi-automatic
checks. Semi-automatic checking is provided by discrete operations or executable
programmes such as Navisworks, SMC, CobieQCReporter and ifcDoc. The technical content
checks are the focus of this paper and whilst there is no formal guidance on authoring rules,
guidance is provided by Hjelseth et al. [17], Bell et al. [19] and supported by industry such
as Bond Bryan [34].
Figure 3: Diagrammatic of quality control framework.
4.1 Quality system for authoring rules
Hjelseth et al. [17] suggested an AEC-based method of development of computable rules.

Based on the principles of knowledge-based engineering, it is noted that each stage is
interactive, and loopback is essential for effective application. Bell et al. [19] added
certification to seven stages:
Stage I. Define the scope and source of the ruleset. Usually, the standard, code or
regulation to be applied
Stage II computability assessment. Rearrange the code so that they are transparent as
possible and simplify. Write computable rules. This is best achieved by a domain specialist,
not software specialist, because expert knowledge is often required to interpret the meaning
of regulatory requirements in a particular context with domain-specific assumptions [5].
Stage III committee assessment approval is a quality assurance of the prepared work from
stage II. Teamwork is necessary to identify forgotten steps, limitations of use, and if the rule
is necessary. Review to ensure that proposed rules are computable.
Stage IV logic rule notation. Computable rules are transferred to logic notation.
Stage V choose the rule format for presentation of the rules (XML or EXPRESS)
Stage VI implementing (programming) the rules and information text-specific in the rule
checking software; this includes the aspects of documentation, changes and testing.
Stage VII Certification. Bell et al. [19] emphasise that Stage I to VI is an iterative process
and should be completed by certification.
4.1.1 Automation of the quality framework

An opportunity to automate building information management (BIM) quality framework is
given by Dataflow programming [35]. This allows data to flow between discrete operations
or executable programmes; implementing dataflow principles of taking the data
to the operation rather than the operation to the data. Implementation can either be
data-availability-driven (event-driven) or data-request-driven (demand-driven) [35].
Improved efficiency can be depicted as the current flowing in a circuit between electrical
components, so data flows between operations in series or parallel. Dataflow programming
environments such as LabVIEW [36] and Microsoft Azure [37] are widely used in various
industries, but those used in BIM are tailored for model authorship platforms automatic
programme interface (API)’s such as Geometry Gym [38] and Grasshopper [39].
4.1.2 BIMSie
An open-source framework is proposed by Aerle [40] that allows creating an ‘envelope’ for
formal, graphical and flexible representations of dataflow processes that can be shared and
re-used across projects based on the BIMSie API. The BIM Service interface exchange
(BIMSie) [41]. It is designed to connect BIM web services such as BIMQL, mvdXML
checker, software authorship platforms and common data environment (CDE)’s in an
automated event-driven (data-driven) fashion. The goals of the project are to automate
interaction between online BIM services, giving the possibility to innovate with BIM
workflow in the ‘cloud’.
5 CONSULTATION WITH INDUSTRY

Having established that there is guidance for a BIM Quality Framework and that there is
software support, although fragmented and complicated, its application is key to investigate
the effectiveness and to this end, it is necessary to consult with the AEC industry. Efforts
were made to choose from a wide range of roles associated with automatic rule checking, and
a combination of a questionnaire, expert interviews and a focus group were used.
Stratified/cluster sampling of the population was chosen from for the questionnaire to
include three groups; an IFC’s special interest group within LinkedIn social media consisting
of 4859 members; technicians and engineers within Mott MacDonald Ltd estimated 3500
employees involved in AEC across the world, and the professional cohort associated with
MSc BIMM at Middlesex University consisting of 194 persons. The total population size
estimated at 8553. Respondents total number was 92 with a confidence level of 95% and a
margin of error of 10%.
Interviews and a focus group were designed to allow inductive reasoning through the
qualitative analysis of data collected from experts working within the AEC industry who
have experience in BIM. A semi-structured (guided) interview style was adopted, and a
seven-step thematic analysis used to draw out conclusions. Consultations consisted of experts
of strategy (an online interview with AEC3 Ltd), technical (an online interview with
Solibri™) and operational (a focus group held in person with Mott MacDonald Ltd)
in October 2018.
It is acknowledged that the small sample size of 1% of the estimated population for the
questionnaire limits the reliability of the interpretation to the indication of trends rather than
more definitive conclusions and interviews can be dependent on subjective interpretation.
5.1 Existing quality (Fig. 4)
Past studies have suggested that AEC professionals have low confidence in the quality of
design data [8], and the results of this study continue to support that view. Initial questions
asked for an opinion of the general standard of design information in the construction
industry. Is it changing? What are the main problem areas? And how can it be improved?
The majority thought the standard of building information is poor and improving. There
was no consensus on the reasons for this, but to improve the situation, 70% indicated better
training, 61% indicated better automatic checking software and 43% better software support.
5.2 Balance between manual and automatic checking and confidence (Fig. 5)
The questionnaire asked for an estimation of the amount of time spent on manual checking
as opposed to automatic checking. If this might change in the future? And if they have
confidence in the existing rules or is there room for improvement? 59% of respondents
Main Problem Areas?
Lack of time 52 56%
Poor Library 23 25%
Poor Software 27 29%
MVD unknown 29 31%
IFC unknown 37 40%
Lack of QC 49 53%
Poor Modelling 41 44%
Scope definition 42 45%
Coordination 53 57%
Figure 4: Existing quality results.
Confidence in the existing rules?
rules are effective 4% 3
could be improvement 36% 27
could be much improved 59% 44
Authorship?
only use out of the box rules 8% 8
amend existing rules 36% 36
write your own rules 39% 39
get a specalist to do it 16% 16
Figure 5: Balance and confidence results.
indicate a balance of checking is 80/20 (manual/automatic), and a majority expect more

automatic checking in the future. Results were filtered in accordance with experience, sector,
location and role, each indicating that a majority have a checking balance of approximately
80/20 (manual/automatic) so this appears to be common. The majority of respondents to
indicate that the rules could be much improved, implying a lack of confidence in the existing
provision. 8% said they only use the out-of-the-box rules, 36% amended existing rules, 39%
write their own rules and 16% employ a specialist.
5.3 Quality system (Fig. 6)
The survey asked respondents if they use a system of validation and approval for amended
or newly written rules in checking software? For validation and approval, do you have
competent people able to manage the quality of the checking rules?
Respondents indicated that the majority used either a voluntary validation system or had
no validation at all. Only a minority had formally trained competent staff for validation and
approval of rules, and the majority had gained competence by experience alone.
The results were also separated out in accordance with experience, sector, location and
role, and this indicated that the largest group with no validation is the group with experience
in the range of 16–25 years’, designers, commercial and in the UK.
The survey asked respondents to identify the key area of action that could improve quality.
Feedback was spread across all areas with no overall lead. 23% indicated better training, 20%
better quality control, 14% more resource, 11% more automatic checking and 11% better
modelling skills. Correlation of results shows in Fig. 7 a trend towards the poor and
acceptable quality of design information for those who predominantly adopt manual checking
and have a voluntary validation of rule authorship in place.
Figure 6: Validation and training results.
Figure 7: Linear correlation.
5.4 Details of respondents and software
The closing questions of the survey asked details of respondents shown in Fig. 8. The survey
asked for the identity of the checking software used, and the most popular is 38% Navisworks
Manage for geometry checking and 27% Solibri™ for geometry and data.
5.5 Focus Group
The Focus Group discussed checking throughout the design process to generate a good
quality 3D model. Currently, this involves considerable manual effort from staff at all levels
and all process stages. The 3D model is coordinated by designers using Bentley Navigator
and data managed with CADQA. However, because of interoperability issues, they are using
interlinked spreadsheets and checklists using PowerBI to test data. The workflow system
is within ProjectWise and controls verification validation and approval. Competency is
assessed internally, and access permissions are regularly reviewed and reported. The focus
group agreed that the quality of building information could be improved and that the potential
for rule-based checking is not fully realised. They indicated a lack of software support for
infrastructure orientated design and the lack of understanding of IFC generally. IFC currently
poorly supports infrastructure design with platforms such as BentlyBE, and Revit, which is
still operating in IFC2x3. IFC5 which will cater for infrastructure is currently under
development, but in the meantime, mapping is required as an IFC Proxy such as
buildingSMART MVD for LandXML v1.2 or IFC (Stub) – IFC4x1 Alignment Extension.
The Focus group agreed that automated checking would have a beneficial effect. They
estimated that the balance between manual and automatic checking is about 80/20 but with
the aspiration of more automation.
Figure 8: Respondent details.
5.6 Expert interviews
The expert interviews agreed that the quality of building design information could be
improved and that the potential for rule-based checking is not fully realised. They indicated
a lack of understanding of the IFC schema in the industry, a lack of understanding of rules,
and rule authoring. Experts also identified poorly constructed models, poor software
interoperability and the lack of competent people. Experts felt that checking may swing
towards more automatic screening but that some form of a manual check will always be
needed. Both expressed an interest in NLB language-based Interpretation for the future
development of rules.
6 CONCLUSION
Consultation with industry has confirmed the perception of poor quality in design. There is
an overreliance on manual checking with only a minority using semi-automatic means,
particularly for data. Research has shown that Formal guidance for a Quality Control
Framework is in place but does not appear to be implemented effectively. Software is
fragmented with poor interoperability issues and poor support for open standards.
Feedback suggested that the potential for semi-automatic rule-based checking is
understood but only partly utilised due to complexity of the process, poor software support
and the lack of skilled personnel. There appears to be a lack of understanding of rule
authoring and in some cases, a lack of a quality framework. The results of the questionnaire
indicated Current out-of-the-box rules were being used without a formal validation and rules
are being authored without formal training or assessment of capability.
Assurance of quality can be made by an audit of the metadata of the CDE, using
semi-automatic open-sourced software. It should include the rule authorship, testing and
certification of checking rules such as described by Bell et al. [19], but the feedback suggests
that this is far from the case. Training opportunities for automatic checking are needed.
Expert feedback could not identify an optimal balance between manual and automatic
checking, suggesting that some manual check will always be required. Increased productivity
and quality are inextricably linked to better implementation of automated checking. NLB
interpretation of rules, and dataflow programming promise to improve productivity, but
better training focused on automatic checking and open standards is required.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to Dr N. Saleeb, Middlesex University for guidance, AEC3 Ltd, Solibri™, Mott
MacDonald Ltd who attend interviews and all those in the AEC industry who took the time
to complete the questionnaire.
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BIM-BASED ANALYSIS OF SPATIAL PROPERTIES

IN BUILDING LAYOUTS
HUGO SHEWARD
School of Architecture and Design, University of Kansas, USA
ABSTRACT
We describe here methodologies for embedding geometric and topological operations in contemporary
Building Information Modeling (BIM) Computer Aided Design (CAD) software, along with the
computational implementation of domain specific evaluations; this is done to achieve the integration
between spatial-based spatial properties evaluations and architectural design workflows. This research
describes methodologies and computational technologies used for the development of a computational
design assistant in the context of laboratory buildings in Preliminary Concept Design (PCD).
Keywords: BIM, morphology derivation, design assistances, concept design, building performance
simulation
1 INTRODUCTION
This paper describes research in the automation of derivation of computational building
models’ spatial properties for the purpose of ventilation systems engineering, such systems
are an important design assessment parameter when performing design decisions and affect
the performance of the building [1]. We develop computational technologies to allow
computer software to derive spatial relationships that affect the environmental conditions
inside laboratories. Ventilation systems engineering is intrinsically connected to the design
of laboratories, different types of these are applied at almost every step of the design process
from PCD to Design Development (DD).
Even though collaboration between a Architects and Engineers (AEs) is a common
practice in later stages of design, this has not been the case for PCD, this is mainly the result
of the speed in which design alternatives are produced during PCD and the complexity of
traditional HVAC simulation tools, and the fact that most of these require complex data
modeling, before any feedback can be provided to designers [2]. Design decisions taken
during PCD can affect the performance of laboratory facilities and the ventilation system
itself, most of the time these are made mainly by the architectural designer, and these are
based on ventilation engineering rules of thumb. We explore how to automate and improve
on traditional practices in the estimation of ventilation systems engineering during PCD, and
how the engineering feedback involved in these practices can be produced by a domain
specific Building Information Modeling (BIM) software. For this purpose, we developed a
software; Laboratory Ventilation Design Assistance (LVDA) which is designed to be used
by AE’s when evaluating PCD of ventilation systems engineering of laboratories.
2 THE IMPORTANCE OF VENTILATION SYSTEMS IN LABORATORIES

Commonly known as ventilation driven facilities, laboratories demand high number of air
exchanges and well-planned directional air flows [3]–[5], this becomes of extreme
importance when dealing with high levels of Biosafety Level (BL) laboratory spaces. Also,
they require 100% fresh air since their equipment exhaust cannot be recirculated, therefore
more air needs to be brought into the building to make up for the exhaust. These requirements
translate to higher energy consumption. Also, the design of the air distribution network in a
laboratory is commonly considered an environmental safety measure. The directional airflow
doi:10.2495/BIM190071
patterns in laboratory layouts are designed to be negative towards all laboratory spaces.
Traditional practices in the design of air flow have been based on the pressure differential
between spaces, this is accomplished by increasing the amount of air flow exhaust within the
laboratory spaces [3], [6], thus increasing the energy consumption. Bennett et al. [6] pointed
that the inward air flow can be more accurate for controlling the air flow patterns. The design
of the inward directional airflows is directly connected to the layout morphology and the air
pressurization of the different spaces in it. The spatial arrangement of the layout also affects
the performance of the ventilation system regarding the required air pressure of the
ventilation branches. The locations of served spaces within the layout and the typology of
layout, impact in both the length and number of turns that the ventilation branches must have
to reach all the required spaces.
2.1 Domain of implementation
The level of abstraction of a design might not be critical when dealing with paper-based
representations, but it becomes relevant when the design representation is a computational
model for supporting automation. Although there is not a widely adopted standard for the
level of completeness of computational models in architecture and engineering (AE), recent
efforts have tried to define these for BIM models [7], [8]. Among these the General Services
Administration (GSA), Facilities Standards for the Public Building Service P100, establishes
design standards for new buildings, among these; the levels of design development are
defined as: Preliminary Concept Design (PCD), Late Concept Design (LCD), Concept
Design (CD), and Design Development (DD). In the P100, the semantic content for each of
these is defined making it suitable for the research developed here. In it PCD models are
defined in terms of the content as follows: placement and massing of the building are defined;
program spaces are identified only at a departmental level, circulation spaces both human
and vehicular are identified, no internal partition walls or wall openings, basic definition of
building boundary surfaces. Later stages of design, such as LCD, DD and CD follow.
Few objects usually are included in PCD BIM besides space objects; among these;
building envelope, partitions among spaces are represented either with wall objects or virtual
walls. These PCD BIM models are usually developed for the purpose of massing and spatial
layout studies. In the case of laboratories, the main spatial referent for layout programming
is the laboratory module. The sizing of these allows AE’s to define the PCD layout of the
building’s structural grid, and to have an approximation to the expected occupancy loads of
the facility. Based on the design requirements the laboratory module can include two other
program components besides the laboratory space: office and lab support space. The spatial
relations among these will affect both human circulation conditions and dimensioning of the
building’s ventilation systems engineering.
2.2 PCD of laboratories and engineering assessment
In the case of laboratory design, there is no precise framework for how engineering expertise
is brought in to PCD, particularly how spatial properties play a role in the estimation of the
ventilation system, most of the time engineers will get involved once the massing of
the building and internal layout has been completed by the architect. Often the PCD tends to
optimize the spatial adjacency of the facility, but in terms of ventilation engineering there is
no optimization but the application of engineering rules of thumb regarding the floor to floor
clearance required [9]. In traditional PCD of laboratories, after the model is completed by the
architect, it is handed to the engineer who extracts its spatial properties, add to them his or
her expertise in terms of code requirements and best practices to produce a ventilation
engineering data model. Then after the cooling loads have been estimated the results are
returned to the architect, who based on the results might explore other design alternatives. If
new alternatives are explored, a new cycle of engineering estimation is conducted. The
overall time for each of these iterations might be hours in the best of cases. It is easy to infer
the reasons for the inefficiencies in this process; only in data exchanges/inputs, there are at
least 9 steps, even more; some of these rely on manual extraction/manipulation of data.
Therefore, making them prone to error.
2.3 Building Performance Simulation (BPS) integration to laboratory design
In general terms Ventilation system design using BPS’s is performed after the spatial
arrangement of the facility is consolidated and the material specification and configuration
of the building envelope is well known by the design team. In traditional building design
practices is during CD or FCD, when the HVAC engineer will conduct a detailed analysis of
the heat loads the facility, define the ventilation rates, determine the air-flows, and propose
the duct layout including the location of vertical drops as well as other pieces of equipment.
The results of the CD or FCD HVAC engineering analysis can generate a set of design
revisions in order to properly fit the HVAC components and their requirements [10], [11],
which due to the state of completeness of the design can produce revisions and time delays.
The previously described process is supported using BPS tools, many of these tools features
makes it hard for any implementation of collaborative design environments in early stages
of design [12].
Efforts have been made to automate areas of BPS to make them more suitable to early
stages of design, still BPS requires for a certain level of semantic content in the model, such
is the case of; material definition for walls, and sizing and placement of doors and windows.
This content, usually available in CD or FCD is not commonly part of PCD semantics. Other
reasons can also be pointed as to why BPS’s are not suitable for PCD; the speed in which
design changes happen during this phase [13], the time required to prepare and complete
BPS, since once the analysis is completed the entire design might have changed making the
results obsolete [2]. Both Holzer [13] and Chaszar [14] indicate that software’s results might
not enable interdisciplinary collaboration and that different domain semantics can create
friction among AE teams. Holzer (2009) also points among the issues limiting collaboration,
the need for team members to reflect in privacy regarding the proposed solutions.
2.4 Current trends in engineering assistances
The development of computational BPS tools has been going on for over 40 years. The range
of these varies greatly from; excel based tools to highly advanced software. Trcka and Hensen
[15] identify three generations of BPSs; the first; analytical formulations and simplified
assumptions, the second; numerical methods, and partial integration of performance aspects
of buildings, the current generation of BPS can capture reality better and are fully
integrated regarding different performance aspects. In the area of HVAC there are roughly
four categories of BPS’s, these are based in the problem they are trying to analyse:
1. Equipment sizing: Carrier HAP, Trane Trace, Energy Plus, Design-Builder,

MC4suite etc.
2. Energy performance: Carrier HAP, Trane Trace, Energy Plus, DOE-2, Equest,
ESP-R, IDA ICE, Trnsys, Hvacsim+, VA114, Simbad, Building Energy Analyzer,
DesignBuilder, etc.
3. System optimization and controls: Genopt (generic), Contam, Energy Plus, ESP-R,
Trnsys, Dymola, etc.
4. Duct sizing: AFT Fathom, Dolphin, Duct Calculator, Duct size, Pipe-Flo, Python,
Indus, Cymap, etc.
Most of the previously listed have been developed for the purpose of HVAC engineering
design; therefore, require the construction of domain specific data models, with properties,
such as; transmittance values, operating schedules, equipment types, control strategies, and
utility rates. Many of these have complex User Interfaces (UI), also the feedback produced
might be hard to understand by experts [16]. Current efforts in BPS development concentrate
on improving the integration of these to the overall building design process [17]. Three main
areas being researched: the simplification of the calculations being performed [18], the
simplification of the simulation data model being used and the automating generation of
simulation models for the execution of BPS [19], [20]. This research takes on these trends
and goes a step further in the effort of integration to design process by embedding engineering
estimation within BIM software.
3 METHODOLOGY FOR ACQUIRING VENTILATION SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

We have conducted an extensive research dealing with widely recognized compilations of
best practices and normative calculations applied to the engineering of ventilation systems in
laboratory, these range from energy standards [21], design requirements [5], design
guidelines [3], [4], [22]–[24], and HVAC engineering [25], [26]. From these we have
extracted provisions dealing with issues regarding engineering of ventilation systems in the
following areas:
1. Recommended design practices in terms of operational procedures

2. Code compliance for the design of ventilation systems
3. Minimum ventilation requirements for the operation of the facility
4. Best practices for the safety conditions for the facility
5. Systems serviceability provisions
3.1 Capturing formulaic and domain expert data
The methodologies for capturing expert data vary depending on the area of expertise being
processed. For instance, in some areas of architecture it might be the size of service areas in
a building regarding the usable square footage, in engineering it might be the types of
connectivity that a pre-cast concrete beam needs when installed, or multiple forms
of expertise which when combined represent complicated areas of design knowledge [27]. In
the case of ventilation engineering for laboratories, the expertise is in most cases based on
the relation between the organization of the layout, space usage and the requirements of
spaces in terms of: environmental requirements, scientific processes, internal equipment or
mechanical systems. In this research we capture the properties of the program components in
the layout, and the instance properties that play a role in the derivation of spatial properties
of it. For this purpose, we have developed a comprehensive space instance classification.
This has been collected in a human readable file which includes the following space types:
1. General chemistry 14. Lockers/showers

2. Radio chemistry 15. Conference/ Break rooms
3. Research 16. Corridor
4. Hospital or clinical 17. Service Corridor
5. Biological containment 18. Elevators
6. Animal research 19. Loading docks
7. Isolation/clean rooms 20. Housekeeping closets
8. Materials testing 21. Mechanical, electrical and
9. Electronics/instrumentation telecom
10. Teaching 22. Service shaft
11. Laboratory Support 23. Interstitial space
12. Offices 24. Stair
13. Toilet
Each of these is explicitly associated to a set of attributes; these along with their values
have been compiled from design guidelines [3]–[5], [22]–[24]. When processed by the
LVDA these attributes are embedded in the BIM database, enhancing the semantics of
the BIM model to both; support LVDA proprietary computations, and other types of BPS
assessment that might happen downstream the design process.
For the implementation of the LVDA two pieces of contemporary technologies have been
selected; Firstly, the extensive semantics in the BIM data model; Secondly, the estimation of
engineering data using normative calculations. Lee et al. [28] demonstrated how semantically
rich environments found in BIM can be used for the derivation of spatial relationships in
building design. Their research also improved the decision process in early stages of design,
their assessment structure was based on a standalone rule-based BIM checker. Park and
Augenbroe [29], [30], demonstrated the viability of using normative calculations for energy
consumption estimation; they also pointed that normative calculations are well suited for
sensitivity/feasibility studies for buildings.
During the initial stages of this research it was identified the need for the LVDA to provide
close to real time user feedback with limited inputs, to suit the characteristics of laboratory
PCD workflows. Therefore, the software was developed requiring minimal interaction from
users. Another aspect identified early in the development of the LVDA was the necessity for
it not to disrupt the flow of the design process. For this reason, instead of developing a
standalone application, all the modules of the LVDA have been embedded in a CAD BIM in
the form of plug-in, in this case we have selected Autodesk Revit as the host.
The UI designed for the LVDA is based on the concept of simplicity. There are only two
buttons in the LVDA UI, they are constructed in the Revit Ribbon panel. Within the LVDA
architecture, these two buttons represent two modules, these take on the responsibility of
controlling the execution of all other functions in the LVDA. If data needs to by dynamically
loaded into the system, users might be required to act such as to point the location an input
file or connect the computer to the World Wide Web. The first of these modules controls the
operations related to the computations of ventilation semantics related to the model,
the second module, controls the operations related to evaluation the layout properties and to
test the possible geometrical solution for ventilation system routing.
3.2 Development of the Air Distribution Routing Estimator Module (ADREM)
The ADREM verifies the layout spatial properties and generates a routing solution based on
domain heuristics and the layout, it also analyses the routing and the performance of the air
distribution system. These types of assessment are not commonly available in traditional
engineering of ventilation systems in PCD. During this phase, the LVDA derives the
following from the BIM; building morphology, airflow pressure structure, and spatial
adjacencies. These provide the LVDA with the information required for the estimation of the
properties of the air distribution systems that would better suit the PCD layout.
3.2.1 Morphology Derivation Module (MDM)

The first step during the execution of the ADREM is the derivation of the building layout
features; this has a direct impact on the order in which the ADREM algorithms are executed.
The MDM first analyses the PCD BIM looking for the indication of the design being either
an interstitial or a service shaft type of facility. The MDM informs the LVDA about the
behavioural constraints to be applied for the ventilation system engineering estimation. We
deal with the derivation of laboratory building morphology with the application of three
different approaches; firstly, checking for the existence of interstitial spaces in the BIM, this
is done by querying the BIM for spaces with name: interstitial space, this is understood by
the system as a dedicated space capable of servicing process driven spaces located directly
above or below. Secondly searching for the spatial properties indicating the presence of
process driven spaces with floor to floor height capable of hosting interstitial spaces, and
thirdly for those layouts in which none of the previous indicators can be found, this is
understood as a layout belonging to a service shaft or service corridor building typology.
3.2.2 Interstitial space routing

The existence of interstitial space objects in the BIM is interpreted by the LVDA as the intent
of having reconfigurable service systems for the laboratory. It also defines the relationship
between service spaces and conditioned spaces; in this case the system connectivity is
constructed in the vertical plane. We propose here that such relationships can be extracted
from the vertical adjacency which lies implicit in the BIM data structure. Deriving the vertical
adjacencies in laboratory layouts Interstitial typologies requires form the LVDA to analyse
the design vertical properties; the LVDA retrieves the boundary geometry in the serviced
spaces and evaluates their relation to the boundaries of the interstitial space. It is important
to note, that besides the explicit flexibility provided by interstitial typologies, the operational
constraints and best practices for laboratories remain. Therefore, practices such as placing
the insertion point for the HVAC close to the space occupant’s entry/exit is considered a good
practice. Unlike later design phases, where doors can be utilized to point to the entry/exit of
the space, in PCD the location of the entry point of each space is derived by the system, and
explicitly associated to the interstitial space. This is then used as target point for each of the
branches of the distribution system within the interstitial space itself. Then entry point is
estimated by setting it at the midpoint of the common boundary between the serviced space
and the circulation space. This approach still needs for the definition of a start space for the
branch, such as a location of the fan, therefore in this model end users are required to provide
its location.
3.2.3 Space based routing

In this approach MDM verifies the nonexistence of interstitial spaces, but the existence of
service corridors; this is interpreted by the LVDA as the designer’s intention of having the
ventilation system running through them. The MDM identifies then all the spaces that could
be serviced by routing the ventilation system through the service corridor and proceeds to
estimate the route. The routing functions used here are based in on the definition of a vertical
drop adjacent to a service corridor space. If no vertical drop is defined, the LVDA builds the
route by tagging the space requiring the most ventilation in the entire layout as start.
The system considers this space, as suitable for the location of the system’s vertical drop.
When the layout contains service shafts and no service corridors, the LVDA uses the shafts
as vertical drops for the ventilation system ducts and assumes that the designer’s intention is
to host the ventilation branch within the circulation area. The derivation of the morphology
of each ventilation branch is responsibility of the routing algorithm of the Spatial Adjacency
Analysis Module (SAAM).
3.2.4 Spatial Adjacency Analyzer Module (SAAM)

An important functionality of the LVDA is the analysis of spatial adjacencies, this allows for
the routing of the ventilation system to supply spaces even if ante rooms are part of the layout,
spaces such as; lobbies, sound locks or layouts including spaces Biosafety level classification
(BSL), such as BSL-3 and BSL-4 can be processed. The SAAM analyses each of the branches
of the graph looking for the following;
1. Target spaces for the ventilation system not directly adjacent to the service space but, that
can be reached by going through a non-process driven space
2. Non-serviced spaces directly adjacent to the service space that might serve as anteroom
for process driven spaces.
The SAAM adds to the space list all suitable spaces directly adjacent to the service
corridor, then recursively analyses each space in the list and all the spaces adjacent to them,
this is described here as second level spatial adjacency analysis (Fig. 1). The SAAM checks
the second level spatial adjacency and the space classification included in the LVDA which
indicates if the space must be supplied by the ventilation system, and therefore added to the
list. The SAAM iterates through the space list until it runs in to; a previously visited target, a
service space or a space for which there is an operational constraint for running the
ventilation system through it. All the target spaces identified by the SAAM and their
ventilation requirements are added into the ventilation branch properties and flagged as
already included in a ventilation system.
3.3 SAAM Implementation structure
3.3.1 Directional Airflow Structure Analyzer (DASA)

The LVDA analyses the layout directional air-flow pattern, this operation is based on safety
guidelines and is usually done by the engineer, it helps to identify the compliance of negative
Figure 1: Second level spatial adjacency derivation.
Figure 2: DASA text-based error report.
air pressure airflows towards process driven spaces. This is usually incorporated in the design
after PCD. The DASA retrieves from the BIM all spaces classified by the system as process
driven spaces and labels them as targets. The DASA then interrogates each target regarding
it’s spatial adjacencies, it checks for the directional air flow among the target and its
surrounding spaces. If during the analysis an airflow pattern which might allow for air to
escape the target is detected, a warning is generated by the system, in it the error space the
target and the building location information are identified. After the analysis is completed, a
list is saved as document (.txt) (Fig. 2) and the end user is informed about the existence of
errors in the BIM and location of the error file.
3.4 Ventilation Routing Estimator Module (VREM)
Another major function in the LVDA is the VREM, during its execution the building
morphology is evaluated to provide an estimation for the ventilation system routing. At this
stage the routing of air distribution ducts is derived, duct geometry, and ventilation system
attributes are estimated. The potential locations for the vertical drops is defined and informed
to the end user through Revit’s UI.
3.5 Routing estimation derivation
BIM technologies have been used to automate several aspects of building design assessment,
Lee et al. [28] used BIM data for a variety of assessments during PCD, among these;
circulation and security validation. In their study circulation paths were analysed regarding
provisions from design guidelines. In their work, Lee et al. [28] used graphs traversing all
the possible circulation paths between what they call start and target spaces. An extrapolation
of this approach is used in this research for the estimation of HVAC routing. We identify
what spaces in the model have the required conditions to host the distribution ducts and derive
the apace adjacencies between them and all the serviced spaces. We
propose the representation of the service-serviced spatial adjacency structure in a Service
Adjacency Graph (SAG).
The proposed SAG allows the LVDA to evaluate domain specific constraints regarding
different types of ventilation system. The LVDA incorporates a space classification
algorithm that allows for the construction of a domain specific graph of the layout. The space
classification used here is as follows: Service spaces: spaces suitable for elements of the
ventilation system running through them, these include interstitial space, service corridor,
shaft, and corridor. Serviced spaces: spaces for which the LVDA defines ventilation
requirements, among these, process driven spaces, and depending on design others such as
offices, and ancillary spaces. Non-serviced spaces: spaces for which the LVDA defines no
ventilation requirements.
3.6 Derivation of spatial adjacency
The construction of the SAG is based on the VREM capability to retrieve the properties of
the layout, indicating both; types of spatial adjacencies, and the estimation of the ventilation
system connection points towards the serviced space. To obtain this information, several
geometric operations need to be performed. Some of these such as polygon offset, and
polygon intersections, are not available through Revit’s API. To enable the LVDA to perform
these it was necessary to link to ti an external geometric library. Many geometric libraries
are available for open source use, based on; implementation requirements, language
compatibility and overall processing performance, we have chosen the Clipper geometric
library (http://angusj.com/delphi/clipper.php).
3.6.1 Deriving special spatial adjacency

The derivation of spatial adjacency enables the VREM to check the spatial relationship
between the service space and potential serviced spaces. To derive the spatial adjacency the
algorithm extracts the boundary information of each serviced space, and then it translates
the line-based representation coming from Revit into a polygon object, proceeds to offset the
polygon by a predetermined value. Then, to determine the actual adjacency the VREM places
a point at the midpoint of each edge of the polygon, then the VREM uses the Point in Polygon
(PIP) test to check if one of these points is placed inside the service space polygon (Fig. 3).
If the test returns true, the serviced space is added to the target space set. If the test returns
false, each of the edges of the will be recursively processed and tested again in a brute force
approach until either finds the adjacency information or discards the space being tested. The
PIP test is based on the crossing number geometric operation, in it a ray starting in
the inspected point crosses the boundary of the polygon, if the number of crossings is even;
the point is outside of the polygon, if the number is odd; the point is inside the polygon.
Every time an adjacency is detected by the VREM, the space being tested is added to the
list of spaces needing to be serviced. The properties of the ventilation branch are evaluated
regarding the ventilation requirements contained in each space set which in turn determines
the maximum diameter of ducts and the required space to fit these in the service space.
3.6.2 Route Estimation Module (REM)

The points constructed by the VREM during the PIP test, are interpreted as connecting points
for the ventilation system; they are used as targets to estimate the routing system. The
estimation of the routing involves also the extraction of the geometric properties of the space
Figure 3: Adjacent space derivation.
Figure 4: Routing derivation on concave spaces.
in which the ventilation branch operates and the optimization of the route in terms of system
performance. For the estimation of the ventilation system routing the REM takes the vertex
(V) identified as the start of the system and looks for connection to the closest unvisited
V (target), once the closest is identified an edge is constructed by the REM, this new edged
(E) is tested for possible intersection with the boundary of the service space, if intersection
exists, it means the constructed E is out of space bounds and needs to be discarded. Then the
connection is tested to the following close V. Each time a V is added a new E is created using
the new V and the previous V, each E is tested for path self-intersection and out of service
space bounds condition, if this test return true, the algorithm traces back to previous V and
tries a new connection, the process is iterated until all unvisited V are added to the path. If
no target space is directly visible the algorithm tests the closest V of the circulation space and
then checks for more space target V, this approach allows the REM to operate in both convex
and concave types of service spaces (Fig. 4).
The computational implementation of the shortest path in the LVDA prototype uses a
traditional computer science algorithm, developed by Robert C. Prim in 1957,
Prim’s algorithm solves the minimum spanning tree in computational weighted graph
structures, it searches the shortest route between all the nodes in the graph. The algorithm
starts from the source S and searches among all the adjacent nodes in the graph which have
not been relaxed or visited. Calculates the distance to them, adds to the graph the closest node
V, proceeds to flag it as visited and set the V as S and continues through the graph until all
nodes are visited. Unlike the original Prim’s the LVDA algorithm starts from a defined node
and every time a new node is added the edge created, is also tested for its relation to the
service space bounds, This algorithm deals with the metric properties of the path, meaning
the length of the route and the number of connecting components, both of which influence
the ventilation system performance.
4 SUMMARY
This research evaluated the possibilities of integrating spatial properties evaluation to BIM
enabled laboratory PCD, the implementation was done to support the automation of domain
specific knowledge-based ventilation engineering in PCD. This was done to provide better
integration of ventilation engineering on to PCD design of laboratories. There are intrinsic
limitations to this research that are given by the nature of BIM CAD models for laboratory
PCD, some of this can be found on the level of completeness of the BIM and how this can
affect the accuracy of the test. One of the most important aspects of this research is effort in
embedding spatial properties evaluation in the form of expert knowledge and computer
algorithms, allowing to non-experts the evaluation of domain specific aspects of the design
layout. When evaluating the types of analysis and the range of results the provided by the
LVDA prototype to those of traditional processes supported by engineers and BPS, the latter
covers a wider spectrum of analysis parameters which undeniably provides a more

comprehensive understanding of the expected building behaviour and provides the evaluation
of “what if” scenarios. Traditional BPS might produce more accurate results, but is important
to evaluate the correlation between the types of evaluation and the speed of the feedback
produced by the different approaches, and how these fit the different stages of design, in other
terms what is the right tool for the right design phase Different approaches have been
developed in this research to extend the scope of the assessment data of laboratories PCD,
among these the capability of evaluating the spatial adjacencies of the building layout in
terms of building systems engineering and routing. This type of analysis has been deemed
useful for several other areas of PCD feedback and is easy to foresee a wider range of
application of these on either other type of assessments or different types of building systems.
In terms of the efficiency of the system developed here, at this point and without extensive
end user evaluation it is hard to produce hard metrics regarding its ease of use, but it must be
noted the comparative efficiency in two specific areas, firstly, in the process execution speed
(compare the two developed process models), secondly the amount of data items required by
both the traditional approach and by the LVDA prototype. Also it is important to mention
that; at the level of efficiency metrics even for traditional approaches, it is hard to evaluate
their accuracy in predicting behaviour when compared with the actual building operation, but
it is important to notice that the estimation of systems proposed here is not meant to simulate
the behaviour of the building or the system associated to it, but to provide a rigorous approach
for the estimation of ventilation system engineering to be used for design decision making,
either for the purpose of design modifications evaluation or for best alternative selection.
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NECESSITY OF MONITORING VITAL BIM

INFORMATION FOR OPTIMIZED DESIGN
PROCESS MANAGEMENT
MOHAMED MOHSEN, SAMIR ALBITAR, MOHAMED ESSAM & ALAA RADWAN
BIM Management Department, Engineering Consultants Group (ECGSA), Qatar
ABSTRACT
The broad range of BIM processes and tools implementation has resulted in the generation of a huge
amount of complex data in assets management life-cycle that includes the asset main information,
authorities associated information to assets, and a number of organizational information related to
buildings design. In the BIM process management, the virtual model’s verification and validation are
becoming too complex to be managed and controlled by normal procedures, which leads to the
development of non-traditional strategies for reviewing the BIM database completeness and correctness
by the automation of collecting and arranging these BIM Data to generate useful and simple information
which helps in achieving the targeted outcomes. Monitoring BIM vital information for optimized design
processes management is becoming more necessary and introduce the question of how big the
information is related to the BIM process and projects development. The segregation of information
according to process needs, real-time availability, and the accessibility of information is crucial for
successful implementation and also helps in the analysis of information for BIM process time and
wastes optimization. Decision-making based on reference analysed information is clearly affected and
good results are noticed. This paper introduces types of BIM design process information and its
segregation according to function, and how this data is controlled by an in-house developed Electronic
Data Management System (EDMS) on Common Data Environment CDE. It also shows cases of how
BIM information is reviewed, analysed, and corrected by automated solutions which help to enhance
decision-making on different management levels.
Keywords: BIM management, BIM automation, design information management, BIM vital
information, BIM information analysis, design processes optimization, enhanced decision making,
automated process monitoring.
1 INTRODUCTION
BIM adoption has tremendously increased across the current decade in many countries [1],
[2]. Numerous numbers of BIM models have been produced around the world for different
projects accompanied by huge amount of information for different purposes [2]. This
information can be classified and sorted with reference to the project stage, phase and use.
During the project lifecycle many information exchanges issues related to quality and
interoperability may appear. Manual monitoring, reviewing and analysing of this amount of
information become more sophisticated, completeness and accuracy become the major issue
of handing over models for each BIM use. An automated solution can facilitate the
aggregation, extraction of important information, reviewing the correctness and
completeness of information and helps with decision making on different management levels.
The automation process can be classified into four phases: aggregation, extraction, reviewing
and analysing, and optimization for better decision making (Fig. 1).
2 TYPES OF INFORMATION ASSOCIATED WITH BIM

AND BIM SUPPORTING SYSTEMS
Each project stage has its own new inputs of related information and accumulative
information from the previous stages. There are different types of information associated
doi:10.2495/BIM190081
with asset lifecycle which go beyond BIM model geometrical content from design to
demolish, BIM Information is related to engineering analysis, design and construction
progress, project schedule, stakeholders contacts list, design and construction budget,
collaboration and communication protocol, information exchange matrix, hardware
and software specifications, fabrication and manufacture details, disaster planning and
management, space management, asset management, maintenance schedule and others. This
information has to be managed on different levels by various support systems and software
[3], which can be classified as follows: BIM modelling and data entry systems, BIM
management Systems, BIM decision support systems and BIM executive systems (Fig. 2).
Each system has many supporting software which help to get BIM use.
Figure 1: Phases of information automation for decision making.
Figure 2: Levels of BIM supporting systems.
3 AGGREGATION OF BIM INFORMATION

While implementing BIM for any project, Common Data Environment usage is mandatory
and gives a superb opportunity to control and manage the information of assets’ volumes [4].
CDEs software are various and providing different solutions based on project’s needs. ECG
has introduced different way of managing projects information based on windows
environment using PEER solution which is managed by inhouse EDMS software complying
with international BIM standards, regulation and projects satisfaction [5]. The components
of the solution are: File Servers, Data server, PEER Software, ECG-EDMS. (Fig. 3 shows an
overall diagram for ECG CDE and EDMS.)
The shared environment is the only source of valid design information shared between
design team. Changes or modifications of files are not permitted for users on share folder,
only updating files by sharing newer version is allowed only if the WIP files along with its
meta data (size, date modified, sharing status which used for log usages and registers) are
synchronized on peer server [6] across different countries using EDMS application (Fig. 4).
File watcher application is used for this purpose to keep an eye on the files meta-data and
guarantee identicality of files. Sharing process is accompanied by auto email notification
including comments and attachments which are used to inform all concerned users about all
changes have been made to the files also fixed list of emails can be set by the manager to
keep all team leaders and management automatically informed about the sharing and
submission process.
Each shared version of files is saved on archive server to track changes (Fig. 5) and to
verify the reasons whenever problems or conflict occurs and to determine the reasons and
plan for actions. Flexible numbering system for versions ([1A,1B,1C ….etc.] or [1.001,
1.002, 1.003 …etc.]) is used to control the versions based on project’s needs.
Figure 3: An overall diagram for ECG CDE and EDMS.
\\Get list of files with older dates:|
\\Get dates for all files:
\\Validate if the file is the latest with warning message:
Figure 4: Part of the code for validating file synchronization across different countries.
\\ Save a Copy of files next versions in submission and archive server:
Figure 5: Part of the code for saving file versions.
At any projects stage submission, a proper handover and quality control should be
performed as part of the BIM process to verify and validate BIM content. The verification
and validation process are reflected automatically on the ECG-EDMS application by a
controlled process. Discipline leader have to submit files for approval or rejection by manger
and technical reviewers. Submitting the files is not allowed until the WIP files are
synchronized across all countries same as sharing process, Check list must be filled along
with the submission, Every item on the check list has levels of compliance (0%, 25%, 50%,
75%, 100%) with the ability to add comments shows the reason behind the selection of
compliance level (Fig. 6), Every item has 3 levels of acceptance (reject, approve with
comments, approve) with an overall acceptance value for all submission (reject, approve
with comments, approve). QA/QC report (in excel format) must be attached with the check
list (Fig. 7), reviewers can change the compliance level of check list item and adding
comments on this item to show the reason behind the change. If the reviewer approve/approve
with comment the submission, it will be forwarded to the manager for final decision but if he
or the manager rejected the submission, it will return for resubmission action. When the
manger approves the submission, all files are collected and saved on predefined stage folder
on the submission and archive server (Fig. 8).
\\ Declare buttons with compliance values and Comments
Figure 6: Code for the interaction panel with user for model’s checklist as part of QA/QC.
\\ confirm the attachment of QA/QC lists as part of the design workflow:
Figure 7: Part of the verification code for the QA/QC process of design workflow.
\\ saving checklists
\\ saving QA/QC files in design workflow:
\\ saving approved files for stage submission:
\\ saving communication emails as attachment for submission:
Figure 8: Part of the code for submission processes.
4 AUTOMATING DESIGN INFORMATION EXCTRACTION FROM

BIM MODELS FOR REVIEW AND VALIDATION
In Middle East ME region, most of BIM projects are developed on Autodesk platform. Many
programming languages can be used (such as: C-Sharp, VB.NET, Ruby, Python, and others)
for integrating an automated solution with Autodesk Revit. ECG has developed an interface
for automated application for models review and data extraction using C-Sharp and Revit
macros were information can be automatically extracted from linked models on demand or
on a schedule basis, this depends on the process needs. Whenever any new model or a newer
version of an existing model is added to the working servers, the application watcher detects
the addition, then Revit macros run to extract the information related to project progress and
quality of BIM models content (Fig. 9), then automatically save the extracted information by
adding new records to the files inside data folder. Automatic review and analyse of this
information are performed by running checks based on projects manuals and criteria. These
checks give an indication about level of completeness and compliance of information which
the BIM manager can use to ask the working teams for corrective actions if needed (Fig. 10).
\\ Data extraction from linked models
\\ extraction of numbers of elements per category for progress monitoring
Figure 9: Part of the code that shows auto-extracting of information related to progress.
\\ check for family naming
Figure 10: Part of the code that shows auto-reviewing of family naming vs. project
standards.
5 REAL TIME AVILABILITY OF EXTRACTED INFORMATION

FOR MONITOR, REVIEW AND ANALYZE
All the aggregated and extracted information previously illustrated are saved on dedicated
server. An application on backend server hosted online is responsible to process the requests
coming from frontend application such as add/modify project, add/modify user, get data of
charts or tables….etc. Frontend application is responsible to render the data in the form
of readable charts and tables with the ability of filtering and sorting (Figs 11, 12 and 13).
Figure 11: Diagram for the overall data extraction and communication.
\\ the code shows the sequence of adding project (get request data [name, modules, colour, status],
insert the data into the database, create project directory, create modules directories, return response
to the frontend)
\\ the code shows the sequence of adding project (get request data [name, modules, colour, status],
insert the data into the database, create project directory, create modules directories, return response
to the frontend)
6 DESIGN PROCESS MANAGEMENT BASED ON COLLECTED INFORMATION

BIM Design processes can be optimized if available information is reviewed and analysed
for better decision making and lesson learning from projects. As example on a district project
in Doha done using BIM, the models’ complexity increases for architectural models which
leaded to lower production efficiency. As justification for this change in performance, the
BIM information is analysed and following results was found related to models’ content for
number of model elements at each model share: Numbers of model elements increased
from 72 thousand elements (10 months Progress) to 208 thousand elements (total project
duration-one year). Which means an increase of 136 thousand elements in 2-months
of progress.
When the latest version of architectural model is analysed, more than 76% of the model
content was related to 7 categories of 69 used categories. These 7 categories are related to
graphical representation of drawing such as annotation and drafting (wall tags, door tags,
room tags, spot elevations, lines and dimensions) (Figs 14 and 15).
Figure 14: Analysis of BIM modelling and drafting progress across a one-year duration for
project detail design stage.
Figure 15: Chart showing the percentage of model elements at the last version of
Architectural BIM model.
Duplicated information is considered as one of the most critical issues for BIM production
and analysis. At same project, design scope of work of architectural elements was split
between the architectural team and the ID team. When the progress of the architectural and
interior design models is analysed, design progress issues are clarified. One of the major
issues was related to ceiling progress, a duration of 27 days of duplicated ceiling elements
was found in both models which at the time of coordination caused confusion related to
hosting of ceiling items(lighting fixtures, diffusers, detectors and others) on architectural
ceiling elements which was deleted at later stage of project (Fig. 16).
On the same submission when the fire and life safety latest model is analysed, more than
89% of model content was related to 4 categories. These categories are related to model
elements such as pipes, pipe fittings, sprinklers and mechanical equipment (Fig. 17). At an
intermediate progress share the file size suddenly increase from 150 mb to 233 mb with no
justification. When progress graphs reviewed, text notes and detail items were having the
same change. After analysing the case graphs deeply, the results were related to exploding
CAD details inside Revit, which is not the best practice, corrective action is taken by purging
and removing unwanted details components which lead to decrease the file size again
to 169 mb (Fig. 18).
Figure 16: Graph showing the duration of the existence of duplicated ceiling elements.
Figure 17: Chart showing the percentage of model elements in the last version of
mechanical fire and life safety BIM model.
Figure 18: Analysis showing the change in file size when detail items and text notes are
added by exploding cad details inside the model.
7 CONCLUSION
The availability of vital BIM information gives reliability for better decision making when
processed, analysed and viewed properly using BIM models content and associated
information which can be automatically reviewed and corrected. Optimized design process
management can be achieved by applying automated solution for information aggregation,
extraction and review which plays a very important role in design processes management
optimization. In this paper, the overall automated solution is introduced with sample codes
for each information management stage and same cases are analysed with encouraging results
for wide use of the solution for more applications.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work of these authors was fully funded and supported by Engineering Consultants Group
ECGSA under the direct supervision of Dr Abbas Eladawy, Eng. Omar Bahgat and
Eng. Emad Kadry.
REFERENCES
[1] NBS. The National BIM report, 2019. www.thenbs.com/knowledge/national-bim-
report-2019. Accessed on: 15 Jul. 2019.
[2] Qehaja, A.B., Improving decision making with information systems technology – A
theoretical approach. LIRIA International Review, 1, pp. 49–62, 2013.
[3] McGraw Hill Construction, The Business Value of BIM for Construction in Major
Global Markets: How Contractors Around the World Are Driving Innovation with
Building Information Modelling, 2014.
[4] NBS, BS 1192:2007, Collaborative production of architectural, engineering and
construction information – Code of practice, 2007.
[5] ISO 19650 Series of International Standards, 19650-1:2018, Organization and
digitization of information about buildings and civil engineering works, including
building information modelling (BIM) – information management using building
information modelling – Part 1: Concepts and principles, 2018.
[6] peersoftware, PeerSync File Synchronization for LAN & WAN Environments.
www.peersoftware.com/peersync/. Accessed on: 30 Jul. 2019.
LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE

2022 WORLD CUP FINAL STADIUM, QATAR
AMBROSIO GÓMEZ MORALES & CALLUM JOHN SYKES
AFL Architects, UK
ABSTRACT
In this paper we detail the auditing process taken on the World Cup Final Stadium 2022 (80,000 seats),
under extensive scrutiny for its high cost estimate. As a result of the efficiencies identified via this
method, the client saved 40% on a £2 bn construction cost. Through detailed demonstrations of Dynamo
scripts and BIM workflows, this article will pass on lessons learned from this intensive project. The
ultimate objective will be to build on best practices used by all parties involved in the design process.
The paper is relevant for any architect, programmer, project manager or those familiar with BIM
software across the built environment. Adding to the combined BIM knowledge in the industry, the key
takeaways discussed here will continue to save thousands of man-hours and millions of pounds for
clients and contractors all over the world. The article will also demonstrate how efficient solutions can
translate into multiple stadium configurations, including parameters such as seat numbers, bowl shape
and pitch size. The authors currently manage AFL Architects’ BIM department, and have been at the
forefront of the practice’s BIM innovations. Significant investment in research and development has
directly led to procuring larger, more complex and higher-profile projects, demonstrating the
fundamental importance of BIM in the UK construction industry.
Keywords: computational design, workflow, BIM, architecture, stadium, auditing, automation,
methodology, management.
1 INTRODUCTION
The World Cup Final Stadium is an 80,000 capacity stadium in Doha, Qatar. AFL Architects
were commissioned to interrogate the existing designs and make the more efficient, a task
that required the involvement of countless staff, from six countries across the world.
The completion of the project resulted a comprehensive review and retool of our workflow
processes and documentation toolchain. These changes not only resulted in a renewed ease
of working, but also made training new starters much easier.
2 OPERATIONAL PROCESS AND METHODOLOGY

Architecture, by its very nature, is a highly creative and inventive industry. Yet with any
creative endeavour, a project needs to be underpinned by controlled workflows and a clear
process. This is especially important as client expectations rise and with it, a project’s time
and quality demands.
The operational process in architecture should work very much like a manufacturing plant,
with each part of the production line having a specific task as part of a well configured
workflow. As with every project in architecture, the timeline is very short and every action
needs to be managed effectively. This is not to say Architecture should feel like a production
line. It should not. It is a vastly creative and inventive industry, and it should feel like that.
If we were to watch a real production line, we would see a very clear flow of work, very
clear positions for employees/machines and actions being repeated in an identical,
reproducible manner. This is the end goal. Everything we do and everything we plan should
be reproduceable and documented, otherwise the knowledge will be lost, and the task cannot
be repeated. To conquer such inefficiencies and to allow us to scale our processes between
doi:10.2495/BIM190091
our smallest and biggest jobs, we have thoroughly documented each process from the start to
finish of a project at a coarse level of detail and work towards a more detailed workflow.
For now, let’s assess the flow of processes and workflows in relation to the
aforementioned manufacturing plant, with its many production lines.
2.1 Business development manager
In every company there will be a person who accepts or bids for jobs. This is of course a very
necessary part and every company needs jobs to continue functioning. A key role of this
person is to liaise with the various managers of the production line to ensure that they do not
overload the production line. This is the crux of the entire operation: too little work and the
company will not be able to exist, too much work and the company will not be able to function
effectively, rendering all the workflows and processes obsolete as people are forced to cut
corners to meet deadlines.
2.2 BIM managers/project manager/managers, etc. (floor manager)
The various managers create, oversee and instils these processes, continually auditing the
production line to see how well it is performing and how well the processes are understood.
This task is crucial for the production line to run smoothly. Above all, all employees must
understand the importance of the processes and task responsibility for their workflow, so they
can identify potential improvements and alert the managers to any issues.
2.3 Architects/BIM modelers, etc. (floor staff)
Anybody who interacts with the models/drawings is a part of the floor staff on the production
line. Each person has a different, well-defined role and level of responsibility. As any task
should be well documented and relatively easy to follow, anyone can pick up that task and
perform it as necessary when they have completed their previous task.
Regular resourcing meetings should be scheduled to discuss who and what is available,
and to make sure other floor staff are aware of this too. It is useful to review and discuss the
weeks resourcing accuracy and effectiveness. When this is communicated effectively, tasks
will be completed in a more purposeful manner, as the end goals of each task are more clearly
outlined alongside the timeframe available.
2.4 Document control (quality assurance)
The document manager resides at the very end of our production line, performing the
documented QA checks on each item that passes by and rejecting anything that is not up to
scratch.
2.5 Summary
Ultimately, our findings show that the most effective improvements are those that are made
on bottlenecks. Any other improvements are an illusion.
Having processes well documented stops the worst kind of bottlenecking; a person who
does everything and nothing, a person who slowly becomes unreplaceable and who is always
busy.
3 DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
Using the above best practice methodology, we then started reviewing the World Cup Final
Stadium in context. This exposed some interesting facts about many of our current processes.
They were not scale-able. As with many Architecture practices, many of the go between tasks
fall between the cracks and were not documented or considered.
The size of the project was one that we had not previously encountered, and transformed
normally simple, everyday tasks into ones that were unfeasible and onerous at scale. This
was despite how well we considered the documentation and planning of our processes. A key
example was the issue with the input and execution of PDFs, which have previously been
completed manually.
This manual approach was not possible when converting 400 Lusail drawings into PDF,
where each file could take 10 minutes to complete. Conversion was therefore an enormous
task that would take an entire weekend and did not benefit from any sort of quality assurance.
The potential for error was unacceptably high and the pressure on both person and time
resource extremely inefficient.
The BIM team created a script to batch print drawings from Revit with the correct naming
convention and paper size automatically [1]. This method significantly improved our quality
processes by ensuring every drawing was correct and was compliant with the client’s
stringent BIM requirements. Furthermore, the ease of the process meant that any team
member could use and run the script overnight with occasional checks via Remote desktop
(RDP) if necessary. This simple change saved a significant amount of time and cost.
3.1 Model standards and labelling
Knowing there would be quite possibly hundreds of models between contractors and
ourselves, not to mention the tens of thousands of drawings that would be created, it was
imperative to agree on a standard. We were already working to PAS 1192 on most projects
as were many of our contractors. Therefore, this seemed the obvious choice (since the time
of writing this it has been made into an international standard: ISO 19650) [2].
To solve the issue of collaborating with numerous external consultants, we aimed for a
method that would suit every user and every discipline in multiple countries and that would
help us in managing a design that would change every single day. We opted for a service
(BIM 360) that hosted our 3D models on the cloud. This service also allowed every other
consultant to host and link their models together on the cloud.
We communicated problems in our federated model review software Navisworks. This
meant we could jot down a clash or design issue and have an updated model from the
contractor within the hour.
4 CHALLENGE DESIGN: COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN VS. NORMAL DESIGN

Performing manual tasks on a project of this size is impossible. What was needed was to
remove the human element from the most onerous and resource-heavy activities, allowing
the architect to concentrate on the tasks that will have the greatest quality impact on the
project. This was achieved through computational design.
Computational design is the philosophy of abstracting a problem: breaking it down into
its component parts and stepping away to provide perspective. By providing set constraints,
we can allow computational refinery to find the optimum solution [3].
A client requires 80,000 people sat around a football pitch. Every person must have a
minimum C value [4] of 60 and the volume of concrete used for the stands should be as low
as possible. We can start by creating a mathematically driven parametric model for a stadium
bowl that can bend, flex and resize.
Using computational design software with inbuilt optimisation algorithms (NSGA-II [5])
we can move adjustable values around, such as bowl curvature, offset from pitch corners and
step height. This may then optimise the outputs, C values and volume of concrete for the
bowl.
To make sure we have the optimal solution, the software will run many iterations. That is,
the same algorithm will be run multiple times, slowly moving the values around until a set
number of solutions are achieved. As an architect we can then choose our options by
weighting our priorities.
For the project, we created an algorithm that produced the entire stadium bowl to the
constraints of the brief and relevant regulations. We then tested the sightlines/seat kills.
Further improvements can be made to this process with the use of Refinery, a Dynamo add-
in that takes these inputs and goals and runs the script multiple times to find the optimal
solution.
Computational design has incredible functionality empowering designers to remove
manual execution and manual calculations from the design process and allowing the designer
to contribute their unique talents. The benefits are reducing material plus resources used, and
significant time and cost saving.
5 COMPETITION STAGE
5.1 Objective
So far, we have explored the foundational principles of the processes used to deliver this
project. This section will concentrate on the solution that secured our place in the design
team: taking the original concept design and proving that is was deliverable within the client
brief.
This was the solution that reduced the cost of the stadium by 40%, allowing the project to
continue with all original specifications intact.
5.2 Challenge
In the first instance, we analysed the information provided by the previous designers and
studied the documentation provided by the client (BEP, EIR, etc. [6]). This package of
information was cross-referenced with FIFA international standards [4].
What we discovered was that although the stadium was fully compliant with FIFA
standards, the EIR had the more challenging constraints and therefore took precedence –
further challenging what could be achieved within the design.
From the EIR, we identified the design did not follow the client’s documentation. This led
us to make the following decision: revise the entire concept to fully comply to FIFA
requirements and achieve the most efficient shape possible.
We were therefore confronted with the process of auditing an 80,000-seat stadium,
creating a more efficient design and proving it was the winning option in a very short period
of time.
5.3 Solution
Simply, we understood the shape of the stadium would have the biggest impact on project
cost. Achieving the most efficient bowl and therefore the most efficient overall footprint was
the fundamental element that would be the difference between viability and failure.
The design of a bowl involves an enormous technical list of requirements such as:
 C-values [4];
 Net capacity [4];
 Seat kills [4];
 Obstruction sightlines [4];
 Pitch [4];
 Seating space [4];
 Seating categories [4] (general admission, VIP, media, disabled, etc.);
 Tread [4].
Again, we can turn to computational design for the solution.
Through an extremely complex visual programming script (Fig. 1) using languages such
as Python, C#, etc., where all the parameters from the EIR and FIFA document are
considered, the PC ran a specific number of iterations selected by the designer. This resulted
in a shortlist of the five most efficient options from a full long list of 100.
All options were provided not just with geometry but with a huge quantity of data as
maximum height, minimum height, number of seats, quality of seats, perimeter, etc. This
information, when cross-referenced with FIFA standards, the EIR and the client
documentation, was critical to make the right decision.
For example, the computational design was able to reduce the perimeter within a range of
1 m to 15 m. This is turn reduced the façade and roof area. As designers, we ultimately chose
10 m, being cognisant of future collaboration with other disciplines and being at the time
unaware of their specific space requirements and constraints.
Time restrictions meant that we were unable to recreate the final envelope geometry by
drafting in 2D.
Figure 1: Graphical scripting.
Figure 2: Geometry improvement.
Figure 3: External envelope design.
Once we had chosen the most efficient geometry design, it was time to redevelop the
external envelope; façade and roof (Fig. 2).
To recreate the resulting bowl geometry with 2D drafting is impossible within the time
provided. Therefore, the computational design assisted us in that challenge.
Using the same strategy as the bowl, by a computational design process, we achieved the
most efficient options (panels types, dimension and position them). It allowed us to reduce a
previous design of 56,470 m2 of panels to the below picture 37,978 m2, which means a 35%
reduction of external envelope materials.
The roof followed the same strategy as the façade but following an intersection of plane.
6 DESIGN STAGE
Finally, the human element, presenting our discoveries and efficiencies to the client. Virtual
reality in this case illustrated our solution effectively, allowing a full understanding of what
we had achieved and the process we took to get to that stage.
6.1 Objective
From here, we were challenged to develop the concept design in four months, achieving an
accurate net capacity as well as an accommodate schedule which complies with FIFA
standards.
6.2 Challenge
To foresee in the design stage elements that should be considered in the construction stage
such as metal work, advertising boards, and lighting.
6.3 Solution
At this stage, the most important facet of the stadium design is achieving the required net
capacity. Further complicating this task is reducing the maximum number of sightline
obstructions and achieving the combined requirements of both the EIR and FIFA standards
regarding C-values.
This required a full audit of the new bowl geometry as well as the functional spaces in the
stadium. Combining trigonometric math with geometry, this output can be achieved as well
as being able to be contained in the final model for handover.
The workflows we created included: heat map, seat kills and FIFA checklist [2].
6.4 Heat map
At this stage everything is about geometry and information that can be analysed. This
workflow allows the client to know the exact quality of view per each spectator according to
multiple constraints such as: seat type, thread, riser height, vertical height to the point of
focus, etc.
Figure 4: C-value, sightline quality representation.
Figure 5: Obstruction types.
Figure 6: Modelling conditions.
6.5 Seat kills
Through a simple workflow supported by multiple softwares, we could foresee the exact
quantity of spectators who will have an obstruction during events in the stadium. The process
is as follows:
 Adding obstructions through computational design: Stadiums follow a very
constrained geometry which took precedence at the concept stage. Through an
algorithm in Dynamo we were able to insert obstacles such as advertising boards,
benches, media screens, lighting, railing, vomitorium and gangways.
 Controlling the eye position of every single spectator: Each spectator has different
constraints.
 Range of vision: By simulating each spectators’ field of view.
 FIFA Constituent groups: Categorizing each group by their geometric constraints,
i.e. a wheelchair and media seat have different eyelines.
 Clash detection: Identify any interference within the sightlines.
 Representation: To show the result visually as well as virtually, we recreated the
experience of each spectator in the stadium.
Figure 7: Obstructions detection.
Creating an index data base from EIR and FIFA allowed us to establish, maintain and
audit the design each time the project is shared, therefore improving accuracy and control of
the design on multiple platforms.
The database work is a symbiosis of two concepts: data and geometry. Manual errors
happened on a daily basis, so this process allowed auditing the quality of the data as well as
combining the information from 389 models into one, allowing any facility manager, client,
contractor, mechanical engineer, structure engineer, to audit the information and get an easy
understanding in a few pages of what the whole project offers.
The above is impossible to achieve in the way we all us worked in the past. It is a lesson
that we learned and a process that was continually improved upon through many iterations.
The benefits of the above methods were recognised by both the design team and client.
7 CONSTRUCTION STAGE
7.1 Objective
Deliver the project digitally, as-built fully coordinated to LOD 350 [6] in the least time
possible.
7.2 Challenge
At this stage with the combination of highly demanding digital requirements, time
constraints, model size, IT issues, time zones, length of supply chain, etc. The accurate
production with high levels of coordination is extremely difficult and there is one concept
that is constant in any project: Information needs to be in the right place at the sight time and
communicated to the right people to achieve success.
7.3 Solution
7.3.1 Digital requirements

Easily the project can get lost in bureaucracy, this is the reason why a programme that
prioritises milestones is critical and most importantly it needs to be escalated with clients to
show the benefits.
The symbiosing of modelling strategy with IT specification with design timescale has
impact in the project and it needs to be considered beforehand.
7.3.2 LOD 350

In term of modelling it is a high detailing requirement especially when combined with the
size of the project. The resulting solution was to split the project into 386 models, with all
the resulting implications for drawings, data, and coordination.
7.3.3 Time constraints/time zones/different locations

Due to the size of the project and the timescale, sharing the project between offices was
essential for efficient working. While an office is sleeping another office can carry on
working during the day and can work in the same model strategy at the same time. Therefore,
working via a cloud platform, we could achieve BIM Level 3 [6].
7.3.4 Coordination
One of the most difficult barriers we were facing was the slow connectivity speed in Qatar,
an issue when trying to exchange models and thousands of drawings with site. The solution
we used for this situation, was Dropbox. The way it incrementally syncs through the desktop
allowed site to receive the files. However, this created a breach in QA and other processes so
by creating an internal infrastructure of process document management control when all our
office was connected via a mix of digital platform was essential.
Another key subject was the coordination of a live design day by day. How to manage
clashes and coordinate the experience design. To understand what is happening in a project
of this size considering all disciplines is extremely difficult, and there is a high risk that
disciplines are not well coordinated. A weekly review/walkthrough of the model was
essential with all parties present.
Figure 8: Working collaborative in the cloud.
Figure 9: Coordination with all disciplines.
To smooth this process, all the coordination issues were stored in the cloud where
everyone could have access through Autodesk Navisworks, also a range of metadata
attributed to each issue:
 Priority: The designer and contractor should focus on each one according to the
programme. To resolve all of them at the same time is not efficient.
 Location: Issues are geolocated, but data is essential to be added for order and
searching purposes. It is important for construction stage as it allows the designer
and contractors to focus in the construction zones/phases through the timeline.
 Package: Designer and builder work with the package of work to build the project,
so it is key to manage the issue through the programme.
 Discipline: Often issues have involved and not specific disciplines, by having
information on a big range is beneficial also happens that designers are relocated in
different packages/phases/zone, it allows everyone to be on the same page.
 Author: To track an issue is essential to know who highlighted the issue.
 Description: Through a picture and description of what the issue is make simple to
understand in any situation.
 Contact/s to answer: It is fundamental to have a detailed organigram of who is
responsible of allowing to assign the right person the issue as it speeds the process
otherwise issue can get lost in time and desperate the team. The goal in all this
process is to have the right information in the right place at the right time.
 Comment: It allows to reply, answer or have a live conversation about the issue from
anywhere in the world.
8 CONCLUSION
It is not every day that an architecture practice is given a project ten times bigger and more
complex than they have ever done before. But in theory, it should not be ten times more
difficult. The processes and workflows used in a practice should be able to scale and adapt.
We spent a long time improving workflows throughout this project and our key development
was that any improvements should be made on the bottlenecks of the workflow. Any other
improvements are an illusion. That is, identifying precisely where in the process the most
slowdown is being experienced and concentrating resources on a solution.
It is critical to any practice to incentivize improvement and to inspire people to work out
better ways of doing things. “It is the way we have always done it” is not a sustainable
workflow methodology and will constantly close doors and possibilities. With the right time
and effort concentrated on bottleneck tasks, a practice will benefit in the long term and remain
sustainable into the future.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We thank Claire Gilchrist for acting as copywriter and for her comments that greatly
improved the article.
REFERENCES
[1] Sobon, K.K., Printing PDFs w/ dynamo, 2015.
http://archi-lab.net/printing-pdfs-w-dynamo/. Accessed on: 20 Jun. 2019.
[2] BSI Group, What is ISO 19650? 2019.
www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/Building-Information-Modelling-BIM/bim-design-and-
construction/iso-19650/. Accessed on: 10 May 2019.
[3] Rutten, D., Evolutionary principles applied to problem solving, 2010.
www.grasshopper3d.com/profiles/blogs/evolutionary-principles. Accessed on: 26 May
2019.
[4] Football Licensing Authority, Guide to safety at sports grounds, 5th ed., 2008.
www.raithrovers.net/files/GuidetoSafetyatSportsGrounds.pdf. Accessed on: 26 Jun.
2019.
[5] Kalyanmoy, D., Pratap, A., Agarwal, S. & Meyarivan, T., A fast and elitist multi-
objective genetic algorithm: NSGA-II. IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary
Computation, 6(1), pp. 182–197, 2002.
[6] British Standards, British Standards and Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) from
BSI, 2007–2018. https://bim-level2.org/en/standards/. Accessed on: 24 Jun. 2019.
REVOLUTIONIZING THE FUTURE OF THE

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: STRATEGIZING
AND REDEFINING CHALLENGES
SANTI EDRA NISA LAU1, EEYDZAH AMINUDIN1, ROZANA ZAKARIA1, CHAI CHANG SAAR2,
NUR IZIEADIANA ABIDIN1, AHMAD FARHAN ROSLAN3, ZUHAIRI ABD HAMID3,
MARIA ZURA MOHD ZAIN3, ERIC LOU4 & AHMAD BUKHORI SHAHARUDDIN1
1
Department of Structure and Materials, School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
2
Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak, Malaysia
3
Construction Research Institute of Malaysia, Malaysia
4
Manchester Metropolitan, UK
ABSTRACT
The construction industry is ripe for disruption. With the vast pace of new technologies innovating the
whole life cycle of construction, the revolution seems vital. The ideas of digitization and digitalization
in Industrial Revolution 4.0 are currently entering the market in most industries including the
construction industry. While most other industries have undergone tremendous changes recently, the
construction industry has been reluctant about plenarily embracing the newly emerging technological
adoption. Varying sophistication of construction, this paper was empirically evaluating large
construction firms’ point of view on challenges of the construction industry in the era of Revolution 4.0
using survey data form. The findings reveal that construction companies need to deal with the manifold
PESTEL (political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal) challenges. By adopting
the Revolution 4.0 hindered by lack of policies, financial problem, limited demand for innovation
among large economic players, lack of trust towards foreign partners, and limited adaptability of foreign
software. Clearly, this paper helps scholars and industry players to redefine the development of the
construction industry into detailed strategic plans or policies in the future. In a nutshell, transforming
the construction industry into digitization and digitalization might confront few challenges but the long-
term benefits obtained throughout application should not be forgotten.
Keywords: industrial revolution, fourth industrial revolution, technology, digitization and
digitalization.
1 INTRODUCTION
The industry is currently witnessing the fourth industrial revolution where enormous
transformation in terms of technologies has occurred. Technology is constantly changing and
bring rapid development on the industry performance. Previously, the world depends too
much on the people for the first industrial revolution until it reached the maximum point
where it caused immigrants problem in certain countries such as Malaysia. The ideas of
digitization and digitalization are currently entering the market in most industry including
construction industry and it can be a new solution to increase the quality of work and also
reduce the cost and time of construction. Digital technology disruption that is caused by rapid
development in digitalization has driven changes in the business process of industry [1]. In
an effort to tackle this era, some countries have taken their own initiatives and strategic plan.
At the same point, some industrial companies are ready to embark on this new revolution
after Industry 4.0’s initiation in Germany back in 2011 [2].
When referring to the construction industry, the revolution 4.0 process took place a bit
slower compared to other industries. Many industries have already dived into digitalization
in their daily business activities such as manufacturing, automobile, and banking industry
due to the positive impact towards productivity, accuracy, efficiency, and customer
doi:10.2495/BIM190101
satisfaction [3]. Construction sector contributes 6% of global GDP and can account more
than 8% of developing countries’ GDP [4]. Thus, the successful adoption of new technologies
can bring great impact to economic development. However, the implementation of it is not
as easy as expected. It would be incredibly illogical to think that the implementation of digital
technology comes without any problems. Against this background, this paper gives a little
insight into the challenges of the construction industry in the era of revolution 4.0 in
Malaysia. An understanding of the issue of implementing revolution 4.0 in construction
industry must be clearly examined to successfully entered this new era.
This paper has been divided into a few sections. In Section 2, a related work regarding
fourth industrial revolution prior to construction industry are reviewed. Then, in Section 3,
the process of tackling the issue and challenges of Construction Industry in The Era of
Revolution 4.0 is explained clearly. Later, the main result is presented in Section 4. Section
5 discusses the significance of overall result obtained. Finally, Section 6 presents conclusion
remarks and proposed the future related work.
2 REVIEW OF INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 4.0 AND CONSTRUCTION 4.0
2.1 New era of industrial revolution
So far, the world has been introduced to four industrial revolutions and it can be presented as
a path as depicted in Fig. 1. The first industrial revolution came about as a result of
mechanisation [5] and mainly supported by water and steam power engine [6]. It helped the
industry to escape from manual work to the first manufacturing processes and bring changes
to the quality of life of human [7].
The second industrial revolution occurred due to mass production and driven by electrical
energy [5], [6]. It caused the production process to be more complicated yet automated. As a
result, information and communication can be delivered among people thanks to electricity
contribution [8].
The use of electronic and automated production has resulted to third industrial revolution
[9]. It created an opportunity for flexible production, where a variety of products is
manufactured using programmable machines [7]. At this phase, the early integration of
information technologies and computers can be seen. Now, the introduction of the Internet
of Things and Services into the industry is ushering in a fourth industrial revolution.
Fourth industrial revolution will take the industry to the next level, where machines will
redefine themselves in the way they communicate and perform individual functions. It
characterized by the advanced digitalization and integration, use of internet and “smart”
objects which, contributes to interconnected digital world today [10].
According to [11], Internet of Things (IoT) or Cloud Computing technologies are terms
stand for Revolution 4.0. Definition of fourth industrial revolution can be different as
1st 2nd 3rd 4th

Industrial Industrial Industrial Industrial
Revolution Revolution Revolution Revolution
(1784) (1870) (1970) (Today)
Figure 1: Industrial revolution [5].
Figure 2: Subset of the fourth industrial revolution.
everyone has a different point of view. On the other hand, [8] stated that, Fourth Industrial
Revolution is mainly related to technologies such as Internet of Thing (IoT) which gives birth
to the Industrial Internet of Thing (IIoT), big data, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality
(VR), cybersecurity, energy efficiency tools, and equipment. Digitalization, digitization, and
smart factory are among other hot keywords at this phase.
The fourth industrial revolution is a wide subject. Every country has different way to
define fourth industrial revolution. Each industry also defined it differently. The notion of
Industry 4.0 term was first proposed by Germany as it represents the latest revolution of
manufacturing industry. People often misunderstood the concept of fourth industrial
revolution and Industry 4.0. To make it simple, Industry 4.0 is a subset of fourth industrial
revolution. Recently, lots of initiatives from different countries and most of them coined
different terms to represent fourth industrial revolution. Fig. 2 shows the term used by
different countries prior to the fourth industrial revolution.
2.2 Future of construction
The spread of the digitalization has the potential to transform the whole industry. The
engineering and construction industry are no exception. Construction industry defined as
industry that includes only companies that are involved with building and civil engineering
[12]. Productivity increment can happen in many different ways, including deploying the
latest technologies, such as of the use of scrum techniques or the use of robots to replace
onsite labours [13]. However, changes in construction can only be triggered by the openness
of practitioners towards emerging technologies. Being open to emerging technologies is a
key that will assist in overcoming the challenges faced today and in the future. Table 1
displays the related emerging technologies when discussing construction.
Table 1: Technologies in construction [14].
Technologies involved construction Abbreviation

Internet of Things IoT
Additive Manufacturing AM
Modularization and Prefabrication M&P
Automation and Robot A&R
Human–Computer/Robot Interaction HCI/HRI
Laser Scanning and Photogrammetry L&P
Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality VR/AR
Building Information Modelling BIM
Simulation and Algorithm S&A
Cloud Computing CC
Big Data BD
Fourth industrial revolution is supposed to guide all the countries to a new era of modern
construction. Engagement of construction with digitalization brings new term such as
Construction 4.0 [3], Construction automation [13], and Digital Construction [15] are among
the term used to refer to current construction revolution.
In the economic perspective, it cannot be denied that construction brings great impact to
economic development. But digitalization and digitization seem to be a concrete wall to this
industry. According to [16], the construction continues to budget the least for information
technology compared to other industries. It indicates that stakeholders have least interest in
investing in new technologies for their company. Although, some might argue that the extent
of its contribution is not important and not as powerful as the other sectors. However, it has
direct and significant contribution to GDP. In a nutshell, construction is a flat industry that
supports the development of other industry.
3 METHODOLOGY
This study addresses this topic based on the perspective of construction sector professionals.
In this paper, the questionnaire survey was utilized in order to identify the challenges faced
by construction firms with regards to fourth industrial revolution implementation. It was built
in a form of closed-ended questions for which the questions are set out for the respondents
to tick (√) the possible answer which best described according to their opinion. According to
Fowler (2011), a survey with closed-ended questions is convenient to obtain feedback from
a large number of people and ease the researcher with the process to analyse the statistic. As
compared to the open-ended question which offers the respondents to provide their own
answer without having a limitation in giving their information, in closed-ended question is
comprehensive and exclusive as the respondents are only required to find one best answer
based on the choices given in the range from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”.
This study consists of two (2) main sections only: Section A and B. Section A describes
the questionnaire respondent demographic profile, which made it possible to define the
company size, working experience, and also its role in the company; Section B consists of
the challenges in implementing of digitalization and digitization in the construction industry.
Multiple-choice questions were used to investigate the problems and how genuine were the
Table 2: Crosstabulation management level and working experience.
What is your What is your working experience? Total

management level
in your company? <5 5–10 11–15 16–20 21–25 > 25
Junior % of
9.4% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 9.4%
Executive Total
Middle % of
0.0% 6.3% 9.4% 9.4% 0.0% 0.0% 25.0%
Executive Total
Senior % of
0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 28.1% 12.5% 25.0% 65.6%
Executive Total
% of Total 9.4% 6.3% 9.4% 37.5% 12.5% 25.0% 100.0%
Table 3: Crosstabulation management level and number of employees.
What is the number of employees in

What is your management level in your organisation? Total
your company?
<5 5–19 20–50 > 50
Junior Executive % of Total 0.0% 3.2% 3.2% 3.2% 9.7%
Middle Executive % of Total 3.2% 0.0% 6.5% 16.1% 25.8%
Senior Executive % of Total 6.5% 12.9% 16.1% 29.0% 64.5%
% of Total 9.7% 16.1% 25.8% 48.4% 100.0%
problems experienced at the companies based on Likert scale. The survey was distributed by
an online link.
Based on the data obtained, an analysis was conducted by using SPSS to analyse the
demographic information with Frequency Analysis and using SPSS in conducting Reliability
Analysis and Factor Analysis for Likert scale questions. By using an online platform, we
received 32 answers that we could analyse. Most responding respondents are from
professional and from large firms (Tables 2 and 3), with the proportion of 16–20 working
experience years (37.5%) and more than 50 workers in each organisation (48.4%).
4 ADDRESSING CHALLENGES OF CONSTRUCTION TOWARDS IR4.0

This section presents and discusses the results of the issue and challenges occurred during
the implementation of revolution 4.0 in the current construction industries. The following
questions were raised in Section B in order to identify the main challenges of industrial
revolution to construction. The practicability of challenges was analysed based on scale of
1 to 5.
The questions were numbered on the questionnaire from Q9 to Q14:
 The challenges of the industrial revolution to construction “Politic” (Q9).
 The challenges of the industrial revolution to construction “Economic” (Q10).
 The challenges of the industrial revolution to construction “Social” (Q11).
 The challenges of the industrial revolution to construction “Technological” (Q12).
 The challenges of the industrial revolution to construction “Environment” (Q13).
 The challenges of the industrial revolution to construction “Legislation” (Q14).
Tables 4–9 summarise these challenges by grouping them in six categories using the
PESTEL framework. The categories are: political (P), economic (E), social (S), technological
(T), environmental (E), and legal (L). In doing so, the challenges in each category can be
investigated clearly.
From a managerial point of view, lack of policies designed and fragmented business
structures and practices [3] are the top two main challenges faced by the firm in promoting
the fourth industrial revolution. Due to the specific characteristics of the construction industry
as well as the complex nature of the construction projects, re-engineering of business
practices required a deep study.
From an economic view, construction companies are hesitating to invest due to high cost
of implementation [5], [17] including technical equipment investments also training and
education fee as well as infrastructure maintenance [18]. Return of investment cannot be seen
clearly at the early stage. Thus, incentives reduction and funding program can be seen as a
stepping stone for them to start investing. Later, when the benefits outweigh the cost of
implementation, it can bring a greater contribution to the quality and time of project
completion.
Table 4: Political issues.
Factor
No Challenges
analysis
1. Lack of public policies designed to promote industry 4.0 0.886
2. Requires the re-evaluation and re-engineering of business practices 0.871
3. Lack of a clear digital operations vision 0.848
4. Lack of support/leadership from top management 0.813
5. Lack of understanding of the strategic importance of Industry 4.0 0.804
6. Reluctance to initiate a new workflow 0.801
7. Inefficient regulatory framework 0.800
8. Construction companies are hesitating to adopt due to the unclear benefits 0.714
9. Lack of a national long-term strategy to develop the industry 4.0 0.766
The decentralized organization of the construction companies, as well as the
10. 0.707
temporary nature of the construction projects, is a barrier to innovation
Table 5: Economic issues.
No Challenges Factor analysis

High cost for implementation (technical equipment, training and
1. 0.914
education and external consultancy fees)
2. Limited capabilities for investments in new technologies 0.894
3. High financial investment requirements (maintenance) 0.866
4. Not offer enough to gain financial benefits 0.865
5. Benefits do not outweigh the cost 0.837
6. The concern of return on investment 0.818
7. Unclear economic benefit of digital investments 0.791
Table 6: Social issues.
Factor
No Challenges
analysis
1. Low awareness of Industry 4.0 and its applications among companies 0.892
2. Low rate of collaboration between the academy and industry 0.888
3. The use of new technologies requires enhanced skills 0.844
Process-dependent systems that make greater use of technology may
4. 0.822
prove to be a major challenge for existing employees
Major concerns of employees about the adoption of new technologies
5. are the job-loss, as they might be replaced by machines, computers or 0.812
robotics
6. The absence of digital culture and the right training 0.799
Require retraining or further training in operating these new
7. 0.741
applications if they want to make full use of them
8. Lack of understanding the interplay between technology and human 0.706
9. Misalignment between academy and industry 0.672
Absence of educational programs specialized in digitalization and
10. 0.668
automation
The pressure to improve services while raising quality and lowering
11. 0.619
costs
12. Lack of employee readiness 0.615
13. Lack of knowledge about Industry 4.0 0.594
14. The in-house technical staff are not ready to be trained 0.536
Table 7: Technological issues.
Factor
No Challenges
analysis
Unreliable broadband connectivity or the lack of access to high-
1. 0.883
bandwidth connectivity for collaboration applications
2. Technology changes over time and has to be updated constantly 0.817
3. Do not have the technology 0.773
4. Need a full implementation and will take a lot of time 0.747
5. Higher requirements for computing equipment 0.661
6. The problem in managing these large quantities of data 0.570
7. Requires new modelling techniques and data formats 0.541
Table 8: Environment issues.
Factor
No Challenges
analysis
Production of metal (lithium, dysprosium, rhenium) will be increased
1. 0.807
due to technological change
2. The unknown potential impact on sustainability and the environment 0.750
The infrastructure to maintain and provide secure data transfer will
3. 0.740
concentrate a large number of resources and energy
4. Negative effect on energy use, global warming, and climate change 0.707
Disregard responsible consumption, motivated by the availability of
5. 0.684
the on-demand customized product
Table 9: Legislation issues.
Factor
No Challenges
analysis
Concerns around the loss of control over your company’s intellectual
1. 0.890
property
2. Lack of consistent BIM standards (software incompatibility) 0.864
3. Data theft, industrial espionage and attacks by hackers 0.812
4. Lack of codified and shared project knowledge 0.802
Unresolved questions around data security and data privacy in
5. 0.800
connection with the use of external data
6. Lack of digital standards, norms and certification 0.754
7. Cyber-attacks and viruses can have a devastating impact 0.747
8. Weak support to inventions and patent registration 0.732
9. Lack of standards and reference architectures 0.673
Industry 4.0 will need to comply with the law, existing legislation will
10. 0.662
also need to adapt to take new innovations into account
11. Lack of multi-protocol tags and readers 0.644
From a socio-cultural and ethical point of view, it can be concluded that new technologies
adoption required a new skill and it may bring harm to the existing workers. Investing in new
technologies required the workers that can handle it skilfully. The choices that construction
company have are either sending the existing worker for retraining or change the unskilled
worker to a skilled worker. Re-skilling or up-skilling their existing workforce to suit their
requirements can be seen as preparation to enter the Revolution 4.0 market.
From technological perspective, technology revolving rapidly and regular maintenance
have to be updated constantly. The investment of technology needs a proper study and will
take a lot of time. Other than that, technology must be supported with high-bandwidth
connectivity for collaboration applications to avoid the connection loss. The fourth industrial
revolution is mentioning about connectivity as part of the main element. Unreliable
broadband connectivity will bring problem in managing large quantities of construction data
during data sharing process.
From the survey, it becomes clear that fourth industrial revolution exerts its impact on
environmental too. Behind this result, few papers strongly support the claim. Technology is
made up of few metals such as lithium, dysprosium, rhenium and of these are difficult to
extract, handle, purify, and recycle [15]. Recycling process will become an issue when the
technology no longer be used in the future. Thus, proper planning on the recycling issue
should be included in future strategy development.
The legislation is the last issue being discussed in the survey. The main challenge involved
is concern on the company’s intellectual property such as patent and copyright. Besides, data
sharing and collaboration with external parties will widely occur throughout construction life
cycle to avoid silo work also contribute to the revolution 4.0 challenges. Thus, a proper law
needs to be created to avoid any cybersecurity and data theft problem especially personal
information.
5 DISCUSSION
Against these issues, there does exist the critical need for the strategic development to
overcome any challenges raise from the new era of revolution. All six categories are
important and related to each other as it represents the whole problem of Revolution 4.0
implementation. The development and adoption of new technologies into the construction
industry is risky since it still new especially for developing countries. But, benchmarking the
successfulness of developed countries such as Germany that highly implement Industrial
Revolution 4.0 into their sector can be an initial step for any developing countries.
To extensively acquire the benefits of Revolution 4.0, political, economic, social,
technological, environmental, and legal challenges have to be grasped. For instance,
companies have to deal with unclear digital operations vision by re-structuring and rebuilding
the company’s approaches. Aside from that, high implementation costs together with unclear
return of investment, lack of skilled staff, concern on environmental impact and data security
and data protection problem should not be forgotten. Firms can hold back for a while on the
decision of joining the fourth industrial revolution but the process of benchmarking benefits
and challenges should be done since now. Seeing the benefits overweigh the challenges could
bring out different perspectives. Slowly, digitalization and digitization can be applied in
industry activities.
In spite of that, the adoption of the fourth industrial revolution concept can help the
construction industry to transform to a technology-driven industry and catch up the other
industries especially manufacturing that has been successfully implementing Industry 4.0. To
accelerate its transition to the digital future construction industry, future work should involve
the strategies and action plan. There are also few papers which manage the issues that emerge.
In this sense, future paper should provide assistance by not only allowing business executives
to practice benchmarking on challenges but also by giving business executives or researchers
an idea of what strategies need to be conducted.
6 CONCLUDING REMARKS
In this paper, the main aim was to explore the challenges of revolution 4.0 relating
technologies in the construction industry from different categories. Based on the survey
among large constructions’ firm, the following conclusions are drawn:
 The construction industry is a sector that needs to be focused in the future.
 The way towards the wider deployment of the Revolution 4.0 production concept is
still long. There are only very few Revolution 4.0 enterprises, mostly new
enterprises built to prove the concept and construction industry yet still far behind.
 There are variety of different issues facing construction in the context of Revolution
4.0.
 Lack of public policies, high cost for implementation, unreliable broadband
connectivity, low awareness of Industry 4.0 and its applications among companies,
increase the production of metal and concerns around loss of control over your
company’s intellectual property are the main challenges of the construction industry
in the era of Revolution 4.0.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for supporting with financial
grants, Cost Centre No: Q.J130000.2522.19H53, Q.J130000.3551.06G64, GreenPROMPT
research team members and Department of Construction Management, UTM CRC, together
with the opportunity to conduct the research.
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MODEL OF INFORMATION SHARING AND

EXCHANGE IN A BUILDING INFORMATION
MODELLING SUPPLY CHAIN
OLUSEYE OLUGBOYEGA & ABIMBOLA WINDAPO
Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University of Cape Town, South Africa
ABSTRACT
The responsibilities of the multi-disciplinary BIM-based project participants has been extended to
include compulsory information supply, compulsory information demands, offering of professional
inputs, participating in reviews, and participating in cross-referencing. These additional responsibilities
appear to be the principles of information sharing and exchange in BIM supply chain and require an
in-depth investigation so as to prevent them from constituting barriers to information sharing and
exchange among the BIM-based project participants. This paper presents the results of an investigation
of the constituents of information sharing and exchange in BIM supply chain, as well as their agreement
with the requirements of the BIM process. The investigation has the practical purpose of supporting the
body of knowledge in the search for the understanding of the best model of information sharing
and exchange on a collaborative BIM project. A two-dimension BIM-enabled information sharing and
exchange model on construction projects was developed to define the functional requirements for
information sharing and exchange in a BIM supply chain. PRISMA methodology was adopted to
construct the dimensions and to identify components for the dimensions. The model is capable of being
used as the basis for assessing the process of information sharing and exchange within collaborative
working. The findings of the study have numerous implications for research and practice in
BIM-enabled project management, especially in the performance assessment of BIM adoption on
construction projects.
Keywords: BIM, BIM supply chain members, information sharing and exchange, information quality,
information structure.
1 INTRODUCTION
The requirements of building information modelling (BIM) process has heightened the
need for Information Sharing and Exchange (ISE) among the building information modelling
supply chain members (BIM-SCM) [1]. For instance, in the traditional work process, ISE
takes place in the form of drawings and documents (such as Bill of Quantities, cost plan,
building specification, and building drawings); while in BIM it is exchanged as a building
information models [2]. The implication of this development is that, building information
models have become the source of project information. Therefore, it becomes important for
building information models to be reliable and dependable because the information they
provide is required to inform the building information modelling supply chain members
(BIM-SCM), support decision-making, serve as project documentation, and represent the
project plans [3]–[5]. In addition to the need for reliability and dependability of building
information models, the complexity of construction process and more importantly the BIM
process requirements make it important for information to flow smoothly among the BIM-
SCM [6], [7]. There are lots of studies describing the importance of ISE among
the BIM-SCM [1], [7]–[11].
Although, these studies have established the importance of ISE among the BIM-SCM
beyond doubt; but there is no consensus among these studies whether ISE is a benefit or a
requirement of BIM process. For example, Cerovsek [8] identified the benefits of ISE in BIM
as including improved construction efficiency, productivity, and quality. Azhar et al. [9]
doi:10.2495/BIM190111
maintained that ISE among the BIM-SCM will add value, intelligence, and flexibility to the
project information. Hooper and Ekholm [7] pointed out that ISE is critical to BIM
application on construction projects because it determines the future use of building
information models, the level of BIM application on projects, the extent of collaboration and
integration among the BIM-SCM, and the development and richness of the federated building
information models. Boton and Forgues [1] explained that ISE is an important BIM principle
and process that is required for the integration of the project participants and project
information. Sacks et al. [10] described ISE as a requirement in BIM because the
discipline-specific building information models developed by the BIM-SCM is not sufficient
in itself and that the discipline-specific building information models must be shared,
transferred, and integrated in order to fulfil the information needs of the members and to
develop the federate building information model. Fox and Hietanen [11] stated that ISE is a
BIM process requirement because the information content of a building information model
becomes more useful for the BIM-SCM and discipline-specific purposes, when it is
exchanged, shared, checked, combined, and updated with other building information models.
While the debate continues about the position of ISE as either a benefit of BIM or a
requirement of BIM process; the importance of ISE in BSC has been established.
However, there is an increasing concern on how to facilitate seamless information flow in
the midst of the huge demand for and large supply of information among the BIM-SCM
[12]–[14]. This concern has grown in importance because BIM process requires that
BIM-SCM author discipline-specific building information models that are void of errors or
clashes and that can be integrated [15], [16]. The attending implications of this requirement
is that the responsibilities of the BIM-SCM has been extended to include compulsory
information supply, compulsory information demands, offering of professional inputs,
participating in reviews, and participating in cross-referencing [11]. Failure to undertake
these additional responsibilities by the BIM-SCM will pose a threat to the seamless flow of
ISE. Furthermore, these additional responsibilities appear to be the principles of ISE in
building information modelling supply chain (BSC) and require an in-depth investigation so
as to prevent them from constituting barriers to ISE among the BIM-SCM. Previous studies
[17]–[19] have focused on the need for ISE in BSC, information required to implement ISE
in BIM (the domains, the level of details, and responsible party for each exchange), and
benefits of ISE in BIM. None of these studies have explained the constituents of ISE in BSC
which is a functional requirement to ensuring the smooth flow of ISE in BSC. Besides, the
domain and level of details of information deals with data contained in the information.
According to Lillrank [20], data is different from information because it is a codified and
symbolic representation of entities, properties, and their states. Another essential point is the
conclusion by Hooper and Ekholm [7] and Boton and Forgues [1] that the smooth flow of
ISE among the BIM-SCM depends on the sharing and exchange of the expected quality and
form of information models. This indicates a need to understand the various dimensions of
ISE in BSC. This study seeks to remedy this problem by investigating the constituents of ISE
in BSC and establish whether they agree with the requirements of BIM process. The study
addresses the void in literature by identifying the dimensions and components of ISE in BSC.
Additionally, the study offers some important insights into BIM-based ISE for BIM managers
and BIM professionals. The study will support further empirical research on BIM-based ISE.
This paper has been divided into six parts. The first part deals with the introduction of the
study. The second part deals with the research framework and background. Research method
is presented in the third part. Results are presented in the fourth part; while the fifth part deals
with the discussion of the findings. Finally, conclusions, limitations, and suggestions for
future research are presented in the sixth part. For the purpose of this study, ISE will refer to
the authoring of, supply of, demand for, and review of building information models; as well
as the creation of shared building information model repositories with concurrent access by
the BIM supply chain (BSC) [11]. BIM supply chain (BSC) will refer to short-term or
long-term networks of multi-disciplinary BIM-based project participants such as clients,
subcontractors, main contractors, suppliers, and BIM consultants [21], [22]. BIM supply
chain members (BIM-SCM) denotes BIM-based project participants as represented by
persons or organizations.
2 RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
To understand the concepts, variables, and dimensions of information sharing and exchange
(ISE) among the building information modelling supply chain members (BIM-SCM), this
study adopts the Social Exchange Theory (SET) modified with BIM-enabled collaborative
behaviours in ISE. The SET explains the relational exchange and mutual dependence among
a network of actors by postulating that social exchange occurs when the exchange partners
have a resource of value to exchange with each other and after they must have conducted an
information supply and demand analysis [23], [24]. Among the BIM-SCM, the resources of
value to be exchanged is information, but the rationale behind the ISE cannot be understood
using SET. Hence, theories on BIM-enabled collaborative behaviours in ISE was employed
to support the SET. The postulations by some [7], [25]–[30] reveal the exchange rationale
for ISE in BIM process as collaborative behaviours among the network of actors participating
in a BIM process. Abanda et al. [16] posit that BIM process fosters a new form of social
exchange among the BIM-SCM by creating opportunities for inter-organizational
collaboration. Grilo and Jardim-Goncalves [29] theorize that collaborative behaviours are
demanded among the BIM-SCM because of the need to develop a clear understanding of
information demands and supply in BIM process, develop the capacity to utilize the supplied
information, and develop the capacity to meet the information demands. In support, Sacks et
al. [30] posit that one of the main objectives of BIM process is the sharing and integration of
information across the BSC; and that without a mechanism to ensure collaborative
behaviours on the part of the BIM-SCM, this objective may not be achieved. Vidalakis et al.
[31] expressed the opinion that the efficiency of the BIM-SCM depends on the information
they supplied and demanded from each other. Based on the ideas presented by Hooper and
Ekholm [7] and Grilo and Jardim-Goncalves [29], collaborative behaviours in ISE is
important because of the need for the interoperability of the various information models that
may be created by the BSC and because of the need to ensure that project information is
developed in an accessible and smooth manner without omission, errors, or clashes.
Based on these perspectives, the following four foundational principles can be identified
for ISE among the BIM-SCM:
 The resources of exchange
 Rules and norms of exchange
 Exchange rationale
 Exchange cycles
A theoretical framework for understanding the concepts, variables, and dimensions of ISE
among the BIM-SCM is presented in Fig. 1. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the resources of exchange
are information. The rules and norms of exchange are collaborative behaviours as enabled by
exchange protocols. According to Hooper and Ekholm [7], the protocols for collaborative
behaviours can be summarized as (i) discipline-specific information models must be shared,
exchanged, and integrated from time to time (ii) information contents, reference, and
authoring tools must be interoperable. The rules and norms of exchange bind the participants
together, serve as the guidelines for the exchange process, and form the basis of the exchange
rule or principle that participants must abide by. Exchange rationale represents the
requirements for smooth flow of exchange. The theoretical framework shows that exchange
rationale enables the exchange, facilitates open information workflow, supports
decision-making process, speed up workflow, and enables the creation of databases.
Figure 1: A theoretical framework for understanding information sharing and exchange

among the BIM supply chain members.
Founded on this explanation, the exchange rationale describes variables and dimensions
of information to be exchanged among the BIM-SCM. The theoretical framework describes
this as the nature of ISE among the BIM-SCM. The exchange cycle as portrayed in Fig. 1
illustrates the BIM process which implies that the BIM-SCM must share, exchange, and
integrate their information models from time to time and within the BIM process.
The theoretical framework presented in Fig. 1 facilitates the understanding that the main
elements that will expedite ISE is the exchange rationale. The theoretical framework has also
enabled the identification of the exchange rationale as the nature of information to be shared
and exchanged among the BIM-SCM. Grounded on the insights from the theoretical
framework, a theoretical model is proposed to explain the dimensions of ISE among the
BIM-SCM. The model explains that exchange rationale will ensure that information
(resources of exchange) is exchanged in a consistent manner. The model proposes that the
nature of information to be shared and exchanged (exchange rationale) determines
the dimensions of ISE among the BIM-SCM.
As illustrated in Fig. 2, the model features two dimensions of ISE among the BIM-SCM.
These are information quality and information structure. Information quality as a dimension
of ISE refers to the value of information for a given use and explains that information will
only be suitable for the intended purpose while satisfying expectations [32], [33]. This
implies that information quality is important to ISE in reducing uncertainty, supporting
decision-making, and meeting the request for information by the BIM-SCM. In BIM process,
information quality will enable the BIM-SCM to find the information being shared and
exchanged fit for use. As conceptualised in the model, there are 11 requirements for
information quality based on theoretical grounding from studies such as Chen and Luo [34]
and Logothetis et al. [35]. Information structure, as the other dimension of ISE, describes the
specific and consistent way of presenting information so that it fits the context of usage or
demand [36], [37]. Specifically, information structure describes the form of the content of an
information which makes it easier to accessed, review, and integrate. The model identified
nine attributes of information structure that define the aggregation and evaluation
of the usefulness of an information according to studies such as Solihin et al. [38] and
Nepal et al. [39].
Figure 2: A model of information sharing and exchange in BIM supply chain.
3 RESEARCH METHOD
The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA)
method was adopted in this study following [40]. The method was applied in a two-step
approach. Firstly, a database was created using a four-step systematic review process
(see Fig. 3). Secondly, the data analysis was conducted using meta-analysis. For each
database (Scopus, Engineering Village, Ebesco, Google Scholar, and Web of Science), the
key search terms were entered individually. The search terms were combined using different
combinations as appropriate. Limitations such as years of publication (2002–2019) and
English Language were applied. A total of 2,061 articles were identified at this stage. Articles
that appear more than once were removed from the database for this study. At this stage 2,014
number of articles remained. The title and abstracts of the remaining articles were screened
for relevance to this study. Only the articles that appear to provide information required for
the study were included, totalling 903 articles. The eligibility of articles to be included in the
final review was done by screening the articles for substantive relevance, context, and
content. This stage gives a total of 41 articles.
For the meta-analysis, the following parameters were estimated: frequency of mention,
number of studies mentioning the components, sample mean, population mean, and effect
size. In determining the validity of the components for inclusion in the model, an effect size
of 0.2 and above was taken as an acceptable effect size. Components with effect size of less
than 0.2 were considered invalid and not relevant to the dimensions in the model.
4 RESULTS
Table 1 presents the results of the meta-analysis conducted in this study. The meta-analysis
investigated the validity of twenty variables as components of ISE among the BIM-SCM.
Figure 3: The PRISMA flowchart for the study.
Based on the boundary value of 0.2 for deciding the validity of the variables, all the variables
have an effect size greater than 0.2 which qualifies them as components of ISE among the
BIM-SCM. Among these variables, selection of information sharing channels has
the minimum effect size (d=0.20); while inter-organizational sharing and exchange of
information and creation of single project information database have the maximum effect
size (d=1.55). These variables (inter-organizational sharing and exchange of information and
creation of single project information database) have the highest number of studies
mentioning them. Out of the 41 studies used for the meta-analysis, 25 mentioned
inter-organizational sharing and exchange of information and creation of single project
information database. The evidence from the results suggests that information quality and
information structure are essential to ISE among the BIM-SCM.
5 DISCUSSION
Studies by Hooper and Ekholm [7] and Boton and Forgues [1] have noted the importance of
understanding the components of ISE because this understanding will support the smooth
flow of ISE among the BIM-SCM. As a result this study investigates the constituents of ISE
in BSC so as to establish whether they agree with the requirements of BIM process. A
theoretical model was developed to aid the understanding of the components of ISE among
Table 1: Meta-analysis estimates of the dimensions and components of ISE.
Components d F N χ %
Information Quality
Usage of consistent data structure and definitions 0.22 2,096 14 2.93 34.15
Non-withholding of information 0.22 5,340 14 2.93 34.15
Non-distortion of information 1.18 1,739 8 5.13 2.43
Clarity of information 0.86 1,862 10 4.10 24.39
High quality of information 0.91 9,189 21 1.95 51.22
Adequacy of information 1.34 992 7 5.86 17.07
Timely sharing of information 0.20 1,457 16 2.56 39.02
Information shared is accurate 0.26 4,369 17 2.41 41.46
Information shared is credible 0.86 838 10 4.10 24.39
Flawless information exchange 0.21 114 3 13.66 7.31
Absence of conflicting information 0.69 496 11 3.73 26.83
Information Structure
Interpersonal sharing and exchange of information 0.74 445 20 2.05 48.78
Inter-organizational sharing and exchange of information 1.55 436 25 1.64 60.97
Usage of collaborative electronic media 0.22 719 14 2.93 34.15
Creation of single project information database 1.55 4,560 25 1.64 60.77
Selection of information sharing channels 0.20 969 16 2.56 39.02
Usage of information exchange format for integrating
1.07 3,838 22 1.86 53.65
project information
File-based data interoperability 0.91 232 21 1.95 51.22
Server-based data interoperability 1.07 105 22 1.86 53.65
Data federation and integration 0.69 601 11 3.73 26.83
D = Cohen’s d effect size, F= frequency of mention in the database, N= Number of studies mentioning the
components, χ= Sample mean.
the BIM-SCM through the perspectives of SET modified with theory of BIM-enabled
collaborative behaviours (see Figs 1 and 2). A meta-analysis of the validity of the twenty
variables identified as the components of ISE among the BIM-SCM revealed information
quality and information structure as the constituents of ISE. The identification of
information quality and information structure as the dimensions of ISE among the BIM-SCM
by this study is in agreement with Hooper and Ekholm [7] which maintained that an efficient
and smooth flow of ISE will be achieved when information is developed and delivered in the
expected quality and form. The expected form stands for information structure and
the expected quality represents information quality. Fig. 1 explains that BIM process
and collaborative behaviours determine the nature of ISE (information demand and supply)
among the BIM-SCM (that is, the dimensions of ISE among the BIM-SCM). The findings of
this study reveal information quality and information structure as the dimensions of ISE
among the BIM-SCM. This means that the smooth flow of information demand and supply
in BIM process depends on the quality and structure of the information.
5.1 Information quality and its association with ISE among the BIM-SCM
The results of this study show that information quality in BIM process consists of
non-distortion of information, adequacy of information, high quality of information, usage
of consistent data structure and definitions, non-withholding of information, clarity
of information, timely sharing of information, accuracy of information, credibility of
information, flawless information exchange, and absence of conflicting information. These
components are different from those reported for information quality by others [32], [33],
[41]–[43]. For example, Holmes [41] identified the components of information quality to
include relevance, accuracy, timeliness, completeness, coherence, format, accessibility,
compatibility, security, and validity. The components of information quality as identified in
this study, apply only to information quality among the BIM-SCM; hence, they are expected
to be different from the components of information quality in other industries and contexts
as reported by the past studies. For instance, the components of information quality identified
by Holmes [41] apply to ISE among business managers, while the components of information
quality identified by Chae et al. [43] applied to ISE among mobile internet users. Therefore,
the inconsistencies between components of information quality as found in this study and the
reported components of information quality in the other industries (mostly information
technology and management) may be due to differences in the type of industry. This line of
thought is supported by Li et al. [44] which indicated that information quality is influenced
by the type of industry and the type of supply chain. The findings on the components of
information quality is in agreement with Nepal et al. [39] conclusions which stated that
BIM-SCM must not expend significant amount of time and effort in linking, importing,
analysing and interpreting discipline-specific information models.
This confirms that ISE among the BIM-SCM must be devoid of conflicting information,
must be timely, and must feature adequate information. Earlier observations by Solihin et al.
[38] is also in accord with the components of information quality as found in this study.
Solihin et al. [38] maintained that the usage of consistent data structure and definitions is
important to the integrity of information models because it ensures consistent structure and
elimination of duplicates in geometries and semantics. It is important to recognize the
differences between information quality and data quality. While data quality deals with
technical feature of information and information models; information quality deals with
non-technical features such as credibility, timeliness, clarity, and adequacy of information.
According to Westin and Päivärinta [45], information quality is imperative to avoiding
information-related construction projects problems such as ambiguity of information, errors,
omissions, confusions, conflicts, incomplete information, and waiting for information. Thus,
the findings of this study on the components of information quality among the BIM-SCM
will help prevent information-related construction projects problems and will enable the
understanding of the requirements for smooth flow of ISE among the BIM-SCM.
5.2 Information structure and its association with ISE among the BIM-SCM
Regarding the components of information structure as a dimension of ISE among the BIM-
SCM, the meta-analysis results revealed that all the nine variables are valid components of
information structure. The most essential components of information structure as shown by
the results are inter-organizational sharing and exchange of information, and creation of
single project information database. A possible explanation for this might be that inter-
organizational sharing and exchange of information is an important requirement to activate
and actualize the required collaborative behaviours from the BIM-SCM; while creation of
single project information database signifies the outcome of a successful ISE among the
BIM-SCM and quintessence of the collaborative behaviours of the BIM-SCM. Server-based
data interoperability was found to have a stronger effect size than file-based data
interoperability. Kiviniemi et al. [46] supported these findings by indicating that the inter-
organizational use of file-based information exchange is superseded by inter-organizational
use of server-based information exchange. Other possible explanations for the stronger effect
of server-based data interoperability on information structure as compared to that of file-
based data interoperability, could be that it enhances collaborative behaviours among the
BIM-SCM; whereas file-based data interoperability merely enables collaborative behaviours

among the BIM-SCM.
Thus, the above explanations match the observations of Redmon et al. [28] which
indicated that server-based data interoperability enhances collaborative behaviours among
the BIM-SCM. In support of data federation and integration as a component of information
structure as revealed in this study; Venugopal et al. [47] observed that data federation and
integration is important because of the need to re-build the information structure in the
receiving application by the receiver of the information. The relevance of the creation of
single project information database as found in this study finds support in the conclusion by
Fox and Hietanen [11] which indicated that the inter-organizational use of federated building
information model depends on the creation of shared building information model repositories
with concurrent access. Similarly, Solihin et al. [38] agree with the findings of this study that
the usage of collaborative electronic media is a component of information structure; as the
study indicated that the usage of collaborative electronic media is important to
the consistency of the federated model (data federation and integration) across the BIM
supply chain.
6 CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND FUTURE RESEARCH

Data is a feature of digital information (computer generated information) such as building
information models. In BIM process, when information is shared and exchanged among the
BIM-SCM, the data contained in the information are also shared and exchanged. Past studies
have provided an understanding and requirements of data sharing and exchange through the
identification of the levels of details and domain of building information models. The
understanding provided by these studies have enhanced integration and collaboration (data
sharing and exchange) among the BIM-SCM at the level of inter software technologies and
applications. However, there is a lack of understanding of the nature of ISE among the BIM-
SCM. The understanding of the nature and requirements of ISE among the BIM-SCM will
enhance collaboration among the BIM-SCM at the level of inter-organizational and
interpersonal relationships. For this reason, this study investigates the constituents of ISE in
BSC and establishes whether the constituents of ISE agree with the requirements of
BIM process.
The study identified information quality and information structure as the dimensions or
nature and requirements of ISE among the BIM-SCM. The expected components of
information quality that will enable a smooth and efficient were identified to include
non-distortion of information, adequacy of information, high quality of information, usage
of consistent data structure and definitions, non-withholding of information, clarity of
information, timely sharing of information, accuracy of information, credibility
of information, flawless information exchange, and absence of conflicting information. The
components of information structure are interpersonal sharing and exchange of information,
inter-organizational sharing and exchange of information, usage of collaborative electronic
media, creation of single project information database, selection of information sharing
channels, usage of information exchange format for integrating project information, file-
based data interoperability, server-based data interoperability, and data federation
and integration.
Previously, information quality has been situated in the field of information technology
and information management system; but this study has confirmed the uniqueness of the
components of information quality in BIM process and by extension in the construction
industry. The findings in this study provides a new understanding of ISE protocols (that is,
ISE entails sharing and exchange of data together with information) and provides a definition
for the functional requirements for ISE. The findings in this study will serve as a base for
future case studies on the nature and performance of ISE among the BIM-SCM. Although,
the validities of the components of information quality and information structure are based
on a meta-analysis estimates, the findings suggest that a smooth and efficient sharing and
exchange of information among the BIM-SCM depends on the extent of their collaborative
behaviours. This study adds to a growing body of literature on ISE in BIM process; however,
the findings are limited by the use of meta-analysis for validation. A case study of ISE among
the BIM-SCM will provide a better understanding of the nature and functional requirements
for ISE among the BIM-SCM.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The financial assistance of the University of Cape Town (UCT), TETFUND and the National
Research Foundation (NRF) towards this research is hereby acknowledged. The opinions
expressed, and conclusions arrived at, are those of the authors and are not necessarily to be
attributed to UCT, TETFUND or NRF.
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EVOLUTION WITHIN THE MATURITY CONCEPT OF BIM

PIERRE MARTIN, DJAOUED BELADJINE & KARIM BEDDIAR
Ecole d’ingénieurs CESI, Laboratoire d’Innovation Numérique pour les Entreprise
et les Apprentissages au service de la Compétitivité des Territoires, France
ABSTRACT
Many construction companies in France are rather shy today with regards to the adoption of BIM
because the process is not sufficiently understood. Companies therefore need effective support to ensure
their digital transition. The success of this transformation is strongly related to the level of maturity of
the companies in the deployment of BIM. It is in this context that we decided to undertake research
work trying to propose a model to companies to assess their level of maturity BIM. This process has
been established with the goal of providing user the solutions specific to each context as well as
adjustments at the level of actions. The evaluation process is based on critical success factors associated
with the BIM concept of maturity and concrete actions. This will allow the user to target the primordial
issues and to invest to achieve them in order to progress in BIM maturity levels. The model
implemented is based on a cumulative type model such as the CMM, which is a reliable indicator of
maturity. The criteria are linked to critical success factors that must be prioritized to improve the level
of maturity. Each of these factors is linked to actions, best reflecting the realities of BIM’s maturity
levels. Adjustments were subsequently made concerning the number and relevance of the actions
selected. In order to ensure the relevance of the established model, a survey was conducted among
construction professionals. It appeared that most practices and expectations of companies surveyed
revolved around technical issues and this was for companies of the VSE/SME type. The highest
expectations were found to have better cost analysis and optimization of the construction schedule.
These results were subsequently incorporated into the model, which is still being tested. The model
defined is committed to comprehensively accompany the user in the validation of maturity levels.
Keywords: BIM, BIM maturity, BIM management, BIM maturity model.
1 INTRODUCTION
Further to these technical considerations, the Building Information Model defends a project
management style and its own building life cycle philosophy. The transition to the BIM is
now initiated, and some precursors already harvests the full benefits. However, the radical
changes generated by its implementation are far from being able to be supported by all the
players in the construction industry. A large part of them encounter difficulties to understand
and to use BIM correctly or exclude the possibility of integrating it definitively.
In anticipation to the modification reference model context, scientific research strives to
characterize the potential benefits of BIM, its technological developments stakes, and its
impact on the business processes companies. However, it is struggling to provide sufficient,
persuasive and profitable support to construction professionals [1], [2]. The rapid and recent
emergence of issues linked with BIM, has not given enough time for researches to deepen
their studies. This analysis could be made thanks to a literary review carried out on the subject
before the achievement of our study. Starting from identified gaps, the choice to focus on the
challenges of increasing proficiency in the BIM maturity levels has been made. These are
lacking structured conceptual approach, except for the existing maturity models. The
objectives are then, to provide concrete assistance to companies willing to engage in BIM
maturity levels by using all the information collected [3], [4]. This study is the opportunity
to make links between different maturity models, from critical success factors to practical
actions to implement in a company wishing to move toward the maturity levels of BIM [5],
[6] BIM abroad and in France.
doi:10.2495/BIM190121
2 DEVELOPMENT OF MATURITY IN BIM

The implementation of BIM refers to a complete integration of itself. It ensures the full
potential within the supply chain and the various organizations in the constructions
industry [7], [8].
BIM is implemented in construction companies on the basis of empirical data operating
in specific business cases without considering the need to change practices in order to
make them more efficient. The challenge of implementing BIM to ensure its optimal
deployment lies in challenging and redesigning organizational, institutional and contractual
practices [9], [10].
In order to meet this type of challenge, the approach by analyzing the maturity of the
company is essential in order to facilitate the management of organizational change for
the implementation of an information technology such as BIM [11], [12].
2.1 Maturity concept
This concept proposes to qualify or/and quantify the development of a subject. It offers the
potential to measure the acquisition of own capacities in terms of benchmarks to stagger and
quantify this development. This evaluation identifies the company’s weaknesses or
shortcomings and thus targets the capacities to reach the desired level [13], [14].
2.2 BIM maturity levels
BIM maturity levels represent the degree of maturity of the collaborative process between
the various construction stakeholders. Fig. 1 below presents the transition from isolated work
(Levels 0 and 1) to collaborative work (Levels 2 and 3) [15].
Figure 1: BIM maturity levels [16].
These maturity levels are subject to evaluation within companies and to do so, maturity
models are mainly used. They allow companies to position themselves in relation to a level,
according to their practices and resources. They are divided into several types.
2.3 Types of maturity model
Maturity models are grouped into three main types, as shown in Table 1, because of their
schematic format to target the objectives to be achieved and assign a meaningful value of the
level of maturity [15].
Table 1: The three model types.
Model types Objectives for maturity assessment Examples

BIMCMM,
Descriptive maturity Define and guide the implementation of good
OBIMA,
matrix practices to achieve objective (or aim towards)
BIMM
The questionnaire Assess the current situation of companies in a
ISO 9004
with a Likert scale certain context
Assess a company’s ability to achieve a
Cumulative model CMM, CMMI
certain objective
Cumulative models such as the CMM group together capabilities, called “Key Process
Areas (KPA)”, for each maturity level. These key areas are assimilated to generic
performance and capabilities such as “risk analysis” or “requirements’ development”.
2.4 The CMM (Capability Maturity Model)
The CMM is divided into eleven criteria, each referring to areas of expertise and activities
related to BIM. These eleven criteria are each assessed according to a ten-point scale, and
each mark describes a specific state of the company for the criterion assessed. The 11 criteria
are grouped in Table 2 below, adapted from Succar et al. [17] and Liebich [18].
The evaluator must therefore identify the level of the subject of the study at one of the
criteria in order to determine its performance. It is important to note that all levels below
the one assessed are considered acquired as well as the skills and tools put in place [19], [20].
Table 2: The eleven Key Process Areas.
KPA
Data richness
Graphical information
Roles or disciplines
Change management
Business process
Information accuracy
Interoperability/IFC support
Life cycle views
Timeliness/response
Delivery method
Spatial capability
2.5 The CSF (critical success factors)
In the second part of the study, all areas of the CMM were linked to factors that can be
identified and prioritized for work to improve the maturity level. They are the Critical
Success Factors (CSF).
2.6 The actions
The third phase of the model’s study is similar to concrete actions to be carried out in the
context of the implementation and development of BIM levels. Each of the action is linked
to a given critical success factor, and this, depending on the criterion linked to the factor and
the consequences of the action [21].
2.7 Relationship between CMM and CSF
It is possible to validate a criterion of the model only by referring to the different CSF
associated with it. It was also possible to classify the factors according to their importance
but also their influence on the CMM. For greater consistency, with a view of implementing
BIM, and developing it, some of the factors have not been retained.
This first observation enables to consider the evaluation of the initial maturity of a
company, then to target the major issues allowing an evolution only from the exploitation of
the links with the CSF.
The second link in the study, between factor and actions, takes into account the actions
defined on the basis of the success factors. Knowing the points to be improved to perfect
your use of BIM, it is essential to follow the recommendations and actions put in place to
this end.
The general path of the study can then be mapped and read as follow: assessment of
maturity within the company, examination of the link between the CMM criteria and CSF,
then find the links between the factors and the associated actions that will have to be carried
out in order to reach the desired level of maturity. The general path can also be mapped as
presented in Fig. 2.
Figure 2: Level mapping.
The actions proposed in the model do not constitute a precise and organized process along
a timeline. These many actions can be perceived as levers that can be activated independently
in order to improve one’s control of the factors to which they are linked. The state of progress
and control of BIM in AIC industry organizations is variable and does not allow to set up a
generic plan based on a standardized initial maturity assessment. It is therefore more
appropriate to carry out the actions described above in the development. Which will be
adapted according to the needs defined by the company concerned. It is in this spirit that a
survey was developed. It also aims at identifying the type of company that is interested in
BIM, and their current practices if they already have them. Finally, this study allows us to
know what the companies’ expectations about BIM are.
Unlike its neighbour countries such as Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany and the
Netherlands, France is significantly behind in the implementation of BIM into its industry.
But, aware of this underdevelopment and so since the 2014 European directive stating that it
is possible to require the use of BIM in public procurement (2014/24/EU-art.22.4), France is
encouraging companies to comply with BIM.
The following survey reports on the implementation and current use of BIM in France.
3 THE SURVEY
The questionnaire is divided into three sections:
1. Identify the roles and types of companies of the interviewees
2. For companies using BIM, identify their use and target their expectations
3. For companies not using BIM, understand the reasons and motivations for not
using it
For 1,150 requests sent, 104 responses were collected and analyzed, representing
approximately 10% of the survey response rate. All respondents are employed in the
construction industry.
Figure 3: Categories of companies.
As shown in Fig. 3, one third of the companies are ranked in the design office category
(TDO), which reinforces the idea that most of the practices and expectations of companies
are focused on technical issues (modelling, standardization, etc.) change and information
management. In addition, the choice of tools for the operation of the BIM process is at the
heart of considerations, in particular throughout the choice of exchange format and
the company’s needs.
The size of the companies is also to be taken into account for the change management
component and also let assess the financial potential resources of each company. Fig. 4 below
presents the distribution of firms by size.
Figure 4: Companies size.
Looking at the results, we can see that 79% of the companies surveyed are in the TPE
(very small company )/PME (small and medium-sized enterprise ) category. Some of these
companies have just begun to integrate BIM into their practices and/or structure. The others
have not yet started, due to the lack of funding, time, or motivation.
Based on the number of companies using BIM, the study has been divided into two parts.
One section dedicated to companies using BIM and the other to those which are not
using it yet.
3.1 BIM insiders
The main question of this survey dealt with how respondents assessed the current level of
maturity of their companies. Let recall in the survey, the different maturity levels were
defined as follows:
Level 1: We work with models (2D and 3D) that are not shared externally, by using
CAD systems.
Level 2: We work in collaboration with other disciplines on models (3D, 4D and 5D) that
we share between experts.
Level 3: We work collaboratively around a single, centralized model (4D, 5D and 6D)
containing all the life cycle data of the construction.
The fist question regarding maturity levels was about the current level of the companies.
The answers are grouped in Fig. 5.
Figure 5: BIM maturity levels distribution in companies.
The results that came out from this question were predictable. Indeed, maturity level 2 is
now the most widespread within AIC companies (even if it is often poorly exploited).
It is not surprising that this response represents the largest percentage. The very low
percentage for level 3 is not surprising either due to the fact that level 3 is still very difficult
to access for small and medium-sized structures in the construction industry. The percentage
of companies with maturity level 1 can dramatically change in different surveys. It just
enables to get the maturity level of a company at a certain moment.
For three quarters of the companies surveyed, the use of BIM remains recent (less than
four years). For a percentage of projects carried out in BIM of less than 50%. These results,
presented in Fig. 6, are in line with the various figures produced by the CSTB (Survey for
the CSTB barometer, 2018) [22] within the framework of the PTNB. More than 68% of the
companies asked use BIM as part of a strategic approach (focused on internal company skills)
coupled with a contractual approach (in response to requirements defined in a BIM agreement
or charter).
Figure 6: Advantages of BIM for companies [23].
After identifying the percentage of BIM use, it was important to identify current uses and
future profits expected by companies. This is to correlate the different actions associated with
the CFS defined in the model.
As with the question on the percentage of BIM used in firms, the results on the main
benefits of BIM are equivalent to the survey conducted by the CSTB [22].
As explained above, another important aspect of the survey is to be able to target the
future profits expected by companies when using BIM. All the most important of them are
grouped in Fig. 7.
Figure 7: Benefits of BIM.
The three main benefits that emerge from this comparison are a better cost analysis
(+40.2%), a better control on the status of the project (+25.9%) and the optimization of the
construction planning (+18.8%). These three benefits are accessible from the moment that
the BIM is already implemented in these companies and that the company have already
reached a level of maturity greater than or equal to level 2. Indeed, they allow the exploitation
of the digital model and information beyond the three main dimensions of space.
These different responses have been linked to the actions associated with each criterion
defined in the study to determine which actions were the most in demand.
3.2 The uninitiated at BIM
The second section of the survey focused exclusively on the questions related to potential
technical and information management training and maturity audits. The first asking question
was about their will of using BIM. The results are grouped in Fig. 8 below.
Figure 8: Will of using BIM.
The share of undecided and negative responses is exactly equal as the number of people
who have never heard of BIM. It is therefore legitimate to ask whether this reluctance to
introduce BIM is not due to some form of fear of change, even if it is also very likely to result
from a financial constraint or simply from a lack of time.
Companies were then asked if they would like to be trained in the use of modelling
software and the implementation of BIM processes. Moreover, these companies have been
asked if they were interested in identifying their maturity level. The results are presented in
Fig. 9 below.
Figure 9: BIM support proposal.
3.3 Projection after analysis
The development is reaching the objective set at the beginning of the study, namely, the
development of a structured methodology to support construction professionals in
the implementation and evolution of BIM through the concept of maturity. The result
presented throughout the study is based on numerous hypotheses and deductions that can be
considered subjective or even arbitrary for some. This is what makes possible to highlight
the limits of this model, limits that can be studied in order to overcome them and thus
reinforce the current model, which will be more relevant.
One of the first aspects that can be pointed out is the fact that at present, very few
procedures for the full implementation of BIM are available in the literature. This lack of a
reference framework represents one of the first difficulties for construction companies today
to implement and use BIM effectively. Consequently, a comprehensive description of a BIM
implementation methodology would be a major step forward with significant benefits for
the entire sector. The path established during this study does not aim to meet this need. The
actions that compose it are more to be put on the account of common sense and simply brings
a development axis as for the challenges of the implementation of BIM. Moreover, the
actions are not ranked in terms of importance or even chronology. Thus, one of the additional
contributions for the study would be to classify and develop the actions in order to obtain an
action plan specific to each factor. In addition, classifying actions according to their difficulty
in implementation and listing the limits of non-validation of actions can be considered.
The model focuses essentially on activities. A second area for improvement would be to
gradually include the notion of roles that could provide real relevant information for the
company on how to organize its approach and allocate its resources in the most optimal way
possible. Finally, if we go beyond the strict framework imposed by the issues related to BIM,
it is still possible to progress in the maturity levels of the latter. The addition of a legal
dimension seems essential. In fact, this dimension constitutes a major challenge for
companies in the construction sector since it has a direct impact on the functioning of BIM
within the structure but also on the applications that can be made of it. However, at present
no standardization has been put in place by the competent authorities, which implies that an
update of this critical factor will have to be introduced in the future. This area of expertise
being quite far from my skills, this issue was not taken into account when defining the
success factors.
4 CONCLUSION
The issues related to the implementation of BIM and support in the evolution of maturity
levels have been at the centre of previous research. Interoperability between construction
stakeholders through information management, building lifecycle management and change
management are major benefits that can be achieved thanks to the use of BIM. These benefits
include installation, learning its methodologies and its optimization at all levels of
the organization.
The small number of publications on BIM implementation issues is directly related to the
low level of development of this subject, which is based solely on theoretical and not
empirical cases. However, the interest of the various construction stakeholders in this subject
remains very strong, particularly because of the development of new technologies and the
benefits observed in our European and North American neighbours who master BIM and use
it to its full potential. From these observations the following objectives appeared to capitalize
and transcode the information in the literature and then establish a process for evaluating the
maturity of BIM within companies based on specific criteria related to critical success factors
that would themselves be validated through concrete actions.
The links between the various components of the maturity model developed let introduce
the notion of BIM implementation to support in maturity levels. These links also make
possible to establish a survey based on the expectations of BIM users, which was one of the
major elements of the study, both in terms of investment and reflection, and in terms of
benefits for the exploitation of the process. This survey has also provided an opportunity to
discuss the relevance of the model developed.
The study of the survey results validated the relevance of most of the established actions
and the critical success factors associated with them. The many comments and suggestions
made by the survey respondents also allow to question the value of certain criteria in order
to optimize the consistency of the model.
The final process, closely linked to the literature, offers many significant contributions to
the origin of construction professionals, whether or not they use BIM. It describes the
different steps to follow and the criteria to validate in order to improve your command of
BIM. This improvement is possible throughout the implementation of concrete actions to
provide as much information and assistance as possible to BIM users.
However, this process is not yet a viable and infallible tool that would be fully usable by
the AIC industry. Indeed, certain limits in the process have been identified: tests must be
carried out and allow the criteria to be weighted according to the actions carried out or not.
Other limitations related to the process itself suggest areas for improvement. For example,
the creation of a chronological application plan for the implementation and evolution of
maturity within the company would be a significant contribution in an industry that is

currently very litigious. Taking into account more success factors and therefore associated
actions is an evolution that must be considered in order to expand the model database.
Consideration of the legal aspect related to BIM is also a possible development but will only
be really possible when a standardisation of BIM practices will be established by the
competent authorities.
BIM remains a recent tool in the construction industry and is still very misunderstood by
AIC industry players today. This misunderstanding stems in particular from practices
associated with BIM that reflect current standards that seem deeply rooted in a reluctance to
change. However, as with any major technological advance, some companies at the forefront
have already experienced this process and adapted their methods after a successful
implementation. Though, scientific research remains the most qualified today (in partnership
with BIM users) to provide significant support to the AIC industry. It could lead to the
improvement of processes such as the one described during the study and its standardization
could lead to a major advance in the use and understanding of BIM.
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INTEGRATED FACTORY MODELLING: USING BIM TO

DISRUPT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN MANUFACTURING
AND CONSTRUCTION IN FACTORY PLANNING
PETER BURGGRÄF, MATTHIAS DANNAPFEL, DENNIS SCHNEIDERMANN,
MATTHIAS EBADE ESFAHANI & NORA SCHWAMBORN
Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), RWTH Aachen University, Germany
ABSTRACT
The interface between construction and production is an area of research with rising importance given
its increasing demand for efficiency gains in factory planning and construction planning processes. In
fact, nowadays, it is usual for production and surrounding buildings to be planned separately as
independent entities. According to the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering of
RWTH Aachen University, it is against this background that recent factory planning projects have
reported cost increases and time delays due to non-transparent information between different planners.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) addresses precisely this problem. However, BIM is barely used
in projects for production planning of factories. This is critical since factory planning has to deal with
more complex planning parameters (due to the technical building equipment) compared to private
housing construction or public building construction, where BIM is already being applied increasingly.
In order to close this gap, it is first of all important to create transparency within the individual
information interfaces between production planning and building planning. This article addresses this
issue and identifies major obstacles in interdisciplinary cooperation between building planners and
production planners. For this purpose, an interdisciplinary and partially standardised study has been
carried out using questionnaires and partly-open expert interviews. The results show scarce
implementation in factory planning projects due to (1) missing maturity level specifications and
(2) missing data management standards. Both theoretical and practical implications of this study as well
as limitations and future directions for research are discussed.
Keywords: BIM, factory planning, integrated factory modelling, MEP, integrated planning,
production planning.
1 INTRODUCTION
With around 10% of Germany’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product), 2.5 million jobs [1] and a
growth rate of about 10% [2], the construction sector is one of the core industries in Germany
[3]. However, numerous large-scale projects such as the airport of Berlin-Brandenburg are
examples of lack of effectiveness and insufficient productivity [4]. In fact, the productivity
of Germany’s construction industry still remains at 7.1% below the crisis level of 2007 [2].
In order to put this apparent contradiction into context, it is necessary to understand the
special structure of the German construction sector. Germany takes pride in its division of
labour and the associated strong expertise in subareas of planning that are distributed among
different stakeholders or companies respectively [5]. It is for that reason that the design and
construction process is severely functionally segmented. Numerous companies with often not
more than 30 employees are involved [6]. Moreover, the work packages, tasks and chargeable
fees of a building project are strictly regulated by the German “Fee Scale for Architects and
Engineers” (HOAI) [7] whereas in the UK or the US the charged fees are rather based on a
stipulated sum, the time of work done or unit cost [8]. Consequently, it is reasonable to say
that especially with regard to the high level of split responsibilities within the design and
construction process, the German construction industry is hardly comparable to other
countries. Moreover, the industry’s level of digitisation is one of the lowest compared to
doi:10.2495/BIM190131
other core industries in Germany [5]. It follows that Germany has to catch up with the
implementation and industry-adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM), one of
the worldwide main drivers of digital productivity improvement in construction [9]. For this
purpose, the German initiative “planen-bauen 4.0” (English: planning-building 4.0) has been
founded through various associations and chamber organizations. Its tasks are designing,
coordination and supporting the digitisation of the entire value chain of planning, building
and operation of buildings in Germany. planen-bauen 4.0 is hence involved in numerous
projects in the fields of consultancy, communication and research within ten fields of action.
The present paper is to be classified in the field of standardisation. Within this particular field
of action, the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) has founded the standards
committee “Building Information Modeling” with subordinate working groups to reflect
German standardization interests [10]. Moreover, planen-bauen 4.0 played a key role in the
development of the “Road Map for Digital Design and Construction” of the Federal Ministry
of Transport and Digital Infrastructure in Germany. This roadmap aims at making digital
planning and construction the standard nationwide and specifies that, as of 2020, BIM should
be applied in all new federal transport infrastructure projects [3].
The authors of this paper adopt the definition of BIM as a methodology that integrates all
stakeholders of a construction project by managing a shared building-related database to
facilitate planning, construction and facility management in operation [9], [11]. By this, BIM
can be a main driver of improved stakeholder collaboration [12], which becomes especially
relevant for Germany in face of the facts stated above: projects of the AEC industry
(Architecture, Engineering, Construction) require close collaboration even in less fragmented
constructions sectors of the UK or the US. Main reasons for that are the hazard of conflicting
interests among the projects’ stakeholders and numerous interfaces through which complex
information is shared. The functional complexity of Germany’s AEC industry even
intensifies that challenge [13], [14]. It can therefore be concluded that the amount and the
level of detail of the information to be exchanged among different planners determines
the complexity of the cooperation in a construction project. Compared to private housing, the
construction of industrial facilities is particularly challenging due to its interconnected and
diverse user perspective. Designing a factory thus poses numerous additional challenges
since the specialty of production planning has to be integrated into the project as a
further dimension.
Factory planning is the planning of coherent building and production systems. Mutual
dependencies are extremely important in this field since the production processes – as the
core owner perspective – and the building system directly influence each other. This is an
area of research that has been intensively investigated [15], [16]. In current practice, however,
the planning of production and its corresponding building are performed separately from each
other. In this context, recent projects of the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production
Engineering (WZL) of RWTH Aachen University have shown the necessity to plan the
building system and the production system in an integrated way [17], [18]. In fact, there is
hardly any research on the integration of the production system as a new dimension in
Building Information Modelling (see Section 2). Within the framework of a factory
planning project for e.GO Mobile AG (a German manufacturer for electric cars), this novel
form of cooperation has been carried out prototypically during the design and construction
of new factories [19], [17]. However, it was observed that explicitly during the handover of
planning results from one planner or one specialty to another, setbacks in the planning
progress were reported due to:
 Missing semantic information of BIM-objects, especially regarding those from the

production model
 Objects and models that are not suitably modelled for the specific state of planning
 Missing transparency over requirements regarding the needed level of detail that a
certain planner has to deliver at a specific point of time
 Obstacles regarding the integration of the production system’s perspective into
Information Delivery Manuals (IDM) and concurrently in Model View Definitions
(MVD) [20] in order to fit into the standard workflows of buildingSMART
Since the project at e.GO Mobile AG has only partially taken place in a research
environment, this paper wants to explore the main obstacles that exist in integrating the
production system as a further dimension into the method of Building Information Modelling
in order to create a novel planning method of integrated factory modelling.
The paper thus aims at (1) an open expert study regarding the integration of a production
system within Building Information Modelling and (2) at the identification and discussion of
research opportunities in this field.
The remainder of the paper is structured as follows: Section 2 substantiates the originality
of the research project by presenting current knowledge with regard to the integration of
production system planning into Building Information Modelling. Section 3 depicts the
expert study as the main research methodology of this paper. The results of the study are
summarised in Section 4 leading to a conclusion of the results and an outline of future
research activities arising from the expert study’s outcome.
2 ORIGINALITY
In literature, numerous research activities are dealing with BIM [21]–[23]. These research
activities consider the entire lifecycle of a building from design [24], [25] over construction
[26], [27] up to operation [28], [29] in a very comprehensive way. In addition to this holistic
perspective of an entire lifecycle, a major part of studies analyses and describes the content
of the individual lifecycle phases in more detail.
The according research can be observed from two perspectives. On the one hand, it
examines different functional planning segments in detail. Studies on functional planning
segments can be found, for instance, in the areas of architecture [30]–[33] and HVAC
(heating, ventilation, air conditioning) [34]–[38]. On the other hand, many research activities
focus on topical case studies. Suitable examples for investigated topical case studies are
safety systems [39]–[43], precast concrete [44]–[47] and tunnel projects [48]–[52]. Despite
the manifold research activities, it has to be noted that the content of many of these
publications mainly focuses on one functional planning segment or one topical case study.
The interfaces among different planning disciplines are rarely considered.
Especially the interface between production and building planning is hardly given any
investigation in today´s literature and the use of BIM in the factory planning process is part
of just a short number of publications [13], [15], [19].
The existing research activities and studies analyse neither the problems along with the
according optimisation potential of a BIM-based factory planning process nor the interface
between the production and building planning. As to our knowledge, there is hence no
existing research about the problems and associated optimisation potential in practice
regarding the interfaces of factory planning processes. Considering this gap of research, the
following study was initialised.
The aim of the study is to document deficits in the BIM-based factory planning process and
to identify optimisation potentials by validating developed hypotheses and gaining
information from interviews.
As depicted in Section 2, the interface between production and building planning is rarely
considered in the current literature. For this reason, an open, explorative research approach
was selected through a combination of a hypothesis test approach and expert interviews.
The conducted expert study is hence divided into two parts: The first part consists of an online
questionnaire in which hypotheses were scrutinised and answered by the experts through the
limited response options “correct”, “incorrect”, “not assessable”. These three response
options were selected in order to reduce the effort for the experts and to receive as
unambiguous and clear answers as possible.
In order to perform a scientifically substantiated expert study, the selection of experts is
of crucial importance. The term “expert” is generally understood to represent a person with
privileged access to relevant expertise, for example through practical experience [53]. In line
with this definition, the expert panel of this study consisted of 11 experts from the specialties
of architecture, production planning and MEP(H) (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing,
Heating). In order to reduce systematic bias and to comply with the European GDPR (General
Data Protection Regulation), anonymity was guaranteed to the participants, which is why the
exact names of the companies and interviewees are not mentioned explicitly.
The second part of the study consists of partially open interviews that were conducted to
confirm the findings of the first part of the study and to explore further in-depth
expertise (see Fig. 1).
Hypotheses can be used to confirm assumptions based on personal experience and to
generalise them justifiably [54]. The possibility of time-efficient, simultaneous data
collection as well as the low influence of the researcher on the expert were decisive criteria
for testing the hypotheses by means of an online survey. The content of the nine hypotheses
was generated from literature research and own practical experience. The hypotheses’
assessment was thereafter operationalised using the German online platform “SoSci-Survey”,
which is also presented as a tool in the diagram of Fig. 1.
Based on the evaluated expert responses to the hypotheses, an individual interview
guideline was designed for each expert. The interviews can thus be classified as partially
standardised. They were realised in one-on-one conversations either via telephone
conferences or as in-person interviews and lasted approximately 45 minutes each. The
explorative character of the study was deliberately chosen in order to ensure a wide scope
and an open perspective when revealing the most challenging elements within the
collaboration in factory planning with BIM. The execution and the different steps of the data
collection are shown in the K3 flowchart diagram in Fig. 1 [55], [56].
After the transcription of the interviews, a content analysis according to Mayring [57] was
conducted. First, the available interview materials (interview transcripts), the situation of
the material generation (circumstances of the interviews) and formal characteristics of the
interview information are determined in this type of analysis. Based on these preparations, a
purposeful and efficient analysis of the content is possible by parsing the relevant interview
material into units of knowledge gain. Thereafter, these units are analysed with regard to the
research gap which in this context is the documentation and identification of deficits and
optimisation potential in the BIM-based factory planning process. As a result of this content
analysis, the core findings of the expert study were derived and formulated as main obstacles
of the BIM-based factory planning process (see Section 4).
Researcher Experts
Definition of
the research
objectives
Internal
research
Challenges Establishing
Hypotheses
for practice hypotheses
structure
rule
Creation of
SoSci Online
the online
survey survey
survey
Scrutinising
Selection of SoSci
of the
the experts survey
hypotheses
Creation of
individual Interview
interview approach
approach for each
based on the expert
first survey
Provision of
Realisation
in-depth
of the
expert
interviews
knowledge
Transcription
Transcripts
of interviews
Content
analysis Evaluation of
according the results
to Mayring Main
Information
obstacles in
Deduction of
the BIM- Activity
core findings
based Tool
of the expert
factory
study Control flow
planning
process Information flow
Figure 1: K3 flowchart of the methodology for the expert study.
4 RESULTS
In the following, the findings of the expert study are described which can be clustered into
three main obstacles occurring in the BIM-based factory planning process or integrated
factory modelling, respectively (see Tables 1 and 2).
Table 1: Assignment of in-depth expert knowledge regarding the main obstacles.
In-depth expert knowledge on factory planning with BIM Code

The level of building technology of today’s factories is constantly rising O1
A major part of the costs of a new factory is caused by MEP(H) O1
Slight modifications of planning assumptions can induce significant cost
O1
increases
Part load ratios are often not considered at an early stage of factory planning O1
The actual need of industrial media (e.g. electrical energy, compressed air,
O1
cooling fluid) is less than the installed media capacity
The level of detail of the transmitted information is insufficient or overly
O1, O2
excessive
There is no access to needed information O2
Data is untimely provided by upstream planning processes O2
There is no maturity model for factory planning in BIM O2, O3
There are problems in the transmission of the information regarding
O3
requirement changes
Owners are changing their requirements frequently O3
There are few qualified BIM-coordinators being able to assess modelling
O3
results in factory planning
Table 2: Coding of the main obstacles in the BIM-based factory planning process.
Code Main obstacles in the BIM-based factory planning process

Inefficient collaboration within the cost-intensive planning interface of MEP(H)
O1
and production/process
O2 Unaligned level of detail in factory planning
Lack of transparency regarding the informational relation among the planning
O3
tasks of different specialties and the associated change effects
4.1.1 Obstacle 1 (O1): Inefficient collaboration within the cost-intensive

planning interface of MEP(H) and production/process
A majority of the interviews revealed that especially MEP(H) planning is a very complex
process in factory planning. Strong interconnections between production processes and
MEP(H) planning demand a strongly collaborative way of planning between those two
specialties which is not the case at the moment according to the experts.
The level of building technology of today’s factories is constantly rising which is why the
major part of the costs of a new factory is caused by MEP(H). Errors in planning or slight
modifications of planning assumptions, for example a change of a few kilowatts of machine
energy demand, can hence induce a significant cost increase. Such errors, inter alia, occur
from the lack of contact and communication with the owner. In a typical workflow of factory
planning in Germany, the MEP(H) planner acquires the information from the general planner,
project leader or sometimes the production planner. These stakeholders, in turn, intend to
gather every necessary requirement from the owner; but often not as detailed as required for
the MEP(H) planners. Due to the high cost sensitivity of MEP(H) planning, however, detailed
and precise requirements are needed which in many cases are not provided early enough in
the planning process. For instance, production planners often state requirements regarding
the temperature of the industrial cooling fluid to a range of 6–8°C as this range may in most
cases not largely influence the production process. For MEP(H) planners, however, this range
still leaves a lot of space for cost-relevant cooling capacity calculations.
A certain example of such a need of precise information was mentioned by four different
experts: Part load ratios are often not considered at an early stage of factory planning. Due to
static calculations, cooling requirements are reported to MEP(H) planners that are based on,
for instance, the maximum demand per machine. During ramp-up, however, those demands
are never reached. This actual need of cooling fluid only retrieves a small proportion of the
installed cooling capacity. This may not only lead to overinvestment but also to malfunctions
and long-term damages on the cooling machine as they are often only designed to be operated
within a certain range of load. The experts hence stressed the inefficient collaboration
between MEP(H) planning and production or process planning, respectively. The need for
action becomes especially apparent with regard to the planning of electrical and
thermal energy.
4.1.2 Obstacle 2 (O2): Unaligned level of detail in factory planning

Every planning step of a factory requires the interaction of different planning disciplines. The
efficiency of these planning steps depends on the accuracy of the transmitted data and
information. The lack of access to needed information hence imposes challenges in
collaboration. Every day examples reported by the experts are, for instance, an untimely
provision of data by upstream planning processes or the insufficient or overly excessive level
of detail of the given information at a certain process point. An integrated planning of a
factory can only be performed efficiently if the right information in the right granularity is
provided to the correct specialty at the right point within the planning process. Otherwise
modifications, clarifications and errors that are detected too late in the process lead to a delay
of the whole planning process. At the moment, there is no maturity model for factory
planning in BIM, especially regarding the integration of the production planning discipline.
Such a maturity model could specify exactly which level of detail is needed at which point
of the factory planning process by which other specialty.
An unaligned level of detail of information can thus be seen as one major obstacle in the
cooperation of different planning disciplines within factory planning. In this context,
the guideline of ISO19650 can be used as a solution basis. For example, ISO suggests using
generic model elements or generic information as placeholders before more detailed
information is available [11].
4.1.3 Obstacle 3 (O3): Lack of transparency regarding the informational relation among
the planning tasks of different specialties and the associated change effects
In the course of a factory planning project, the owner’s requirements are to be fulfilled as
precisely as possible. Exactly those owner-given requirements, however, are changed
frequently without being able to assess the consequences of those changes within the
planning process. The underlying reason is that there is no clear model of the informational
dependencies of the factory planning process with BIM.
In coherence with the above-stated lack of maturity models, the change of requirements
is another reason for additional expenses and delays caused by extra working steps or the
repetition of planning processes. This can be attributed to the fact that requirement
changes not only have single-step effects, but can also extend throughout the entire
planning process [58].
According to the experts, there are only few proficient BIM coordinators who are able to
profoundly and efficiently assess those changes of requirements. A great deal of know-how
is necessary to understand the complexity of factory planning processes and to consider all
relationships of the dynamic requirements pertaining to various specialties such as

architecture, production planners or structural engineers.
Following the above, another obstacle is the missing transparency of informational
relations among the planning tasks of different specialties and the associated lack of
transparency of change effects propagating throughout the whole factory planning process.
5 CONCLUSION AND FURTHER RESEARCH

This paper explained the main obstacles when integrating the specialty of production
planning into Building Information Modelling. These obstacles are the error-prone and
complex interface between MEP(H) and production planning, the lack of maturity models
and the lack of transparency of informational relations (see Table 2).
The research achievements described in this paper are regarded to be novel as factory
planning has scarcely been researched within the framework of Building Information
Modelling. Despite anticipated efficiency gains, Building Information Modelling has not yet
been able to prove itself in factory planning projects. Future research activities should hence
focus on overcoming the obstacles analysed in this paper.
For integrating production processes into Building Information Modelling,
the transparency of information dependencies between production planning and
associated specialties is of crucial importance. The authors hence propose two overarching
research steps:
 The information of production planning should be mapped on its most granular level by
an ontology-model including all relevant dependencies to other specialties.
 A logical sequence of planning steps should be defined considering necessary and
harmonised levels of semantic information and levels of geometry in order to enable an
efficient verification of semantic rules such as MEP-relevant calculations [13].
In order to accomplish these steps, the authors are eager to follow the structure of
buildingSMART. Against this background, an Information Delivery Manual (IDM) is to be
created as a first step [59]. For this purpose, a precise process model is needed that will
be based on the already developed Aachen module map of factory planning [15]. This process
model should explain planning activities within production planning and establish a logical
sequence of those activities. Information exchange requirements form the second step of the
development process of Information Delivery Manual. The third part is the definition of
functional parts. In this step, information will be categorised and for each exchange, the
specific levels of detail will be determined. To enable the integration of the new IDM into
software, the IDM elements should be translated into the IFC schema or XML as exchange
protocol. Here, existing research results regarding coarse maturity levels of production
planning and factory planning from the WZL can be taken as a basis [60].
The need for clearly depicting informational relations and LOD-specific exchange
requirements is also included in ISO19650 through the specification for information delivery
planning [11]. However, at this point the question can be raised to what extent data standards
are the cross-cutting solution or whether in 10 years research and industry will notice that
construction projects are so heterogeneous that a reasonable standard can hardly be found. In
this case, ISO19650 is a valuable framework for project organization since it provides generic
planning and coordination guidelines. The first important step, though, has to be taken for
factory planning: creating transparency over information dependencies between production
planning and other specialties. According to ISO19650, this basic information model can
then serve as a Project’s Information Requirement (PIR) for BIM-based factory planning
which can individually be augmented by project-specific information through the “appointed

party” within the Project Information Model (PIM) and Asset Information model (AIM) [11].
One major outcome of the expert study conducted in this paper is the relevance of the
interface between production planning and MEP(H) planning. Research on pure MEP(H)
already exists in the BIM domain. Hu et al. define delivery models in the field of operation
and maintenance to foster BIM implementation in large-scale MEP projects [61]. Leite et al.
and Wang et al. investigate the influence of different LODs on MEP projects within the
framework of BIM, from which especially geometry-related LOD implications for factory
planning can be derived [62], [63]. Such already existing approaches are to be integrated into
an integrated factory modelling approach which facilitates MEP(H) and production planning
coordination through BIM-based information management.
In Germany, buildingSMART’s efforts with regard to factory planning are still limited
and tend to refer to BIM in existing buildings. The German MEP group of buildingSMART
is currently focusing on a manual for technical guidance for beginners and experts including
the introduction of buildingSMART standards and the development of further IDMs. Again,
the interface from MEP to architecture is considered rather than to production [64].
Within the expert study, purely static calculations were criticised in particular, as they
may result in wrong assumptions regarding requirements for transformers or industrial
cooling systems. Therefore, when creating the process models and the associated information
maturity models for integrated factory modelling, the highly interdependent calculations of
production processes and the associated demands for electrical energy, cooling water, heating
capacity, industrial wastewater and compressed air should be taken into focus. In coherence
with the lack of qualified BIM coordinators being able to assess an overall factory planning
process, such rule-based compliance checks supported by specific simulation software could
be automated between the interface of MEP(H) and production planning and thereby
contribute to new progresses within the research of Building Information Modelling.
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BIM METHODOLOGY APPLIED TO ARCHITECTURAL

HERITAGE PRESERVATION: CASE STUDY OF THE
MEDINA AND DUNGEONS OF TETUÁN, MOROCCO
GIACOMO SORINO1, CARLO MANFREDI2 & ANTONIO JIMÉNEZ DELGADO3
1
Politecnico di Bari, Italy
2
Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, Italy
3
Universidad de Alicante, Spain
ABSTRACT
The aim of the proposed contribution is to investigate how the application of BIM methodology in the
field of the architectural heritage can avail both the study of an historical building and its subsequent
preservation. Starting from the analysis carried out in the Medina and Dungeons of Tetuán (Morocco),
we propose a H-BIM (Historic Building Information Modelling) methodology focused on the
pathological parametric study of the buildings (as-damaged model) and therefore obtain a specific
information database for each architectural element. The goal of the work is to establish a digital
parametric methodology that is both inherent to the pathological and geometric study of a vivienda of
the Medina as well as applicable to diverse cases within that realm, starting with a hybrid traditional
(CAD) and innovative (photogrammetry) database combined. Furthermore, the hybrid workflow allows
to rise above the limitations that the (geographical) distance often presents from case studies and it
allows overcoming the common difficulties encountered in a traditional restoration-conservative study
in finding information. The choice of this particular case study enables evaluating the updatability of
an H-BIM model and therefore the possibility of containing different information dating back to
different phases of survey and project that can be parameterized and compared, with the aim of ensuring
both the historical traceability of the degradation of the asset and its architectural composition over
time. Lastly, an H-BIM catalogue of the different viviendas which were analysed in the preliminary
phase is proposed, starting from a typical house in the Medina of Tetuán, so as to initiate a realistic data
collection of the Medina of Tetuán with the aim of undertaking a preventive restoration without having
to resort to interventions of emergency and structural reinforcement as foreseen in the case of the Ben
Marzouk house and the dungeons (mazmorras).
Keywords: cultural heritage, H-BIM, Tetuán, digitalization.
1 INTRODUCTION
Tetuán is a city of northern Morocco, capital of the part once submitted to the Spanish
protectorate. The city lies in a pleasant position amidst gardens and orchards, on the southern
slopes of the Sierra del Haus located on the left bank of the Río Martín at 10 km. from the
coast. It is believed that Tetuán was built on the site where the ancient Tamuda existed
already at the beginning of the 14th century by a chief Merinide. In the 15th century,
Tetuán was taken and destroyed by the Spaniards, but a century later Moors and Jews,
expelled from Spain, repopulated it. A period of considerable prosperity for trade and for
the industries that were practiced there began, and it continued even after that its port was
blocked. In 1859 the Spaniards temporarily reoccupied Tetuán following the aggression
suffered by the caravan of Prince Albert of Prussia coming from Ceuta; but for the peace
treaty of the following year, which secured other advantages for Spain, the city was later
released. Following the international agreements that regulated the division of the
Moroccan protectorate, Spain proceeded to its regular occupation and made Tetuán the
capital of the Protectorate and of the ancient Presidios. In 1933 Tetuán counted 48000
inhabitants, of which many Jews and Spaniards, for whom a special district adjacent to
the ancient old city called Medina was built after 1913.
doi:10.2495/BIM190141
Reading the traces of such a complex stratification, interpreting the signs that affect
the buildings – from economic, political, military and religious reasons – constitutes an
articulated research path, which we will try to describe here in this paper. Of course, not all
points can be fully investigated. The understanding of the evolution of the built heritage in
its characters is also not immediately recognizable. It is also necessary to formulate a broader
reflection on the present consciousness and future potential. The aspects that have connected
the episodes of Tetuán in a homogeneous fabric must be fully recognized, as well as the
dimension of the project, on the architectural and urban scale, achieves a coherent awareness.
2 METHOD
It is proposed to investigate the material consistency of the artefacts, following all possible
clues that may lead to different aspects related to production (construction) in terms of
materials and techniques to obtain credible results. In the context of the longue durée events
[1]. In particular, the tools offered to the investigator, at least potentially, in this first phase
of investigation, are constituted by paths that must necessarily be investigated in a
differentiated manner depending on the specific possibilities of each case. In summary, this
research is about framing the useful sources for a documental investigation, reading the
constructive stratification of the objects and formulating proposals for instrumental diagnosis
in the most controversial cases.
All the described routes still adhere directly, to some extent, to the architectural research
method as it has been structured in scientific headquarters in recent decades: in fact, all
approaches deal with the history of architecture, the history of construction, the archaeology
of architecture [2] and historical research stricto sensu.
2.1 Scientific tools
Starting from this kind of background, on which to begin a direct knowledge, the chapter of
archaeological research opens by applying well-established methods of understanding of the
built heritage to the specific cases. These methods, developed in the last decades in Europe,
have quickly become the common ground of the discipline also in Spain, where the road has
been paved since the thirties with sensitivity towards the on-going debate in other countries
in recent years [2], [3]. This research is about identifying the constructive character of the
existing buildings, especially isolating those techniques and materials that know a peculiar
development in this area. The techniques of archaeological research are based on the
connection between the elements of the construction in relation with the later stages in which
the life of the building has developed. It is a method of analysis of stratification born in the
world of archaeology and, at first, was predominantly applied to archaeological stratification
[3]: in the case of a true analysis and not just a reading, the definition of “constructive
stratigraphic analysis” seems more appropriate. At the base of this approach is the
understanding that the building can always be interpreted as a palimpsest, which bears the
mark of constructive vicissitudes (and sometimes even historically relevant in the broadest
sense) that have affected it throughout his life. A diachronic understanding of the artifact
leads to the awareness of how certain realizations, constructive techniques and materials are
directly related to a phase of the work or maintenance and can in fact reveal the relationship
with the context. Consequently, the building becomes a potentially unlimited source of
knowledge, which can be interpreted following different paths and discordant methods or,
better, divergent lines of reading.
The H-BIM become part of this approach, as depicted in the following paragraphs. The
ever increasing debate in the scientific press regarding BIM technologies is very vast at
the moment, and it will not be discussed here. The acquisitions of the applications are carried
out with rapidity and are always overcome by new developments. For a review of the
literature, see the review cited in the bibliography [4].
2.2 The project for the Medina
The intervention project on the historical heritage with H-BIM takes as its scenario the
Medina of Tetuán declared World Heritage Site in 1997 by UNESCO. Together with
the Spanish Ensanche, the Medina of Tetuán draws one of the most interesting and
best-preserved urban environments in Morocco.
In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the Moors expelled from the Iberian
Peninsula built the Medina intending to reproduce, on the other side of the Strait, Al Andalus.
The Medina of Tetuán presents a living heritage which can be perceived even by walking
through its labyrinthine streets where centuries of history permeate the houses and the people
who inhabit them, a history shared between Spain and Morocco.
A rich tangible and intangible heritage models a living city where we analyse a double
reality, the great beauty of its constructions and the evidence of its fragility and need for
conservation. H-BIM is a tool of great potential in the context of a historical centre of these
characteristics. The research project is developed over a decade from 2009 through 2019 and
carried out by the research group Aedificatio in collaboration with the Tetuán Asmir
Association and Tetuán institutions. The main objective is the conservation and enhancement
of the historical-architectural heritage of the city using H-BIM methodology. The Medina
and its dungeons constitute the strategic axis.
The Medina of Tetuán has an inherent value to its buildings of great architectural wealth.
All this is inseparably linked to the traditions and customs of its inhabitants who walk its
streets daily. The analysis of the most significant constructive exponents implies the
dynamization of necessary conservation processes in all areas of the city. Specifically, this
case serves as a reference for learning a current project that contemplates the sustainable
development goals established by the United Nations. The project establishes the following
lines of work:
● Intervention and conservation in heritage.
● Citizen participation.
● BIM methodology applied to heritage.
For an adequate intervention and conservation of heritage, the Medina space is conceived
of as a container of materialized culture in its constructions, in which we can recognize
historical-artistic values.
Citizen participation and the inclusion of the data obtained in the project structures a new
form of document with sociological elements. Participatory techniques by citizens are central
and significative to the process. The methodological strategy that is proposed is known as
bottom-up because it allows the community to be approached from diverse and pluralistic
individuals. It is important to know how space is configured and the experiences that take
place in the city to identify the factors that are problematic in their urban conformation and
that affect life. The knowledge of sociological elements brings us closer to responses of an
identity type necessary for the development of a constructive intervention in historical
exponents.
Participatory workshops offer citizens a space for debate about future expectations in the
urban context. These workshops involve groups and associations with diverse interests that
offer the necessary information in the project.
To the information of materials and constructive solutions, we incorporate sociological

information of a historical and contemporary nature that helps us establish a rigorous
database. The analysis of this data in Tetuán projects and in other cities of Islamic origin such
as Granada will inform future knowledge of colours, materials, techniques, craftsmen, etc.
for the constructive intervention in the historical heritage with important data on identity in
the historical space of Islamic cities.
3 H-BIM
The idea, therefore, that we want to implement, and that we believe is indispensable today,
is that BIM does not only serve large-scale projects, or offices that have a massive
organization of teams and architects. Contrary to what is thought, carrying out a project with
BIM methodology does not require costly technological means, on the contrary, a BIM
research can be executed with every-day technology. The purpose of the project
“Metodologia BIM e rilievo a servizio di architetture tradizionali” carried out between the
Politecnico di Bari (Italy) and the University of Alicante has demonstrated that, with minimal
technological means such as a camera and a laptop, one can perform a modelling with
photogrammetric methodology to analyse and develop an intervention project on a historic
building, and beyond, on an entire neighbourhood or environment.
What is H-BIM? How can it really be effective in the field of restoration, and more
precisely in an environment like that of the Medina of Tetuán? The goal of H-BIM is certainly
to be able to simplify the processes of preservation, study and management of the historic
building, but at the same time to allow a correct integration between different factors that,
otherwise, would remain isolated and probably not even considered.
Based on new methodologies such as photogrammetry, information and traditional
knowledge can therefore be integrated with a technological database, which allows a 360°
picture of the building complex, both from the point of view of the characteristics and from
the point of view of the life cycle. It has become indispensable to treat an architecture
considering its entire life cycle, from the conception to the subsequent demolition or
reconversion, all the more so if we talk about the restoration of buildings of significant
historical value. So being able to create a virtual prototype that contains all types of
information available in the field and beyond allows us to have a global view of pathologies
and their possible solutions as well as a global vision of the past of the building itself,
characterizing the degradation processes that have reached us. The implementation of the H-
BIM must therefore concern not only the architecture itself, but also all that characterizes its
essence, up to the notions handed down orally by the neighbourhood resident or by the native
mason of the area.
Although the goal is to achieve a global understanding of the architectural good and to
therefore describe it in all its tangible aspects, the main resource that characterizes and
distinguishes the H-BIM method is the creation of an image-based photogrammetric model,
i.e. photogrammetric, or range-based, that is, through laser scanner. We therefore try to
change the paradigm of the survey phase, where it is possible, through new technologies and
the parameterization of information, to carry out a study and a survey that is more complex
but at the same time more complete.
Creating an H-BIM project means starting from a “remotely sensed” database, applying
methods and technologies pertaining to the field of photography and photogrammetry. The
phase of relief is probably the most important phase for a restoration project, especially in
the case in which one finds oneself in front of buildings of high historical value and
characterized by a strong structural deficiency and presence of pathologies. In the case of the
traditional survey, human and temporal resources assume an important weight, probably
making up for a lack of technical and economic resources. On the other side, what most
characterizes a photogrammetric survey is the reduction of time and human capital in favour
of technical development and growing technology.
The reduction of time and costs takes place not only during the architectural relief phase,
but also and above all it refers to the reduction in subsequent phases of realization of
the photogrammetric model and the parametric model. One of the characteristics of the
photogrammetric model is in fact the possibility of being able to extract photorealistic
textures, otrophoto and realistic databases based on the point cloud, and therefore on the
overlapping of hundreds or thousands of frames. From a geometrical point of view, we are
therefore able to process any type of information and to study and analyse it succinctly
without resorting to subsequent inspections or further relevant campaigns.
There are four obvious advantages of 3D laser scanner relief technique or
photogrammetric image-based technique compared to traditional survey techniques:
● High-detail restitution in situations of particular complexity;
● Reduction of relief and restitution times;
● Acquisition of simultaneously 3D point clouds and colour photos;
● Integration with 3D CAD and BIM modelling systems.
This model is as detailed as it is effective and allows the modeller to complete the
cognitive framework that a heritage building restoration intervention requires; that is, a
pathological diagnostic study [9].
However, it is advisable today to recognize that the BIM methodology, despite being in a
growing phase, should be integrated with traditional methods and information, based on CAD
and traditional survey. The collation and reworking of all the information obtained through
different platforms such as Revit, Photoscan, Recap, allows the integration between the
“point cloud” generated by the photogrammetric model and the traditional information such
as measurements, photos and pathological relief within a single parametric model from which
it is possible to extract the individual components in the form of excel tables or object
libraries. According to Grabowski’s words, “BIM software is becoming commonplace, yet
design software that uses 2D linework will remain popular for the foreseeable future. These
two different approaches to design mean that a hybrid workflow becomes part of everyday
practice. For design firms to remain competitive, it is worthwhile for them to establish a solid
hybrid workflow – for themselves, their partners, and their clients” [5].
In a context like the Medina of Tetuán, characterized by very small, labyrinthine streets,
and by lighting coming only from the internal patio, we were able to verify that it still
necessary to implement the hybrid workflow in some areas and contexts. Even more so it is
indispensable due to the presence of a strong traditional connotation in architecture and
engineering, especially in the restorative field, often characterized by techniques handed
down from generation to generation.
The subsequent parameterization of this information through the BIM model allows a
considerable improvement in the management of the facilities and therefore of the life cycle
of the case study. In fact, the goal of H-BIM is not just the mere graphic representation of the
case study “as it is”, but also being able to study any characteristic pathology of the “as
damaged” building from a 360° point of view, so as to be able to propose restorative solutions
and to be able to carry out a well-managed asset.
4 THE CASE STUDY

The objective was to demonstrate that a project can be carried out by implementing the BIM
methodology in the restorative field with minimum possible resources.
Although the ultimate aim is to create a virtual BIM prototype through a hybrid database
that can contain both traditional information together with economic and social information,
in this project it was necessary to base everything on a photogrammetric survey carried out
in the shortest possible time and with only one reflex camera and a tripod. Nowadays the
implementation of virtual reality, the realization of scans through laser scanners and the
development of companies that deal only with augmented reality make us pose a question: Is
H-BIM accessible to everyone? Are there resources to produce parameterizable information
that are truly economical and easy to use?
The photogrammetric investigation process highlighted the difficulties that a site like the
Medina of Tetuán and the use of a simple reflex camera within a building typology such as
the Moroccan patio house can present. Despite these challenges, it was possible to create
partial or total photogrammetric models of different patio houses, making the choice fall on
the architecture that presented a more complex pathological picture.
Using SfM (Structure from Motion) algorithms, completed by stereo matching algorithms,
the post-production of the base frames becomes of fundamental importance for the success
of a terrestrial photogrammetric model. To do this, shots that allow overlapping of 60–70%
of the surface must be taken to cover the entire surface under examination, but at the same
time obtain a large number of overlapping points and comparable geometries for data
processing [6].
The possibility of not completely automating the photogrammetric modelling process but
being able to enter the camera mechanism allows a much more pragmatic and experimental
approach to technological innovation; setting such as focal distances, overlapping, white
balance and subsequent settings during image processing can be adjusted. The architect is
thus trying to merge his traditional and photographic-perspective skills with new
technological evolutions such as Agisoft Photoscan (Fig. 1) or Autodesk Recap platforms. A
sort of journey into the past, material and physical, studied through a look to the future.
Figure 1: Tetuán, Morocco, case study, photogrammetry. Software: Photoscan.
Being able to integrate different platforms with the same purpose allows us to create a set
of shared design parameters or simply information that can recognize and be associated with
different facades and different pathologies present in the case study, exporting and/or
importing the photogrammetric model in relation to the use required. In our case, we chose
to focus our study on the relationship that an H-BIM survey can have with a parametric model
in order to create a specific methodology on the study and diagnostic framework of building
diseases.
The basis of this study requires a cataloguing of the possible pathologies present in
the building heritage so that a methodological guideline can be easily applied to other case
studies and architectures. In fact, in the near or remote future, the possibility of being able to
make a catalogue of the viviendas of the Medina of Tetuán is very stimulating both from
a historical point of view, allowing us to store a realistic and three-dimensional photo of a
historical centre for UNESCO, but also from an engineering point of view. Before modelling,
a guideline was created both in regards to the state of degradation and in regards to the
diagnosis of pathologies in theoretical terms, subsequently used as a basis for the creation of
design parameters and shared parameters in Revit.
All possible pathologies have been decoded using the guidelines for the recognition of the
main degradation phenomena realized by Stefano Francesco Musso in “Recupero e restauro
degli edifici storici: guida pratica al rilievo e alla diagnostica.” More pathologies were added
to this list in addition to the ones present on this particular building, so that this database that
can be used on other case studies present in the Medina of Tetuán. The subsequent mapping
of the decay was therefore carried out with greater ease and through three different
methodologies, all aimed at the parameterization of the individual pathologies.
The first methodology allowed to create an object through the editor of the Revit families.
Once the mesh model was cleaned in Photoscan, thus identifying the individual areas
presenting a specific pathology, the model was exported in .obj format for subsequent
importation into Rhynoceros. Once the model in Rhynoceros was imported, the reduction of
the surfaces of the mesh began, and the subsequent transformation into Nurbs through the
command MeshANurbs. The surface thus created was exported from Rhynoceros in Dxf
format (Autocad drawing exchange) and imported into Revit within the family editor,
assigning it the pathological shared parameter previously created [4].
The second methodology consists of creating 2D annotative boxes directly in the project
files, using the point cloud, mapping the areas with the different degradations both in plan
and in section, and giving each one a different recognizing pattern.
The third methodology consists in assigning the different shared parameters to the
individual elements modelled in relation to their pathologies, so as to obtain a personalized
information database in the very properties of the element (wall, column, window).
The subsequent parametric modelling can be seen in Fig. 2.
Figure 2: Tetuán, Morocco, case study: Axonometry, parametric model. Software: Revit.
However, it has been greatly facilitated by the photogrammetric survey for several reasons:
● the possibility of extrapolating photographic, volumetric and pattern information
that allows us a subsequent realistic consultation of the case study;
● the possibility of obtaining different and often more accurate measurements
compared to traditional measures;
● a pathological diagnostic analysis is no longer only in the form of surface relief
pathologies of the various facades or an information catalogue. Besides, information
integrated into the single object modelled in the virtual prototype can be utilised in
the use of BIM, thus helping form a unique digital process [9].
The comparability of these descriptive parameters realised on the basis of pathological
diagnostic manuals and the continuous parametric updatability within the model allows for a
360° study of the building heritage.
The possibility of being able to manage different design phases combined with the
different historical periods as well as different project proposals in turn related to the actual
status of the building heritage allows us to examine the whole historical process of the
building heritage itself. The ultimate goal is to safeguard each of the building heritage’s
peculiar and significant aspects.
Therefore, by comparing different phases (see Fig. 3) and different eras, the constant
updating of the virtual BIM prototype allows us to add or delete information, thus updating
the content of the model both from a geometric and an informative point of view. The thin
line, therefore, between an “as-built” model, an “as is” model and an “as damaged” model
turns out to be of fundamental importance in a restoration project, hence also permitting to
study the evolution of the pathologies encountered overtime or the different deterioration
phases that the case study has undergone. It’s so possible to understand the building with
different point of view and different details carrying out a pathological study both graphic
(see Fig. 4) and data-driven (see Fig. 5).
Figure 3: Case study: Phase management, parametric model. Software: Revit.
Figure 4: Case study: diagnostic-pathological study, parametric model. Software: Revit.
Figure 5: Case study: pathological study, parametric model. Software: Revit.
This extraction of databases is crucial. Because of its complexity, the database must be
clear and legible for everyone including less specialized. in the fact that the architect needs
to interact with anyone in the case study.
Interacting with different actors in the building process is in fact essential should a
designer be involved in any aspects concerning a building heritage. Interaction is necessary
to implement an interoperable process on two main lines: the first concerns the possibility to
interchange data between different software and manufacturers through different formats and
Industry Foundation Classes (IFC); the second concerns communication between the actors
of the building process, which will necessarily have different skills and the ability to use
software that is certainly diversified.
In order to simplify communication and interaction and to reduce the gap between
different actors in the building process, viewers and applications such as Tekla BIM Sight or
Solibri Model can be used.
Moreover, in a final way of visualization and 360° total experience, should be used and
developed a full immersion model as virtual reality (see Fig. 6) or augmented reality to
guarantee a wider experience to the client or everyone who wants to know more about the
case study.
Figure 6: Case study: Virtual reality, parametric model. Software: Revit Live.
The architect must therefore be able to think of how the model and the project itself, with
all its information, can be communicative and can stimulate the observer in order to be able
to interact at a 360° scale. The ability of an H-BIM model to select a wall and graphically be
able to read and visualize all its features makes the H-BIM model a facilitator within the
building process and restoration of traditional architecture. As a result of that, H-BIM
methodology allows not only to manage but also to study a complex asset composed of
several factors, accordingly managing its life cycle management process and its restoration
or conservation. Being able to guarantee a constant updating of the information of the model
even before the restoration work is carried out, allows to take into account any aspect related
to the model from the traditional construction technique to the quality of the materials used.
The simple diagnostic-pathological comparison over time, the possibility of managing
different project phases or different construction phases that have developed in the past, or
even the extraction of parameterised tables and schedules in common formats such as Excel,
guarantee that the H-BIM project is interoperable and integrated in a collaborative capacity,
thus favouring easy management of the building.
5 CONCLUSION
In a contest like Morocco, Tetuán in particular, it is even more necessary and obvious that
BIM must be understood and made available to users and professionals who do not have
access to this methodology and knowledge. The goal of expanding the methodology into
social and professional groups extraneous to this information is an important integrative
social and architectural component of the Medina of Tetuán itself.
Even more so when, at the base of the research, there is a much larger and more ambitious
project than the simple restoration of a house or a building complex.
Citing Professor Benaboud, promoter and one of the leading investigator of the Moroccan
research group “The idea is to create a circuit: a house of the 18th century (with a bamboo
roof), a house of the 18/19th century (wood), and a house of the 19/20th century with iron
components. So there are three houses of different centuries and you can see how the
construction has evolved; the different materials, the different construction techniques”. And
furthermore, “I wonder what use we can have for these homes in the Medina. For me the first
thing is to restore them well and make an awareness campaign. Then a historical circuit
would become possible to rent them through a management company. The objective is to
inspire other people to intervene” [7]. Therefore, the goal of the path undertaken by the
University of Alicante years ago is to create a catalogue of viviendas within the Tetuán
medina realized with BIM methodology. The whole complex of the medina could benefit
greatly from other surveys in addition to the photogrammetric one that was carried out for this
study; laser scanners and drones would aid in preserving a parametric restorative database
which would benefit the whole etuanie community thus initiating a virtuous path aimed of
recovering this UNESCO heritage that is beginning to present structural failures.
The extreme consequence of this methodology is to have to ensure that in the future other
readings can be taken, based on knowledge resources and cognitive skills different from ours,
and – more importantly – all equally legitimate. The project that must follow from this
attitude should be respectful of the pre-existing traces and aware that the measure of
contemporary intervention should be limited to superimposing new levels of writing on
existing ones, in a text that remains open to multiple reading abilities. In fact, the work must
be “recognized as a text, defending its intrinsic hermeneutical value” with the intention of
assigning to the conservation the ambitious goal of “protecting the opportunity to
understand” [8], thus legitimizing the following new interpretations. In addition, the direct
analysis of an artefact, adequately supported by the execution of instrumental analysis if
necessary, allows us to recognize the problems related to the degradation of the materials
along with the changing geometric and spatial configurations, with the potential instability
of the structures and, ultimately, with the mechanisms of injury, orientating the conservation
project in a timely manner.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors want to acknowledge Professor Benaboud’s kind inclination and all members of
Tetuán’s research team to make the case study possible.
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INFORMATION MODELLING AND MANAGEMENT IN

HISTORICAL CONTEXTS: AN ITALIAN CASE STUDY
IVANO GRAZIANO LAVENIA
Istituto di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale (ISPC), Italian National Research Council (CNR),
Università degli Studi di Catania, Italy
ABSTRACT
European and Mediterranean cities and landscapes are complex territorial systems characterized by an
inestimable cultural and natural heritage, which can particularly benefit from holistic approaches for
their sustainable development. Nowadays, digital tools and innovative methods can provide valuable
support to pursue the above-mentioned target. Based on both methodological research and practical
application, the paper presents a BIM-based lifecycle-oriented approach to information modelling and
management of an existing building set in an urban historical context. Investigating advanced software
solutions and workflows in the preparatory phases of a building project, it takes into account, as integral
parts of a BIM ecosystem, not only the technological aspects, but also the process and organisational/
cultural ones.
Keywords: built and natural environment, sustainability, cultural heritage, building information
modelling, BIM-GIS integration, common date environment, database management system.
1 INTRODUCTION
Information management and interoperability for buildings and infrastructures are crucial to
increase the productivity in the AECOO industry and to enable a sustainable development of
complex territorial systems. Integrated three-dimensional data management for urban spaces
and critical infrastructures is already significant for several purposes (Becker et al. [1]).
Fostering decision-making processes, interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge
sharing, they have become more important within the legislative and regulatory framework
developed in various European countries due to the European Directive 2014/24/EU
(Gigliarelli et al. [2]).
In Italy, this directive was transposed into national law through the Public Contract Code
(Legislative Decree 50/2016). Article 23 of this decree introduced the use of “specific digital
methods and tools, such as modelling for buildings and infrastructures” for new construction
as well as for conservation and rehabilitation projects, prioritizing the complex ones.
Laws and regulations that incentivize seismic and energy retrofitting as well as urban
renewal encourage investments in this direction too, since the definition of BIM-oriented
strategies for buildings and infrastructures set in a wider territorial context can facilitate
different activities. Among others, Biagini and Arslan [3] and various authors identify:
seismic risk reduction; energy efficiency improvement; facility management; monitoring;
Internet of Things (IoT) services; environmental sustainability assessment; decontamination;
deconstruction; selective substitution of pre-existing objects; time and cost estimation and
optimization; conflict detection; stakeholder collaboration; dissemination of cultural heritage
information.
According to Kiviniemi [4], the emphasis “is now moving from the design and
construction of individual buildings and infrastructures to lifecycle values and complex
networks of built and natural heritage, services and users. Emerging Smart City initiatives
are combining new technologies into the fabric of cities and data is becoming more and more
valuable asset and moving from the monolithic software into distributed resources which can
be accessed and utilized on any platform and with any application”.
doi:10.2495/BIM190151
The growing interest in lifecycle-oriented and data-driven design and construction

processes is leading not only from “workstation-oriented” to “cloud-oriented” working
procedures and to technological changes, but also to a wider paradigm shift. The testing and
consolidation of these innovative methods is still ongoing: despite digital tools solve several
problems, they create new challenges (Biagini and Arslan [3]). The AECOO industry has to
take into account four important factors for a successful implementation of new methods:
technologies, processes, policy and people (Succar [5]). Building information modelling can
bring real add-value if these aspects are properly combined. To progress into the mature stage
of its implementation, it is necessary to go beyond a mere three-dimensional representation
approach (Ciribini et al. [6]). The BS 1192 and the PAS 1192-2/-3, which define the
“Common Data Environment (CDE)”, as well as the UNI 11337 and the Ministerial Decree
560/2017, which define the “Ambiente di Condivisione Dati (ACDat)”, have already put the
accent on digital collaboration platforms.
Considering the above, this paper focuses mainly on a pilot project called “SPIDEr”
(Strategies for Planning and Integrated DEvelopment of Urban Cultural Contexts) carried out
at the Institute for Archaeological and Monumental Heritage (IBAM) of the Italian National
Research Council (CNR) (now “Istituto di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale” (ISPC)) and
financed by the European Structural and Investment Funds. The case study is the historic
district of the Metropolitan City of Catania, inscribed on the list of the UNESCO’s World
Heritage Sites with the “Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto” since 2002, and the
headquarters of the institute, “Palazzo Ingrassia”, part of the monumental complex of the
former Benedictine Monastery “San Nicolò l’Arena”. Investigating different digital tools
(BIM, GIS, DBMS) in the preparatory phases of a building project, the research tested a
flexible working methodology that aims to facilitate knowledge sharing, interdisciplinary
collaboration and decision-making processes for territorial transformations, as well as
management, monitoring and promotion of cultural heritage.
2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
An effective and efficient management of heterogeneous data in three dimensions requires a
digital repository/sharing platform for storing semantically enriched models, objects and
documents (Saygi and Remondino [7]).
According to Kolbe and Plümer [8] there are mainly two modelling paradigms:
 the Constructive Solid Geometry (CGS), followed by the Building Information
Modelling (BIM) and Industry Foundation Classes (IFC);
 the Boundary Representation (B-Rep), followed by the 3D Geographic Information
System (GIS) and CityGML.
Despite an increasingly pressing need of interoperability between these two modelling
paradigms and the BIM and GIS platforms, they remain not fully integrated yet. BIM offers
advantages in terms of geometric and semantic information, which can span the entire
lifecycle of buildings and infrastructures, while GIS is a decision-making tool based on geo-
visualization (Song et al. [9]). An approach of BIM integration with GIS is proposed by
Chenaux et al. [10] and Murphy et al. [11] for Virtual Historic Dublin.
According to López et al. [12], the analysis of the current scientific literature dealing with
virtual modelling shows the benefits of using BIM to facilitate the built heritage management
processes. With the aim of implementing BIM in historic buildings, Murphy et al. [13]
theorized the so-called H-BIM (Historic Building Information Modelling). For the modelling
of the Four Courts in Dublin City, Murphy et al. [14] adopted a method based on two
workflows:
 historic reconstruction, the model was created from the historic data;
 procedural reconstruction, the model was developed from the laser scanning survey.
The main differences between a BIM process for a new building and an H-BIM process
for an existing building are the nature of the information collected and the genesis and use of
the models. A BIM model has a predictive value and responds particularly well to
standardized buildings, while an H-BIM model describes the actual state and/or the historical
reconstruction of complex existing objects.
The digital restitution of the geometric, constructive and conservative features of cultural
heritage can facilitate its management, monitoring and promotion. According to Gigliarelli
et al. [15] the convergence of different disciplinary contributions in the conservation
processes is consolidating thanks to the use of approaches and technologies in the field of
H-BIM, numerical simulations and decision support systems.
The creation of a three-dimensional semantic model of an existing building has to respond
to the requirements of the planned interventions and/or of the prefixed objectives. To be more
useful for professionals, the model has to take into account not only the external three-
dimensional surfaces, but also the relationships among the spatial and technical components,
as well as the construction phases and techniques, the thicknesses and materials of the latter
(Brumana et al. [16]). According to the “Common BIM Requirements 2012” of Building
Smart Finland: “Modelling of an existing building is often easiest to conduct at the time the
renovation construction project is underway. […] Modelling accuracy and the level of details
in the BIM of an existing building must be agreed on project basis and considered carefully
to balance benefits and cost. If the modelling is performed primarily for the needs of facility
management software, it can be often restricted to the basic data of spaces and objects”.
Thomson [17] and other authors, such as Graham et al. [18], have examined this topic too.
A model obtained from a historical reconstruction based on documentation can be further
developed using not only primitive geometries, but also point clouds, meshes or NURBS,
taking into account the “ReverseLoD” approach theorized by Banfi [19]. Brusaporci et al.
[20] distinguish among four workflows:
 use of the simple post-processed point cloud;
 creation of a solid model obtained from the point cloud triangulation;
 automated partial recognition of objects and production of a hybrid model;
 manual reconstruction of objects (often very time-consuming), which can be more
or less parametric and more or less intelligent.
Biagini and Arslan [3] report that the main difficulties faced in consolidating H-BIM
procedures are generated by the uncertain definition of the modelling purposes. A BIM model
has to meet the predefined needs containing the required information despite a simplified
geometry. As argued by Biagini and Donato [21], particular attention has to be paid during
the creation of the parametric objects.
3 CASE STUDY
Commissioned by the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, “Palazzo Ingrassia” was built
between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries on a piece of land next
to the north side of the church of the former Benedictine Monastery “San Nicolò l’Arena”.
The area was granted freely to the University by the Municipality of Catania. During the
excavation procedure for the foundation construction, Carmelo Sciuto Patti found some
remains of possible Roman baths (Calabrese [22]).
Due to the damages caused by the eruption of the volcano Etna in 1669 and the disastrous
earthquake that struck south-eastern Sicily in 1693, the Benedictine Monastery “San Nicolò
l’Arena” was rebuilt based on current layout starting from the 18th century. After the
nationalization of the property in the 19th century, it housed various educational institutions
and barracks. Acquired by the University of Catania at the end of the 20th century, the
complex was restored according to a project of the architect Giancarlo De Carlo, which
initially included also “Palazzo Ingrassia” (De Carlo [23]).
Originally, the latter housed the departments of Normal and Pathological Human
Anatomy, Hygiene and Forensic Medicine of the Università degli Studi di Catania,
previously placed in “Palazzo Tezzano” (seat of the former “San Marco” Hospital) and now
located at the University Polyclinic. After some restoration and maintenance works carried
out at the beginning of the new millennium, the historic building hosts nowadays not only
the headquarters of the research institute IBAM-CNR, but also the Archaeological Museum
of the University and some sections of the departments of humanities (DISUM) and
education sciences (DISFOR).
Taking into account the related scientific literature, standards and guidelines, as well as
the following preparatory phases of a building restoration project:
 documentary and archival research;
 topographical and geometric survey;
 urban, architectural and historical analysis;
 identification of the construction techniques, materials, rooms and areas;
 pre-diagnosis of building defects.
The application of the above-mentioned digital methods and tools (BIM, GIS, DBMS) was
carried out through the following activities:
 definition of a shared coding/cataloguing system for heterogeneous data integration
and professional collaboration, creation of a relational model for database
management;
 setting-up of a storage solution for graphical/non-graphical data and documentation,
BIM-GIS-DBMS interoperability;
 document processing and database population;
 geo-referencing and identification of common real-world and project local
coordinates;
 BIM-oriented 3D modelling in support of the aforementioned urban, architectural
and historical analysis.
3.1 Definition of a shared coding/cataloguing system and creation of a

relational model for database management
An optimal management strategy for information, models and objects requires a review of
the methods for naming files, classifying building components and/or developing ontologies
for cultural heritage, starting from the most common standards. Just to name some of them:
ISO 12006-2:2015; UniClass 2015; OmniClass; MasterFormat; Uniformat II; CI/SfB; UNI
8290-1:1981+A122:1983, UNI 10838:1999 and UNI 11337-1:2017; Cataloguing Guidelines
of the Central Institute for Cataloguing and Documentation of the Italian MiBAC;
ISO 21127:2014.
With the aim to facilitate professional collaboration, a first version of a shared building
system classification based on the Italian Standards UNI and CI/SfB was tested. BIM
authoring software programs, such as Autodesk Revit, can import this and other
classifications loading a new “assembly code” text file.
In order to integrate the information gathered through the historic reconstruction and the
identification of the construction techniques, materials, rooms and areas of the building with
those related to the graphical/non-graphical data sources, a stand-alone interoperable
relational database was developed. Based on Structured Query Language (SQL), it was
connected to an online server using the Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC).
The structure of this database was constantly revised to maintain the consistency with the
BIM platform. Autodesk Revit can keep track of the information flow through specific
“shared parameters”, which can link the BIM objects with external files either using a
Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or integrating the databases using visual programming
tools, such as Dynamo, or plug-ins, such as Revit DB Link. The latter was experimented also
in the case study of Parma Cathedral, carried out by Nazarena and Riccardo [24].
3.2 Setting-up of a storage solution for graphical/non-graphical data

and documentation
To achieve better professional collaboration, knowledge sharing and interoperability among

different software programs and platforms (BIM-GIS-DBMS), it was necessary to set-up a
specific storage solution.
After the creation of a shared folder in the local network and the configuration of a
Network-Attached Storage (NAS) server, a common repository for object-based three-
dimensional models was arranged. A digital platform capable of fulfilling this role is the one
available within Autodesk Revit setting-up the “work-sets” and enabling the “work-sharing”
functionality. This functionality allows professionals and stakeholders involved in a project
to work simultaneously in a single centralized workplace and to use various cloud-based
services on different devices (such as BIM Track). As aforementioned, a bidirectional
connection between Autodesk Revit and a database management program, such as SQL
Server, can be established through the plug-in Revit DB Link. The latter allows exporting the
BIM model data to a database, where they can be further edited and then re-imported into the
BIM authoring program. A similar connection can be established with MySQL using
Dynamo. As previously mentioned, it is also possible to import new “assembly code” text
files for updating and/or changing the building system classification, as well as to create
specific “shared parameters” in order to link the external files uploaded to the NAS.
Furthermore, different BIM-GIS integration workflows were tested. A first one, using
Autodesk Infraworks and Civil 3D, platforms that can integrate different kinds of models, bi-
and three-dimensional objects, point clouds and shapefiles at a territorial level. A second one,
taking advantage of the new Revit reading capabilities of ArcGIS Pro, developed recently
thanks to a partnership between Esri and Autodesk, in order to bring the BIM information
from the Revit native format into the GIS platform. A third one, converting the BIM model
into shapefiles for the GIS analysis. In addition, other software solutions were investigated.
Among them: 3DCityDB, a free open source software for the storage, management and
visualization of three-dimensional urban models according to the CityGML standard,
developed by the Technical University of Munich with other partners and used by Chenaux
et al. [10] and Murphy et al. [11] in Virtual Historic Dublin; CesiumJS, an open source
JavaScript library for world-class 3D mapping of geospatial data.
3.3 Documentary and archival research, document processing and

database population
The digital collaboration platform defined by the Italian BIM Standards (UNI 11337-1:2017)
is constituted by both an “Object Library” and a “Common Data Environment”, which stores
the digital models, objects, data and documentation related to a project. The non-digital data
and documentation are firstly stored in a “Data Room” and then, once digitized, included in
the “Common Data Environment”.
Following this approach, the documentary and archival research (related to the design and
construction history of “Palazzo Ingrassia”, as well as to the spatial planning and the
construction techniques and materials typical of the area of Catania), was complemented by
the digitization and systematization of the gathered graphical/non-graphical data. The
collected information and files were linked to the BIM platform and/or used for populating
the aforementioned database with a unique identifier (UID).
3.4 Topographical and geometric survey, geo-referencing and identification

of coordinates
The topographical and geometric survey started with the definition of a common spatial
reference system and a geo-referencing procedure. It was performed with the support of a
total station and a terrestrial laser scanner (3D FARO Focus X 130) accompanied by direct
measurements and inspections. The acquired laser scanning data and their post-processing
(registration/alignment, geo-referencing, cleaning-up, decimation) allowed gaining a point
cloud of the external surface and of the internal western part of the building. The post-
processing can be carried out through different software programs, such as Leica Geosystems
HDS Cyclone, FARO Scene, Autodesk ReCap. In addition, photogrammetry (Structure from
Motion with software programs such as Agisoft PhotoScan or 3Dflow 3DF Zephir) was used
for the surveying and restitution of some archaeological ruins located nearby the building.
The next step was the definition of the real world and different project local coordinates
in the BIM authoring software program. This procedure is necessary to maintain the
consistency between the GIS and BIM platforms and to coordinate the acquired point clouds
with the meshes and/or NURBS obtained through their processing; the CAD files collected
or gained through vectorization of raster images; the BIM and other 3D objects and models
created. In Autodesk Revit, this means the identification of the “real” and “project north”, as
well as of the “shared coordinate system” and the agreed local coordinate systems. Extension
for Civil 3D and Revit such as Autodesk Shared Reference Point can facilitate these
procedures.
3.5 BIM-oriented 3D modelling in support of urban, architectural and

historical analysis
The further step in digitizing building information was the creation of a BIM model. As for
any reverse engineering process, this challenging phase aims to recover the design intent,
going beyond the captured point clouds and/or meshes and creating a three-dimensional
model made-up of semantic BIM objects. To this end, it is likely that Big Data analytics and
Machine Learning algorithms will become increasingly beneficial.
Taking into account the aforementioned method followed by Murphy et al. [14] and other
authors (Paris and Wahbeh [25]), as well as the “ReverseLoD” approach theorized by Banfi
[19], the modelling process was based on the integration and interaction of CAD files, point
clouds, meshes, NURBS, BIM and other 3D objects and models. The BIM platform was
therefore set-up for the creation of a federated “hybrid” BIM model. Different modelling
workflows were adopted, depending on the geometry of the elements. Paris and Wahbeh [25]
distinguish among:
 elements with simple (despite stratified) geometries (the most frequent situation);
 elements with complex geometries with recurrent common matrices that can be
parameterized;
 elements with complex geometries that can be express mathematically;
 elements with irregular geometries that have predominantly sculptural and/or ruined
character.
Once defined the aforementioned common coding/cataloguing and spatial reference
systems, the relevant graphical documents gathered through the documentary and archival
research were linked to the BIM platform. If they were not available in a CAD file format,
they were vectorised and linked in both raster image and CAD file formats. The point clouds
were linked successively, when made available.
Based on the digital and/or digitized collected graphical/non-graphical data sources, it was
possible to carry out a diachronic reconstruction of the design, construction and
transformation dynamics of the building. Once defined the “work-sharing” procedures, some
“phases” were created according to the main construction, restoration and maintenance
interventions, and a “mass” model of the building volumes was created. The phases were
firstly associated to the volumes and sequentially to the created BIM objects.
The next step was the collaborative modelling of BIM objects based on the
documentation. At this stage, the geometric reconstruction was mainly based on the plans of
the last restoration and maintenance projects, compared with the other available plans and
taking into account the symmetries and rules underlying the architectural design. The latter
are more important in case of survey inaccessibility issues and damaged architectural
heritage. This approach, also supported by GIS and DBMS, facilitates the processes of urban,
architectural and historical analysis; identification of construction techniques, materials,
rooms and areas (consistently with the chosen shared building system classification); pre-
diagnosis of building defects, which are ordinarily carried out during the preparatory phases
of a building restoration project. In this way, it was possible to reach a good level of
understanding of the building in its context, as well as a general/global BIM model with a
low LoD (Level of Development), which was successively further detailed. The latter
included the reconstruction hypothesis of some archaeological remains, which was linked to
the federated “hybrid” BIM model. As regards this aspect, specific studies on how BIM
models can facilitate the architectural stratigraphic analysis borrowed from Harris Matrix
were already carried out (Brusaporci et al. [26]).
The analysis and reconstruction of the “categories” and “types” of building elements; the
“profiles” and “pattern” of friezes, decorations and railings; the rooms and the areas were
based not only on the documentation related to the building, but also on the one related to the
construction techniques and materials spread over the area (scientific literature, manuals,
treatises, etc.). This process led to the development of a library of objects and materials,
which included the creation of custom patterns for their representation and can be further
developed through specific building investigations. This library can be used for similar cases
and in the same area to create other BIM models and to carry out simulations that can support
decision-making processes (especially if it contains specific parameters, such as thermal
transmittance, reflection factor, mechanical resistance, etc.).
In this regard, it is important to highlight the potential benefits of this approach, which
allows different professionals to work simultaneously in a single centralized workplace and
to collaborate interdisciplinary in order to enrich and detail the graphical/non-graphical data
and documentation related to the semantic BIM objects created. The concepts of Level of
Development (LoD), Level of Geometry (LoG) and Level of Information (LoI) have to be
taken into due consideration to avoid improper use of the information modelled and/or
entered into the database. For this reason and according to the Italian BIM Standards (UNI
11337-4:2017), specific “shared parameters” were created to indicate the LoD, LoG and LoI
of the modelled BIM objects.
Particular attention has to be paid to the file size. It has to be kept at manageable level.
This is possible, as aforementioned, setting-up the creation of federated “hybrid” BIM
models. The accuracy and level of details can be increased using point clouds, meshes and
NURBS. The point clouds can be segmented and classified, processed and saved as meshes
or NURBS, which can be converted into BIM/IFC format and enriched with attributes or
imported using visual programming tools, such as Dynamo (Yang et al. [27]).
The next step was the detailing of the BIM model based on the captured point clouds. As
aforementioned, depending on the geometry of the elements, different modelling workflows
were adopted. For the elements with simple (despite stratified) geometries, such as walls,
floors, columns and beams, manual and semi-automatic workflows were followed. The
previously developed BIM objects were adapted to the captured point clouds manually and/or
using specific plug-ins, such as FARO As-Built, which can reduce the modelling time. A
similar workflow was used for the elements with complex geometries and recurrent common
matrices, such as friezes, decorations, railings, windows, doors, which were parameterized.
In this phase, the modelling was simplified taking into account just the significant
particularities, alterations and deformations of the building elements, according to the
aforementioned “Common BIM Requirements 2012” of Building Smart Finland, Series 2
(“Modelling of the starting situation”), aiming at the accuracy levels of the “inventory
models” defined in paragraph 5 (“Modelling requirements”). These tolerances and the
“graphic error” of 0.2 mm were considered to define the most suitable scale for the created
sheets. To check the modelling quality, the same plug-in, FARO As-Built, or other software
programs, such as CloudCompare, offer the possibility to carry out a “deviation analysis”
that compares the created BIM model with the captured point clouds.
In comparison with other historic buildings, the modelling of the case study was simpler,
because it is characterized by geometries that are more regular and a design that is more
standardized. For the elements that have nevertheless irregular geometries and a predominant
sculptural and/or ruined character, such us statues or archaeological ruins, a different
modelling workflow was adopted. Once segmented and classified, the point clouds related to
these objects were processed (cleaning-up, closing) and saved as meshes in OBJ file format,
using software programs such as 3DReshaper. As aforementioned, the meshes can be either
converted into BIM/IFC format and enriched with attributes, or imported into the BIM
platform using visual programming tools, such as Dynamo. For the elements with complex
geometries that can be express mathematically, such as arches and vaults, were tested either
“adaptive components” or NURBS (Non Uniform Rational Basis-Splines), which can
generate surfaces that follow the scans without significant geometric deviations due to their
ability to interpolate points. Imported into the BIM authoring software program, they can be
used to create parametric objects.
The BIM model was constantly checked to avoid conflicts and overlaps (e.g. using
Autodesk Naviswork). It can be consequently used for facilitating the characterization and
mapping of conservation and degradation states of architectural elements. The data collected
through visual evaluations and photographic classifications, possibly supported by specific

building investigations, sampling and sample analysis, can be linked, inserted, processed in
the BIM platform and provide a picture of the current situation of the building, leading to the
pre-diagnosis phase.
Specific software programs, such as Dalux or Autodesk BIM 360, allowed sharing the
created BIM model and the related documentation on different devices. Through these
sharing platforms, it is possible, among other things, to add metadata, to incorporate
augmented reality, to facilitate the space and asset management. To expand the capabilities
of facilities management systems into BIM, also ARCHIBUS released recently a plug-in
called Smart Client Extension for Revit.
Moreover, the BIM model was used also to carry out some simulations for automating
and/or facilitating decision-making processes. Using plug-ins such as Relux, for instance, it
was possible to speed up lighting design and calculations.
4 CONCLUSIONS
This paper presents some of the results of an application of a BIM-based lifecycle-oriented
approach to information modelling and management of an existing building set in an urban
historical context. Investigating different digital tools (BIM, GIS, DBMS) in the preparatory
phases of a building restoration project, it aimed at facilitating knowledge sharing,
interdisciplinary collaboration and decision-making processes for territorial transformations,
as well as management, monitoring and promotion of cultural heritage. After the definition
of a shared coding/cataloguing system and a relational model for database management, the
created database was populated while the documentary and archival research was carried out
and the gathered documents processed. Once a storage solution for graphical/non-graphical
data and documentation was set-up and geo-referencing procedures and common coordinates
were identified, a topographical and geometric survey was carried out and a BIM-oriented
3D model in support of urban, architectural and historical analysis was created.
This approach is becoming strategically important, especially in countries such as Italy,
which have a vast built heritage with remarkable historical and architectural values, and are
experimenting a reduction in new construction projects. Although complex, as well as time
and skill consuming, it offers multiple additional benefits, both in the professional and
research practices, which come from the modelling process and the possibility of constant
upgrades (Stober et al. [28]).
Taking into account the Ministerial Decree 560/2017, which defines modalities and timing
of the BIM introduction in Italy, as well as the growing demand for specialized professionals
throughout the world, there is a clear need for further researches and trainings in this field.
For this purpose, universities, schools and research institutes, which can produce and
disseminate knowledge and innovation, as well as investigate historic contexts and promote
the territory as a whole, need to collaborate closely with professionals and software houses.
(Biagini and Arslan [3]). According to Volk et al. [29], nowadays major researches focus on
the development of cost-efficient and highly automated BIM creation based on laser scanning
or photogrammetry, while future researches may include material- or texture-based
recognition and non-destructive testing methods. Furthermore, also clear and consequent
modelling workflows and standards are required and have to be investigated and defined.
Since the BIM method is closer to the construction process as the CAD one, it can
contribute to the interpretation of the built heritage and the assessment of alternatives and
decisions. According to Centofanti et al. [30], a BIM-oriented approach can be considered as
an interoperable process of knowledge, design, maintenance and management of a
building/infrastructure project. For historic buildings, it can support the integration of the
different disciplinary contributions during the analysis, restoration and/or maintenance, as

well as communication and promotion processes. The interventions on the architectural
heritage and historic contexts can be viewed as stages of a whole lifecycle and parts of a
single management process.
The difficulties of such a paradigm shift, which changes the focus from the product to the
process, lie also in the organisational/cultural aspects and not only in the technological ones.
Taking duly into account change management theories and models, conditions for greater
interdisciplinary collaboration should be created. Some of the barriers that are limiting the
adoption of this approach can be addressed through new forms of contract, which should be
identified and tested.
An effective and efficient management of data can lead to better project decisions and
deliveries, allowing higher quality and lower costs, more sustainability and fewer risks, as
well as combining preservation with promotion of the cultural heritage, transformation with
protection of the territory.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This paper presents some of the results achieved thanks to the previous experiences and
studies of the author, as well as the project “SPIDEr” (Strategies for Planning and Integrated
Development of Urban Cultural Contexts) carried out at the Institute for Archaeological and
Monumental Heritage (IBAM) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) (now “Istituto
di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale” (ISPC)). The latter was financed by the European
Structural and Investment Funds (PO FSE Sicilia 2020 – Avviso 11/2017). The author would
like to thank all those who have contributed in various ways.
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STUDY ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A MAINTENANCE

MODE FOR A BIM-BASED LANDSCAPE PROJECT
YI-JAO CHEN, HUI-YI KUO & CHI-JEN CHEN
Department of Architecture, National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
ABSTRACT
The maintenance of landscape construction projects exhibits several distinct features including long life
cycles, high costs, and a variety of influencing factors. Landscape information modeling (LIM),
developed based on the concept of building information modeling (BIM), has been applied in landscape
design with several preliminary achievements. However, the current database structure associated with
a landscape information model does not include any information required for the maintenance of a
landscape project. Therefore, this study focused on the maintenance and management of landscape
projects. Specifically, we first presented a detailed discussion on the information requirement for
the maintenance and management of landscape projects. Based on these requirements, a building
information model for describing the maintenance information is established. Finally, a BIM-based
landscape maintenance and management system is developed and validated with a practical case
study. The case study reveals high integrity, mobility, and effectiveness of the collected information
for use in landscape maintenance. In addition, instantaneous visualization of the information is also
demonstrated in the study, which provides great convenience for practical maintenance work.
Keywords: landscape projects, BIM, facility maintenance and management.
1 INTRODUCTION
When considering the entire life cycle of a particular project, the operation and maintenance
can play an even more important role than its design and construction. Traditional approaches
for maintaining and managing a facility still primarily rely on paper-based documents such
as drawings, facility information documents, and warranty documents. However, after
completion of construction, when such an engineering project becomes increasingly larger in
scale and more complex, the content conveyed by these drawings can no longer satisfy the
owner’s operation and maintenance requirements of the facility [1], [2].
Among different types of maintenance works, the maintenance of a landscape project is
particularly demanding owing to its long life cycle, high costs, and a variety of influencing
factors. In addition, the different trees, shrubs, vines, grass, flowers, and aquatic plants
grown in a landscape project require distinct growth environments. With these complex
environmental factors, even the most professional landscape designer may fail to cover every
aspect in the landscape design. In addition, considering that not every single frontline
maintenance and management operator possesses adequate professional knowledge and skill,
certain mistakes and malfunctions are expected during the maintenance and management
process. While it is possible to improve the working efficiency using a facility maintenance
and management system, whether the data associated with the complex facilities in the
system can meet the information requirements of the maintenance operations is still a
challenge by itself. Furthermore, an effective method for maintaining a landscape project is
still lacking in most studies [3].
Recent studies have proposed the concept of landscape information modeling (LIM) as a
natural extension of BIM to landscape engineering design [4], [5]. However, the application
of BIM during the operation and maintenance stage of the facility has only been explored by
limited preliminary studies [6]. Currently, it is still impossible to apply BIM to practical
maintenance and management operations of a landscape facility. In addition, a feasible model
doi:10.2495/BIM190161
for applying BIM to the maintenance of landscape project and the establishment of a relevant
architecture are still lacking [3], [4]. This is primarily caused by two reasons. On one hand,
current BIM platforms are mainly established targeting the requirements during the design
and construction stages. On the other hand, the database structure of a building information
model does not include necessary information required for performing landscape
maintenance of projects. Therefore, the objective of this study is to first analyze the
information requirement for maintenance and management practices of a BIM-based
landscape project, then establish a landscape component standard attribute architecture that
describes multiple maintenance and management information content, and finally develop a
feasible BIM-based landscape maintenance and management model. The feasibility of the
proposed model will be validated by a case study.
2 INFORMATION REQUIREMENT FOR BIM-BASED LANDSCAPE

MAINTENANCE PRACTICE
The maintenance and management practices of plants in a landscape project can be classified
into two categories including a routine maintenance and a failure maintenance. With this in
consideration, the operation process and the information presentation method for both types
of plant maintenance practices are proposed in this study. In plant maintenance work, the
operator typically has to deal with a mixture of arbor trees and shrubs. Depending on
the actual operation content, different mechanical equipment and labor power may be
required for different types of plants. Therefore, a one-to-multiple information model is
used for classification in this maintenance operation practice. In this study, maintenance
work for trees, shrubs, and ground covers are all analyzed systematically. Fig. 1 shows the
maintenance information relationship diagram using arbor trees as an example.
The plants encountered in the maintenance practices can be classified into arbor trees,
shrubs, the ground cover, and the lawn. Maintenance operations include pruning, lawn work,
drug spraying, stent fixation, among others. In order to obtain the attribute information
requirements for maintenance operations of different plants, attribute data are first divided
into the following fields in this study: plant growth factors, types of machinery, personnel
requirements, and waste disposal. Next, each plant category is associated with a maintenance
operation. The content of the attribute data is summarized according to the requirement of
each type of maintenance operation, as shown in Table 1. Taking the maintenance of arbor
trees for example, their primary maintenance work includes watering, fertilization, pest
Figure 1: One-to-multiple information diagram for maintenance of arbor trees.
Table 1: Plant maintenance/management work and participating personnel.
Maintenance/management Personnel participating

Plant type
work content in the maintenance
Arbor tree pruning
Arbor tree Pruning Management unit
Shrub pruning
Lawn trim
Shrub Lawn work Inspection unit
Weed removal
Fertilization
Ground cover and Drug
Pest control Maintenance unit
lawn spraying
Weed suppression
Stent Stent fixation and
Design unit
fixation adjustment
Other Watering
Construction unit
works Replanting
control, bracket support, and tree trimming. The attribute data required according to each of
these items are classified into four groups including plant growth factors, types of machinery,
personnel requirements, and waste disposal. Then, each work content will be related to
different attributes. For example, the attribute information related to the watering of arbor
trees are plant growth factors, types of machinery, and personnel requirements. Following
this approach, we can analyze each planting object with its attribute content and obtain
the corresponding attribute information. The attribute information associated with the
maintenance work of other plants are summarized following the same procedure.
After analyzing the maintenance work items and their associated attribute information
content, an information management model is further proposed in this study. As shown in
Fig. 2, in traditional maintenance work, the planting location is determined by a field operator
according to the planting configuration diagram. Therefore, the scope of maintenance and
actual operations are scheduled and summarized after confirming the type and quantity of the
plants. By establishing a cloud database of the information associated with plant maintenance
and management work, the manager can now directly manage the database through the cloud.
The maintenance operator can also record the work content and results in the cloud database
immediately after finishing the maintenance work. In contrast, failure maintenance work is
mostly required to handle emergency accidents. In a traditional operation flow work, the
manager is first informed of the accident site and condition. Subsequently, maintenance
operators are sent to the accident site together with the required mechanical equipment for
handling the accident. After finishing the work, the operator will record the work and report
it to the management units. In this type of workflow, a considerable amount of time is
consumed on understanding the site condition. Therefore, herein, we propose to establish a
cloud database for storing relevant information content. In case of an accident, the
management and maintenance units can quickly familiarize themselves with the situation at
the site through the database and allow for proper planning of the subsequent work.
Furthermore, the resolution process and results of the accident can be recorded in the cloud
database to enable the management unit to understand on-site conditions and relevant content
in time. Fig. 3 shows the planning process.
Figure 2: Work architecture of routine maintenance of plants.
Figure 3: Work architecture for failure maintenance of plants.
3 ATTRIBUTE ARCHITECTURE AND MODEL CONSTRUCTION OF BIM

COMPONENTS FOR LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT
In this study, the landscape components in the BIM architecture are classified using the
OmniClass Table. The objective is to analyze the information of component units effectively
and organize these units for application. Based on our findings, plant components are
classified using the OmniClass Table, as shown in Tables 2 and 3.
Table 2: Hierarchical classification of OmniClass.
OmniClass code First layer Second layer Third layer Fourth layer Fifth layer
Equipment
23.40.00.00 and
furniture
Plants and
23.40.05.00
planting products
23.40.05.17 Outdoor planting
23.40.05.17.11 Ground cover
23.40.05.17.14 Bulbous plant
23.40.05.17.17 Arbor tree
23.40.05.17.21 Coniferous trees
23.40.05.17.24 Deciduous tree
Table 3: COBie information architecture for plant maintenance.
Major plant
Information Environment Comprehensive
maintenance Plant characteristics
requirement information information
works
BIM component Plant growth period, type, Sunshine, planting Model environment,
information： size, quantity, pruning environment, season location
Mechanical equipment and
Pruning COBie parameter： manpower required for plant Frequency, cost
trimming
Bad branch pruning plan, Planting component
File: tree pruning plan, cross location, name,
maintenance plan quantity
BIM component Planting location,
season, soil
information：
Lawn work composition
COBie parameter：
File:
BIM component Planting growth period,
type, specification, quantity, Planting environment Frequency, cost
information：
Base fertilization period
improvemen Fertilizer type, label, Planting component
t COBie parameter： quantity used, manpower, Fertilization area location, name,
cost quantity
File:
Planting species,
BIM component specifications, quantity, pest Planting environment,
Model environment
information： and disease season, control season
season
Drug
Planting component
spraying Types of pests and diseases,
COBie parameter： Control area location, name,
types of drugs, usage,
quantity
Pesticide use plan, pest
File:
control plan
BIM component Arbor specifications, Component name, Component name,
location, connection location, connection location, connection
information：
Stent relationship relationship relationship
fixation Stent type, plant
COBie parameter：
specifications
File:
Planting characteristics,
BIM component types, specifications, Planting environment, Model environment,
information： quantities, water season location
Other works requirements
COBie parameter： Water quantity, frequency
File：
The first layer is equipment and furniture (i.e., the product category), the second layer is
plants and planting products, the third layer is outdoor planting, and the fourth layer is the
planting sequence. Such a sequence follows the order of ground cover, bulbous plants,
shrubs, conifers, and deciduous trees. Therefore, the planting code of the planting
components is determined using this classification, as shown in Table 2. The rest of the
information is included and compiled in the form of component field expansion to make it
consistent with the additional information in the specification. Based on the analysis results
of the plant maintenance requirements, the maintenance works are further classified into the
following categories according to their content: pruning, lawn work, base improvement, drug
spraying, stent fixation, and other works. Furthermore, the information required for
performing plant maintenance and management work is summarized in a COBie table
architecture, as shown in Table 3.
After reviewing the COBie standard manual and determining the new information
implemented in the table, the specifications related to the new information are further
analyzed. Taking the planting component as an example, we first filtered out the new
information added to the table by comparing the information requirements. The information
that requires further analysis is shown in Table 4. Specifically, the planting characteristics,
maintenance and management material, and the establishment of a relationship between
different documents are all new information. Among them, the intrinsic characteristic of
plants is categorized in the order of high, medium, and low to distinguish the operating
frequency. In the maintenance management data fields, the medium growth period and the
period suitable for fertilization are filled in terms of months to provide a reference for future
activity planning. As there is too much content included in the maintenance and management
operation table, this excess information is only presented as an attached link. This approach
addresses the reading difficulty that arises when there is too much content in the data table.
Table 4: Maintenance information requirements and comparison of specifications.
Whether it exists in
Classification Information requirement
the specification
Plant name Yes
Plant type Yes
Location/specifications Yes
Planting characteristics No, must be added
Wind resistance No, must be added
Intrinsic characteristics
Drought resistance No, must be added
of the plants
Moisture resistance No, must be added
Barren resistance No, must be added
Heat resistance No, must be added
Shade tolerance No, must be added
Salinity tolerance No, must be added
Growth period No, must be added
Period suitable for
Maintenance and No, must be added
transplanting
management information
Period suitable for trimming No, must be added
Period suitable for fertilizing No, must be added
Plant maintenance and
No, must be added
management plan
Arbor tree bad branch
No, must be added
Maintenance and pruning plan
management work form Arbor tree pruning plan No, must be added
Cross-dimensional plan No, must be added
Pesticide use plan No, must be added
Pest control plan No, must be added
In this study, Autodesk Revit is used to develop the landscape components and establish
the associated model. Based on previous results on the information requirement of BIM
components, content must be written in the specifications after confirming the information
of BIM components. The writing of information can be achieved in three ways: (1)
information is generated automatically by the drawing components in Revit (e.g., length, pipe
diameter); (2) COBie parameters are directly written in the Revit file; and (3) MS Excel forms
are exported through the COBie Toolkit. Therefore, it is important to first inspect the method
used for writing the information in order to mitigate any duplicate or missing information.
Next, a case study is performed using the planting component as an example. The information
content required for connecting the type is constructed using the “type nature” in Revit. The
components are used to connect different content in the case study. Therefore, when
constructing the data form, it is necessary to establish the information required by the
specification in each mode. Certain information such as name, producer, and location can be
established by the COBie Toolkit, while documents such as the maintenance manual are
constructed in Excel and are exported using the COBie Toolkit. After confirming the
completion of the required components and information modes, we then proceed to establish
a building information model according to each mode and further complete the COBie
information content. In addition, there is a significant lack of landscape components in
current BIM software. The incompatibility of several planting components in the local
environment also makes them not applicable to the planning of domestic landscape plants.
Therefore, in this study, we constructed relevant BIM components based on common plants
used in domestic landscape projects. Furthermore, self-developed BIM components were
defined in terms of attribute expansion, as shown in Fig. 4.
Figure 4: Schematic of attribute field expansion for BIM components of plants developed
in this study.
Figure 5: BIM space defined based on the maintenance and management requirement of
landscape plants.
Another issue is that the way space is defined in BIM software cannot be applied to
landscape planning. For example, the space is defined in Revit by forming an enclosed space
through a room. Other outdoor spatial components are exported through COBie as
component location information and represented by their coordinates. These approaches
cannot satisfy the on-site operation requirement. Traditional on-site operation involves
indicating the region and naming the location directly according to the design diagram. For
example, the spatial location is called the entrance to the plaza, or region A in the flower
square. Using a coordinate system makes it difficult to comprehend the information and
connect the coordinates to the actual region requiring maintenance. Therefore, the spatial
region is redefined in Revit in this study. In particular, outdoor plants are used to form an
independent “space” that is named according to the design diagram, as shown in Fig. 5. This
approach solves the issue of defining outdoor space in Revit.
4 DEVELOPMENT OF AUGMENTED REALITY SYSTEM FOR LANDSCAPE

MAINTENANCE/MANAGEMENT AND THE VALIDATION BY CASE STUDY
A building landscape design is selected as our research object in the case study. By going
through the actual simulation process of the selected case from specifications to information
delivery, the system proposed in this study is validated to be suitable and feasible for forming
design specifications. The base area in the case study is 5500 m2. A total of 203 arbor trees
and 12,600 shrubs are included in the plants of the case study. The building information
model of the selected case is shown in Fig. 6. The statistics of the plants grown in the case
are summarized in Table 5.
Figure 6: Building information model of the case study.
Table 5: List of the plants used in the case study.
Number
Omniclass code Plant name Size (H)
(count)
1 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_M_RPC tree - deciduous tree_terminalia - 7 m 762 3
2 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_M_RPC tree - deciduous tree_ alstonia scholaris - 10 m 960 6
3 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_M_RPC tree - tropical_mid east jujube - 10 m 962 5
4 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_M_RPC plant - tropical_ixora flower - 1 m 60 200
5 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_M_RPC plant- tropical_Indian rubber - 5 m 492 2
6 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_M_RPC tree - autumn_eucalyptus - 10 m 1000 10
7 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_Taiwan Elm -12 m 1280.6 8
8 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_pongame oiltree - 4 m 380 21
9 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_ pterocarpus indicus - 7.5 m 756 10
10 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_ senna siamea - 8 m 842 21
11 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_ peltophorum pterocarpum - 16 m 1650 15
12 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_ pygmy date palm - 12 m 1200 14
13 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_ golden trumpet tree - 6 m 630 24
14 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_ melia azedarach - 10 m 1005 10
15 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_ samanea saman - 15 m 1542 12
16 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_ combretaceae - 12 m 1253 8
17 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_ breadfruit - 6 m 600 4
18 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_ roystonea regia - 10 m 1000 7
19 23.40.05.17.24 Plant_ traveller’s tree - 5 m 500 15
20 23.40.05.17.24 Plant _ cassia - 8 m 852 8
21 23.40.05.17.17 Plant _agave - 0.7 m 70 2640
22 23.40.05.17.17 Plant _ blackberry Lily - 0.4 m 40 3560
23 23.40.05.17.17 Plant _ garden croton - 0.5 m 50 2500
24 23.40.05.17.17 Plant _ kelat Paya - 0.6 m 60 3200
25 23.40.05.17.17 Plant _ pink ixora - 0.4 m 40 500
Figure 7: COBie attribute tab exported from the landscape maintenance and management
building information model.
When developing the landscape maintenance and management system in this study, we
first processed the information contained in the COBie form. Considering that a large amount
of information is contained in the COBie form (as shown in Fig. 7) and the way such
information is presented does not meet the requirement for field maintenance operations, we
performed secondary data editing on the COBie form, during which the data fields are
converted to a maintenance/management form satisfying the needs for field operation.
Furthermore, the integrity, mobility, and effectiveness of the information used in
outdoor operations have also been considered in this study. Based on the development of the
BIM-based facility maintenance and management system, an augmented reality (AR)
technology is further developed and integrated into the study to ensure high integrity,
mobility, and effectiveness of the information for use in landscape maintenance and
management. In addition, the AR technology also allows for instantaneous visualization of
the relevant information, which provides great convenience for practical maintenance work.
Fig. 8 shows the architecture of the BIM-based AR landscape maintenance and management
system proposed in this study. First, the BIM platform is developed using Autodesk Revit
and configured using the plugin tools of Revit. In addition, the data included in the COBie
form is exported using the COBie Extension. The next task is to construct AR components
of the landscape plants. This is achieved by first exporting the 3D objects into OBJ files using
OBJ Exporter, then converting these OBJ files into SCN files using Apple SceneKit, and
finally integrating these 3D objects in a landscape maintenance iOS app using Xcode. In
this study, an iOS app is developed to make it more convenient to maintain and manage
landscape facilities. The app can deliver proper virtual AR elements and the associated
content through a QR code. With respect to the management system for plant maintenance,
a cloud-based management system is developed using JotForm to enable the manager to learn
about on-site work conditions instantaneously. This system can also allow the upload of
information documents and browse prior plant maintenance record files at the same time.
By encoding each type of plant, the user can check the maintenance information and relevant
precautions for either a single plant or a collection of plants in the entire region over different
years (Fig. 9).
Figure 8: Architecture of BIM-based AR landscape maintenance and management system.
Figure 9: Application of the landscape plant maintenance and management system.
5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This study focuses on the maintenance and management of landscape projects. In particular,
we discussed the data requirement for landscape maintenance and management and
developed a building information model for describing landscape maintenance information.
Furthermore, we developed a BIM-based landscape maintenance and management system
and validated its feasibility through a case study. The following conclusions and
recommendations can be drawn from the case study: (1) the results obtained from the
information requirement analysis based on the work flow of plant maintenance are suitable
for use in plant maintenance and management at the back-end; (2) the specifications of
delivering plant maintenance operation information can be analyzed effectively using a
systematic analysis method; (3) the inspection mode and specifications of information
delivery developed in this study can be expanded with the maintenance job; (4) the model
developed in this study can help plan plant maintenance schedules and funding requirements
in advance; (5) the quantitative data collection and analysis can also help improve and
optimize the landscape plant maintenance and management system. While we have only
focused on plant maintenance of landscape projects in this study, a much wider range of
content is covered in actual landscape projects. In this study, the specifications for
information delivery are developed based on the workflow of a specific task. Such a strategy
can also be applied to other maintenance and management tasks in landscape projects. In
future studies, the operation tasks can be expanded with an increasing number of
landscape components and more relevant information to provide greater benefits in landscape
maintenance and management.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan under Grant
MOST 107-2221-E-390-009.
REFERENCES
[1] William East, E., Nisbet, N. & Liebich, T., Facility management handover model view.
Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 27(1), pp. 61–7, 2013.
[2] Fallon, K. & Palmer, M.E., Capital facilities information handover guide, part 1.
National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2006.
[3] Abdirad, H. & Lin, K.-Y., Advancing in object-based landscape information modeling:
Challenges and future needs. Computing in Civil Engineering, pp. 548–555, 2015.
[4] Beer, R. et al., Pharmacokinetics of intravenous linezolid in cerebrospinal fluid and
plasma in neurointensive care patients with staphylococcal ventriculitis associated with
external ventricular drains. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 51(1), pp. 379–
382, 2007.
[5] Zahrádková, V.A.H., Required components for Landscape Information Modelling
(LIM): A literature review. Peer Reviewed Proceedings of Digital Landscape
Architecture 2015 at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, 2015.
[6] Wang, Y., Wang, X., Wang, J., Yung, P. & Jun, G., Engagement of facilities
management in design stage through BIM: Framework and a case study. Advances in
Civil Engineering, pp. 1–8, 2013.
4D BIM-ORIENTED DIGITAL PROJECT CONSTRUCTION

MANAGEMENT FOR THE AEC INDUSTRY
SOFIA AGOSTINELLI, FRANCESCO RUPERTO & ADRIANA SCARLET SFERRA
Department of Planning Design and Technology of Architecture, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
ABSTRACT
Project management is a working method that covers the entire life cycle of the project, from conception
to planning, from design to construction, monitoring and post-construction activities. This approach
allows to carry out project activities in relation to the agreed time and budget, to optimize the resources
available and give immediate responses to unforeseen events while reducing inefficiencies and waste.
The uniqueness of each project makes its management multifaceted, without prejudice to the validity
of organizational principles, operational tools and, above all, the importance of a structured
methodological approach. The uniqueness of a project also refers not only to its typological-functional,
structural and architectural characteristics, as well as to the context of inclusion, but may also vary
depending on the country and structure of commissioning. From time to time, the way in which the
project is contracted and its characteristics can influence the design of the project from the earliest
stages of setting up, and can change not only the responsibilities of the professionals involved, but also
the application of managerial techniques. Such context and project complexities can find in the ICT
technologies oriented to BIM a significant support to the enhancement of the activities of the project
manager, being able to amplify the quality of the results and increase the level of control and monitoring
of the project in the temporal (4D) and economic (5D) aspects. The contribution critically examines the
opportunities of such a definable digital project construction management using real case studies and
research, in which visual construction management has contributed to the creation of value in terms of
reducing errors in the planning of the work and reducing process inefficiencies and waste of resources
in a perspective of lean management.
Keywords: 4D, project management, construction management, digital construction, visual design
construction.
1 INTRODUCTION
The possibility of building a digital environment oriented to the fourth dimension for time
management, contributes to the development of construction processes that can minimize the
waste of materials, time and resources, in order to generate the maximum possible economic
value, meeting the requirements of customers. The efficient communication between the
project stakeholders and the integrated transfer of information relating to the construction, in
fact, also represents an advantage in terms of profit for the construction company [1]. In other
words, 4D modeling can be a decisive support to the functions of risk management and
construction planning.
2 DEFINITIONS AND STATE OF THE ART

The Computer Integrated Construction Research Group of the American University Penn
State, codifies the use of the BIM oriented to 4D modeling in the phase planning, describing
it as a process in which, implementing the model with the temporal dimension, it is possible
to efficiently plan the realization of a work, and declines the main advantages.
4D modeling is configured as a powerful visualization and communication tool, which
allows stakeholders to accurately monitor the flow of information, effectively managing the
planning aspects; one of the main advantages of using a BIM approach oriented to 4D, is the
ability to improve and facilitate planning, as well as to express the spatial complexity of
project management aspects related to planning and supporting further and subsequent
doi:10.2495/BIM190171
analysis; integrating the management of human, equipment and material resources with the
elements of the model, we also identify the relationships between the activities and the critical
path; the functionality of a 4D model is then realized in the operational aspects of
identification and resolution of spatial conflicts at the beginning of construction, optimizing
the work scheduling, the sequencing of phases and solving any problems of interference;
finally, a proper planning of the process also has a positive impact on the environmental
aspects of a realization, but optimizing the management and monitoring of materials
supplying on site, increases productivity with a consequent reduction of waste.
Technological innovation is gradually allowing new quality standards to be reached, but
this always makes it necessary for professionals to have specific experience in each of the
many specialisations of which it is composed [2].
In this regard, the Penn State University study also investigates the specific software
resources and skills needed for 4D, identifying as essential not only the knowledge of the
specific 3D modeling tools, but especially the ways in which they can act as a support for the
programming of construction processes [3].
Another important contribution to the development of knowledge and potential of BIM is
the BIMe initiative, which is configured as a network of experiences and declinations on the
subject, as well as a sharing effort undertaken by researchers and volunteers from both
industry and academia. The BIMe initiative provides a research-based alternative to
prescriptive top-down BIM deployment policies, offering an innovative, consistent and
timely response to the opportunities and challenges brought about by the adoption of BIM at
all organizational scales, through an integrated methodology and modular language for
performance evaluation, and process optimization.
As a first declination, by identifying Model Uses, the information requirements linked-
incorporated within the digital Models are identified and grouped, thus developing a broader
modular language that links these requirements to system units, defined roles and
competency items.
First, model uses are defined as a type of information uses that also includes aspects
related to the use of data and documents. Model uses are divided into three categories:
Category I General Model Uses: The general uses of the model are applicable to all sectors,
information systems and knowledge domains; including the word “modeling” in their name,
they are generally measured using principles such as the level of definition or development.
Examples of general model uses are: architectural modelling, conservation modelling,
HVAC systems modelling, etc.
Category II Domain Model Uses: Uses are industry-specific, in particular construction uses
identifies: capturing and representing, planning and designing, simulating and quantifying,
monitoring and controlling, etc.
Category III Custom Model Uses: The “customized” uses of the model are a combination of
the first and second category as they are tailored to each project, customer, client or specific
modeling requirement. (e.g. the scope of application of a custom model use can be the
modeling of security systems for a tourist accommodation).
This specific articulation of uses of the model can be exploited and applied in different
areas, simplifying for example the identification of information requirements within the
project protocols, facilitating the configuration of organizations, the assessment of the supply
chain and the programming of project activities [4].
In the specific context of domain model uses, 4D characterization is identified in the
planning and designing, simulating and quantifying and constructing and fabricating sectors.
Figure 1: Information uses: BIMe.
In fact, modelling represents the starting tool for planning and designing the working phases,
it allows to quantify in a unique way the project elements, simulating their installation,
managing the construction phases and monitoring the aspects related to the technical,
economic and temporal feasibility of the intervention.
In the specific case of management activities, the project manager identifies the methods
for implementing the project, with particular regard to the forecast of time, cost estimates and
the quality of the finished “product”. It is a question of organically programming all the
functions, variables and entities of the project, (i.e. foreseeing its development in such a way
as to optimise time, the use of human and material resources and the costs to be incurred).
The optimization of the result is therefore a function of the best combination of these three
variables: time, resources, costs, together with quality [5].
Programming times therefore means proceeding with the management of everything
planned, using appropriate models and tools, pursuing the objectives to be achieved, and
providing at the same time for monitoring and operational control.
It should also be noted that, while time, costs and the use of resources are always revisable
and/or optimized with corrective actions, it will never be possible to easily re-intervene on
the quality, unless a considerable increase in the estimated costs.
However, a correct planning is understood as the creation of a method that passes through
the best possible knowledge of the objectives to be pursued, and its programming is
understood as the activity aimed at optimizing, controlling and managing the phases of
realization.
In technical practice, it operates through the PBS (project or product breakdown structure)
tool, which is the first step in the hierarchical structuring of a project that disarticulates its
sub-systems and detailed components, acting as an input to the WBS (work breakdown
structure), which instead represents the destructuring of the “work” at subsequent levels and
hierarchically connected phases; WBS defines in an orderly manner the sequences of the
planned works and reaches the specification of their elementary activities, for which all the
related quantities can be defined [6].
Project
Task Task Task
Sub‐Task Sub‐Task
Work
Package
Work
Package
Work
Package
Figure 2: Structure of a PBS.
House
Planning Design Build Inspection Close
Project
Blueprints Foundation Electrical Transfer Title
Management
Close
Customer Reqs Site plan Frame Plumbing
Financials
Project
Roof Customer
Management
Figure 3: Structure of a WBS.
Moreover, the risk factor and its management represent an essential component in the
planning and scheduling approach, since its unpredictability can affect the operational
choices made in project management and therefore influence the main factors of attention
(time, costs and resources).
Through careful planning, a detailed knowledge of all the general and particular
conditions and circumstances useful for the development of the project is obtained.
Therefore, in this phase risks assessment and management avoids the need to resort to
corrective actions that have not been evaluated or budgeted for.
It is therefore essential to identify the risk and its analysis both qualitative and quantitative
evaluation aimed at identifying the strategies to be implemented in order to reduce it,
conducting constant monitoring and control, and setting thresholds of attention, as well as
using values of a probabilistic nature and considerations on the impacts generated by the risk
with a view to open-sharing of information and collaboration between the actors in the
process [7].
Precisely in this sense, the quality and effectiveness of a digital information model to
support project development guarantees solid control over the entities subject to the risks, as
well as the homogeneous management of the information contained in it reduces the
possibility of incurring in unforeseen circumstances and, at the same time, allows an effective
application of any corrective actions.
The lack of possibility to have a solid and constant control on the project flow, managing
consequently the possible risks, represents a limit for the traditional techniques of planning
the work, because the project information is not managed and coordinated by providing for
the integration of data, and this leads to an inevitable difficulty in controlling the planning
tool and its outputs, also due to the absence of visual references.
The designer and/or expert company technician can also benefit from the higher levels of
4D control, combining the experience and individual capabilities with the potential of
information communication technology in terms of computing power, information sharing,
availability in mobile mode, and even taking advantage of the possibilities arising from the
applications of augmented reality.
3 TOWARDS A NEW SCENARIO

Creating a 4D model means breaking down its construction phases in an environment where
human resources, materials, equipment and spaces are connected to the planned activities,
allowing easier verification of construction sequences, management of any variants and an
immediate comparison between alternative scenarios [8]. The result is an efficient
construction process, more reliable and secure than that managed with traditional techniques,
capable of leading to savings of time and money, configuring a decision support system based
on reliable information from the planning stage and always updated during construction.
By operating in 4D, in fact, the planning of activities can be managed through the model
and vice versa, and the possibility of having verification processes based also on the
visualization of three-dimensional elements significantly increases the optimization of the
temporal and economic aspects in the realization.
Through WBS you get an analytical breakdown of the construction into elementary parts,
allowing you to organize the work through more-easily-manageable elements and breaking
down the construction phase into components (such as subphases, activities and specific
tasks), progressing with an increasing degree of detail, and following a top-down approach.
This triggers a mechanism of articulation into increasingly smaller elements of WBE (work
breakdown elements).
Only after the analysis of the WBS project, identifying the activities constituting the order,
is it possible to elaborate the relative Gantt chart; estimating the effort of each activity in
terms of man-hours necessary for its completion, defining the resources that will carry out
each activity and calculating its effective duration, the man-hours are distributed over the
assigned resources, considering the constraints present, defining the sequences between one
activity and another, as well as the interdependencies and parallelism levels, placing these
sequences in a work calendar and assigning precise starting and ending dates to each activity
to calculate the duration of the project as a whole.
Through the analysis of a case study, the aim is to illustrate and verify how the BIM
methodology can be adopted to achieve optimal management of the construction project, in
particular by using 4D simulation environments as a support tool.
Specifically, the project construction management phase was explored with the help of
BIM-oriented workflows in order to plan and manage the activities of the construction of a
new hospital complex in Kuwait, adjacent to an existing body and including:
 a main building of approximately 241,600 m2, with 3 towers, the highest of which has
18 floors;
 an annex building of approximately 49,206 m2, which houses the outpatient services,
administrative offices and an auditorium;
 a multi-storey car park with 1,300 parking spaces: two-storey basement;
 three pedestrian walkways connecting the existing structure to the new buildings.
The total area involved in the project is 180,000 m2, with a built area of 351,000 m2
including services and parking. There will be 780 beds and is also planned an integrated
environment with support areas.
The health centre, since it is located close to the beach, will be equipped with a sea barrier
along the coast line for a total of 320 m. Outside areas will be designed as well as parks and
roof gardens.
Figure 4: Project plan and render view.
The advantages of adopting a BIM process in the process management of a similar project
can be immediately seen in the planning phase of the work, being able to identify and manage
in a flexible way all the activities provided by the construction process. This flexibility
derives precisely from the centrality of the BIM model, which allows you to control all the
information relating to the work in a quick and precise way easily adaptable to the changing
needs of the construction phase.
In fact, the traditional planning of the construction phases lacks the granularity and depth
of details, as well as the possibility of exploring possible alternatives to the different
construction sequences, such as to minimize the risks and program variations comparing
different scenarios regarding the “strategy” of construction even in the early stages of
planning, assessing their feasibility and efficiency, and obtaining a result in terms of optimal
solution [9].
The first critical issue faced during activities was being able to exploit the incoming
documentation (architectural and structural models, info-graphic elaborated) for the
development of the fourth dimension, identifying the best operational strategy that would
allow to optimize the potential of the models already realized. The modeling of the 4D
structure was based on 3D models provided by the company.
In the first instance, work planning led to the identification of three phases:
1. Definition of a workflow through the structuring of a WBS in order to define a guide in
the identification and management of the activities that follow one another in the
construction process in relation to the architectural and structural discipline, to which the
activities have been associated.
2. Time planning of the construction phases, with the help of Synchro Pro software, which
allowed to “automate” the BIM model to decline the relative 4D construction plan.
3. Planning of human and material resources necessary for the realization, through the
elaboration of a metric calculation of materials and man-hours necessary for the process.
Using a 4D BIM approach, it is possible to manage the fourth dimension parametrically,
equipping the single objects of the model with a specific temporal dimension, always taking
into account the different variables involved, thanks to the continuous synchronization of the
inputs inserted in the BIM model with the respective 4D structure, providing a clear visibility
of the project data, facilitating and speeding up communication, and the analysis of the impact
of any variants with respect to the entire realization [10].
Figure 5: 4D Modeling flow.
Figure 6: Task Synchro parameter use.
(a) (b)
Figure 7: Simulation of progress. (a) Week 45; and (b) Week 133.
The 4D modeling has as a mandatory and essential phase called “auto-matching”, a tool
for assigning resources to activities based on the properties and attributes of both: having
available the structural and architectural information models of the structure, it was possible
to create a new group of shared parameters (e.g. “Task Synchro”) to be assigned to all the
objects of the models, using a specific code corresponding to the respective task of the Gantt
chart made in Synchro Pro.
After importing the models complete with all their data and parameters into the 4D
modeling software, performing auto-matching, connecting the objects to the activities
planned by the Gantt, it can be performed the virtual simulation of the realization.
In this sense, the temporal simulation represents a clear practical confirmation of the
planning activity carried out with the implementation of the fourth dimension, being a first
real visual validator of the adequacy of the process.
Among the potentials of this level of development there is also the possibility of
representing the construction site in a timely manner, taking into account all the conditions
and critical points physically present in the area and existing prior to its settlement, as well
as the urban context in which it is inserted [11]. By integrating the typological, quantitative
and temporal information with that relating to the correct method of installation and/or the
requirements relating to safety management, it is possible to carry out a specific “code
checking”, as well as a “clash detection”, relating to the interference between workings and
operating spaces [12].
In this way, always with the principle of the association of individual entities, aggregated
in work activities and inserting information on their respective durations, we arrive at the
creation of an information model capable of conducting visually and analytically the
organization of the site, as well as the analysis and minimization of risks for workers.
By creating a model during the design phase, it is possible to carry out a quick check also
on the work site, on the construction phases and on the construction costs estimates,
promoting a better site logistics: in fact, the planners can manage the storage areas, the
accesses, the positioning of the large equipment, the transports, etc., providing for the
coordination of the supplies, coordinating the time and space for the loading/unloading on
site, in order to obtain a better coordination of the works.
The added value of these 4D simulations therefore lies in the possibility of being used as
tools for the detection of potential interference and information inconsistencies, and as a
method to promote collaboration between the various professionals, providing a new tool for
decision support to the project manager [13].
Figure 8: Revit model.
In this context, the simulation of the development of construction site activities in a 4D

process is reported through a specific case study that has come up against the critical issues
arising from the intention to move from a traditional workflow to an integrated one in the
construction of a metro station; in particular, the phase of the construction considered is the
“pre-construction”, once the design phase that generated the construction project as an output
has been completed, and following a call for tenders concluded with the entrusting of the
construction phase to the company.
In the first instance, the necessary information about the project was collected, mainly
related to programming, focusing the first analysis on the time sequence and focusing
attention on a Gantt diagram already elaborated in the design phase [14].
Subsequently, the focus shifted to the site and its temporal evolution, having received the
various layouts in .dwg format, divided by temporal phases and “transformed” into three-
dimensional information models through Revit, according to their subsequent placement in
a 4D software.
Therefore, the above documents have been conveyed into the 4D modeling environment
(Synchro Pro): the information model produced has been temporally connected to the Gantt
diagram received, according to the site layout and its development.
Below is given a brief description of the site development:
 Phase 1: Site preparation;
 Phase 2: Excavation, preparation of cranes, equipment and storage areas;
 Phase 3: Preparation of a system of conveyor belts for disposal of the waste soil;
 Phase 4: Assembly of the TBM machine and construction of the tunnel excavation;
 Phase 5: Civil works for the construction of the metro station and finishes;
 Phase 6: Dismantling the construction site.
Once the time connections between the models and the Gantt diagram were completed,
the so-called “3D path” was created, getting virtual paths to be executed by the machines, in
order to simulate the construction site operations that occur at a particular stage of works.
In this phase, the 4D model can be considered completed and the next step is to create the
project outputs: animations and snapshots that allow a clear spatial-temporal view of the of
Figure 9: Overview of the construction site (start of works).
the site evolution, simulating the expected construction sequence, allowing the project team
to assess any construction interference and any other problem related to site management and
construction [15].
4 CONCLUSIONS
The use of BIM-oriented processes is increasingly changing the function of project managers,
requiring greater data sharing and making this role crucial in terms of supervision and
information management, focusing on collaboration, coordination and communication
between stakeholders.
The advantages of this methodology are represented by a better collaboration among
professionals, greater control of projects among stakeholders and a better overall quality that
can be achieved; these benefits then translate into a reduction in time and costs. In particular,
the concept of integration of the space/time binomial is placed in this context. Thanks to
technological progress, it can be integrated with the three spatial dimensions, giving rise to
4D modeling processes, achieving the objectives of virtual design construction, intended as
computerized simulation of the definition and development of a construction project. In fact,
through the creation of virtual prototypes that allow you to visually analyze the project, it
becomes possible to integrate teams and project strategies that until now have always been
separated, also because of the existing technological limitations.
The creation of a built virtual model that can then be broken down and examined in depth,
even in its different stages reduces the risks associated with the realization, simplifying the
predictions of possible logistical/design conflicts, obtaining a more streamlined faster and
less expensive process. In fact, the advantages are manifested both at an economic level
(eliminating unnecessary costs), at a planning level (optimizing project activities), and at a
constructive analysis level (identifying and correcting any errors before they occur during
construction).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the following professionals for their contribution to this
paper: Nicola Baraldi, Simone Belloni, Marzia Bolpagni, Filippo Daniele and Tom Dengenis.
REFERENCES
[1] National Standards Institute, UNI 11337:2017: Construction and civil engineering
works, Digital management of construction information processes, Milan, 2017.
[2] EUBIM Task Group, Handbook for the Introduction of Building Information
Modelling by the European Public Sector. Strategic Action for Construction Sector
Performance: Driving Value, Innovation and Growth, p. 78, 2017.
[3] Computer Integrated Construction Research Group at Penn State, BIM uses, 2013.
www.bim.psu.edu/bim_uses/.
[4] BIMe, Model uses table. https://bimexcellence.org/wp-content/uploads/211in-Model-
Uses-Table.pdf. Accessed on: 20 Jul. 2019
[5] De Maria, C., Cumo, F. & Sforzini, V., Project Management, la governance degli
appalti, Esculapio, 2016.
[6] Project Management Institute, Guideline PMBoK (Project Management Body of
Knowledge), 2017.
[7] Ferrara A. & Feligioni E., BIM e Project Management, Dario Flaccovio editore, 2016.
[8] Valentini, S. & Ruperto, F., BIM FM-Oriented, FMI Facility Management: Italy.
[9] Ruperto, F. & Zacchei, V., Sezione BIM, Nuovissimo Manuale dell’Architetto, vol. 3,
Mancosu Editore: Rome, 2019.
[10] Ciribini, A.L., BIM e digitalizzazione dell’ambiente costruito, Grafill, 2018.
[11] Russo Ermolli, S., The Changing Architect. Innovazione tecnologica e modellazione
informativa per l’efficienza dei processi, Maggioli editore, pp. 31–77, 2018.
[12] Pavan, A., Mirarchi, C. & Giani, M., BIM: Metodi e strumenti – Progettare, costruire
e gestire nell’era digitale, Tecniche Nuove, 2018.
[13] Pagnotta, B., Digital Project Construction Management. Pianificazione delle fasi
costruttive secondo i processi legati al BIM, Faculty of Architecture Degree Course in
Project Management, 2019.
[14] Ruggero, S. & Zuliani G., 4D Modeling: Sperimentazione di metodi e strumenti di
gestione digitale dei processi costruttivi, Faculty of Architecture Degree Course in
Project Management, 2017.
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all’era digitale del mondo delle costruzioni, National Council of Architects and
Planners, 2019.
[16] Dawood, N. & Mallasi, Z., Construction workplace planning: assignment and analysis
utilizing 4D visualization technologies. Computer-aided Civil and Infrastructure
Engineering, pp. 498–513, 2006.
[17] Jongeling, R., Kim, J., Fischer, M., Morgeous, C. & Olofsson, T., A quantitative
analysis of workflow, temporary structure usage, and productivity using 4D models.
Automation in Construction, pp. 780–791, 2008.
5D BIM: TOOLS AND METHODS FOR DIGITAL

PROJECT CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
SOFIA AGOSTINELLI1, FEDERICO CINQUEPALMI2 & FRANCESCO RUPERTO1
1
2
Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, Italy
ABSTRACT
The traditional workflows used to define construction costs are characterized by a series of common
criticalities due to physiological inefficiencies of analogical or not-completely-digital processes. These
include the waste of man-hours due to continuous requests for clarification by the computer scientist,
or the transmission of partial or unverified information by the design team, or even inaccurate and
approximate measurements based on 2D drawings. This can lead to lower levels of reliability of cost
estimations with consequent design risks and the need for variants in progress, exceeding the project
budget or the expected timeframe. The BIM approach can mitigate these risks, but it is necessary to
define a planned and robust method that supports the consistency between the items of calculation and
the elements of the model. This method needs to be based on a structured breakdown of the building
and the activities necessary to the project, according to a clearly planned methodology. Therefore, it is
necessary to define an approach capable of generating digital workflows and automatically updating
quantities (especially in the event of changes to the project), as well as to ensure the correspondence
between modelled elements and computation items, in order to have a consistent workflow and make
immediate and clear the updating of information on each project document. The paper is oriented to the
definition of a structure for cost planning process, which uses the experimentation of computer tools
aimed at extracting the quantities directly from the model, allowing the automatic update in case of
changes, through the use of a PBS (project breakdown structure), shared with the entire design team,
and using a code system associated with the elements of the model, the calculation, but also to specialist
reports, detailed graphics and schedules.
Keywords: 5D, cost estimation, BIM uses, rules set.
1 INTRODUCTION
The integration of BIM with 5D simulation models allows to associate the 3D model and the
fifth dimension in order to view the progress of activities and the related costs over time. In
fact a 3D BIM model represents the geometry and when attached time it will become 4D,
and 5D when attached cost. Using a 5D model provides methods for extracting and analyzing
costs, as well as evaluating alternative scenarios, resulting more accurate and predictable
estimates, quantities, materials, equipment, and labor. A five-dimensional information model
contains not only the physical and functional characteristics of a project, but can provide a
project’s time (4D) and cost schedule (5D) in addition to the standard 3D spatial design
parameters. Therefore, it is important to note that the gradual enumeration of the fourth and
fifth dimensions doesn’t mean that they are to be necessarily consequent, as a cost estimation
(5D model) can be provided independently from the time planning of the fourth dimension
(4D model) and vice-versa.
The Computer Integrated Construction Research Group of the American University Penn
State, codifies the use of BIM oriented to 5D modeling in the phase planning, describing it
as a process in which, it is possible to plan efficiently the construction implementing the
model with the fifth-cost dimension, and declines the main advantages:
5D modeling is configured as a powerful visualization and monitoring tool, which allows
stakeholders to accurately control the information flow, effectively managing the planning
and estimative aspects; one of the main advantages of using a BIM approach oriented to 5D,
doi:10.2495/BIM190181
is the ability to improve and facilitate the cost control and planning, as well as to express the
complexity of project management related to planning and supporting further and subsequent
analysis.
Technological innovation is gradually allowing new quality standards to be reached, but
this always makes it necessary for professionals to have specific experience in each of the
many specialisations. In this regard, the Penn State University study also investigates the
specific software, resources and skills needed for 5D, identifying as essential both the
knowledge of 3D modeling tools, and the specific methods to transform an information model
to a structured support for the cost planning and monitoring in a construction process [1].
The BIMe initiative is another important contribution to the development of knowledge
and potential of BIM; it is configured as a network of experiences and declinations on the
subject, as well as a sharing effort undertaken by researchers and volunteers from both
industry and academia. The BIMe initiative provides a research-based alternative to
prescriptive top-down BIM deployment policies, offering an innovative, consistent and
timely response to the opportunities and challenges brought about by the adoption of BIM at
all organizational scales, through an integrated methodology and modular language for
performance evaluation, and process optimization.
As a first declination, by identifying the Model Uses, the information requirements to be
linked-incorporated within the digital models are identified and grouped, thus developing a
broader modular language that links these requirements to System Units, Defined Roles and
Competency Items.
First, Model Uses are defined as a type of Information Uses that also includes aspects
related to the use of data and documents.
Figure 1: Information Uses: BIMe.
Model Uses are divided into three categories:

Category I – General Model Uses: The general uses of the model are applicable to all
sectors, information systems and knowledge domains; including the word “modelling”
in their name, they are generally measured using principles such as the level of definition
or development. Examples of General Model Uses are: Architectural Modelling,
Conservation Modelling, HVAC Systems Modelling etc.
Category II – Domain Model Uses: Uses are industry-specific, in particular construction
uses identifies: Capturing and Representing, Planning and Designing, Simulating and
Quantifying, Monitoring and Controlling etc.
Category III – Custom Model Uses: The “customized” uses of the model are a
combination of the first and second category as they are tailored to each project,
customer, client or specific modeling requirement. (e.g. the scope of application of a
Custom Model Use can be the modeling of security systems for a tourist
accommodation).
This specific articulation of Model Uses can be exploited and applied in different areas,
simplifying for example the identification of information requirements within the project
protocols, facilitating the configuration of organizations, the assessment of the supply chain
and the programming of project activities [2].
In the specific field of Domain Model Uses, the 5D characterization is mainly identified
in the field of Simulating and Quantifying. In fact, modeling represents the starting point for
the creation of the database which contains the information that allows to simulate the
realization and determine the quantities of machining to be performed by defining the cost
within a parametric computing environment.
In the construction process, project time and cost planning are closely related activities
and both fundamental for an effective achievement of the final result. Time Planning is
indispensable and strongly affects Cost Planning, since its increase (often) is directly
proportional to the extent of the delays that can be suffered. In fact, the responsible for
estimating costs often works with designers and determines costs in relation to the progress
of the project or construction at the time of the preliminary estimate [3].
This becomes even more possible by using a BIM-oriented approach, according to the
specific regulations about information management processes [4], [5], configuring a shared
and collaborative environment in which, progressively with the design development, it
becomes possible to extract quantitative information directly dependent on the created model,
in order to obtain a result in terms of costs (budget) to be incurred for its implementation.
Therefore, scheduling the project budget means defining costs in advance, setting the cash-
flow trend and scheduling the necessary financial resources in time to meet expenses relating
to labor, materials, equipment, etc.
Fig. 2 is the typical diagram representative of the characteristic budget curve of a building,
where in the first period the construction costs are lower and then increase over time with the
intensification of building activities and the concomitant construction of masonry, finishes,
systems, etc.
The approach to 4D and 5D BIM succeeds in this sense to facilitate and complete the
phase of planning that impacts on the programming phase, having as input the models in an
interoperable format, and as output the same computations deriving from the parametric
designing/modelling. The execution times are grouped by Work Package and the relative
costs, developed over time, generate the S-curve that represents the baseline of the site
budget.
Figure 2: S-shaped budget curve.
The quantity take-off schedules exportable by the model and containing the most varied
quantitative information is therefore necessary but not sufficient for the estimation process.
This in fact evolves in a subsequent phase, within an environment in which the parametric
object (architectural, structural, plant engineering, etc.) are linked to a work activity (deriving
from the price list, or cost analysis), allowing the time and cost planning to be managed
during the execution phase.
The budget of a project must be prepared in such a way as to be able to predict all types
of cost and structured as to create a simplified scheme of intersection between PBS (project
breakdown structure) and CBS (cost breakdown structure).
Fig. 3 shows the typical PBS/CBS relationship matrix that links the deconstruction of the
project in its individual activity packages, with the costs structure related to each Work
Package. As shown, through an optimal destructuring of the work in activity, the allocation
of the relative costs is simplified and the Construction Manager, after the definition of the
WBS (work breakdown structure), plans the budget for each work package and consequently
for the whole project.
Figure 3: Example of a PBS/CBS matrix.
This scenario can be realized with a BIM approach by assigning a code to each element
referred to the WBS, defining a tree structure within the parametric computing environment
that can be easily managed and interrogated (integrated with the cost values related to the
individual work packages) that returns the quantitative data required for each activity
package. The information model reflects a unique relationship between the object, the price
list item (and therefore the calculation), and the activities of the work programme.
Of course, this approach is closely linked to the above principles and tools of project
management, in fact the model is divided by products that create the so-called PBS, while
the computed processes are divided into activities organized in a WBS. In fact, each object
is assigned a unique WBS code that reflects its processing phase with respect to the
chronological order defined by the work program; this code can also contain an item of CBS,
which has the same meaning as the WBS, but in relation to the costs of implementation [6].
2 TOWARDS A NEW SCENARIO

To realize a model oriented to the fifth dimension means to experiment methodologies linked
to a parametric computing environment able to extrapolate tabulated information such as
quantity, unit costs and totals, according to structured data schedules and to previously shared
rules, with which the elaboration of the cost estimate and its different alternatives becomes
computational. Structuring the formulation of the problem, defining the expression of the
solution, executing and evaluating the solution, builds a robust process of cost estimating
related to the construction life cycle [7]. This approach shifts the contribution requested by
the user from an analogue correspondence between processes, parts of work, cost items and
dimensions, to the definition of a unique and unambiguous algorithm performed by computer
that solves any problem using a finite number of elementary parts. In this context, the BIM
method allows the construction of a database object-structured for Data Lake use that
simplifies and potentiates the management and analysis of Big Data, using information from
potentially diversified and uneven sources. The potential of such a method amplifies the
possibilities of integrated design leading to the construction of an integrated project delivery
(IPD) approach. This method integrates people, systems, structures and business practices in
a process that collaboratively involves all participants to optimize the results, increase value,
reduce waste and maximize the efficiency through all stages of design, manufacturing and
construction, going beyond the design to areas that are generally considered separate from
the project itself and creating a structured decision support system [8].
As a part of the cost estimation, the related data sets are structured according to records
that ensure the correspondence to work while allowing the development of specific data
analytics and useful to different operators, who have an interest in the 5D. The compilation
and automatic calculation of data significantly accelerates each procedure, optimizing the
working time of the staff and ensuring greater control and processing speed, as leading to
time savings for customers, designers and for the companies involved in the project.
The results of a cost estimate on a computational and parametric basis also have a positive
impact on decision-making processes and planning: sharing and collaborate between all the
actors involved in the process (prerogative of BIM), allows to constantly control the budget,
being able to intervene with planned changes and integrations according to the operators’
needs.
2.1 Information management
One of the most important aspects in the entire construction process, as well as the primary
objective of BIM methodology applications, is the correct transfer of information between
its different phases [9].
This need involves both the creation of information and the subsequent phases, as the need
to compare alternative design solutions with a continuous updating of the models produced.
In order to guarantee a correct transmission of information, it is necessary an effective
bidirectional correlation between models and documents; in other words, the changes made
to the information contained in a model connected to or deriving from another model, must
generate a contextual update to the other.
The problem of identifying a certain real entity of the construction (such as a pillar, a wall,
a window frame, etc.) in the different virtual models, to allow the correct transmission of
information between them, also emerges in the cost estimates obtained as generated by BIM
models [10]. In fact, in addition to what was previously mentioned, the price lists available
today do not meet the needs of a BIM process, having been created in relation to materials
and/or processes but not to the real entities represented by the objects used in the BIM
authoring software; also languages, terminologies, criteria and construction techniques are
significantly inconsistent.
It is clear that all this matters represent a deep impediment to the operational application
of BIM methodologies. In fact it is necessary to introduce modifications in terms of lists
specifically designed according to the needs of information modelling, rethinking the price
lists as referring to the technical elements of the buildings and providing them with useful
metadata for the definition of different parameters depending on the nature of the element
itself.
The structuring of a metadata systems enables the following objectives to be achieved:
 Identification: verify the existence of an element;
 Localization: to trace a particular occurrence of the element;
 Selection: to analyze, evaluate and filter metadata;
 Semantic interoperability: to allow the search of classes of different technical
elements with a series of equivalences between descriptors;
 Resource management: to manage the collection of elements through the

intermediation of databases and catalogues;
 Availability: to obtain information on the actual availability of the element.
A metadata system identifies for each technical element one or more characteristics able
to identify it from a performance point of view (e.g. mechanical resistance, thermal
conductivity, fire resistance class, etc.). Each of these characteristics, consisting of its
identifying name, units of measurement and other information, is an attribute made available
as metadata, which can be used as an aggregator of information, recognized and used as
search keys on a predefined data target. The list of metadata identified in each item of the
price list can be reported in a single text string, defined according to taxonomies previously
agreed [11].
2.2 Site digitisation and field BIM
The availability of metadata systems associated with the technical elements of the work
corresponding to the objects that constitutes the information models also influences the IPD
integration of the functions of construction sites management from the design phase and,
particularly in relation to cost management [12]. First of all, it is necessary the definition and
optimization of data and information flows coming from the operators and their surveys on
site, in order to make production data collection more accurate.
In addition, it must be possible for these information flows to be fully transparent and
shared between the professionals involved at different levels of responsibility.
Once the information model has been completed, it flows into a real-time operational
sharing platform on site, which also has the possibility of controlling the access permissions
of all the other professionals involved. At this point it is possible to carry out periodic
quantitative and qualitative controls in the field, called Field BIM, using specific real-time
management applications. The measurements made produce documentary information in
terms of quantity, quality, time, cost, health, safety, environment and regularity, and are
carried out jointly by the professionals in a timely, geo-referenced and documented manner.
Moreover, within the platform, it is possible to generate control panels (dashboards) that
describe the performance of each company and subcontractors, site and safety managers.
As a result, it is the birth of the survey digitization, as the decision-making processes
become easier because of the speed of detecting phenomena.
Therefore, during the construction phase, quality and quantity controls are carried out on
site on pre-established and periodic dates, and the data obtained are reported in the
information model for each element subjected to control. Surveys then enrich and update
the model with respect to the progress of works, defining a first Object POW (progress of
Figure 4: Overview of the execution phase in the proposed methodology.
Figure 5: Overview of the construction phase in the proposed methodology.
work), which refers to the booklet of computations, which is updated following the initially
chosen price list, filling in the accounting register. From here it is possible to draw up the
“Progress of Work” (POW n.), relative to the works that have been concluded and for which
the company is going to be remunerated.
The BIM methodology requires that the computation operations take place automatically
and this can be possible only defining a unique coding system that connects the BIM objects
with the project WBS, and simultaneously with the costs. This system is initially included in
the information model and is a baseline for optimizing cash flows [13].
Following the POW issue, on the one hand a payment certificate is generated and
consequently an economic exit is acquired, while on the other hand the process is repeated
and the model is updated once again until it is verified the completion of all objects and each
activity is finished. From this moment the construction can be declared completed and the
Operating and Maintaining phase will begin [2], [14].
3 CREATION OF RULES SET FOR QUANTITY AND COST CHECKING

The use of models for drawing up the computations is one of the most frequent BIM uses, as
already said, by modelling it is possible to create objects defined in their qualitative and
quantitative characteristics, which can be used directly to determine the quantities of work to
be carried out and to define the cost of each work [15].
Through the analysis of a case study it is shown a methodology that allows an optimal
BIM-based estimation, and at the same time it represent a useful instrument to configure a
verification system.
This experimentation, with reference to a specific project management activity carried out
as part of the design and realization of an entire multifunctional district (consisting of six
buildings for offices, hotels and commercial spaces), methodological purposes overlap with
those of a purely instrumental nature, according to the macro-phases developed below.
3.1 Analysis of the information models received
The experimentation was carried out starting from the models produced by designers, who
were analysed on their geometric correctness (ensuring that the quantities extracted from the
model were conformed to the real quantities), on the completeness of the object information
and the congruence between the content of the information models and that of the other
processed products.
Figure 6: Example of export data from the IFC model.
3.2 Review of the information models to make them suitable for the set objectives
This phase involved an intervention on the models with the aim of solving the defects of
correctness, completeness and congruence previously detected, in order to simulate a useful
configuration to define a best practice and assess the potential of the adopted approach.
3.3 Extraction of the information content in IFC format and verification

of the obtained model
In this phase, it has been evaluated the results of the modelling interventions of the previous
phase, in particular exploring the possibility of a coherent transfer of information through
interoperable formats such as IFC, using its common property sets and base quantities to
convey the quantitative attributes of each class of objects.
3.4 Importing the IFC model into the computing and budgeting environment
In this phase, it was developed the experimentation of Vision CPM software of STR – Team
System Group for the verification of quantities from which the computations derive.
This solution combines the specific functions of a tool designed for computation with the
guarantee of consistency between computations and project documents, as the quantitative
data is obtained directly from the parameters of the information models.
Within the computing environment it has been created a specific calculation rule which,
starting from a filter applied to the objects and to the information contained in the model, acts
on the filtered data according to the defined specifications, linking the article to be applied
(and a possible WBS code) to the identified objects. Once the calculation rule has been
applied, it is possible to create a quotation line that derives from the processing of the
quantitative data of the objects included in the filter.
The primary advantage of using calculation rules is the possibility to process
simultaneously the quantitative data of a plurality of objects falling within the defined filter
and the possibility to reuse them in different projects. In fact, an organization could create its
own library of rules, as a catalog to be applied extensively, after checking the uniformity in
the compilation of those parameters attenuated by the filter, taking care to update them
whenever the reference price list changes.
Figure 7: Example of a calculation rule filter-based.
3.5 Creation of a summary report comparing expected and detected quantities
The objective of this activity was to generate a summary report that would also graphically
show the deviations between the quantities calculated in the verification phase and those
expected from calculations, to identify the appropriate corrective actions to be implemented.
In this case, the 5D modeling allowed to obtain, after verification operations, infographic
results that effectively describe this deviation, representing it automatically setting Pivot
tables able to compare the values, one expected, the other detected, and to generate graphs
and other summary outputs to describe the entities.
4 CONCLUSIONS
The construction industry is facing several changes generated by the use of information
technologies, and in this context BIM methodologies is inserted as a new approach of project
management, from its conception to the design and construction, up to the maintenance phase
during the entire life cycle of the work. The objective of this study was to analyze how the
phase of cost planning and scheduling can evolve in the construction process, up to the
evaluation of new future prospects of digitization of the site management in its multiple and
articulated aspects, while identifying needs and possibilities.
First, the main scenario to be implemented concerns the definition and optimization of
data and information flows from operators and their surveys on site, with a view to a wide
transparency of these information flows that can be fully shared by referring to a common
and participatory database.
The change needed consists in increasing collaboration, transparency, formation of new
specialized figures and aware of the technological development, always considering the need
of new computational logics generally valid and bidirectional. The result of the application
of these methods verifies the solid link between modelled objects and the associated
information, which lay the foundations for the subsequent development of information
models oriented to the fifth dimension.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the following professionals for their precious contribution to
this paper: Stefano Amista, Michele Candeo, Simone Pozzi and Riccardo Scalari.
REFERENCES
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[2] BIMe, Model Uses table. https://bimexcellence.org/wp-content/uploads/211in-Model-
Uses-Table.pdf. Accessed on: 20 Jul. 2019.
[3] De Maria, C., Cumo, F. & Sforzini, V., Project Management, La Governance Degli
Appalti, Esculapio, 2016.
[4] International Organization for Standardization, ISO 19650:2018: Organization and
building information modelling (BIM): Information management using building
information modelling, 2018.
[5] National Standards Institute, UNI 11337:2017, Construction and Civil Engineering
works: Digital management of construction information processes, Milan, 2017.
[6] Project Management Institute, Inc., Guideline PMBoK (Project Management Body of
Knowledge), 2017.
[7] Buckley, B., BIM Cost Management, California Construction, 2008.
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large-scale housing projects. ITcon, 13, pp. 20–38, 2008.
[9] Russo Ermolli, S., The Changing Architect. Innovazione Tecnologica e Modellazione
Informativa per L’efficienza dei Processi, Maggioli Editore, pp. 31–77, 2018.
[10] Alesi, U., Aimetti, M., Melchini,T. & Ruperto, F., BIM BANG. Breve introduzione
Planners, 2019.
[11] Pavan, A., Mirarchi, C. & Giani, M., BIM: Metodi e strumenti – Progettare, costruire
e gestire nell’era digitale, Tecniche Nuove, 2018.
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STRATEGIES AND OUTCOMES OF

BIM EDUCATION: ITALIAN EXPERIENCES
SOFIA AGOSTINELLI, FABRIZIO CUMO & FRANCESCO RUPERTO
ABSTRACT
The growing need on the part of operators in the construction sector for expertise in digital management
of construction information processes has been answered since 2015 in the first level master course
called BIM Master, from the Department of Planning Design and Technology of Architecture of
Sapienza University of Rome. The training course is now in its fifth edition, registering a growing
number of students. It has evolved in terms of content delivery methods, and always provides
opportunities for internships in client, designers and construction organizations, achieving significant
results in terms of placement. The BIM Master is one of the most consolidated national experiences,
and has been proposed since the first edition as a training opportunity that links the needs of the market
and the expectations of students. It is configured as a project in continuous development that adapts
itself year after year to the evolutionary dynamics of the digital construction market, also resulting from
the recent national regulatory innovations (UNI 11337). The complexity of BIM training also increases
in relation to the different nature and needs of the operators in the sector: owners; designers; builders;
and managers, who lead the need for articulated training courses in relation to the role played in the
construction supply chain. This paper critically examines, also on the basis of the results of past
editions, the training experience of the BIM Master course of Sapienza University of Rome, analyzing
the structure, examining the articulation of the main training modules, assessing the results produced
by the students, measuring the critical points and, at the same time, identifying the drivers of greater
effectiveness in the transfer of skills of a theme that lends itself to ambiguous interpretations at this
history time by operators in the construction industry.
Keywords: Master BIM, BIM mandate, BIM education, BIM training, project management.
1 INTRODUCTION
The construction sector, such as all production sectors, is experiencing its “digital
revolution”; the adoption of BIM methodologies represents the digitization of the
construction sector, and is being rapidly developed by different components of the value
chain, as a strategic tool that offers costs savings, productive and operative efficiency and
better infrastructure quality and environmental performance.
The transition of an entire industrial sector from analogical to digital and computational
production methods cannot be considered only as a translation of physical quantities, but also
as a cultural transformation, which requires a deep rethinking of the practices in all the
disciplines of the construction industry and the related design, production, management and
building/city use processes.
This is a complex challenge that the EU BIM Task Group (EUBIMTG), supported by the
European Commission, is leading at a community level, having recently won the first ever
European BIM Summit Award for its work on a common framework for a large-scale
introduction and provision of a definition of BIM for the public sector in Europe.
As a result, on 6 July 2017 the document Handbook for the Introduction of BIM by
Europe’s Public Sector was published by the EU BIM Task Group, which is a pan-European
collaboration that gathers public sector expertise from infrastructure to owners, public
customers and policy-makers of 21 nations. This publication is significantly important to
direct the industrial policies of the European community member countries and prevent a
doi:10.2495/BIM190191
disorganized proceeding towards the introduction of BIM, which inevitably create the
premises for a fragmentation of the continental construction market [1].
In Italy the Infrastructure and Transport Ministry Decree (560/2017) [2] outlines the
national strategy for the progressive compulsory adoption of electronic modeling methods
and tools in the public sector, and reflects what was already introduced in the art. 23 c. 13 of
Legislative Decree 50/2016 [3]; it focuses on the topic of training as the preliminary
requirements of the contracting authorities that insert digital information requirements in the
project specifications. Therefore, even the national legislator, by directing its organizations
to a conscious use of what is made available by technology, recognizes the training of specific
skills as a moment of growth essential to achieve the objectives: enhancement of public
spending and efficiency of the supply chain.
The challenge of the construction sector digitization was also taken up by the post-
graduate training system of Italian universities with the instrument of I and II level University
Masters [4]. It has been experimented for the first time in Rome and Milan, and over the
years also in Naples, Pisa, Ferrara, Turin, Reggio Calabria, Genoa and other universities.
This article is an illustration of experiences and results from the BIM Master course of
Sapienza University of Rome, active since 2014 (as those of Politecnico and Scuola Pesenti
of Milan).
To these academic experiences have been added those of the technical professions
representatives such as CNI (National Council of Engineers), CNAPPC (National Council of
Architects, Landscape and Conservation Planners), ANCE (National Association of Building
Constructors), FORMEDIL (national body for training and professional training in
construction) with actions throughout the national territory.
As an evidence of this training effort it can be cited the recent experience of CNAPPC,
which has developed a short guide entitled “BIM Bang”, an introduction to BIM and digital
revolution of built environment, that could allow Italian architects to have a greater awareness
on the current changes [5]. The ANCE project is also part of these actions based on increasing
the awareness and training of associated companies throughout the country in the BIM field
with a specially designed training course. Then, another example of such experiences is
conducted by the building schools of FORMEDIL network [6], also in collaboration with
ITS technical institutes (schools for applied technologies), Post Diploma Technical
Specialization courses, referred to areas considered to be priorities for economic
development and country’s competitiveness, carried out in collaboration with companies,
universities/scientific and technological research centers, local authorities, education and
training system.
2 BETWEEN ROLES, FUNCTIONS AND COMPETENCES

In the international and national scene, BIM methodologies and tools are increasingly
subjected to regulations so that roles, functions and skills useful to operators in the digital
construction sector are gradually being defined [19].
At international level was recently published the ISO 19650 standard [7], concerning the
“Organization and digitization of information on buildings and civil engineering works,
including Building Information Modeling” (ISO 19650-1/2), which in the specific ISO
19650-1 at point 7, investigates the functions related to project and asset information
management [5].
At a national level, part 7 of the UNI 11337 [8], [14] standard defines the “Requirements
related to the professional activity of the involved figures, in management and information
modelling” (UNI 11337-7). For the Italian digital construction sector this standard, published
in December 2018 and managed by the “Products, processes and systems for the building
organization” commission, represents a big step towards the digitization of designing,

building management processes, defining the requirements related to the professional activity
of the following figures:
 Common data environment manager (CDE manager);

 Manager of digital processes (BIM manager);
 Coordinator of the information flow (BIM coordinator);
 Advanced information management and modeling operator (BIM specialist).
UNI 11337-7 defines the requirements of knowledge, skills and competence of the figures
involved in the management and information modeling. These are useful to the organizations’
need to get qualified staff, or to train and update their internal resources. This need unites all
the protagonists of the construction supply chain who want to introduce BIM in their
organizations (designer, builders, providers of maintenance and facility management services
etc.) and is also linked to the continuous growth, in national and international projects, of
specifications related to digital information management [6].
These requirements are identified and divided in specific tasks and activities carried out
by professionals in terms of “knowledge, skills and competence” according to the European
Qualifications Framework (EDF) [9]. It is important to note that for each figure identified,
the standard describes specific tasks and activities in the information flow which are also
related to the organizations where they are required to operate, without making any reference
to specific study background. Below are indicated the requirements of knowledge, skills and
competence that must be possessed from each figure to pursue the identified objectives.
2.1 CDE manager
The CDE manager can be placed at a “client level”, managing an “overall” CDE of the
contracting authority at an organization level related to more interventions, or even to the
single project. He control and monitors tasks in the interoperable information process,
relating the contents of the models with other data present on the platform and verifying the
correctness and timeliness of the information flow by applying, if necessary, the appropriate
data protection measures; therefore it is required a base knowledge of the main IT systems,
and in particular of networks and cloud infrastructures, as well as of cyber-security and data-
analytics principles, project management and information exchange protocols.
2.2 BIM manager
Even in the BIM manager case, he can be a figure linked to the organization, defined as “BIM
manager company”, or at a project level. This figure deals with project management and
coordination, collaborating directly with the BIM coordinators named by him, with a process-
approach. The BIM manager deals with the organization’s digital processes, for example
defining and progressively updating the guidelines relating to internal procedures, as well as
other documentation such as specifications and tender documents (e.g. BIM execution plan),
then defining the contractual aspects and carrying out audit analysis.
The essential technical knowledge required to him is related to the main engineering
processes and the ability to manage IT flows by applying quality management systems and
conducting audits. He also needs to be aware of cyber security and project management
principles, as well as of the main operative software applications used in the project.
2.3 BIM coordinator
The BIM coordinator works at the level of a single project as the first figure called to be
coordinate the modelling activities. Therefore he can be a technician able to manage
information models with competence and coordinate the activities of BIM specialists. Then
he personally coordinates the digital processes of the organization, evaluating and managing
the interferences and conflicts and finally validating the models. Such as the BIM manager
he needs skills in the areas of project management, IT management and cyber security
systems, focusing on information exchange protocols, model and quality level management
and engineering processes related to the project.
2.4 BIM specialist
The BIM specialist works at a level of the individual project and often coincides with a figure
of junior technician specialized in a specific disciplinary field. He introduces its technical
abilities within the information model using specific applications and according to the
contractual documentation and the operational guidelines. His knowledge coincides with the
BIM coordinator’s, but in a purely operational context of software tools used for the
realization of the model, for all of its specific uses and possible implementations.
3 THE EXPERIENCE OF “MASTER BIM”

In this rapidly evolving context, the BIM Master course of Sapienza University of Rome [10],
promoted by the Faculty of Architecture and organized by the PDTA (Department of
Planning, Design, Technology of Architecture) already responds to the growing need of
training of new professional figures dedicated to the integrated management of information
related to buildings life cycle, following the European Directive procurement reform
(2014/24/EU) [11]. The partners of the BIM Master include category associations such as
ACER (ANCE of Rome), FORMEDIL (National Agency for Training and Vocational
Training in Building) as well as specific companies in the construction sector.
The Master course, directed by Fabrizio Cumo, is part of the training courses offered by
PDTA, it originates from the experience carried out since 2010, in the Project Management
Degree course and is a consistent part of the annual workshop promoted by the Department
of History, Design and Restoration of Architecture (DSDRA) 3D Modeling and BIM [12].
Since from the first edition, this Master course has taken on the need to develop specialist
skills in BIM towards a varied body of students, made up of young graduates from the
faculties of architecture and engineering, and also older people enrolled in professional
associations, with the aim to facilitate their professional integration into the national and
international construction market. In fact, many of the older students are interested in re-
develop their skills, still required by lot of Italian companies that have to implement new
business processes to compete on international markets. As a result, the experience of the
BIM Master combines the actual need of expert and specialized figures on BIM issues, with
the expectations of members who usually are driven by the need to upgrade their personal
skills, thus making them more attractive on the construction market [13].
4 ORGANISATION OF EDUCATION SYSTEMS

The BIM education of BIM Master is aimed at acquiring knowledge on the opportunities and
advantages deriving from the organization of workflows based on ICT (BIM) that allow an
integrated management of processes oriented towards a renewed digitized scenario of the
construction industry [15]. During the front-end teaching, companies and professionals
already operating in the BIM field make extensive testimonial sessions in order to promote
the growth of a mature and aware competence in digital construction practices, that goes
beyond the instrumental aspects and provides concreteness and tangibility to the quality of
teaching.
The supervisory bodies and address of the training course is composed of a didactic-
scientific council supported by a technical group, also in order to better intercept the requests
coming from the market scenarios that the candidates intend to correspond. The Master
course uses specific conventions as well as teaching and technical partners, which transfer to
the students a qualified methodological and instrumental contextualization, referring to real
case studies. Moreover, according to the university impartiality about technical instruments
utilization, the main suppliers of digital technologies for construction and infrastructure
cooperate with the BIM Master in the form of teaching software partner and training sponsor.
The structuring of the competences delivered by the Master course about the digital
management methods of the information processes in the construction industry, is organized
according to a horizontal guideline, which every student verticalize depending on their
specific professional choices and interests during the internship, and which they consolidate
developing the thesis that is a synthesis of their activities.
The training is set up with a multidisciplinary approach and conducted by a team
composed of university professors, external experts and researchers, according to two main
lines: BIM education and BIM training.
Classroom teaching is organized in a total of 300 hours:
 100 hours of BIM training on modeling platforms and 4D/5D instruments;

 200 hours of BIM education about methods, regulations and case studies.
During the teaching activity it is also planned to carry out some exercises based on “role
playing” and organized by groups, aimed at experimenting with the principles, methods and
tools that are object of the education. These exercises enable the students to concretely face
the complexities of a BIM process, simulating the development of a specific digital
information management process, based on sharing and collaboration, starting from its
planning, up to the achievement of the objectives. At the end of the lectures, the students are
involved in a 325 hour curricular internship, which is mandatory for the final thesis that
effectively represents the synthesis of their education path, as well as a moment of reflection
and sharing their experience.
5 ACHIEVEMENTS AND STATISTICS

Considering the last editions (2016, 2017 and 2018) of the BIM Master course, coordinated
by Francesco Ruperto, and analyzing the population of the students, it is possible to
distinguish a part of members made up of young graduates between 25 and 35 years old, and
another one between 35 and 55. Both the age groups are interested in directing their
professionalism towards the digital construction sector, acquiring competence in the use of
advanced technological platforms and tools, but also getting the necessary knowledge to
manage the complexity of the transition taking place in the construction field.
Below are some statistical data derived from a critical analysis of the last BIM Master’s
editions, ranging from 2016 to 2018, for a total of three editions attended by 71 students.
Some of them were already active at a professional level and attributable to planning,
construction and public structures.
The first analysis, shown below in Fig. 1, distinguishes the population of students by their
previous qualification (degree of entry) finding four main categories:
1. Senior architects;
2. Senior engineers;
3. Junior architects;
4. Junior engineers.
Senior are defined as the Master graduates in architecture and building or civil
engineering, (even already employed), and junior are the three-year graduates with particular
interest for the BIM field.
Fig. 2 shows how the design companies represent the most of active bodies in the
implementation of BIM methodologies. In fact, 55% of the students carried out their
internship and professional experience within a design team. These structures are confirmed
to be the most interested in collaborating with universities, since it is established a
relationship of mutual exchange that, both enhances their structures hosting technical and
specialized figures, and offers them a valuable opportunity for personal and professional
growth. Therefore, as already represented above in Fig. 1, the audience of the Master BIM
has always been characterized by a considerable heterogeneity of the origins in terms of
previous qualifications, experience and prospects of students and, as shown in Fig. 2, the host
organizations are representative of different categories.
In Fig. 3 we analyze instead the distribution of students based on their qualifications
within the various organizations hosting the internships divided by categories: owner,
designer, constructor and researcher.
In Fig. 3 it can be noticed the category of owners (representing client organizations) and
designers (who represent design companies) favored junior architects (59% and 51%) while
construction companies and research organisation mainly hosted senior architects (46 and
40%) as shown in Figs 3(c) and (d).
Fig. 4, on the other hand, concerns the percentage distribution by qualification through
the three last editions of the Master course within the specific host organisations.
Ultimately, architects are the most required by design companies, while engineers are
most involved in construction companies and owners.
JE
3% R
SE 7%
O
14% C
22%
16%
JA
46%
SE
37% D
55%
Figure 1: Students’ entry qualifications. Figure 2: Placement distribution by type

JA = Junior architects; SA = of host organizations. D =
Senior architects; JE = Junior Designer; O = Owner; C =
engineer; and SE = Senior Constructor; and R =
engineer. Researcher.
JE SE
SE
7% 10%
8% SA
26% SA
39%
JA
JA 51%
59%
(a) (b)
JA
9%
SE SA
SA
40% 40%
SE 46%
36%
JA JA
9% 20%
(c) (d)
Figure 3: (a) Owner; (b) Designer; (c) Constructor; and (d) Researcher. JA = Junior
architects; SA = Senior architects; JE = Junior engineer; and SE = Senior
engineer.
Therefore, it was carried out an analysis based on the individual experiences of the
students during their internship. Through this analysis it was possible to classify the activities
carried out and based on the general model uses (GMU) and domain model uses (DMU)
(codified by the BIMe initiative) [16], [17] respectively represented by categories of general
model uses applicable across industries, information systems and knowledge domains (e.g.
architectural modeling, conservation modelling, etc.) and those industry-specific (e.g.
capturing and representing, planning and designing, etc.). Each experience was assigned a
sample of three GMU and DMU, so that it was possible to summarize their distribution and
identify the most frequents.
From the analysis concerning the type of BIM approach during the internships resulted a
reflection about the types of intervention considered, dividing them in two typologies: new
construction interventions and those on the existing and, as shown in Fig. 6, the distribution
of students is roughly equivalent in these terms [18].
Furthermore, a clear majority operated in the field of the so-called vertical BIM (Fig. 7)
represented by the digital modeling of buildings or objects considered as punctual, while a
minority on the horizontal BIM which expresses the “linear” interventions (e.g.
infrastructures, metro lines, etc.).
R
C
R 2%
C O 3%
6%
15% 21% O
37%
D D
58% 58%
(a) (b)
R O
15% 15%
C
33%
C
O
31% D
67%
39%
(c) (d)
Figure 4: (a) Architects; (b) Junior architects; (c) Engineer; and (d) Junior Engineer. D =
Designer; O = Owner; C = Constructor: and R = Researcher.
1010; 75%
GENERAL MODEL USES
1050; 42%
1040; 34%
1190; 32%
1060; 31%
1220; 15%
1310; 11%
1270; 8%
1400; 7%
1440; 7%
1140; 6%
1490; 6%
1320; 4%
1340; 4%
1520; 3%
1090; 3%
1170; 3%
1200; 3%
1210; 3%
1420; 3%
1470; 3%
1070; 3%
1240; 1%
1120; 1%
1250; 1%
1260; 1%
1290; 1%
Key: 1010 Architectural Modelling; 1040 Brick Structures Modelling; 1050 Concrete Structures Modelling;
1060 Conservation Modelling; 1070 Decorative Modelling; 1090 Drainage Systems Modelling; 1120 Façade
Systems Modelling; 1140 Fitout Modelling; 1170 Foundations Modelling; 1190 HVAC Systems Modelling;
1200 Hydraulic Systems Modelling; 1210 Information Systems Modelling; 1220 Infrastructure Systems
Modelling; 1240 Landscape Modelling; 1250 Lighting Systems Modelling; 1260 Marine Structures
Modelling; 1270 Masonry Structures Modelling; 1290 Modular Units Modelling; 1310 Parametric Modelling;
1320 Power Systems Modelling; 1340 Renovation Modelling; 1400 Steel Frame Modelling; 1470
Transportation Systems Modelling; 1490 Urban Modelling; 1520 Wood Frame Modelling [8].
(a)
Figure 5: (a) Students’ placement analysis based on GMU; and (b) Students’ placement
analysis based on DMU.
2010; 66%
DOMAIN MODEL USES
3040; 38%
2030; 21%
4040; 21%
2080; 17%
4070; 15%
3080; 14%
2090; 11%
4190; 10%
3020; 8%
4060; 8%
4090; 7%
6010; 7%
4065; 6%
3030; 4%
4130; 4%
4180; 4%
3100; 3%
3110; 3%
5020; 3%
4240; 3%
4200; 3%
3120; 1%
4010; 1%
4120; 1%
4230; 1%
5010; 1%
5030; 1%
6030; 1%
Key: Capturing and Representing: 2010 2D Documentation; 2030 As-constructed Representation; 2080
Surveying; 2090 Visual Communication. Planning and Designing: 3020 Construction Planning; 3030 Demolition
Planning; 3040 Design Authoring; 3080 Operations Planning; 3100 Space Programming; 3110 Urban Planning;
3120 Value Analysis Simulating and Quantifying: 4010 Accessibility Analysis; 4040 Clash Detection; 4060
Constructability Analysis; 4065 Construction Operation Analysis; 4070 Cost Estimation; 4090 Energy Utilisation;
4120 Lighting Analysis; 4130 Quantity Take-off; 4180 Site Analysis; 4190 Solar Analysis; 4230 Thermal
Analysis; Constructing and Fabricating: 5010 3D Printing; 5020 Architectural Modules Prefabrication; 5030
Casework Prefabrication; Operating and Maintaining: 6010 Asset Maintenance; 6030 Asset Tracking [8].
(b)
Figure 5: Continued.
H
19%
E N
49% 51%
V
81%
Figure 6: New construction (N)/existing Figure 7: Vertical (V)/horizontal (H) BIM.

facilities (E).
6 CONCLUSIONS
The first four editions of the BIM Master course have achieved increasing levels of success
in terms of skills, internships and placements of graduates. These results, although in the
analytical phase, are today based on the informal return of information, deriving from a
virtuous chain that is activated between graduates placed in the organizations and aspiring
trainees of the following editions.
From the statistical analysis conducted on the students of the 2016, 2017 and 2018 BIM
Master editions, it becomes evident the peculiar nature of the course, which is characterized
by the choice to provide contents aimed at BIM-based project management without

considering students’ qualifications or the category of organization they belong to.
The internship activities conducted by the students in the operative organizations where
they are involved allow them to consolidate and test the skills acquired on methods and tools
of information modeling in real project cases. This also avoids the risk of giving only
theoretical lessons, making possible methodological-instrumental trainings, reinforcing the
reasons for a greater interaction between university and operations. Such dynamics and
evidences are also useful as they contribute to the process of continuous improvement of the
contents of the Master course, but also allow a privileged reading of the construction field
needs on a transversal and evolutionary theme such as BIM.
The fifth edition of the BIM Master (2019) confirmed the growing trend of interest with
about 60 applications coming from young graduates, professionals motivated by the updating
of their skills, and technical staff of the public administration. There is also a considerable
interest from public organisations (that are gradually joining BIM-based processes) in the
activation of agreements aimed at curricular internships.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the following professionals and professors for their
contribution to BIM Master results: Stefano Amista, Pietro Baratono, Alfred De Pascali,
Alberto Pavan, Livio Sacchi, Valeria Zacchei.
REFERENCES
[2] Ministero Infrastrutture e Trasporti, Decreto Ministeriale n. 560 del 1 December 2017,
Official Gazette of the Italian Republic, 2017.
[3] President of the Italian Republic, Article 23, paragraph 13, of Legislative Decree No
50 of 18 April 2016 on the implementation of Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU and
2014/25/EU on the award of concession contracts, public contracts and the
procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal
services sectors and on the reorganisation of the rules in force on public contracts
relating to works, services and supplies, Official Gazette of the Italian Republic, 2016.
[4] Ministry of Education, University and Research. 1st and 2nd level Master’s degrees.
https://miur.gov.it/master-universitari-di-1-e-2-livello. Accessed on: 20 Jul. 2019.
[5] Alesi, U., Aimetti, M., Melchini, T. & Ruperto, F., BIM BANG. Breve introduzione
Planners, 2019.
[6] ITS Higher Technical Institutes – Schools for Applied Technologies, Ministry of
Education, University and Research. www.sistemaits.it/index.php. Accessed on: 27
Jul. 2019.
[7] International Organization for Standardization, ISO 19650:2018: Organization and
building information modelling (BIM) – Information management using building
information modelling, 2018.
[8] National Standards Institute, UNI 11337:2017: Construction and civil engineering
works – Digital management of construction information processes, Milan, 2017.
[9] European Qualification Framework, www.isfol.it/eqf. Accessed on: 20 Jul. 2019.
[10] Sapienza Università di Roma, Master BIM. https://web.uniroma1.it/masterbim/.

Accessed on: 20 Jul. 2019.
[11] Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February
2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC, Official Journal of
the European Union, 2014.
[12] Empler, T., Quici, F. & Ruperto, F., Workshop 3D Modeling and BIM, Sapienza
Università di Roma. www.3d-modeling.it/it/home/. Accessed on: 20 Jul. 2019.
[13] Russo Ermolli, S., The Changing Architect. Innovazione Tecnologica e Modellazione
Informativa per L’efficienza dei Processi, Maggioli Editore, pp. 31–77, 2018.
[14] Pavan, A., Mirarchi, C. & Giani, M., BIM: Metodi e Strumenti – Progettare, Costruire
e Gestire Nell’era Digitale, Tecniche Nuove, 2018.
[15] Ciribini, A.L., BIM e Digitalizzazione Dell’ambiente Costruito, Grafill, 2018.
[16] BIMe, Model uses table. https://bimexcellence.org/wp-content/uploads/211in-Model-
Uses-Table.pdf. Accessed on: 20 Jul. 2019.
[17] Computer Integrated Construction Research Group at Penn State, BIM uses, 2013.
www.bim.psu.edu/bim_uses/.
[18] Valentini, S. & Ruperto, F., BIM FM-Oriented, FMI – Facility Management, Italy.
STRUCTURAL PRE-ANALYSIS THROUGH

IMPLEMENTING REVIT STRUCTURES AND ROBOT
TO DEVELOP AND COMPARE ENGINEERED
TIMBER STRUCTURAL FAMILIES
LIVIO LAMARTINA & JOAO SA
Architectural Technology and Construction Management, Copenhagen School of Design & Technology, Denmark
ABSTRACT
The structural pre-analysis is a teaching technique based on the implementation of BIM for structural
design and finds its theoretical didactical background on the theory of didactical situations and designs
intended learning outcomes. It provides a problem-based learning approach and wish to shape future
professional handling techniques in constant development. The implementation is focused on two main
aspects combined together: structural performance (sizing for load bearing capacity) and the
sustainability of engineered timber structures. The aim is to test the effect of structural loads and verify
both performance compliance (overall dimension and ratio of a load bearing section) and sustainability
(CO2 footprint in relation of the material involved in the lean processes) combining BIM tools and fine
elements analysis software. The system implements Autodesk® Revit® Structure with the bidirectional
interoperability with Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis Professional to develop structure
generated by modified, built-in families according to manufacturer’s mechanical properties. Models
can be compared within the analytical results of structural performance and CO2 footprint. The
competence of the students can be enhanced in a way to make them able to develop a 3D virtual
structural model from a low to high level of development, to choose correctly pre-dimensioned elements
from manufacturer’s catalogs or, eventually, to dimension realistically a load bearing engineered timber
element, always with an eye on sustainability. This teaching procedure provides a second final set of
student’s outcomes: shop drawings, generated and drawn with a high level of accuracy. This is in
conjunction with problem-owners from the international construction and building industry. In this
way, the number of iterations during the design phases can be minimized and the role of an architectural
technologist can be more interlocked with both structural engineering and production procedures.
Keywords: PBL, structural modeling, revit structure, robot, engineered timber, sustainability.
1 INTRODUCTION
The implementation of Autodesk® Revit® Structure software (thereafter called Revit
Structure) and Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis Professional software (thereafter
called Robot) – both products have free licenses for both students and teachers of
Copenhagen School of Design & Technology (hereafter called KEA) – started at KEA’s
Bachelor in Architectural Technology and Constructoin Management Intenational (thereafter
called BATCM INT) in August 2016 within L. Lamartina’s lectures.
The main scope was to use BIM tools as didactic support within Structural Engineering
lecturing and class consulting.
Semester after semester it has been developed, according a defined 2nd, 3rd, 4th
semester’s knowledge and skills-based progression able to design a didactic methodology
facilitating student’s gaining competences incrementally. The cooperation with teachers
from different subjects such as Architecture, Structure, Materials, Structural Engineering,
Services, Process and Planning, developed step by step according to coordinated lecture
plans. The cooperation with Joao Sa started in January 2019.
Problem based learning (thereafter called PBL) begins when students are confronted with
an open-ended, structured, authentic (real-world) problem and work in teams to identify
doi:10.2495/BIM190201
learning needs and develop a viable solution, with instructors acting as facilitators rather than
primary sources of information. In other words, PBL is an instructional method where
relevant problems are introduced at the beginning of the instruction cycle and used to provide
the context and motivation for the learning that follows. It is always active and usually (but
not necessarily) collaborative (instructional method in which students work together in small
groups toward a common goal) or cooperative (structured form of group work where students
pursue common goals while being assessed individually).
The wish is to shape future professional handling techniques in constant develop. In this
way, BIM facilitates and boosts this workflow. In the specific BIM for structural design
belongs totally to the PBL approach.
Architectural technologists typically start the design process by interpreting architectural
drawings, creating design documentation, and Structural Engineers creating various
analytical models. The creative part of this didactical research has its origin in the wish to
merge the above mention professionals in one, acting, at least, from the early design stages.
This can be possible only if Architectural Technologist students can achieve Intended
Learning Outcomes in BIM for structural engineering. This Didactical Situation, fits well
with the professional profiles described in Chapter 3.
As soon as the student generates an Analytical Model this must be consistently
coordinated with respect to general framing size and layout, material and section properties,
and loading. As far as analysis and design is complete structural design documentation can
not be completely generated, otherwise need to be reviewed or modified to reflect the most
current design.
In case of following review’s changes this workflow can be repeated for each iteration of
the design process.
Traditionally this procedure can be slow with the risk of lengthening the time.
BIM techniques for structural design can minimize the time wasting during the design
iterations in communication, information exchange, 3D modeling already from the early
design stages.
In fact, the bidirectional interoperability of Revit Structure and Robot reduces the time
needed to create and update multiple analysis models and helps to avoid potential errors
resulting from a manual coordination between analysis results and construction
documentation; practically helps to make this iterative workflow smoother by facilitating the
coordination of design documentation with structural analytical design information.
Moreover, Revit Structure capabilities enable students to enrich the physical model with
information such as physical properties, proposed analytical model definition, and expected
loads conditions.
This makes the physical model more complete and also play the role of icebreaker in
communicating with structural engineers.
For example, in a traditional workflow the designer of load bearing structures (which is
not necessarily a Certified Structural Engineer) creates a physical model defining expected
relations with its analytical representation, which is a simplification of more detailed, “real”
geometry. In this fashion, the designer of load bearing structures must then wait until the
certified engineer has completed the structural analysis and design before starting
coordination and documentation tasks.
The structural pre-analysis Procedure (Chapter 2) sets some guidelines allowing the
designer of load bearing structures to minimize time wasting and design iterations from
the early design stages using specific BIM tools and techniques.
2 THEORY OF DIDACTICAL SITUATIONS AND

PRE-ANALYSIS PROCEDURE
The theory of didactic situations was developed within the field of the didactics of
mathematics and it has found widespread use in this field. Obviously these situations are
closely linked to mathematics. In that sense there is no doubt that the theory of didactic
situations is almost exclusively a didactic theory for mathematics.
However, the theory uses a conceptual framework that can be used in a more general
sense, including an understanding of learning and a basic description of teaching situations
that not only bear relevance to the didactics of mathematics, but that are also relevant in the
didactics of other subjects, at least the didactics of the technical subjects including BIM.
2.1 The five phases in the didactic situation
The modern view of teaching requires that the teacher can provoke the expected adaptation
in his or her students by presenting them with a carefully selected series of “problems”. These
problems must be selected in such a manner that the students can accept them, and they are
motivated to act, think and evolve. The students know very well that the problem they
are presented with was selected with a view to helping them acquire new knowledge.
However, the students also know that this knowledge is completely based in the inner logic
of the situation, and that they can construct it without calling on didactic reasoning. Not only
can they do this, they must, as it is not until the students have fully acquired this knowledge
that they are able to use it in situations outside of the learning context and where there is no
guidance. This called an adidactic situation. Any specific “piece of knowledge” can
be characterised by one or more adidactic situations that secure the meaning of
this knowledge [1].
An important element of the theory of didactic situations is the description of the various
phases of the didactic game. The didactic game refers to the interaction between the student
and the didactic environment. The five phases in the didactic game are:
 Devolution: the teacher passes a “didactic environment” to the students
 Action: the students work in the environment
 Formulation: the students express themselves and create hypotheses about the
solution to the assignment, either independently or in groups.
 Validation: the students test their hypotheses together or with the teacher.
 Institutionalization: the teacher relates the work being carried out in the environment
to the general themes of the subject, typically through a dialogue with the students.
2.2 Workflow based on didactical situation in the standard 4th semester at KEA
Below is a recommended workflow for concurrent structural documentation, design, and

analysis based on coordinated subjects lecture plans (Structural Engineering, Structure,
Architecture, Materials, BIM, Process and Planning, Services, Communication) lecturing in
the standard 4th semester at KEA.
Based on this, the phases of the didactic game through implementing Revit structure and
preanalysis procedure in the project-based teaching in the bullet list below.
 Devolution: the students, working in group, create a structural model based on an
existing architectural model or existing architectural 2D layouts.
 Action: pre-analysis technically starts here. The student eventually in mutual
coordination with the teacher adjusts material and profile definitions by rules of
thumb, and adjusts the analytical model proposed by Revit software.
According Eurocodes, the student implements loads and load combinations that
can be used to perform static and wind load calculation in Robot, as well as
preliminary or load takedown analysis available with Revit Structure Extensions.
The results can be used within design and code checking procedures.
Through interoperability Revit Structure-Robot, Revit Structure’s analytical
model is transformed by Robot in a 3D Fine Element Model, so the Robot’s
calculation engine performs structural analyses from Fine Elements; subsequently
these analytical results are sent back to Revit Structure and displayed.
The students exploits interoperability under teacher’s engineering control.
 Formulation: based on analysis outcomes, the student may make decisions that need
coordination with other designers (and perhaps ultimately the architect as well).
 Validation: based on Revit Structure – Robot interoperability, the engineer (teacher)
first checks the results then and alerts the designer (student). The student adjusts
section sizes and properties, based on information received from Robot Structural
Analysis Professional or other code checking applications linked with Revit
software. The student updates the analytical model with recommended changes.
The student, using Revit software, reviews teacher’s recommended changes to
the analytical model. In collaboration with the engineer (teacher), the designer
(student) accepts or rejects the proposed changes to the analytical model and the
Revit software automatically adjusts the physical model accordingly.
 Institutionalization: this iterative collaboration (consultancy classes) between the
designer and engineer repeats as necessary. In study situations, this phase requires
a tight collaboration with the teacher that acts as Structural Engineer.
2.3 The pre-analysis and learning progression
About structural modeling (physical and analytical model) the main Intended Learning
Outcome (ILO) is to create a physical model for coordination and documentation, and an
associated analytical model for structural analysis.
The students, working in groups, upgrade the 3D model according to Level of
Development (LOD) progression; LOD is the degree to which the element’s geometry and
attached information has been thought through; the degree to which project team members
may rely on the information when using the model [2].
In the 10 steps of progression, the pre-analysis phase is supposed to be from step 1 to 6:
1. Dimensioning load bearing elements with rules of thumb

2. Generate the first version of the LOD 200 structural model
3. Applying Boundary conditions
4. Applying Load cases
5. Robot structural analysis BIM interoperability for results verification and validation
6. Second iteration on the LOD 200 Structural model
7. Generating LOD 300 model
8. Generating LOD 350 model
9. Generating LOD 400 structural nodes
10. Generating Shop drawings for production and industry
About structural analysis (bidirectional linking Revit Structure – Robot) groups achieve
the following ILOs:
 Generate load plans for multi-storey buildings according to Eurocode 1.

 Conduct structural analysis and export to analysis and design applications with the
analytical model while you are creating the physical model in Revit.
 Integrate analysis results into the BIM process and work in an iterative design
workflow.
 Compare different solutions in terms of mechanical properties and CO2 footprint
(see paragraphs 4.1 and 4.2).
Different models (both physical and analytical) can be compared through importing
both mechanical properties and CO2 footprint of built in and user defined structural
families of components.
 Progress Level of Development (LOD) from the LOD 200 pre-analysis to LOD 400
and generate accurate shop drawings.
 Transfer the 3D model for interoperability and documentation with other BIM
tools (4D, 5D).
3 SHAPING PROFESSIONAL
The aim of the pre-analysis procedure in structural design is to tailor a learning process
as close as possible to the building industry practice able to train industry
practice-oriented professionals.
Many firms use the Revit Structure model to coordinate their designs with other
disciplines. Therefore, structural drafters can begin modeling, documenting using company
standards, and coordinating the structure. By starting the design in Revit software, there is
both a physical model created for coordination and early documentation, as well as
a simplified analytical model. Each model is independently editable but also maintains a
consistent relationship to the other.
3.1 Construction designer of load bearing structures
According to the last release of the Danish Description of services for Building and
Landscape 2018, plan of work for Architects and Engineers, the construction designer of
load-bearing structures is the operator (company), who, under the Building Regulations, is
responsible for collating and coordinating the structural documentation for the structure [3].
Briefly, a professional handling this process is supposed to enhance his competence about
structural documentation through:
 Collecting and coordinating the documentation for the entire structure, according
with the provisions of the Danish Building Regulations.
 Assisting the consultants and any design contractors in assessing the consequences
of any revised project for the supporting structures of the structure and updates the
documentation of the structure.
 Coordinating changes and optimizing the 3D BIM structural model through
maintaining mechanical properties (physical and material consistency) at all
design stages.
 Assisting the construction management and supervision in assessing
the consequences of any alterations to the supporting structures during the
construction phase.
3.2 Architectural technologist
In regard to Architectural Technology and Construction Management, at Copenhagen School

of Design & Technology, our students deal with a learning approach which shapes these
competences:
 Choose manufacturer’s products and from the early stages of the design phases.
 Optimize the lean process.
 Make smart decisions: reuse design intent models to make planning and
preconstruction decisions earlier.
 Align construction modeling efforts for downstream uses.
 Use Revit models for better communication: to coordinate information to improve
office-to-field efficiency, quality assurance, and quality control, collision control.
 Increase construction site layout productivity.
So, it would seem that the education of an Architectural Technologist covers widely the
competences related with construction designers of load beating structures from Description
of services for Building and Landscape 2018.
4 STUDY CASE: DEVELOPING ENGINEERED TIMBER STRUCTURAL FAMILIES

KEA’s BATCM INT 4th semester project is given as an example of implementation and
develop of load bearing engineered timber structural elements. As study case, 4th semester
students are engaged with a multistory office building whose load bearing system is supposed
to be made with engineered timber elements (Fig. 1).
The pedagogical choice of develop engineered timber load bearing elements is related to
the wish to tailor a didactic approach close to the use of innovative, environmentally friendly
building materials. In fact, across the construction landscape, massive wood products from
several manufacturers (f. ex. Stora Enso) such as cross-laminated timber (CLT), laminated
veneer lumber (LVL) and glulam are being used in both everyday and award-winning
applications. Massive wooden materials can play an essential role in building sustainable
urban areas for the future.
Implementing engineered timber in the semester project supported by BIM techniques
gives the students some advantages that in short are:
 Design without sacrificing structural performances or requirements.

 Quicker construction for time and cost savings.
 Improved thermal insulation and acoustic performance.
 High sustainability credentials for a lower carbon footprint.
The students, working in groups, develop the building’s structural load bearing system
following the 10 steps shown in paragraph 2.3.
The pre-analysis phase, in terms of relevant results for overall load bearing system
dimensioning are shown in Fig. 2.
The follow up outcomes according to steps 7 to 10 (cfr. 10 steps in paragraph 2.3) are
shown in Fig. 3.
Figure 1: Fourth Semester project, Spring 2019 – structural and curtain wall system.
Figure 2: Results for overall load bearing system.
Figure 3: From LOD 300 model and detailing.
4.1 Engineered timber structural families and user defined material properties
Building a developed 3D structural model, with precision engineered industrialized wood

materials embodied in virtual load bearing elements allow the students to push beyond Revit
Structure’s perceived boundaries.
This is a crucial point in the workflow because it requires accuracy in the model making
to avoid potential issues in the analysis.
Elements in Revit are referred to as families. The family contains the geometric definition
of the element and the parameters used by the element. Each instance of an element is defined
and controlled by the family.
Built in Revit structural families need to be checked and modified to better emulate
the real mechanical properties of the material properties of the manufacturer
reference component.
Not define physical mechanical properties can give issues and errors when the analytical
model is sent to Robot for calculation and interoperability. In this way the students develop
skill in Parametric Modeling.
4.1.1 Parametric modeling

Parametric Modeling refers to the relationships among all elements in a project that enable
the coordination and change management that Revit provides. These relationships are created
either automatically by the software or by the user. Revit immediately determines what is
affected by changes and reflects those changes to any affected elements. A fundamental
characteristic of Revit is the ability to coordinate changes and maintain consistency
at all times.
In this way the students must set up manually the mechanical properties of the family’s
material and so deepen the knowledge about the elements available in the market through an
in-depth study of the manufacturer’s technical catalogs (Fig. 4).
Pedagogically, correcting structural Revit’s families mechanical properties,
enhances student’s competence through enhancing software’s skills and knowledge of
construction’s materials (Fig. 5).
In Revit structure the properties that define a material are organized into assets. Assets are
groups of properties that control certain characteristics or behaviors of an object.
Revit uses the following asset types to define materials:
 Identity – These properties provide general information about the material, such as
a description, manufacturer, and cost data.
 Graphics – These properties control how the material looks in non-rendered views.
 Appearance – These properties control how the material looks in rendered views,
Realistic views, or Ray Trace views.
 Physical – These properties are used for structural analysis.
 Thermal – These properties are used for energy analysis.
Some manufacturers enable the download of BIM objects libraries. These objects on the
one hand allow the student to efficiently imported during the modeling but in most cases they
are not true structural elements which don’t have a consistent analytical model related
withtodesk Robot.
Figure 4: Screenshot of physical properties settings.
Figure 5: Revit Structure screenshot of user defined mechanical settings for an LVL floor.
4.1.2 Engineered timber structural floors

CLT and LVL Revit Structure built in super structural frame elements (Columns and Beams)
are available by default and work with Robot interoperability, though there is no built-in
default structural engineered timber floor element.
However, in Revit Structure, it is possible to obtain engineered timber structural floors,

starting from a generic floor redefining material (soft lumber) and physical settings according
to manufacturer’s declared mechanical properties.
4.2 Sustainability
Within KEA’s BATCM INT 4th semester teaching team, the didactic supports massive
wooden structural materials (CLT and LVL) and we believe that they can play an essential
role in building sustainable urban areas for the future.
It’s no wonder that engineered timber is a construction material from an industrialized
process mostly based on renewable raw materials and sustainable forest management, which
contribute to responsible consumption and resource use. The use of renewable materials
enables us to contribute towards a low-carbon economy. Trees in sustainably managed
forests absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and together with wood-based
products act as carbon storage [4].
Pedagogically, using BIM tools as a support of structural engineering lecturing and
consulting cooperates in shaping students – indeed as future professionals – with a design
approach conscious of environmental issues.
4.2.1 Tables for embodied CO2 calculation and comparative template

3D model can be developed also with embodied parametric formulas for embodied CO2
volumes calculation.
The content of this and next paragraph reports a didactic attempt of generating tables for
CO2 calculation with the aim to bring to the students a BIM related tool through a
procedure which allows to produce documentation for systematic comparative building
component’s analyses including environmental sustainability facts.
According to KEA’S BATCM INT cross disciplinary BIM-Structural Engineering
continuing teaching development, the aim of this experimental exercise is to make a
student’s mandatory deliverable assignment to be presented at the exam about CO2
embodied in the structural load bearing system.
In the following is reported the first iteration of a table for CO2 footprint calculation
inspired by Greenhouse gas protocol calculation tool [5].
In the specific the values of embodied carbon for the materials composing the model, the
source is Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE) provided by University of Bath Sustainable
Energy Research Team [6].
As example for computing embodied CO2 is used a 3D model of a small structural
frame made by massive timber elements (GLT columns, LVL beams, CLT floor) and four
footing concrete pads (Fig. 6).
Wood stores carbon and its CO2 footprint is negative (circa -1000 Kg/m3) [7]. Eventually,
when wooden building elements are recycled or reused, the carbon storage is also extended.
About reinforced concrete class 35 (including embedded reinforcement with a ratio of
30 kg of steel per cubic meter of concrete) the average value of embodied CO2 is +402 kg/m3.
In this fashion, implementing Revit Structure and developing engineered timber structural
families in the semester project, allows the students to generate tables for CO2 footprint
calculation using ICE data as reference.
Didactically this outcome facilitates the understanding of the environmental footprint of
a timber structural element in comparison, for instance, with a concrete foundation footing
element (Tables 1 and 2).
Table 1: Displayed formula for an embodied CO2 calculation.
Table 2: CO2 footprint schedule generated in Revit Structure.
Figure 6: Screenshot of a 3D model associated with the table for CO2 footprint calculation.
Table 3: Template for structural and sustainability comparative analysis.
4.2.2 Comparative analysis

Students run comparative analysis with the target to have a tool able to give back the best
solution according to the design scenario they deal with.
The template they work is a matrix which relates several super structural load bearing
components (beams, columns, deck elements, walls made with different materials) in a way
to list their main attributes in one template able to give back a general overview (see the
template in Table 3).
Some of the attributes are merely determined by numbers but some of them are subjective
related with their own capability and competence in evaluating and validating
design solution.
The numerical attributes are:
 Structural: Span Range, Load Capacity, Thickness, Weight.
 CO2 Footprint: value from Revit Structure tables.
 Fire safety class: from manufacturer’s specification.
 Investment Cost: value from 4D and 5D integration.
 Life Cycle Cost 30 Years: value from 4D and 5D integration.
The subjective attributes are:

 Buildability.
 Combability with other structural elements.
 Recyclability/Reusability.
5 CONCLUSION
Structural pre-analysis through implementing Revit Structure and Robot to develop and
compare engineered timber structural families embodies new knowledge and practices from
industry into the teaching [8]–[10].
The implementation needs to be constantly updated with advances in digital BIM design
tools such as construction material properties, challenging so building culture enabling
sustainable, informed and materially smart design solutions.
All of this is setting a teaching cross disciplinary template enabling information exchange
between different teaching subjects in school (i.e. Structural Engineering, Structures,
Material, Architecture, Process and Planning, Communication) and professional disciplines
out in the building industry.
5.1 Streamlined and productive design process
Based on the original hypothesis about how to make smarter decision trough upgrading and
compare structural solutions in terms of load bearing performances and CO2 footprint, the
pre-analysis procedure can minimize the iterations from the early design stages.
In this fashion, the students are facilitated in structuring a more streamlined and
productive design process, performing more analysis to help find the best structural design
option, and a better understanding of design intent yielding less errors and omissions.
In summary student’s competences are enhanced in:
 Making smarter decisions: reuse design intent models to make planning and
preconstruction decisions earlier.
 Choosing manufacturer’s products and from the early stages of the design phases.
 Aligning construction modeling efforts for downstream uses.
 Coordinating changes and maintaining mechanical properties (physical and
material consistency) at all times.
 Optimizing the BIM structural modeling and the workflow related with.
5.2 What’s systematic: inductive teaching and theory of didactical situation (TDS)
Teaching structural engineering implementing Revit structure and Robot into the semester’s
projects, through TDS and inductive teaching brings both students and teacher in a
continuous follow-up of processes and results.
The bidirectional link between Revit software and Robot Structural Analysis Professional
helps make the exchange of structural analytical information smoother. So, it facilitates the
general understanding of structural engineering learning.
The link enables students to add analysis-related information to the Revit model, use that
model (and information) directly for analysis in Robot Structural Analysis Professional, and
then update the Revit model based on the analysis results.
This systematic exchange of information respects and preserves the information defined
in both software solutions.
Within preanalysis procedure, project based teaching and inductive teaching, students
achieve Intended learning outcomes (ILOs), and develop skills in 3D structural modeling.
5.3 Margins of unpredictability
The presumption of the expected results in achieving learning outcomes implementing

didactical BIM techniques in classes and consultancy sets can be affected by interoperability
issues and general student’s engagement.
5.3.1 About Interoperability issues

 Design issues: most of the times, hasty students generate inconsistent 3D analytical
models associated with a structural physical model wrongly generated during the
design phases.
 Fatal errors: in a study scenario, 3D Structural designing of a multi-storey building
need performing computers and could be critical for students working with slow
computers. For example, in school situation, is recommended to work with KEA’s
Virtual Design Construction laboratory instead of using private Laptop. This can
avoid computer’s fatal errors during both design set and interoperability.
 Parametrical design Accuracy of material properties: both Physical and Mechanical

properties of the built in Revit Families must be modified accordingly with
manufacturers declared structural performances. Otherwise a lack of coordination
can distort the results of both static calculation and sustainability analysis. The target
of parametrical design Accuracy must match with manufacturers data.
5.3.2 About general student’s engagement

Preanalysis and 3D structural design is a turning point in the semester progression; as long
as the groups are focused and skilled it is possible to achieve professional results. The group
itself can become an accelerator or a burden to achieve learning outcomes, hand in
deliverables and finally perform good exam.
Issues – such as slow work or delay in the hand ins – can be generated by an uncoordinated
workflow of the group members in both communication and technical effort.
Group issues due to lack of communication with the teacher and between group members
can really afflict the overall semester performance and exam, as well as Lackness of
knowledge in interpreting the analytical results: some students are more resilient in
understanding the physics behind the structural analytical results; so they risk not to really
manage this BIM procedure.
5.4 What’s transferable
Implementing Revit Structure and developing Engineered Timber Structural families

combines:
 Growth of student’s knowledge and skills through ILOs firmly related with
BIM procedures.
 Coordination of design information and construction documentation by using
Revit models for better communication; coordinating information to improve
office-to-field efficiency, quality assurance, and quality control.
 Construction site layout productivity in terms of time scheduling (4D) and costs
(5D), through interoperability with construction management BIM tools.
 Strengthen cooperation for constant develop and follow up with professional from
building industry through the problem ownership: finding external cooperation with
building industry professional and offices bringing authentic real-world problems
about BIM for structural design.
In summary, this implementation:

 Supports the constant upgrading of a teacher’s competence, know how and building
industry networking.
 Enhances opportunities to broaden student’s horizons: Architectural Technologist
can play as a multirole professional. Contemporary broads internship opportunities,
can increase the learning curve, facilitate in being problem solvers.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 Anne Ambrosy, Elena Cucchi, Rodrigo Jose Cid, Tim Nordahl, Valts Kasparans
KEA BATCM INT 4th semester students Spring 2019 for sharing the images of
their structural report in Figs 1, 2 and 3.
 Claudio Spaziani Testa, KEA BATCM INT Head of the Programme, for
suggestions on professional profiles reported in Chapter 3.
REFERENCES
[1] Brousseau, G., Theory of Diactical Situations in Mathematics, eds., trans. N.
Balacheff, M. Cooper, R. Sutherland & V. Warfield, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic
Publishers, p. 30, 1997.
[2] Level of Development Specification, BIM Forum 2016, pp. 11, Online.
www.bimforum.org/lod.
[3] The Danish Association of Architectural Firms, The Danish Association of Consulting
Engineers (FRI). Description of Services for Building and Landscape, p. 9, Online.
https://frinet.sharepoint.com/Aftaleudvalget/YB generelt/YBL 2018.docx.
[4] storaenso. Massive Wood Construction. Online.
https://www.storaenso.com/en/products/wood-products/massive-wood-construction.
[5] Greenhouse Gas Protocol. About Greenhouse Gas Protocol, Online.
https://ghgprotocol.org/calculation-tools.
[6] University of Bath ICE (Inventory of Carbon and Energy), Online.
http://wiki.bath.ac.uk/display/ICE/Home+Page;jsessionid=2358DA949145979F0F88
65783188344D.
[7] Stora Enso. http://www.clt.info/ecological-balance-sheet-clt-holzforschung-austria/.
[8] Pomares, J.C., Baeza, F.J., Varona, F.B. & Bru, D., BIM Implementation for Structural
Design Courses in Civil Engineering, WIT Press, p. 79, 2017.
[9] Mahdjoubi, L., Brebbia, C.A. & Laing, R., Colec. Building Information Modelling
(BIM) in Design, Construction and Operations, WIT Press, 2015.
[10] Pomares, J.C., Baeza, F.J., Varona, F.B. & Bru, D., Revisión del uso de Building
Information Modeling en la Educación Superior relacionada con la arquitectura,
ingeniería y construcción, Editorial Octaedro, pp. 991–1001, 2017.
DEVELOPMENT OF MODEL CHECKING RULES FOR

VALIDATION AND CONTENT CHECKING
SEBASTIAN SEIß
Bauhaus Universität, Germany
ABSTRACT
The digitalization of the construction industry increases continuously. The focus of this digitalization
is on building information modeling (BIM). Due to the growing usage of BIM, the requirements on the
models are increasing, professional costumers, especially, require visualizations, cost estimation and
scheduling, as well as an implementation of product data. Furthermore, costumers demand model
checking, to see if a model fulfills the required guidelines, standards or product specifications. At this
point in time, model checking is mostly manual and does not use the automation potentials of model
checking with BIM. This paper focuses on the development of model content and validation checking.
The aim is to define structures and methods to check models in the special case of professional project
developers. Based on this, the development starts with an analysis of predefined building descriptions
and Level of Development definitions. Afterward, an overview of the current state of the art and
scientific knowledge in model checking is given. After that, the paper practices the content and
validating checking based on an example model. The realization of the content checking is done by
Solibri Model Checker and DesiteMD. The checking of the building description is difficult to realize
because no current software solution can check all the requirements of a building description. Therefore,
it was necessary to develop customized model-checking rules in DesiteMD. The functionality of the
model-checking rules is proven by an example model. The advantages and disadvantages of the
developed checking rules and methods are analyzed, as well as the database which provides the model
checking content of the rules. Based on the results, recommendations for further research were given.
Keywords: model checking, content checking, validation checking, BIM.
1 INTRODUCTION
The digitalization of society is progressing continuously and is finding its way into all areas
of life. The development and implementation of BIM is a key issue in the digitization of the
construction industry. BIM has already been adapted in many areas of the construction
industry and is enjoying continued growth.
It is obvious that the use of automated checks allows to reduce time-consuming and costly
manual inspections. Potential profiteers in this context are building owners. They can expect
faster building permit procedures, improved control and observation of planning as well as
simplified verification of their requirements [1], [2].
Although various research approaches have already been carried out in this area, these
have focused on the goal of testing directives, standards or laws in a model. Contractual
regulations, such as the tenant building description, have so far gone unnoticed. Especially
for the owners, the benefits of BIM have not yet been apparent. For this reason, owners are
hesitant to push the use of BIM, which considerably slows down the widespread
implementation of BIM. The testing of model qualities and contents is an enrichment for the
contracting authority. This enables the owner to control the planning at an early stage of
the project. Due to the increasing complexity of buildings and model size, automated model
checking becomes more and more necessary.
The aim of this work is to enable the content checking of models as well as the model
checking of tenant building specifications for professional project developers, to promote the
use and increase the request of the BIM method for professional owners.
doi:10.2495/BIM190211
For this reason, this work concentrates on project developers with a special focus on
commercial real estate development. Especially in this area, highly professionalized tenants
place high requirements on the project developers. The tenants usually bundle their versatile
requirements in a tenant building description, which makes a significant impact on the design
of the building. In order to meet these requirements, an automated planning control is a great
advantage, according to time, cost and quality.
2 ANALYSIS OF THE CHECKING TASK
2.1 Content checking
For the development of a model checking procedure, the understanding and precise definition
of the contents to be checked is essential. For this reason, it is needed to explain the object of
research in more detail. Content checking deals with the question, if all necessary object
information’s are in the model [3]. The definition of the model content or also called model
qualities takes place through the contractual description of the BIM process. Here, the
objectives and use cases to be pursued as well as the contents are determined by the employer,
in the Employer´s Information Requirements (EIR). The description of the BIM deliverables
provides a basis for modelling and for quality control. The EIR does not only define the
services to be provided, but also define the quality in which the model contents must be
available. This means that the employers define, which geometric and alphanumeric
information must be contained in each object of a model. The definition is usually done
according to the Level of Development (LOD). The LOD describes the design of a model
component using the Level of Geometry (LOG) and Level of Information (LOI). At this point
of time, there are several LOD standards. The used standard is up to the employer. In further
consideration, the LOD definition of the BIM-Forum is used [4].
2.2 Validation checking
The tenant building description represents, like the building description, a detailed
specification of the construction target. However, it should be distinguished that the tenant
defines the exact construction task for the landlord. This means that the tenant has
a significant influence on the property. For commercial tenants, for example
supermarket operators, who have no interest in owning the building, are such contractual
regulations widespread.
A look at the contents of building descriptions on supermarkets has shown, that the
structure and the LOD of the requirements described are highly variable. This results in more
or fewer freedoms of the future landlord in the design of the project. In addition, it becomes
clear that not all characteristics are defined in the tenant description and will be determined
by the tenant during the planning or execution process. Furthermore, tenants define minimum
requirements for building components or specify certain design variants.
In addition to the content consideration, the structuring of the requirements is also
important for the validation checking. Three structural factors were identified in the building
descriptions. These structural elements can be subdivided into different levels (Fig. 1), which
makes it possible to guarantee an exactly structured, object-related description of the
building. Fig. 1 shows that the contents of the building description are described by a
task and then by a element-room or room-element relation. This means, that first the task
like brickwork and then the wall-room or room-wall relation will be described.
Figure 1: Structural elements of a tenant-based building description ordered in layers.
3 STATE OF THE ART
3.1 Model checking
The checking of models can be divided into three domains. One of these areas is the test
software, which is used to make the building information accessible, to execute rule sets and
to transfer the test results to the user. The building model contains the necessary
information’s of the building, which are checked by the rules executed by the software. The
rules represent the algorithm to be executed by the software. They are distributed with
the applications and can be combined, modified or extended according to the requirements
of the project. In addition, it is possible to develop new rules, but these must be supported by
the functions of the software. It becomes clear that the development of the model check
depends on the available building information, the supported functions of the software as
well as the available rules. The kind of rules which will be performed can be divided into
content, validation and adaptive checking. Adaptive checking describes objects which must
be modelled according to their constrains [3].
The rules can be stored using a black- or white-box method. The black-box method is not
open and non-transparent, because the rule is not accessible, so the user does not know how
the rule works. Instead, the white-box method gives the user full access to the code, which
defines the rule. The analysis of available checking software solutions on the market has
shown that the rules are mainly implemented as a black box method. This means that the user
has no possibility to understand the content and process of the rule, not to mention to create
new rules. The application of the rules is therefore limited to the customization of checking
parameters [5]. For this reason, the checks of validation and tenant building description were
tried to cover with existing checking rules from different software solutions. Table 1 gives a
brief overview of available model checking solutions and a software called BIMQ for LOD
definitions. The table shows that the possibility of changing and creating new rules is very
limited. Out of this reason, the program DesiteMD was used to create new rules, if the
checking was not possible with available rules. This software solution provides a
programming interface (API) which makes it possible to implement and execute user-specific
checking rules. So, the created checking rules are open, comprehensible for the user and
adaptable according to a white-box method.
3.2 Data exchange
The structuring of a tenant building description is similar to the model-based approach of

BIM, because in a model, the structure is created on the basis of a component-space
relationship. The components contained in the model form spaces; spaces in turn define the
Table 1: Software overview based on Eilif [3].
Software Solibri dRofus BIMserver Revit Desite BIMQ

Model Model MD
Checker Checker
Clash detection X - X - X -
Development
Content Checking X X X X X
of Content
Functions
Validation Checking X X X X X -
Visualization of
X X X - X -
checking results
BCF X - - - X -
Rule sets implemented X X X X X -
Modification of
X X X X X -
existing rules
Rule sets Combination of
X - X X X -
existing rules
Development of Coming
- X - X -
new rules next
IFC,
RVT,
Exchange formats IFC IFC IFC CPI- -
IFC
Data XML
exchange Revit u.
Direct Exchange links
- Archi- - - Revit -
between Software
CAD
Revit
Adaptive Checking - - - - AIA Editor
Plug-in
function and the associated space-forming components. This creates a relationship between
space and component, which is a cornerstone of model-based work. This scheme is also used
in the IFC. The order system of the information provided by the IFC is subdivided from the
building to a floor to a room. By these aggregation relations the data model of the IFC reflects
the space program of the building description one by one [5], [6]. Therefore the IFC describes
the contents of the tenant building description sufficiently exactly. In addition, the application
of a neutral data format makes it possible to use BIM across different data interfaces, in the
sense of OpenBIM, and to apply the checking procedures to all projects.
4 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONTENT CHECKING

The aim of this content check is the verification of a previously defined component related
LOD. To perform the content checking, the language driven LOD concept was converted
into a database and executed by an automated rule set. The outcomes can be divided into
three results: Model components are below, equal to or exceed the defined LOD. The
checking of the LOG as well as the LOI is implemented by querying object properties for
their definition. For example, the rule will check, if the thickness of a door leaf is defined and
if it has a value between 0.1 and 5 cm. The example shows that the usefulness of the checked
property value can also be demonstrated within the quality check by limiting the value range
or name space. The LOG is not checked directly on the basis of the geometry. Direct access
to the LOG via the geometric description of the element would be possible, but has not been
pursued further, due to its lack of feasible results. Out of this the LOG is checked on implicitly
derived information. For instance, if a wall has layers, reinforcement, openings or a window
lintel. These checks of model elements are done by checking the connection between the
component. For example, openings and possibly windows should be integrated in walls of
the LOG 300 or, for the LOD 350, fasteners such as reinforcing irons or an offset brick. The
check is performed by retrieving property relationships of the elements, by calculating a
contact or a collision between the elements and write this contact or relation into the
properties. Afterwards a normal content check can be done [4].
The first attempts to test the LOD were made with BIMQ and SMC. In BIMQ, the LOD
requirements to comply with were defined and imported into the predefined rule by SMC.
The result was that the implementation for checking of geometric properties and relations
was difficult and the previously defined checking contents could not be completely covered.
Since the model check with BIMQ and Solibri Model Checker proved to be insufficient, the
check was implemented in DesiteMD. The access to the API in DesiteMD made it possible
to compensate for missing functions of the program as well as to exceed them by SMC. Thus,
a collision or contact check could be done to establish a link between wall and fall or offset
brick. The quality properties to be checked can be performed on the example model (Fig. 2)
and stored in a table (Fig. 3). For test purposes, the sample model consists of four walls, each
with different levels of detail. On the basis of this examination it could be shown that a quality
examination with reference to the LOD is possible.
Figure 2: Deferent LOD-definition of a wall according to Reinhardt and Bedrick [4].
Figure 3: Definition of the checked attributes in the rule.
5 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE VALIDATION CHECKING

Based on the results of the content checking, the check of the tenant building description can
be done. So, the content checking is always done before the validation checking to ensure
that all necessary properties are included. The checking procedure is shown in Fig. 4. The
first steps are used to check project-, component- and room-related properties. If the test of
the characteristics is passed, the model can be checked for geometrical relations, for
component space relations as well as for general building requirements, such as the length of
the building or rental space.
How far the objects correspond to the respective predefined properties is neglected in the
checking of relations. This is the reason, why object properties must be checked in advance.
This procedure ensures that the relations checked in the check correspond to those of the
required objects in the tenant building description. A supermarket store was created as an
example model for the practical testing of the model checking procedure.
In the implementation of the content checking procedure, it became clear that checking
parts can be done by existing software solutions, but a continuous checking in one software
solution is not possible. For this reason, a consistent solution for checking the tenant building
description in DesiteMD was developed. In a first step, checking rules were created for the
test procedure shown in Fig. 4. The focus of this development is based on the checking of
component space relationships. For this kind of checking it was essential to create relations
of objects by geometric operations, like clash detection. Because relations in the IFC can be
Figure 4: Sequence of the checking algorithm/procedure in a flow chart.
Figure 5: Extract of the data model to describe the relation of the room and wall.
missing or don´t match with the model, it is safer to recreate the relations. In order to follow
the idea of the BIM method further, all model requirements were stored in a relational
database. This enables all project participants to access to the contents of the tenant
description and to use them for checking or for modelling which is called adaptive checking.
Fig. 5 shows an example of a database model in which the relationship between the
component and the room is represented by the mapping of wall types to room types.
The requirements stored in the database can be exported at any time as checking
parameters and loaded into the prepared rules. In addition to the checking rules and
parameters, the user must be provided with an intuitive user interface and the option of
plausibility checking. For this purpose, the option for creating own forms provided by
DesiteMD was used (Fig. 6). It is not enough to find planning errors within the inspection
process; planning errors must also be communicated. The BIM Collaboration Format (BCF)
could be used for this purpose. BCF makes it possible, to link faulty objects with an image
and a comment to communicate the mistakes with planners. The software provides natively
a formula for BCF communication as shown in Fig. 7.
Figure 6: Implemented checking form in DesiteMD.
Figure 7: Visualization of the checking result in the BCF form provided by DesiteMD.
6 CONCLUSION
It could be proved that the examination of the model qualities as well as the building
description can be implemented with simple methods. As a result, a flexible and practical
solution could be created for the entire planning process. In addition, a plausibility check can
be integrated, and results and comments can be exchanged via the BCF. The application of
this new developed model checks shows that automated model checking provides a faster
and safer solution than a manual check. The storage of the test parameters in a database is
another strength of this method. The database helps to ensure the flexibility, completeness
and traceability of the requirements to be checked. The database also enables the user to adapt
the object properties to be checked to the specific planning phase or BIM use case. Finally,
it is to say that the checking of the LOG is still very theoretical and not used today. Other
ways of defining the LOG could be predefined objects with an included LOG property. But
for this solution, the modelling in BIM authoring tools will be not flexible enough. So, the
research for checking the LOG has still potentials. The validation checking of the LOI as
well as the checking of content, is very common. But if this content is getting to complex or
out of the software functionality, like in dRofus or Solibri, API´s are necessary to enable the
users the full functionality of the software. Furthermore, the user will be able to understand
and to customize rules, so that a black box method becomes a white box method. In further
research the implementation of standardised classification and characteristic properties
systems will be analysed. In Germany this could be the DIN SPEC 91400 which is based on
the STLB-Bau.
REFERENCES
[1] Borrmann, A. & König, M., Building Information Modeling. Wendehorst
Bautechnische Zahlentafeln, vol. 36, ed. U. Vismann, Springer Vieweg: Wiesbaden,
pp. 1475–1485, 2018.
[2] Eastman, C., Lee, J.-M., Jeong, Y.-S. & Lee, J.-K., Automatic rule-based checking of
building designs. Automation in Construction, 18(8), pp. 1011–1033, 2009.
[3] Eilif, H., BIM-based Model Checking (BMC). Building Information Modeling.
Applications and Practices, pp. 33–61, 2015.
[4] Reinhardt, J. & Bedrick, J., Level of development specification part I. BIM FORUM
(2019), Online. https://bimforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/LOD-Spec-2019-
Part-I-and-Guide-2019-04-29.pdf. Accessed on: 15 Sep. 2019.
[5] Borrmann, A. et al., Building Information Modeling – Technology Foundation and
Industry Practice, Springer Vieweg, pp. 369–380, 2018.
[6] Schiller, K. & Faschingbauer, G., Die BIM-Anwendung der DIN SPEC 91400 1,
Auflage, Beuth Verlag GmbH: Berlin, Wien und Zürich, p. 82, 2016.
EXPLORING BIM INTELLIGENCE FURTHER WITH ITWO

JUDITH MARTON, PABLO HECTOR GONZALES ALFARO & JAMES HARTY
Architectural Technology and Construction Management, Copenhagen School of Design & Technology, Denmark
ABSTRACT
In the past decade, the AEC industry in Denmark has been increasingly exploring BIM intelligence,
predominantly in the public sector and educational institutions. Since 2006, the School of Architectural
Technology and Construction Management has been teaching a number of BIM technologies
considered relevant both for the field of study and for the industry. In 2017, the school searched for
smarter solutions within digital data exchange, with the scope of optimising the students’ workflow in
BIM, and for providing the industry with constructing architects skilled at the smartest digital
technologies in the market. The same year, the department management initiated a collaboration with
RIB, a software developer and vendor for smart digital solutions for the industry. The interest was the
iTWO baseline digital platform, a technology that enables interactive 3D, 5D and 4D BIM in one single
software. iTWO became implemented first in the 4th semester of the Construction Management course
in spring 2018. The project was a success for all involved. This led to the inclusion of iTWO teaching
in the 3rd and 5th semester CM programmes later on. Based on positive evaluations, one year later, the
school entered a new contract with RIB on iTWO 4.0, a cloud based 5D platform, displaying a richer
functionality for digital data exchange in projects. The paper presents the 4D and 5D work at the school
before and after the iTWO implementation, including an outline of industry view about the software.
Keywords: BIM, iTWO, integrated 3D, 4D and 5D data, construction management, virtual simulation.
1 INTRODUCTION
The paper intends to present the scope, process and outcomes of implementing iTWO in
education, at the Copenhagen School of Design and Technology and outlines the view of
selected major contractors in Denmark about digitalisation of projects in general, and the
iTWO technology in particular. The method used will mostly be descriptive and explanatory
of selected BIM technologies for construction planning and their application in teaching, with
reference to EU and national requirements for digital projects, selected research within BIM
and a short interview with core players from the construction management sector.
The construction sector provided 18 million jobs and contributed almost 9% of GDP in
Europe last year [1]. In fact, over the past two decades, labour productivity has grown at
around only a quarter the rate in manufacturing (1.0% vs. 3.6% respectively) making the
construction sector the poorest performer in terms of productivity [2]. Its profit margin is one
of the lowest of any industry, while also being one of the most cyclical. This means that any
firm that invests in capital, which raises its fixed costs, is vulnerable. By contrast, companies
that employ lots of workers without investing much can simply cut their workforces if
necessary [3]. “In Europe there are 3.3 m with an average of just four workers. Competition
is fierce and profit margins are thinner than for any industry except retail. This fragmentation
creates its own problems. Slim margins make investment even less likely. Often projects have
more than a dozen subcontractors, each keen to maximise profit rather than collaborate to
contain costs”, says Thijs Asselbergs, professor at Delft University of Technology [4].
Luc Luyten of Bain & Co, claims that companies have failed to consolidate due in no
uncertain terms to fragmentation, identifying differing building codes in different regions,
which only discourages benefits of scale. Also, in China, low labour productivity, has forced
procurement into some automotive methods, through 3D printing and modular construction
[4]. Both these conditions, lead towards a problem statement: is there a programme to
doi:10.2495/BIM190221
consolidate differing productivities and data schemes without the need to start from scratch
each and every time? This brings the notion of harnessing meta-data and databases into the
equation.
2 APPLICATION OF 4D AND 5D BIM IN THE INDUSTRY AND EDUCATION

Digital construction in Denmark has been evolving since 2007, endorsed by governmental
law for BIM requirements in the public construction sector. A decade later, 78% of Danish
AE companies used BIM for clash detection, 3D visualisation and BIM performance. The
Danish construction industry had a considerable impact on this process, along with the main
driver of this development, the public procurement regulation. Currently, over 65% of BIM
user companies anticipate using BIM in all their projects in just a couple of years [1]. MT
Højgaard, one of the largest construction companies in Denmark, has recently conducted an
analysis on BIM maturity in the Danish building sector. The results indicate that effective
collaboration of the project team in BIM projects is very important for achieving the client’s
digital requirements. This however sets a requirement on the client itself, for instance
regarding the ICT strategy settlement and its incorporation in the tender material in BIM
projects. The analysis also shows that projects covered by the current ICT regulations, the
order 118 and 119, are providing significantly higher project value then projects under
the earlier ICT frames [5].
2.1 The AEC sector and 5D BIM in Denmark
There is a general awareness in the AEC sector about the potentials of digital projects and
supporting technologies. The ICT regulation in public procurements continuously aligns with
new BIM developments, and lately, in 2018, this was also followed by revisions of the local
AEC Contracts Conditions and AE Plans of Work. The EU construction strategy
indorses digitalisation of projects in the public sector, and the core argument is plain and
simple – transparency and efficiency of contracts and deliverables.
During the past decade, the application of 4D and 5D BIM during design, tender and
construction management has become a known work technology in larger AEC companies
in Denmark, positively affecting their business and the project supply altogether. The
techniques are however still fragmentary, relying on much software to perform data
integration. Revit performs 3D modelling, then Sigma Estimates or other pricing databases
linked to Revit will perform the pricing of extracted QTO, which then transfers relevant data
further to a scheduling technology. Although there is a gain in using this method, in terms of
time saving and even accuracy, the technique is incomplete, as it is one directional. Any
updates in the schedule will not loop back to the model and the initial QTO.
BIM technologies developed for supporting digital construction, are however not taking
hold in medium and small enterprises, a business segment, which although is very important
for the construction industry, still utilises traditional planning and management techniques,
regardless of whether this work method does not lead to genuine profit or improvement of
general productivity. Due to this fact, such companies are also struggling with tenders in
public projects, which require digital tendering. Public clients require digital platforms for
both communication and tendering, not least the use of a variety of standards for BIM work.
Lack of knowledge and experience with digital project protocols will very unlikely provide
such companies with a contract.
Software developers and vendors are just as important players in this process, contributing
with smart technological solutions for digitalisation. One particular interest of this business
is oriented towards developing BIM technologies for the construction management sector.
New virtual technologies facilitate model-based tendering, construction scheduling and costs
tracking allowing for great data transparency and simulation possibilities. One such technology is
the iTWO platform, presented later in Section 2.3. This is a remarkable progress compared to
traditional bidding and scheduling techniques. However, this also means that contractors not
matured enough for BIM projects need to catch up and invest in digital means.
2.2 4D and 5D BIM in education – a fragmentary approach
During the past decade, affiliated educational sectors in Denmark have been using various
BIM technologies in teaching. Aside 3D BIM and related applications for consistence and
collision control, 4D and 5D modelling techniques have been having an increased use. The
Technical University of Denmark and Building Informatics section in Aalborg University
were the frontrunner universities in the field. Meanwhile, by 2010, the ATCM School
delivered a PhD study about BIM implementation in education [6], which triggered a higher
emphasis on BIM teaching at the school in most technical disciplines. Ever since, this
development evolved, following new trends in BIM both locally and internationally.
Compared to the industry work methods and development implementations, educational
practice involves a great deal of pedagogical concerns, first and foremost in general sense, as
required by the code of pedagogical practice for the level of education, and especially when
developments of technological kind need to be implemented in the teaching curricula.
The prime teaching and learning methods at the school have always been project based
and functional, using the principles of problem-based learning as the driving work method.
Project based work at the ATCM school means organised groups of students working on real
life projects, supported by interdisciplinary teaching, evaluations and consultancies at the
desk. Teacher teams hand out a 2D Concept design to students, typically a failed competition
proposal, which the students will gradually develop into a fully designed project, in both 3D
BIM, 2D drawings, 4D BIM, 5D BIM and other relevant planning and law documentation.
Functional learning means application of a high extent of AEC industry practice in the project
development, such as design and construction standards, procedures and building law
regulation. Teaching is rather technical, that is, highly instructional, but largely also
collaborative. There is lesser theory in teaching, and more guidance in problems settlements
and solving, research for solutions, alignment to regulation and in understanding the complex
interrelation of project information. Project based education at the school provides generalist
graduates for the building industry, with a solid set of technical and digital skills, highly
applicable in any AEC company from day one.
Fig. 1 below shows the study structure at the School, mainly divided in a core programme
(CP) in 1–5 semesters and elective courses (EC) in 3–5 semesters. This is followed by an
internship semester and the 7th semester for finals. The electives offered are Construction
Management (CM), Design Consultancy, (DC) and Facility Management (FM). All students
follow core programmes, then they split and follow elective courses. The latter, is a pick and
choose model, that is, students can change electives from semester to semester, thus having
the opportunity to explore other fields and knowledge.
Teaching in object-oriented design at the school started in the summer of 2006, where a
group of staff investigated the next platform for the school’s digital development, with regard
to a software upgrade or a new paradigm shift. All available software was acquired and tested
robustly to assess the best contender. These included (at the time), Architectural desktop,
(plain) Autocad, Revit, Microstation, Archicad, Vectorworks and some other lesser known
products, in an attempt to appraise their merit and contribution to the education, the industry
and society in general. After much deliberation Revit was chosen, not lest but because they
promised IFC compatibility, thus ensuring that we were not ring-fenced to a product and its
effects. At the time the industry was geared towards Autocad software and jumping ship was
near to impossible. It was decided to run a pilot test in the start of the second semester for
introducing Autocad, a three weeks intensive CAD course. Currently, the core study
programs are incorporating 3D BIM, mainly Revit Architecture and Revit Structure, and to
a certain extent 4D and 5D BIM. The following illustrations (Figs 2–8) will summarise the
4D and 5D BIM, using the Revit model shown below.
As shown in Fig. 3 left corner, Revit displays a Sigma Estimate plugin, a link that allows
connection of Revit quantities with Sigma. The level of cost estimate always aligns with the
Level of Development (LOD) in the model. If the model is at LOD 100, the cost estimate
will be gross floor area based. Later, at LOD 300, Revit links element quantities from the
model with element cost in Sigma, providing an Elemental Cost Plan for design information
and regulatory check purposes.
ATCM STUDY
3,5 YEARS
1.SEM 2.SEM 3. SEM 4.SEM 5.SEM 6.SEM 7.SEM
CP INTERNSHIP FINALS
CP CP CP
30 ECTS EACH 30 ECTS
25 ECTS 20 ECTS 20 ECTS
BR
EC EC EC 10 ECTS
5 ECTS 10 ECTS 10 ECTS
BP
CM CM CM 20 ECTS
DC DC DC
FM FM FM
Figure 1: 3D Revit model.
Figure 2: ATCM study structure.
Figure 3: Sigma Estimates 5D plug in Revit.
Fig. 4 shows wall elements selection in the model for QTO, followed by a 5D type coding,
performed in Revit, which links the elements to a price library, shown in Fig. 5. The price
library contains a large number of building elements labelled with local classification codes.
Figure 4: Ext Walls QTO.
Figure 5: QTO linked with price data.
After performing this step with all elements considered for Revit QTO, the Sigma – Revit
integration link will compute the quantity data from Revit to Sigma, as shown in Figs 6 and
7. Given that, 3D models developed at the school are mainly architectural and structural,
students will perform the QTO for mechanical, electrical and plumbing works by manual
measurement, then include these quantities in Sigma for costing.
The cost library in Sigma (Fig. 7) also contains data for construction time per Unit of
Measurement (UoM) in hours, for each element, and construction time total in hours for the
whole QTO of each element type. Time data represents construction duration used by one
construction worker for a task. For scheduling purposes, the total hours for each element is
exported from Sigma to MS Project. During the computing process of time data between the
two software, the latter will divide total hours to standard working hours per day, in Denmark
7.4 hours, and create the exact breakdown structure of works in MS Project as prepared in
Sigma, displaying Gant bars with a duration total of one-man days for each activity. These
steps are not illustrated in the paper due to paper size limitation. The remaining tasks for
scheduling is manual. Each activity will be analysed with regard to the crew sizes necessary
to perform the job, contingencies and curing time for concreting works. After this, activities
relationships are determined, and the MS project layout finalised as displayed in Fig. 8.
Figure 6: Revit QTO export to Sigma.
Figure 7: QTO in Sigma linked to costs.
Figure 8: Duration data exported from Sigma to MSP, Crews and relations determined.
Revit QTO connected to price libraries, such Sigma Estimates as described above, is a
model-based cost estimating method, allowing for quantities measurement accuracy and for
higher work speed. Although both the industry and education applies the method, the final
estimate will still contain plenty of manually measured quantities and estimates, due to a
number of facts. BIM project limitation to only certain design disciplines is one frequent
factor even in public sector tenders. The same aspect is present in education. There is no time
in the study schedule to develop all design disciplines into 3D models, which leads to a partial
5D and 4D computing. Aside this, the fragmentary feature of the method does not allow for
automated re-looping of data exchange between design, quantities and cost, if problems are
detected in the chain, or design is iterated. One will need to go back to the 3D model, and
perform the process again. As mentioned earlier, this makes the method rather rigid as it is
one directional. However, it does allow for quantities accuracy in BIM based projects,
whether used in design stages estimates, tenders or pre-construction planning. A trained
estimator in the method described above would be beneficial for both the client, his team
and contractors. Most of our students can supply this service, despite their lack of
field experience.
2.3 iTWO for 4D and 5D BIM – Concept and implementation at the ATCM School
The ATCM School has always been technology oriented, providing graduates for the industry
with excellent BIM skills. In 2017, the school management looked for new BIM
developments available on the market, useful for both 3D BIM, 5D and 4D BIM. The scope
was twofold. First, integration of smarter BIM solutions in education would deliver
cutting-edge skills for the industry; second, attract students to the education. In summer 2017,
the school signed a contract with RIB A/S, on implementing a recently developed software
for 5D and 4D BIM in education, the iTWO baseline. RIB A/S is a Danish software developer
and vendor branch of the German RIB software company, which provides the
building industry with smart technologies for Project Management, 5D BIM and Facility
Management. RIB in German means revolutionising construction – Revolution
Im Bauwesen.
The iTWO concept, shown in Fig. 9, displays an intelligent technological platform, which
allows for virtual 5D and 4D simulations of models data used by for contractors. This “Virtual
Process” is very useful for monitoring and recording real data in the construction process,
called here “Physical Process”. In iTWO, the generic flow of performing estimates through
design, tender or construction is similar to the traditional planning sequences. The generic
flow of performing estimates through design, tender and construction is however the same as
in traditional planning sequences, where CAD or BIM material needs to be in place and
scrutinised by contractors in order to extract quantities, perform bid estimates, collect bid
quotations, perform subcontracting, etc. What differs is the technology, which allows for
automated re-looping of data exchange between various project stages, using a single
software platform. For instance, alterations of any kind in the 3D Model will automatically
change initially processed information in iTWO.
The core iTWO subjects selected for education were CAD/BIM, QTO, Estimating, Tender
and Subcontracting, highlighted in Fig. 9.
2.4 iTWO Baseline practiced in the ATCM education
The iTWO project contract included a RIB course for teaching staff, on spot support from
RIB during training sessions at the school’s VDC and eight licences, setup for use in the lab.
In September 2017, relevant teaching staff enrolled in a 5 days iTWO course, delivered by
RIB in the VDC lab. The teacher team in collaboration with RIB, has carefully tailored the
course content to the needs of 5D and 4D BIM teaching. Fig. 10 shows the actual sessions
and subjects planned for the course.
Incorporation of iTWO teaching in the study plan started in spring, 2018 in the 4th
semester Construction Management elective. After lecturing sessions in the VDC lab,
students worked with iTWO both within the formally scheduled sessions and outside the
study work plan. They used the 3D project models developed by themselves in the Core
Program of the 4th semester. After importing the model from Revit into iTWO, students have
reproduced a real-life scenario of a digital tender situation. The BIM Qualifier function
seemed to interest them a lot, as it cheeked the quality of their 3D model. Moreover, the
check of the “Client BoQ with QTO” released in the “tender material” against the Actual
QTO (AQ) measured by them in iTWO as “contractors” (Fig. 11), provided valuable group
reflections. For this exercise, students used the BoQ with quantities created by themselves in
Figure 9: iTWO baseline – Core structure. (Source: Courtesy of RIB A/S.)
Figure 10: iTWO Baseline course content for teaching. (Source: Courtesy of RIB A/S.)
Figure 11: Client QTO and Actual QTO.
Figure 12: QTO prepared by the contractor.
the core semester model where they performed as designers. In iTWO, students developed
actual QTO based on the quantity queries function using measurement scripts for each
element type in the 3D model. Fig. 12 shows only one of the staircases in the building, with
calculation of its external wall quantities.
Based on the actual quantities measured in the model, students then performed the cost
estimate for elements, using cost codes for each resource type and finally adding
cost allowances for general office administration and profit. Fig. 13 shows the estimated unit
costs for elements and the cost total of the material, labour and plant resources.
The last iTWO task performed be students was scheduling and simulations. Fig. 14
exhibits a simulation of the construction process and cash flow development through the
construction stage, with activities durations generated from the cost estimates. The cash flow
Figure 13: Elements cost estimate.
Figure 14: Activity Model and 5D Model simulation.
development diagram shows the progress of construction costs, revenue, quantity, and
construction budget total. These simulations are core elements in iTWO, where any alteration
of design or construction sequence automatically changes the course of the cost.
In the end of the course, the teacher team examined students individually in both theirs
skills for operating iTWO and in their understanding of the scope and benefits of the
technology. RIB assisted the exam, and gave valuable feedbacks to the students. The close
collaboration between RIB, the teachers team and the students, provided a natural and
constructive work environment, where students were welcome to contribute with
improvement ideas. A large extent of the lab work was carried out in a learning by doing
mode, both by teachers and students. Although RIB has provided great teaching material, as
in many cases of technology teaching, there were a number of aspects, which the users
themselves had to sort out. While the iTWO implementation in the 4CM elective course
required additional teaching and learning time – first to learn the technology, then perform
quality towards the exam, both the teacher team and the students managed the process quite
successfully. Evaluations from the students were rather positive, acknowledging the valuable
potentials of the software in education and for the industry, regarding the information
interrelations and transparency in the 3D, 4D and 5D models. In fall 2018, teaching in iTWO
was incorporated in the 5th semester Construction Management teaching plan as well, and in
spring 2019 RIB has extended the licences to 20 seats, which allowed for all CM courses to
use the programme.
2.5 iTWO 4.0 in the ATCM education
Based on the successful implementation of iTWO baseline in all CM electives, and the
positive assessments of outcomes by RIB, the teaching staff and the students, the school
management entered a new contract with RIB on implementing the iTWO 4.0 version in
teaching, this time including the technology also in the core programme of the 3rd semester.
iTWO 4.0 is a cloud computing solution, which allows for larger classes to use the
programme. Compared to iTWO baseline, the iTWO 4.0 platform displays a more intelligent
structure and smoother operation of its functions. It contains an extended and customisable
desktop for a variety of business purposes in the supply chain of a construction project. Due
to size limitation of the paper, it is not possible to give a more informative outline of iTWO
4.0, or of the course content for education. The implementation process of the new platform
in teaching and its outcomes will be the subject of a next paper for a BIM forum.
2.6 Industry view on iTWO
For a more holistic view of the iTWO potentials for the industry, we conducted a short
interview with Ole Berard (OB), head of digitalization at Züblin A/S in Denmark and Esben
R. Jessen (EJ), senior project manager at the VDC department at MT Højgaard. Both
companies are using iTWO baseline in several of their projects. Züblin has been using iTWO
in Denmark for five years, initially also being part of developing the early version of
iTWO, by German employees in the company. The good collaboration between German and
Danish estimators in the company has led to a suitable knowhow in using the software.
Currently Züblin is using iTWO in design stages, tenders and construction stage. OB pointed
out several challenges with new technology implementation in a company. “(…It makes it)
difficult to implement the software if you do not have a certain size. You need a lot of support
to operate the software (which) makes it difficult to implement…” [7].
Resource development capacity and finding training time for the estimator staff is also a
problem. Nonetheless, OB emphasises the relevance of skilled estimators for the industry in
a growing digitalisation of the building sector. He sees the estimator job as a necessary
profession, stating that educational institutions need to be aware of this fact. “There are few
people developing these skills coming out from schools. There is a lot of reward working as
a tender estimator professional nowadays” [7]. OB assesses iTWO as a powerful tool, if
deployed adequately. It offers a high degree of transparency, when integrating design and
cost. Moreover, it is a good communication means between the project team and the client,
he states. “Extra works discussions are easier to get with iTWO, compared to the
model-based way of working that we had previously. It is easier to explain to a client what
will be wrong or what was wrong during the construction stage. Eventually, integration of
design, cost schedule and simulations give a better overview of the changes and the problems
during the construction stage in a project” [7].
MT Højgaard (MTH) uses iTWO in several digital projects with success. In line with OB,
EJ also points at the revolutionising feature of integrating 3D, 4D and 5D data under one
platform in iTWO, which he sees as very beneficial for construction planning. Compared to
different individual softwares that the company normally used, such as Vico, Solibri,
Bluebeam, EJ sees iTWO as the best software so far, solving a great deal of information
exchange problems in a project. The simulation of 4D and 5D alternatives is particularly
relevant for contractors, he states: “…simulations for different alternatives by using iTWO
can be an advantage when competing for a project. It is easier to improve unforeseen events
for the different alternatives and show the client the consequences” [8]. Projects where MTH
has used iTWO performed with lesser surprises and problems which were easier to detect
early on – before construction. EJ also points out some challenges the company has been
facing with the technology. Time for upskilling staff with new technologies is a problem in
the contractor sector, not least the collaboration between managers if some possess new
technological skills. “…a problem is that there are no project managers on site that have that
time for training. They have to balance the people who has software knowledge with the
people that has construction knowledge, gathering these people and making them work
together” [8]. He adds “…playing around with computers, is not on the agenda of most of
the project managers during the execution stage” [8].
Use of smart technology in a project, such as iTWO, EJ says, only bears fruit if the whole
project team is skilled for digital collaboration. Another problem he relates with
subcontractors, as there is a large spectrum of digital maturity levels in the subcontracting
sector. To handle that diversity in a project is not an easy task, EJ asserts. For this reason,
MTH does not use iTWO with subcontracting.
MTH and Züblin do not intend to use iTWO 4.0 yet. For the time being iTWO baseline
satisfies the companies’ needs. Basically, iTWO is used when working on digital projects.
Although both companies are seeing great potential in iTWO, MTH points at that competing
software on the market, can do parts of the job even though the workflow is fragmentary,
which makes the increase of iTWO use in Denmark difficult. Currently, it is only MTH and
Züblin who are using iTWO for 4D and 5D BIM in Denmark.
3 CONCLUSION
During the past decade, the increase in technological development for the building industry
has been reshaping the AEC sector and the affiliated educational institutions. Innovative
technologies introduced to the sector drive the sector forward, aiming at productivity and
efficiency improvement throughout the project lifecycle. BIM applications are continuously
emerging showing great potentials to automatize construction projects data. Digital
construction strategies from the Danish government are demanding digital technologies and
collaboration in public projects. Digitalisation demands require alignment of local regulation
regarding contract conditions and plans of work for AEC actors. Above all, digital
technologies and collaboration demands change of the old ways of working, which does not
seem to be easy for all sectors in the industry. Change is clearly time consuming, and
construction companies do not seem to be keen in investing in development, despite that
productivity in the construction sector was flat for decades. Only large companies show
interest in changing work technologies, and see the benefits of the change. Although the
digital maturity level in the Danish AEC sector is rather high, large construction companies
are still struggling with subcontractors’ lack of interest in upgrading old work techniques.
Educational intuitions have been aligning in the past decade with digital demands,
investing in smart technologies, upskilling teaching staff and revising requirements for
learning outcomes and teaching plans. The ATCM School is definitely following this
development. The implementation of iTWO in the Construction Management course was
both strategic and necessary. Students have learned about data exchange in a project in a
different way, getting a more detailed understanding how design, cost and time data affect
each other, both during design, tender and construction. Not least, alteration of this
relationship showed them that optimisation might not even be so difficult. They have also
learned that project data presented in virtual work environment to clients, can facilitate
communication and the clients’ understanding of alternative solutions and their outcomes.
Moreover, the scope and potentials of harnessing meta-data and databases for future
projects by using a single digital platform became quickly evident for both teachers and
students. It is now clear that iTWO will equip CM graduates, and latter all graduates from
the school with a set of skills for highly automatized information technologies, which surely
will have an influence on the industry. Virtual work environments seem to be the future in
the building industry, and the school of ATCM will follow this trend. The newest technology
for 4D and 5D BIM – the iTWO 4.0, in a few weeks’ time is ready for
class teaching.
REFERENCES
[1] European Commission, European Construction Sector Observatory Building
Information Modelling in the EU Construction Sector, 2019.
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Breakthrough in Mindset and Technology, 2016.
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BIM OBJECTS LIBRARY FOR INFORMATION

EXCHANGE IN PUBLIC WORKS: THE USE OF
PROPRIETARY AND OPEN FORMATS
AMBRA BARBINI1,2, GIADA MALACARNE1, GIOVANNA MASSARI2,
GABRIELE PASETTI MONIZZA1 & DOMINIK T. MATT1,3
1
Fraunhofer Italia Research, Italy
2
University of Trento, Italy
3
Free University of Bolzano, Italy
ABSTRACT
The Italian code of public procurement states that interoperability via open formats is essential for
the exchange of information between public organizations and their project partners. However, the
understanding of what interoperability means and the use of open formats in the current practice is still
limited. Moreover, one of the approaches that a public organization can adopt to share its information
requirements among project partners is via parametric objects, such as BIM families. This approach is
not commonly adopted, it is very time consuming, but it allows the integration of the client’s
requirements directly into the project. This paper aims at investigating whether a BIM objects library
can be the solution to facilitate the interoperability in information exchange between public
organizations and their project partners. The paper shows a parallelism between the use of the
proprietary and the open format when using BIM objects in a project environment comparing the open
and the proprietary format of a BIM object library in terms of interoperability. This research refers to a
case study consisting of the development of a BIM objects library for a public organization in Italy.
The results shows that both proprietary and open formats are an efficient solution when developing a
BIM library for a public organization. However, their usefulness depends on the way the public
organization choose to organize its own BIM adoption.
Keywords: BIM objects, BIM Library, public works, interoperability, open format.
1 INTRODUCTION
The public sector is considered as a key player in leading the industry towards BIM adoption
[1]. In fact, BIM implementation increases intensively as more and more public organizations
around the world require the use of BIM in their projects and develop BIM standards [2].
In Italy, in 2016, the national code of public procurement (D.lgs 50/2016) has introduced,
for the first time, the use of specific electronic modelling methods and tools in public works
0. This documents state that, when procuring public works, an organization must declare its
information requirements in a way which assure the interoperability of the process using
open, non-proprietary formats.
On the one hand, interoperability via open formats is essential for the exchange of
information between public organizations and their project partners in order to facilitate
competition between technology providers and the involvement of technical professionals 0.
However, despite of the special attention paid by the norm on this matter, the understanding
and its use in the current practice is still limited. A previous investigation, aimed at
understanding the level of knowledge and adoption of BIM in a specific region of Italy, shows
that the 44% of the respondents are already working with BIM software but only the 10%
use open formats. This situation unveils a gap in BIM adoption within the
region – only 16% of the respondents declares to use BIM – highlighting that there is
the need to facilitate the understanding on interoperability and the use of open formats for a
full adoption of BIM [1].
doi:10.2495/BIM190231
On the other hand, existing BIM implementation actions taken by the public sector shows
that there are three approaches that a client can adopt to share its information requirements
among project partners: (1) via pdf documents, such as the BIM Execution Plan (BEP)
document [2], [4]; (2) via excel sheets, where information requirements are listed in a tabular
way, such as COBie spreadsheets [2], [4]; (3) via parametric objects, such as BIM families
[4]. The first two approaches are analogue and often not exhaustive [4]. The third approach
implies that the client shares with its project partners a BIM objects library containing all
its requirements as geometrical and alphanumerical data. This approach is not commonly
adopted, it is very time consuming, but it allows to integrate the client’s requirements directly
into the project [4].
We would like to investigate whether BIM objects libraries can be the solution to facilitate
the interoperability in information exchange between public organizations and their project
partners. Therefore, this research aims at developing a BIM objects library, for the
information exchange between a public organization and its project partners, assuring
the interoperability of the process.
2 STATE OF THE ART

The Italian standard UNI 11337-1 defines BIM objects library as a digital environment for
gathering and sharing graphic and alphanumeric model objects. BIM objects are
virtualizations of geometric and non-geometric attributes, related to physical or spatial
entities, associated to a set of works, and to their processes [6]. Scientific literature defines
library in several ways: Afsari describes the BIM libraries as “source for building product
model organized synthetically and systematically” [7], while Shin defines the BIM library as
“an organized group of BIM objects where the building information is stored” [8]. Afsari and
Shin highlight that information and especially exchange of information is a key aspect of
BIM library. BIM objects can be the container for exchanging information, and open format
files can guarantee technical interoperability and software independency, as Hjelseth
has suggested [9]. However, in current practice, information flow is neither
automated nor seamless, as the theory illustrates [10] and it has been estimated that, in 2002,
inadequate interoperability caused an annual cost of $15.8 billion in the U.S. capital
facilities industry [11].
However, after the introduction of Revit® Families as primary elements, several BIM
objects catalogues have been developed [12], turning the design process from drawing into
an assembling elements process [13]. Each element represents a building component and
includes not only a 3D model, but also several information [9]. According to UNI EN ISO
11337-4, BIM objects can be generic or specific. Generic BIM objects are entities displayed
as generic geometric systems or through their overall dimensions, with approximate
quantitative and qualitative features. Specific BIM objects are entities graphically virtualized
as specific geometric systems, in which the quantitative and qualitative features are linked to
a defined product [14]. An example of an open BIM library of specific objects is BIMobject®.
BIMobjects® provides BIM objects as virtual prototypes of real building components
developed in several file formats both proprietary and open. This should improve the
efficiency of the construction project integrating building components in the early design
stage of the project. Moreover, private and public client organizations are developing their
own BIM library. Deutsche Bahn developed a BIM objects library to support the design of
small and medium train stations in Germany. Deutsche Bahn has collected generic objects
of the BIM library in a Revit® master project, adopting the IFC file format for open
information exchange [1]. In the United Kingdom, the government has promoted the
development of the NBS BIM National Library as a BIM objects platform to support the BIM
adoption in the AEC sector. The NBS National BIM Library is a catalogue of generic and
specific BIM objects [1]. The NBS National Library promotes the complementary use of
generic and specific BIM objects in order to facilitate the integration of the whole
construction supply chain – from planners to specific products providers – starting from the
early design phase of a project. It can be stated that, in public works, using generic BIM
objects can help from the design phase to the construction site [17], while the use of specific
objects can be significant for the facility management along the life cycle of the built objects
[18]. Therefore, since in Italy BIM is progressively becoming mandatory for public works,
public organizations could also be interested in developing their own BIM objects libraries.
Evidences from the experiences in developing BIM objects catalogues and the findings
from academic research shows two approaches that can be adopted to manage the
interoperability issue:
 developing the library in several proprietary format;
 developing a reliable open format version of the library.
3 RESEARCH METHOD
In order to compare the effectiveness of the proprietary and the open file formats in
exchanging information between a public organization and its project partners, the research
has performed a parallelism between the use of the proprietary and the open format when
using BIM objects in a project environment.
After the selection of specific components in the project environment (see Section 3.1)
to be converted into BIM objects, the research activities consisted in three main steps:
 The first step consisted in selecting the tasks to be performed in the project
environment, in identifying all the information required to perform the selected tasks
and in associating this information to the selected components (see Section 3.2).
 During the second step, each selected component has been modelled into a BIM
object, integrating the information identified in step 1 and generating the
BIM library, both in proprietary and in open format (see Section 3.3).
 The third step consisted in simulating project partner’s interaction with the library,
when performing the selected tasks in the project environment, and in performing a
parallelism between the formats of the library (see Section 3.4).
3.1 Selection of specific components in the project environment
The context of the research project was the development of an urban mobility project located
in a South Tirolean municipality, in the North of Italy. The public organization, responsible
for the project development, expressed their willingness to adopt BIM, as a methodology to
optimize the information workflow during the project development and to facilitate the
generation of documents and information for the facility management department after
the project close-out. Within this context, one of the BIM activities focused on the
development of a BIM objects library.
One of the requirements of the project was the mandatory use of the public organization’
Corporate Design components. The Corporate Design of the public organization consists in
30 standardized components of urban furniture: benches, info points, bus shelter, bike
parking boxes, clocks and signs. Figure 1: provides an overview on a part of the components
of the Corporate Design. Since these components are characterized by a high level of
standardization and will increase in number of presences around the region in the next years,
the research team decided to use these components for the scope of the research.
Figure 1: Components of the corporate design.
3.2 Step 1: Tasks to be performed in the project environment, list of information

required and association to the selected components
Once selected the components to convert into BIM objects, the study focused on: selecting
the project tasks to perform using these BIM objects; identifying the information required to
perform the tasks selected and associating this information to the components.
The public organization selected the tasks to be performed according to their needs along
a project lifecycle. Generally, the BIM objects will play a role during the design phase, the
tendering for construction and the facility management phase. In this paper, the authors
present the results from the analysis of the design phase. Referring to the design phase, the
research team identified three tasks:
 Positioning the objects in the project environment.

 Calculating quantities.
 Calculating costs.
Each of the information required by the public organization has been classified primary
per type (geometric, alphanumeric, document related) and per decision phase
(fixed – information always valid/no decision required – design, tender, facility
management). This resulted in several excel spreadsheets (one per component) where all the
information required are collected. An example of the spreadsheets obtained is illustrated
in Figure 2: .
Figure 2: Example of an excel spreadsheet with the list of information required by the
public organization.
3.3 Step 2: The generation of the BIM library
To develop the library in proprietary format we used the release 2018 of the software
Autodesk Revit®. The adopted process is illustrated in Figure 3: and can be described as
follows: we modelled each component of the Corporate Design within the category “Generic
Model” as single Revit® Family. Then we nested the components in a main Revit Family,
wherein all the information associated to each component have been modelled.
Figure 3: Research method, step two: the creation of the libraries.
We created the open format of the library, exporting IFC files of the library, after loading
the objects in a Revit® Project file. As illustrated in Figure 4: we generated the open format
library following two different approaches, in order to have a wider view on IFC limits and
potentials. With the first approach, the library consists in a group of files, where each file
contains a single BIM object – each Revit Family has been loaded in a different Revit®
Project file. With the second approach, the library consists of a single project file gathering
all the BIM objects – all the Revit® Families have been loaded in a single Revit® Project file.
In both cases, during the export of the Revit® Project file, the IFC version “IFC 2x3
Coordination View 2.0” has been duplicated, switching the Property Sets from “Export IFC
common property sets” to “Export Revit® property sets”.
Through the IFC viewer BIMvision, each IFC file has been checked in order to test
missing geometries and/or information. Moreover, the IFC files have also been opened in the
three BIM software Revit®, Allplan® and Archicad® to evaluate the effective possibility to
exchange information between different BIM software using IFC format.
Figure 4: Research method, step 3: diagram of the workflow.
3.4 Step 3: Parallelism between the formats of the library
In the future, the public organization will share the BIM library with its project partners. The
partners will complete the information required directly into the BIM objects and will share
the updated BIM library with the public organization. This kind of workflow will require
several exchanges of information and a public organization must guarantee an efficient
exchange of information. Therefore, the third step of the research consisted in performing a
simulation of the tasks selected in step 1 using the three libraries developed in step 2
(the group of files in proprietary format, the group of files in open format, the single file in
open format) and in comparing the results obtained. The tasks, selected in step 1, have been
simulated comparing the use of proprietary and the open format in a BIM project environment
(Revit® 2018), as described in the following steps:
1. Positioning the objects in the project environment.
2. Creating a quantity schedule and a cost schedule.
3. Exporting an IFC file after completing project information.
In the first step, the workflow differs depending on the type of library used:
 The BIM objects in proprietary format have been loaded as Revit® Family in the
project environment.
 The single BIM objects in open format have been inserted as IFC link and binded in
the project environment.
 The BIM objects of the single IFC file have been copied and pasted in the
project environment.
In the second step, we created a schedule from the category “Generic Model”, selecting
all the available information parameters. After completing all the information, in step three
we experimented different methods to export the project file as an IFC file:
 For the project file in proprietary format, the IFC version “IFC 2x3 Coordination
View 2.0” has been duplicated, switching the Property Sets from “Export IFC
common property sets” to “Export Revit® property sets”.
 For the project file in open format, the IFC version “IFC 2x3 Coordination View
2.0” has been duplicated, switching the Property Sets from “Export IFC common
property sets” to “Export schedules as property sets”.
 For components of the single IFC file, the IFC version “IFC 2x3 Coordination View
2.0” has been duplicated, switching the Property Sets from “Export IFC common
property sets” to “Export schedules as property sets”.
Again, through the IFC viewer BIMvision®, each IFC file has been checked in order to
test missing geometries and/or information. Then, the IFC files have also been uploaded
into Revit®, Allplan® and Archicad® to evaluate the effective possibility to exchange
information between different BIM software using the open format.
We have also performed the first and the third steps with the software Archicad® and
Allplan ®, in order to check the interoperability of the created IFC files. Details are discussed
in the result section.
4 RESULTS
4.1 Open format libraries
Using the IFC viewer BIMvision® is possible to visualize the shaped geometry and the
created information parameters. As illustrated in Figure 5: within the BIM software Revit®,
Archicad® and Allplan® is possible not only to have access to the information but also to
manipulate them.
Figure 5: Results by opening the single IFC files with different BIM software.
4.2 Parallelism between the proprietary format and the open format
In this section, we discuss the differences we have observed in completing the three selected
tasks with each developed library. We present the performance of each task, describing the
differences between the three libraries.
4.2.1 Positioning the BIM objects in the project environment

The measured differences highlight how Revit® reads the objects of the different libraries.
Referring to the proprietary format library, Revit® recognises the loaded objects as Revit
Families, and keeps the instance and type parameters under the defined groups. Referring to
the open format library made of a group of IFC files, when uploading a single BIM object
into the project environment, Revit® reads the geometry of the object as a model group
visualizing both instance and type parameters under the group “IFC Parameters”. When a
second BIM object in IFC format is uploaded into the project environment, Revit® reports all
the parameters related with this second object, even if these parameters are the same already
uploaded by the first object. This situation results in a list of duplicated parameters.
Moreover, only one of the two duplicated parameters has a value assigned, while the value
linked with the other parameter is lost. Uploading a third IFC object, the same parameter
appears three times and, for each object, only one of the repeated parameters has a value, and
so on linking other IFC files. Figure 6: is representative of this situation in the case of two
BIM objects uploaded in the same project environment. Importing the open format library
made of a single IFC file, Revit® reads the copied components as single BIM objects.
Selecting each object, Revit® shows instance and type parameters under the group “IFC
Parameters”, without repeating any parameter, regardless of how many objects we have
pasted in the Revit® project file.
4.2.2 Quantity and costs calculation

A schedule has the main purpose of displaying costs and quantity, in order to develop a cost
and a quantity estimation. When using the proprietary format library, Revit® generates
schedules only with Revit® Built-in Parameters. To schedule personalized parameters into a
project environment, it is necessary to re-create each parameter as Shared or Project
parameter. With both the open format libraries, it is possible to generate schedules with all
the personalized parameters already collected into the BIM objects. As illustrated in Fig. 7
Figure 6: Example of duplicated parameters when uploading each BIM objects as a single
file into the project environment in Autodesk Revit®.
Figure 7: Comparison of the schedule generated using the single IFC file (on the left) and
the schedule generated using the group of IFC files (on the right).
the main difference between the two open libraries regards how Revit® displays the generated
schedule. In the open format library from a group of IFC files, due to the duplication of
parameters described in Section 4.2.1, the schedule appears as a chessboard, with some
parameters completed and other without a value. In the open format library from a single IFC
file, the schedule results completed with all the parameters and the related values as defined
during the creation of the library.
4.2.3 Exporting the project as an IFC file

In order to check the successful exporting of the project in IFC format, we verified the
presence of geometric and alphanumeric information with the IFC viewer BIMvision® and
the BIM software Revit®, Allplan® and Archicad ®.
When using the proprietary format library, all the information exported are preserved and
easily visualized into the IFC viewer and the BIM software. When using the open format
library from a group of IFC files, geometric information is all preserved, while alphanumeric
information is randomly missed. This non-sense loss of information has been detected with
the IFC viewer and the BIM software, while any kind of missing information has been
detected when using the open format library from a single IFC file.
4.3 Interoperability
The results show that it is possible to set IFC files in the project environment using Revit®,
Allplan® and Archicad ®. In addition to that, users may export another IFC file, after having
modified alphanumeric information.
Figure 8: The image shows the results of the tests about information transmission,
following the workflows connected to the three BIM software.
As shown in Fig. 8, only one case shows an unsuccessful workflow. This unsuccessful
result regards the export of the project as an IFC files in Autodesk Revit®. The workflow
suffers from randomly missing parameters in the BIM objects. We also noticed that it is
possible to overcome this issue by completing the duplicated parameter without a value. This
solution is clearly not sustainable with an increasing number of linked IFC files, unless
establishing an automated system for completing parameters values. In all the other
cases, the workflows do not show any error and BIM objects meet the needs of the
public organization.
5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Considering the point of view of the public organization and a simulation of its interaction
with project partners, we highlight the benefits and the drawbacks of both proprietary
and open format.
5.1 The proprietary format
The library in proprietary format (Revit®) presents the following strengthens:

 Seamless modifiability within the native software.
 Possibility to create several types within a single object family.
 Faster exchange of information using the same BIM software.
At the same time the proprietary format presents also some weakness, regarding:
 Limit in exchanging of information using different BIM software.
 Re-creation of the personalized parameters as Shared or Project parameters. This
operation may be extremely time consuming, considering the number of parameters
and the number of objects in a project environment.
5.2 The open format
The open format library as a group of IFC files:

 Is readable by BIMvision®, Allplan® and Archicad®.
 Is exportable by Allplan® and Archicad®.
 Shows problems (duplication of information with loss of values) in the
Revit® software.
 Results unsuccessful by exporting an IFC file from Revit®.
The open format library as a single IFC file:
 Is completely software independent.
 Can support the public organization in different project phases.
 Can be a reference along the entire life cycle of the components.
 Seems to perform each established task without any issue.
In conclusion, it can be stated that both proprietary and open formats are efficient solution
when developing a BIM library for a public organization. However, their usefulness depends
on the way the public organization choose to organize its BIM adoption. The proprietary
format is the appropriate solution if the public organization is allowed to organize its BIM
adoption based on a specific software solution. However, Italian public organizations must
assure the interoperability of the process using open, non-proprietary formats when procuring
public works 0. Therefore, it is essential the availability of an open format BIM library.
Results of this research shows that an open format BIM library as a group of single files
enhances information exchange of BIM objects only outside the project environment. Since
the aim of this research is to develop a BIM library to improve the efficiency in information
exchange between public organizations and their project partners at project level, this
solution is not appropriate. The BIM library as a single IFC file pushes efficiently the
exchange of information within the project environment, independently from the BIM
environment adopted. Tasks are performed without any loss of information and therefore the
interoperability is assured.
Further research activities on this topic will concern the use of the BIM objects library in
a real project environment, evaluating the simulations run during this research project.
Moreover, further research activities will focus on the management of a BIM objects library.
The BIM library developed within this research project includes 30 components, but the
number of components is supposed to increase intensively in the future. Therefore, a BIM
library as a single IFC file could turn into a non-effective way of use. A further investigation
may analyse how BIM object library should be organized in order to streamline the search
for a specific component of the library.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge STA – Strutture Trasporto Alto Adige who provided
important information and drawings for the development of this research.
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INTEGRATION OF AUGMENTED REALITY IN

BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING:
APPLICABILITY AND PRACTICALITY
CHANG-SAAR CHAI1, CELINE LEE2, SANTI EDRA NISA LAU3, EEYDZAH AMINUDIN3,
SIAW-CHUING LOO4, MASOUD GHEISARI5 & MOHAMED ABDELRAOUF ABDALRAHMAN3
1
Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak, Malaysia
2
School of the Built Environment, University of Reading Malaysia, Malaysia
3
Department of Structure and Materials, School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
4
Centre of Building, Construction and Tropical Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment,
University of Malaya, Malaysia
5
Rinker School of Construction Management, University of Florida, USA
ABSTRACT
The digitalisation of the construction industry fuels the application of sophisticated virtual product
models. Concerning current measures in construction project management, the acquisition of sufficient
data and information hinders the project execution. However, the application of fully automated
techniques within the construction industry is not yet a common practice. This explains the slow rate
of digital growth in construction. This study is aiming to investigate the adoption of augmented reality
(AR) using building information modeling (BIM) content in the construction industry. In order to
achieve the aim, a questionnaire survey is conducted across four countries, namely Malaysia, Egypt,
Saudi Arabia and Turkey. A comparison of AR-BIM adoption behaviour among these four countries is
established. The findings show that AR has great potential to be adopted in the construction industry,
provided that the obstacles hindering the adoption are resolved. Among the four countries, Malaysians
are optimistic to the AR-BIM adoption. This might be due to the great effort in promoting technology
adoption which is done by the Malaysian government through the Construction Industry
Transformation Plan (CITP). A software architecture framework of AR-BIM is developed using the
Unity and BIM Model workflow. This study is important to serve as a guideline to practitioners in
adopting AR-BIM. Also, it helps the decision makers to emphasize which technology adoption criteria
is to be focused on in enhancing AR-BIM adoption in respective organizations.
Keywords: augmented reality (AR), building information modelling (BIM).
1 INTRODUCTION
The construction industry today are changing towards an organized and sustainable
construction process pathway through adopting new technologies that able to increase
efficiency of construction process. Building information modeling (BIM) has proved its
value in enhancing project information throughout the project lifecycle [1]. It allows a proper
planning among the architect, engineer and contractor (AEC) to reduce conflict between the
players and increase communication efficiency. This is essentially important due to the nature
of construction works are mostly fragmented, resulted in lack of respect and trust among the
stakeholders and poor project management.
BIM is a three-dimensional (3D) model based process for developing the building projects
with the related properties [2]. Eventually BIM is not a software, it is a platform to integrate
different information into a single model. There is high possibility that BIM will be part of
the construction standard in near future. This can be seen from the BIM submission is made
compulsory in several countries like Singapore, Denmark, Finland, United Kingdom, Hong
Kong, South Korea and others. The content creation in BIM models are not limited to be
managed through desktop facilities, it is further extended to cloud computing to enable BIM
doi:10.2495/BIM190241
platform users to enhance BIM information at anywhere and anyplace. Furthermore, it is able
to be further integrated in digital twinning where the models can be presented in different
form of digital devices including augmented reality, virtual reality, mix reality, 3D printing
and many others.
Augmented reality (AR) is not a new digital approach, however the application of AR is
mostly related in gaming industry. Although it is now constantly venturing in different sectors
including construction sector but the potential applicability and practicality of AR-BIM in
construction industry remain as the biggest challenge. Therefore, this paper is taken the
initiative to examine the applicability and practicality of AR-BIM in construction industry.
The feasibility study of AR-BIM is conducted across four countries and a workflow of AR-
BIM modeling will be developed.
2 AUGMENTED REALITY INTEGRATION IN

BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING
BIM is perceived as a rising innovation that can, on a very basic level, enhance the project
delivery. Nevertheless, the BIM advantages still cannot seem to be accomplished. The
incorporation of different technologies with BIM must integrate with suitable managerial
methods and strategies. It is proposed that this is essential in minimizing the number of
challenges of BIM. Various sorts of management and contract organization are, as a result,
required to encourage the diverse levels of BIM adoption and precocity [3].
From the various literature, there are less research on the BIM utilization to support
fieldwork, likewise, collaborative information sharing and on-site coordination planning.
Besides, there are also limited research on BIM usage in the hands of workers in construction
sites [4]. The implication of that fact is computer generated dimensions, textures, spatial
location, and environment, provide a very restricted level of “realism” because of the
shortage of sensory feedback and thus the lack of ability to afford perceptual and cognitive
benefits. The computerized building data in BIM is liable to an absence of an association
between the virtual and real world, which to some degree, prevents the gross grasp of
digitized project information. This leads to limitations to the real-time incorporation of BIM
to the site conditions and the interaction between the field crew and BIM. As per Wang et al.
[5], the integration between BIM and cloud-based collaborative platforms will allow clients
and stakeholders to gather instant data and feedback on their project designs and plans, by
the usage of their smartphones or tablets which can be achieve by integrating augmented
reality in BIM.
Augmented reality (AR) is a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world
environment [6]. The 3D and 4D objects are made by computer graphic using virtual reality
(VR) technology. The integration of AR and BIM (AR-BIM) provides a collaborative
platform to help in managing and exchanging all the project data, which can be supported by
mobile devices and tablets. Building Information models can be visualized on mobile phones
and tablets via AR to help the construction stakeholders throughout the process of
construction to improve the work quality [7]. Table 1 shows the potential application of AR-
BIM in construction industry.
In the present construction industry practices, BIM and AR frameworks can recognize the
interconnection. The AR-BIM systems enhance the interconnection between work tasks as
well as improve the existing intricacy and the interconnection on site. The framework
merging between AR and BIM allows the participants to visualize an immersive view into
reality and view the as-planned information onto the as-built environment and relieve the
workload in the participant mind. As AR and BIM models are viewed in reality, the platform
Table 1: Potential application of AR-BIM in the construction industry.
Potential application Description References

Reference points could be showed using AR at
Setting out [8], [9]
a time by referencing to just one point.
Desired depth of the excavation is showed
Excavation [8], [10]
using AR, replaced the original stakes method.
Precise location of the construction elements
Positioning [8], [11]
are showed using AR.
Difference between as-built condition and as-
Inspection [8], [12]
planned model are provided during inspection.
Visualization provided to prevent
Communication miscommunication, especially during [5], [8]
commenting, coordination and strategizing.
provide precise data context as the input of data stream is managed by backend support team,
channeling the information (virtual models) to the users at construction site including
workers. Through this, the workers will be able to observe and see the progress of the work
tasks and the differences between the current and the future work progress [5].
The traditional construction practices of having enormous number of drawings and index
sheet in the site offices are waste of resources [13]. This can be solved by integrating AR and
BIM where the users able to access the drawing at anytime and anywhere. Considering that
AR by nature includes the human sensations with both genuine and virtual data sources. It is
additionally found that AR ought to be universal and cooperate with exact situating advances,
for example, laser indicating. BIM gives moderately static and pre-characterized information
and data. AR gives localization of reality, considering vision-based AR is a value added. AR
might be a simple access interface, but it may possibly change how site manager, workers,
etc change the entire management workflow in the industry [14].
This study utilized both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative approach
utilized questionnaire survey to collect data on the applicability of AR-BIM in construction
industry meanwhile qualitative approach involved developing of experimental work with
AR-BIM workflow. The questionnaire survey data will be analyzed through Principle
Component Analysis (PCA). The reliability and sampling adequacy of the data will be tested
using Cronbach’s Alpha and Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity.
Both questionnaire reliability and sampling adequacy threshold are set at 0.7. The Cronbach’s
Alpha of the study is recorded at 0.801 meanwhile KMO is at 0.727, indicating a high
reliability and high adequacy instrument.
The questionnaires are distributed across four countries, namely Egypt, Malaysia, Turkey
and Saudi Arabia. The similarity among these four countries lay on the Level 1 BIM
implementation in the respective country. However, there are significant differences in the
government policies related to BIM implementation. 400 sets of questionnaire surveys were
sent to four countries; there were 214 respondents who responded to the questionnaire,
however, there were only 152 valid data, indicating 38% of the response rate. From the 152
respondents, there were 27 respondents from Egypt, 43 from Malaysia, 43 from Turkey and
29 from Saudi Arabia.
Table 2: Cross-tabulation of respondent backgrounds.
Respondent position/Respondent country of residence/

Respondent years of experience
Working location
Respondent years of experience Saudi Total
Egypt Malaysia Turkey
Arabia
5 6 3 2 16
Civil Engineer
31.25% 37.50% 18.75% 12.50% 100.00%
Less than 5 2 4 7 3 16
Architecture
years 12.50% 25.00% 43.75% 18.75% 100.00%
1 1 1 1 4
Project Manager
25.00% 25.00% 25.00% 25.00% 100.00%
13 10 17 8 48
Civil Engineer
27.08% 20.83% 35.42% 16.67% 100.00%
5 7 5 1 18
Architecture
27.78% 38.89% 27.78% 5.56% 100.00%
5–10 years
1 2 2 5 10
Project Manager
10.00% 20.00% 20.00% 50.00% 100.00%
5 7 3 3 18
BIM Coordinator
27.78% 38.89% 16.67% 16.67% 100.00%
2 1 1 2 6
Civil Engineer
33.33% 16.67% 16.67% 33.33% 100.00%
More than 1 1 1 3 6
Architecture
10 years 16.67% 16.67% 16.67% 50.00% 100.00%
2 4 3 1 10
Project Manager
20.00% 40.00% 30.00% 10.00% 100.00%
Total 37 43 43 29 152
4 RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 Applicability
Principle Component Analysis (PCA) on potential application of AR during construction

were tabulated in Table 3. Significantly, the AEC industry is very confident in using AR for
positioning purpose, but doubt on the applicability of AR for excavation and inspection,
especially for Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Current practice using bare eyes to identify the
location for positioning. However, such practice might cause deviation between as-built and
as-planned situation, especially when precise positioning is required. Utilizing AR for precise
positioning could significantly increase the accuracy and efficiency. Besides, the industry
seems to have sufficient trust in the application of AR for on-site communication and setting
out, as both of these factors are having relatively high factor loading. As compared among
the four countries, both Malaysia and Turkey are confidence to handle the implementation of
AR-BIM in the construction. This can be seen from the high factor loadings of using AR-
BIM in setting out, excavation, positioning, inspection and communication.
Table 3: Potential application of AR during construction.
Potential application of AR during

Factor loading
construction
Saudi
Arabia
Setting out, show all desired references points
0.831 0.849 0.833 0.816
virtually
Excavation, show the desired excavating
0.722 0.702
depth virtually
Positioning, show all the precise location
0.952 0.863 0.938 0.896
virtually
Inspection, show the difference between as-
0.845 0.973
planned and as-built condition
Communication, as it synchronize mental
0.906 0.858 0.866 0.875
models
Table 4: Challenges of AR-BIM adoption.
Challenges of AR-BIM adoption Factor loading

Saudi
Arabia
Lack of external incentives 0.862 0.726
Staff buy-in 0.859 0.858 0.866 0.825
High software cost 0.864 0.732 0.841 0.810
Additional cost for hardware upgrade 0.882 0.779 0.759 0.766
Insufficient training time 0.863 0.811 0.753
Insufficient training resources 0.895 0.834 0.749
Risk of losing intellectual properties 0.861 0.761 0.853
While looking at the challenges for AR-BIM adoption as shown in Table 4, the industry
seems to disagree that lack of external incentives and training issues had hurdled them for
the adoption for Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Their main concern is on financial issues. While
Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) might have limited turnover for software and hardware
improvement, those from well-established company might also feel challenging to request
additional budget from financial department, who had limited knowledge and awareness on
BIM. Meanwhile four countries respondents agreed on the challenges of staff buy-in, high
software cost and additional cost for hardware upgrade.
As shown in Table 5, respondents seem to have less confident when mentioned about the
easiness to learn AR-BIM and its impact to positive company profit generation except for
Turkey. Meanwhile Malaysia is the only country that able to perform AR-BIM without aid
from the expert. This might be due to the generation Z in Malaysia are keen in digital
Table 5: Elements defining AR-BIM acceptance.
Elements defining AR-BIM acceptance Factor loading

Saudi
Arabia
This can improve my job quality 0.824 0.865 0.853 0.838
This can improve my productivity 0.856 0.833 0.878 0.855
This can enhance my effectiveness 0.724 0.844 0.812 0.808
This can increase my company’s profit 0.725
This help me to access more information 0.802 0.792 0.880
This help me in decision making 0.768 0.785 0.872 0.716
This can improve communication among the
0.853 0.719 0.787 0.751
project team
This is easy to learn 0.709
This gives a clear and understandable
0.847 0.859 0.732
interface
This can be used without the aid from expert 0.774
technologies and these generations are given more opportunities in developing technologies
knowledge. Besides, the respondents from the four countries agreed that AR-BIM is able to
improve their job quality, productivity, effectiveness, decision making and communication.
This is mostly due to the ability of AR and BIM that integrated the project information into
one model, presented through a single virtual model. However, Turkey professionals
disagreed that the AR-BIM given opportunity for the user to access more information. This
can be seen that the factor is eliminated during PCA analysis. In Turkish opinion, AR-BIM
might able to integrate the information into one single model, presented through AR form in
handheld devices to enhance the efficiency of project execution. But there are information
that could not be integrated in AR model at the current stage for example the costing and
scheduling information. Eventually the current AR-BIM in the market is able to present the
virtual model only without integrating the 4D, 5D and 6D information.
4.2 Practicality
BIM information can be intuitively visualized via AR to guide construction workers through
the construction of actual buildings and improve the quality of their work (Wang et al. [7]).
There are several methods to integrate BIM content into AR platform, this study utilized
gaming platform to perform the integration function. Obviously, gaming industry is the
pioneer in VR as well as in AR. Unity 3D software is a powerful cross-platform 3D engine
and it lets the user target virtual reality devices directly from Unity. The Vuforia AR
Extension for Unity enables vision detection and tracking functionality within the Unity and
allows developers to create AR applications and games easily for smartphones and tablets. A
software architecture is designed as shown in Fig. 1.
From Fig. 1, the AR-BIM development involved three main stages. The first stage is the
back-end stage where the administrative work including admin management, record activity,
setting, security and import 3D model are done in this stage. The 3D model is developed from
Figure 1: Software architecture for AR-BIM.
Figure 2: Selected building.
an actual building as shown in Fig. 2. The BIM virtual model is established through Revit
2017 (Fig. 3). The 3D model is then gone through data access management stage where the
positioning of the model will be calibrated accordingly. This stage also important to handle
stream data, ICP process and loading of 3D model in the system.
The last stage of the AR-BIM development is on the application stage. This stage is
important to calibrate the location of the virtual BIM model with the actual location in the
reality. This is to ensure that the walkthrough experience of the users in the virtual model
will be exactly the same in the reality. From Fig. 4, the preliminary integration of AR-BIM
in the tablet device is successful.
Figure 3: BIM model for selected building.
Figure 4: AR-BIM integration.
The virtual 3D model shown in the tablet (in Fig. 4) indicated the walkthrough experience
of AR-BIM. The entire AR-BIM platform is done by using Unity, Vuforia and C#
programming knowledge. However, the limitation of the above preliminary integration is the
positioning of reality experience in the virtual model. The ideal AR-BIM model should be
able to integrate both virtual model and reality in a same platform, but the Fig. 4 tablet shows
the virtual model only. This is mainly due to the incomplete C# programming in the Unity
platform. Although the AR-BIM model is not perfect but it proven the digital construction
concept that AR integration in BIM is workable. From the study, the AR-BIM is most useful
for the facility management team in handling operation and maintenance activities. The 3D
model in the tablet gives clear indication of underlying service inside the wall or beneath the
floor. Besides, the contribution of the AR-BIM can be seen from the education aspects. The
industry training for the young engineers no longer needed to be present at construction site,
but it can be conducted in office using the AR-BIM model. This significantly reduces the
accident risk for the young engineers.
5 CONCLUSION
This paper had identified the importance, acceptance criteria and AR-BIM application in the
construction industry. When identifying the perceived value of AR during construction, the
industry are having highest confident on the applicability of AR during setting out,
positioning and communication. Meanwhile, Malaysia AEC industry do agree on most of the
potential application of AR-BIM in the industry. This is mostly related to the Malaysian
government initiative in enhancing construction productivity through the Construction
Industry Transformation Plan (CITP) and the liberalization of professional services in the
country. Malaysians are urged to adopt innovative technologies to maintain their
competitiveness in the market share. With sufficient understanding on AR and BIM, the
industry members should have a direction for their future development to secure or even
improve their competitiveness in local and global markets.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was supported by UoRM-FRGS (HM102600), Ministry of Education Malaysia.
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USE OF BIM TECHNOLOGY AS A SAFETY TOOL

IN THE RESTORATION PHASE OF BUILDINGS:
CASE STUDY OF THE FAÇADE OF THE
“ROYAL TOBACCO FACTORY” IN SEVILLE, SPAIN
COSTANZA CIONI1, MICHELE DI SIVO1* & DANIELA LADIANA2†
1
Department of Energy, Systems, Territory and Construction Engineering, University of Pisa, Italy
2
Department of Architecture, University of Chieti and Pescara, Italy
ABSTRACT
BIM technologies, which are rapidly spreading in the construction sector, are able to support all the
phases of implementation of the construction process – from conception to demolition – regulating
the entire life cycle of the building; however, the use of these, in most cases, is limited to the design
phase only. The case described – studied in a degree thesis developed within the framework of
the international cooperation agreement for research between the Faculties of Engineering and
Architecture of the Universities of Pisa and Seville – explores the use of BIM as a useful technology
for programming and managing the safety during the restoration of the façade of an important historic
building located in Seville: the “Royal Tobacco Factory”. The building, built between 1728 and 1771,
served as a factory for the production of tobacco and cigars from its construction until 1950, when it
was used as the seat of the Rectorate and some faculties of the University of Seville. Thanks to the
use of Autodesk, Revit and STR vision CPM software, a simulation of all the phases of the work was
carried out in order to understand how to reduce the levels of risk. The work process was broken
down through the use of the “Work Breakdown Structure”, a conceptual hierarchical structure
branched on three levels. This operation has made it possible to obtain a general index of the works
that contains the codes used by the software as a basis for the organization of work. On the STR
Vision CMP BIM platform, it was possible to perform metric computation directly from the Revit
model through the “Quantity Take Off” operation. The measures were thus linked through WBS
codes with the estimation calculation and the Gantt diagram. Thanks to this type of approach, a 3D
model was obtained that contains information not only on the geometry of the building but also on
the spatial and temporal organization of the site and on costs. Further research includes the use of
Autodesk Navisworks to run 4D simulations to refine the risk assessment and reveal many real
issues in advance.
Keywords: BIM, case study, historical building, restoration phase, risk reduction.
1 INTRODUCTION
BIM technologies, to an increasing extent at the centre of studies, widely applied and
popular for the optimization of the implementation of the building process, have been
developed, since the seventies, thanks to the work of Charles M. Eastman, in the first form
of “Building Product Models” [1], as “a digital representation of the building process
which facilitates the exchange and interoperability of information in digital format” [2].
This first definition already highlighted interoperability and the possibility of managing
the entire life cycle of a building through the creation of a virtual model as the fundamental
contents of BIM; contents effectively reaffirmed as fundamental in the most recent
definition of BIM developed by NBIMS (National BIM Standard-United States Project
Committee). According to this, in fact, BIM is “a digital representation of physical and
*
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2140-9513
† ORCID: http:// orcid.org/0000-0001-6008-1365
doi:10.2495/BIM190251
functional characteristics of a facility. As such it serves as a shared knowledge resource for

information about a facility and forms a reliable basis for decisions during its lifecycle
from inception onward” [3].
The fundamental characteristics of this technology can be identified, therefore, not only
in the three-dimensional digital representation of the building system but in the possibility
of assuming BIM as an open and shared process of collaboration between the various
operators and data management during the entire life cycle of a building, from design
through to decommissioning. It is a functional technology to implement an integrated
design system through the definition of a virtual model in which each element of the
building organism is associated with specific characteristics (geometric, physical, material,
cost, environmental, etc.) and continues with the phases of analysis, management,
organization of the site or maintenance until any decommissioning [4].
Use of BIM not only permits achieving a model consisting of digital parametric
elements but also putting all the actors in the process in relation to one another so as to be
able to dialogue and collaborate at the same time, governing the flows of information and
documentation through the different phases of the construction process. This technology
entails, in fact, a substantial change in the design approach, implying skills and
competences not only in the two/three-dimensional representation of the architectural
elements but of all the information related to them. The model can in fact represent a real
virtual simulation in which problems can be explored and solved digitally before
proceeding in reality with the realization phases. BIM, through the three-dimensional
parametric modelling of each design element, in fact aims to improve the quality and
exchange of data, not only morphological, between the parties, reducing the number of
errors, increasing the efficiency of the process and ensuring that the final result conforms to
the design objectives. Moreover, from the point of view of method, it implements an
important evolution in the actors of the building process, leading them to assume and carry
out their roles in relation to the entire life cycle of the building [5].
The virtual model of the building organism, in addition to the geometry, can also contain
precise time data and information on materials and related costs. The 4D model is defined
as the one integrated by a time schedule able to visualize the time sequence of the
construction; while 5D indicates the model to which the costs of the project materials and
elements are added.
BIM technology is, in fact, currently mainly used in the design phase of new buildings,
but a gradual extension of the use and study is being affirmed also for the optimization of
further aspects of the building process and in reference also to the requalification of the
existing building heritage and to the conservation of the historical-architectural building
heritage, thus making possible the evolution of the culture and practice of design towards
an essentially diachronic setting that aims at controlling all the phases of existence of the
building system, not only as regards its generation but also its regulation.
This leads to an important paradigm shift, particularly in the design of complex
organisms, with major repercussions on building quality thanks to real integration between
the different design disciplines that govern the life cycle of the building and the growth of
operator skills [5].
Among the various in-depth studies on the use of BIM to strengthen the governance
capacity of the project in the various phases of the construction process, particular
importance is given to the on-site construction phase, making it possible to achieve a
significant improvement in terms of organization and safety through the strengthening of
the ability to identify all possible risks. The visualization of all the representative moments
of the site in a 3D model in continuous evolution, permits making interesting considerations

about safety and in relation to possible interferences between one job and another.
2 BIM FOR SAFETY OF THE RESTORATION SITE

The use of BIM for defining virtual three-dimensional models closer to reality is configured
as a useful technology to support the efficiency and effectiveness of on-site construction
processes, improving the levels of organization and safety.
The possibility of simulating three-dimensionally not only the building in all its
technological characteristics but also in all its construction phases, through the generation
of a real virtual construction site, makes it possible to analyse, identify and minimize
critical points and possible risks in advance, with obvious advantages in terms of
programming and control of times and methods of work implementation [6].
The sharing of the model among the designers does in fact make it possible to solve
possible interferences in the realization of the construction elements in the design stage so
the project is able to satisfy technical and operational needs in terms of ergotechnics,
planning and coordination of work in relation to workers’ safety and health protection
measures [6].
BIM facilitates the management of the construction of the building by improving the
organizational aspects related to the continuous modification of the production site over
time, permitting the updating of worksite assets as a result of the progress of the work and
the changes that occur during the job performance period. What is strengthened, thanks to
the construction of the virtual model of the building and the construction site, is the ability
to simulate the construction process in all its phases, concretely approaching operational
reality and thus avoiding that abstractness which currently undermines the usefulness of
many safety plans, based on descriptions of works and generic risks and not concretely
related to the situations of the specific context [7].
The importance of using BIM technology for security planning and management is
particularly evident in worksites for the restoration of buildings of historical and
monumental importance, where the need exists to analyse and deal with further levels of
complexity linked to the value and connotations of the building and its context. In this
context, design activities are faced not only with the delicate operation of identifying the
appropriate operational techniques of intervention on the building, but with the dynamic
analysis of spatial and temporal flows of construction resources, technological, human and
material, and of the necessary preparations in terms of support logistics, in sites that are
both degraded and of significant importance for the community [8].
It is not possible, in fact, to assimilate the complexities inherent in the worksite for
the construction of a new building with those of work carried out on an existing building
and, moreover, of high historical value. The latter often differs in terms of the type of
personnel, work, machinery and equipment and the difficulties involved in organizing the
use of the spaces.
The architectural heritage characterized by historical, artistic and cultural value, is often
the bearer of specific conditions regarding the methods of implementation of possible
conservation, consolidation or restoration jobs. Most often, this is the case in old-town
centres, which are very dense and closed, often difficult to access by standard construction
means. Moreover, these buildings often host major public functions, which cannot be
completely interrupted and, therefore, it is necessary to provide for forms of site
organisation compatible with continued use, ensuring the highest levels of safety for
operators and users. The organization of the site, in such situations, must also take into
account further goals: to ensure the protection of the building; minimize the physical and
perceptual impact of the work installations, allowing the widest and most comfortable
aesthetic and functional enjoyment of the building during the period in which work is in
progress [8]. In the context of the development of BIM technologies for the optimisation of
worksite safety, it is therefore necessary to define methods and carry out experiments to
maximise their effectiveness in governing work done in the historical and monumental
building sector, directing their use towards the construction of multi-dimensional site
models capable of fully describing and representing the work phases so as to identify all
possible risks for workers [9].
Although the issue of the organization and safety of construction sites is a relevant one
for the optimization of the building process, only a limited number of studies continue to
address the matter of how to design and manage safe construction based on the use of BIM
and fewer still focus on restoration sites.
This document, through an in-depth investigation of a case study, outlines a possible
path aimed at safety planning through the implementation of an information system and
technical requirements for safety based on BIM. The results of the project, which must be
validated by a real project, are intended as a development platform for: i) a methodological
guide for construction and safety professionals on the types of safety management which
BIM can conduct; ii) how to use information in BIM to generate a safety model (e.g. object
identification, geometric attributes, safety rules).
The study – further delved into by a degree thesis developed within the framework of
the international cooperation agreement for research between the Faculties of Engineering
and Architecture of the Universities of Pisa and Seville – explores the use of BIM as a
useful technology to program and manage security during the restoration of the façade of an
important historical building located in Seville: the “Royal Tobacco Factory” [10].
The working hypothesis was to apply BIM tools in the project execution phase, focusing
on safety management, adopting as a methodological approach the use not only of the
faithful representation of the objects that make up the building organism but the detailed
identification and description of the work processes achieved through the application of
a branched structure at three levels: the WBS, Work Breakdown Structure, to a portion of a
façade. The software used for the project is Autodesk Revit, STR vision CPM, and
Autodesk Navisworks Simulate [11].
3 THE “ROYAL TOBACCO FACTORY” IN SEVILLE: THE CASE STUDY

The history of the tobacco industry in Spain is closely linked to Seville for its function in
colonial times as the main port of traffic with the Americas which resulted in the city taking
on the role of major production and marketing site. All the tobacco coming from Virginia
and from all the Spanish colonies where it was grown converged here, and it was here
that the entire production process took place, from raw material through to end product
manufacture. The variety originally produced was tobacco powder for which mills were
needed to crush the dry leaf to bring it to the consistency of a fine powder. It was only
in the late 17th century that cigar production began [12].
The first tobacco factory in the western world was, therefore, founded in Seville around
1620 in a building near the church of San Pedro at the initiative of Jorge Bautista Carrafa.
At the beginning of the 18th century, given the substantial production, space in the old
factory proved insufficient and the construction began of a new and extremely large
building near the College of San Telmo. The building of this new facility began in 1728
and took almost 40 years to finish (1763), although production had already begun by 1757.
Hence a majestic industrial building, the largest in Spain, took shape [13].
Figure 1: Location of the “Royal Tobacco Factory” in Seville. (Source: Authors.)
Figure 2: Main façade of the “Royal Tobacco Factory” on Calle San Fernando. (Source:
Authors.)
Work began on a project by the engineer Ignacio Sala (Figs 1 and 2). The most
important transformations occurred between 1750 and 1771, under the supervision of the
Dutch engineer Sebastian Van Der Borcht [12].
When city expansion encountered the area in which the building was located, in the
early 20th century, this became a key element for organising the area. In 1950, the decision
was taken to convert the tobacco factory into the seat of the University of Seville, so the
internal layout of the building had to undergo major transformation in order to adapt to its
new function. The project, which dates back to 1953, was conceived by Antonio Balbontin
de Orta, A. Delgado Roig and Antonio Toro Buiza.
Figure 3: Elevation of the portal of Calle Padilla. (Source: Authors.)
Since 1954, the building has therefore been the seat of the Rectorate of the University
and of the faculties of law, literature and science. Today, the tobacco factory is one of the
oldest preserved industrial buildings in Europe [14].
The 2006 restoration project was conceived by architect D. Juan Manuel Macías,
professor at the University of Seville (Fig. 3).
Restoration was essentially required because of the state of deterioration of the walls.
The sandstone of the external façades and patios had in fact gradually deteriorated.
The material, after having resisted for more than three centuries, due to the action of
atmospheric agents, had progressively lost its internal cohesion, also causing the alteration
of the iron compounds within, which, after becoming oxidized, had increased in volume.
This had resulted in the appearance of lesions which had produced the detachment of a
number of projecting elements. The less sunny walls (external façades and the north and
west courtyards) were the most affected.
The main restoration jobs involved: cleaning, consolidation, repositioning, filling of
joints and cracks in the masonry works and waterproofing and replacement of the balcony
floors. With regard to the section of the façade affected by experimental simulation, i.e. the
restoration of the portal on calle Maria de Padilla, the architectural elements involved in the
restoration, on the two levels of the façade, starting from the bottom, were: base, vertical
coating, base of the columns, stem, capitals, balustrade, main balcony, central pediment,
frieze, frames, decorative brackets, the four openings, including pediments, jambs and
lintels, decorative elements (vases, shields, pillars), iron elements. The surface area
involved, not counting the upper decorations, was about 446.34 m2.
With regard to the organisational aspects of the worksite, the design guidelines were
taken from the “Estudio básico de Seguridad y Salud” (document corresponding to the
Safety and Coordination Plan in Italian legislation) prepared by Geyser S. L.
The installation procedures took into account the need to allow the building to be used
while work was in progress: in order to protect against the danger of objects falling from
above, the passage from the access door to the building was, in fact, made possible through
the construction of a covered path, before the 1.75 m long row of scaffolding.
Access to the worksite for personnel and vehicles was provided from the left wing of
the scaffolding where there is both access to the scaffolding, through a staircase, and
the pre-sorted waste collection area which acts as an area for the storage of materials,
loading/unloading and workstation on the ground.
4 THE METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH

In order to carry out a modelling experiment aimed at optimizing the levels of safety and
organization of the restoration site, the worksite layout and the modelling of the scaffolding
were developed for carrying out work at the entrance portal of the west façade of the main
building, towards calle Dona Maria de Padilla, which belongs to the Faculty of Philosophy
and Letters of the University of Seville.
From a methodological point of view, during experimentation, the most relevant aspect
was the application of the WBS, the Work Breakdown Structure; an approach developed by
the Project Management Institute of Philadelphia, which involved the breaking down of the
work phases according to a branched structure on three levels (see Fig. 4). It is an analytical
breakdown which makes it possible to visually obtain an idea of the work required to
complete the planned project, in order to improve the ability to better evaluate actions. The
WBS can be used not only to effectively break down the project execution phases but also
to improve price estimation and more accurately determine the completion of operations.
The WBS is usually represented in graphical (tree structure) or descriptive (index
structure) form. With regard to worksite activities, the use of WBS makes it possible to
improve communication between the different actors and to better understand everything
that happens during the work execution process. Each activity is unambiguous, since it is
Figure 4: The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is an approach which involved the
breaking down of the work phases according to a branched structure on three
levels. Each level of the WBS is a level of detail created by decomposition, a
process of breaking down the work into smaller components called tasks.
(Source: Authors.)
described clearly and completely. Each task is the responsibility of a single person and
there is no risk of duplicating performed activities. In addition, the use of WBS, permits
breaking down all the activities of the site into the smallest details, making them clearly
understandable to all those involved in carrying out the work [15].
The aim is to identify and place work packages (deliverables) at the last clearly
manageable hierarchical level so that they can be planned, scheduled, budgeted, monitored
and evaluated. Each package keeps the structural laws of the system alive: objective (what
to do), action (how to do it), resources (who does it, with what), organisation (roles of
responsibility). Each element or macro activity of the WBS is called the Work Breakdown
Element (WBE). At the lowest level of the WBS (at the last break-down level) we identify
the Work Packages.
The whole organizational process is broken down into a Work Breakdown Structure;
this allows us to have a general index of the works, containing the codes used by the
software to define each work phase. To do this we focused on the survey chapter dedicated
to the construction site organization. For the simulation phase two comparing software
were used: STR Vision CPM and Navisworks Simulate [16] (Fig. 5).
STR Vision CPM is an Italian software of quantity surveying that contains a BIM
platform for the IFC model vision. It allows linking the model, the measurements and the
GANTT diagram to directly execute the simulation. There are two possibilities to do the 3D
linked quantity survey: one is to manually execute the quantity take off from each model
family and for each WBS work package. This option is relatively simple although quite
cumbersome. The alternative is to create a parametric calculation of the quantity survey
that contains the detection rules set for each item, repeatable for all the different levels of
WBS. Once this procedure has been performed, by updating the model the measurements
and the calculations are automatically updated at the same time. Each work package can be
associated with one or more elements in the model. In this way, it is possible to create
visualization styles to represent temporal phases and the works progress. The elements can
Figure 5: Workspace in STR Vision CPM and in Autodesk Navisworks Simulate.

(Source: Authors.)
be differentiated between computed and non-computed, or work to be performed, executed

or in execution. This allows the development of a realistic simulation of the works
throughout the duration of the construction site. At the end, the simulation can be recorded
as a video.
Navisworks Simulate belongs to the Autodesk group and can be used to perform
simulations starting from a previous time schedule. It is set up to work in agreement
with other Autodesk software and with Project MS. The interface is very intuitive and
the importing procedure of the model, directly in .rvt format, is optimal. Unlike STR, the
model is imported as a link, so when the base file changes, the simulation is automatically
updated as well. Simulations can also be carried out by manually reporting the temporal
phases on the timeline.
5 THE SCAFFOLDING PROJECT

In the project experimentation activities forming the subject of this study, scaffolding
represents the element with the greatest difficulties from a geometric and organizational
point of view [17] (Fig. 6).
In the modelling phase, the articulation of the monumental façade has been effectively
simplified through the use of the generic model category family, to describe the size and
shape of the elements and be able to relate effectively to the geometry of the scaffolding.
Available from scaffolding manufacturers are more or less detailed models, linked to
real catalogues, but supplied as plug-ins for AutoCAD and therefore for a purely geometric
and not parametric rendering of the project.
The initial step was then to decide how to model a scaffolding that could be processed
specifically to perform a Quantity take off on STR Vision or, at least, to obtain a complete
abacus of the elements.
The choice was to find an existing catalogue and remodel from scratch all the objects
needed for the model, creating families that directly contain all the information provided by
the manufacturer. For this purpose, the catalogue of PERI, a German company, was chosen,
Figure 6: 3D model of the scaffolding and the portal on Autodesk Revit. (Source:
Authors.)
since among its products is a scaffolding called PERI UP façade Flex, specifically designed
to be particularly flexible and solve even small gaps on complex façades.
Each element of the catalogue used in the model has been redesigned with a LOD
350-400, starting with the geometric information provided in the catalogue. The detail of
the joints was not represented in the model, but the geometries necessary for the joint to be
effective were respected. This way, a catalogue of families was created, belonging to the
Generic models category containing among the type properties: the manufacturer’s
parameters, a reference code to the original catalogue, the construction phase and the WBS
code to connect to the calculation [18]. The same properties were also included among the
Instance properties so that they could also be easily referred to on the IFC model on other
platforms, other than the Revit interface.
The details of all the working phases are provided below. The definition of the
construction site plan and the layout of the fences has been defined in accordance with
the project’s needs, paying attention to the critical issues of the site organization.
1. First, the geometry of the scaffolding base was drawn, marking the supports in plan at
ground floor level. It is necessary to adapt the design to the complex geometry of the
building and respect the limitations according to safety regulations. To build the 3D
Revit model, a virtual catalogue of Revit families of generic models was created. This
catalogue contains all the pieces necessaries to compose the scaffolding design and the
models are based on a real catalogue of a scaffolding constructor.
2. After the creation of the scaffold geometry framework at the ground floor, eight
structural layers are superimposed. The basic elements are repeated, in vertical
alignment, for the number of levels required creating seven levels, each one of 2 m.
3. Now, the clash detection starts. It highlights the points where the scaffold structure
interferes with the façade elements. Once the clashes have been identified, they must be
solved by the designer using the “subtraction” method. He eliminates the critical
elements and he studies, case by case, an alternative design to solve the structure (see
Fig. 7).
Figure 7: Scaffolding safety analysis. Individuation of a empty space. (Source: Authors.)
4. It is now necessary to fill all the gaps between the internal edge of the scaffolding and
the façade. The goal is to ensure that at no point there are empty spaces with a depth
greater than 20 cm. By analyzing the plants of each level and manually measuring the
distances of the edges from the façade, the designer can find the critical points (Fig. 8).
5. Using a certified modular structure, it is only necessary to verify that the load limits of
the catalogue are respected. As for stability and resistance to the wind, the anchors
have been placed every 20 m2 and each façade has been stabilized with diagonals on
the front (Fig. 9).
Figure 8: Scaffolding safety analysis. Solution for empty spaces. (Source: Authors.)
Figure 9: 3D model of the scaffolding. (Source: Authors.)
6. One of the most important aspects of modelling is the creation of an abacus that helps
understanding and elaborating the model. Two key abacuses were created for this
project. One that lists the parameters of the “type” with temporal phases and one with
the properties of the “instances”, in parallel with the type parameters.
6 CONCLUSIONS
It is very important to be able to predict and anticipate the interferences and the unforeseen
events that may occur on the construction site because they represent the greatest risks in
the safety field.
That is the reason why safety is not a phase of the project, but it is a constant that
accompanies all the project timeline and every work package. Specifically, BIM can help
safety management by visualization, communication, and education improvement.
Nowadays the potential of the technology is impressive, for sure the studies to be
pursued in this field should refer essentially to the method. It is important to understand that
new technologies need new researches and frameworks to be applied. The legislative,
economic and professional apparatus is not now properly prepared to work with this
philosophy. It is absolutely necessary to catch up with the times.
The study on the method performed in this research could also be applied in other areas
of design; it represents a line of thought to share with different disciplines, to facilitate the
integration of technology with a concrete organizational process.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The case study was developed as the Master Degree thesis entitled “IT procedure for
construction site simulation on complex buildings – Study of the scaffolding for the
restoration of the Antigua Real Fábrica de Tabacos of Seville” by the post-graduate student
in Building Engineering – Architecture Costanza Cioni, and reviewed by professors
Michele Di Sivo, Daniela Ladiana, Massimiliano Martino, María Rosario Chaza Chimeno
and Juan Manuel Macías Bernal, in collaboration with the University of Pisa and the
University of Seville.
REFERENCES
[1] Quirk, V., Brief history of BIM, Archdaily, 7 Dec. 2012. www.archdaily.com/
302490/a-brief-history-of-bim/.
[2] Eastam, C., Building Product Models: Computer Environments Supporting Design
and Construction, CRC Press, 2018.
[3] National Institute of Building Sciences, Innovative solutions for the built
environment. www.nationalbimstandard.org/about.
[4] Osello, A., Il Futuro del disegno con il BIM per Ingegneri e Architetti, Flaccovio
Dario Editore: Torino, 2012.
[5] Gökgür, A., Current and Future Use of BIM in Renovation Projects, Chalmers UT,
2015.
[6] Chan, I.Y.S., Leung, H.Y., Fung, I.W.H. & Leung, M., How can BIM support
construction safety management? Development of SIM. MATEC Web Conference,
2016.
[7] Gibb, A., Haslam, R., Hide, S. & Gyi, D., The role of design in accident causality.
Designing for Safety and Health in Construction, eds S. Hecker, J. Gambatese & M.
Weinstein, University of Oregon Press: Oregon, 2004.
[8] Biagini, C., Capone, P., Donato, V. & Facchini, N., Procedures for Simulation of
Historical Building Restoration Site, IT Firenze, 2015.
[9] Sadeghia, H., Mohandesb, S.R. & Abdul, A.R., Reviewing the usefulness of BIM
adoption in improving safety environment of construction projects. Jurnal Teknologi,
2016.
[10] Pomares Torres, J.C., Baeza, F.J., Varona Moya, F.B. & Bru, D., BIM
implementation for structural design courses in civil engineering. Building
Information Modelling (BIM) in Design, Construction And Operations II, WIT Press:
Southampton and Boston, 2017.
[11] Pomares Torres, J.C., Baeza, F.J., Varona Moya, F.B. & Bru, D., Revisión del uso de
building information modeling en la educación superior relacionada con la
arquitectura, ingeniería y construcción. Investigación en Docencia Universitaria.
Diseñando el Futuro a Partir de la Innovación Educativa, ed. R. Roig-Vila, Editorial
Octaedro, 2017.
[12] Morales Sánchez, J., La Real Fábrica de Tabacos: Arquitectura, Territorio y Ciudad
en la Sevilla del Siglo XVIII, Seville, 1991.
[13] Rodriguez Gordillo, J.M., Sevilla y el Tabaco, Seville, 1984.
[14] Gonzáles Vìlchez, M., Plan Director de Remodelación de la Fábrica de Tabacos de
la Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, 2009.
[15] Project Management Institute, A guide to the project management body of
knowledge, Philadelphia, 2017.
[16] Raineri, A.A.C. & Scoglio, M., BIM management e fase di esecuzione – Modelli
operativi per la caratterizzazione del cantiere e delle azioni di controllo, Milano,
2014.
[17] Trani, M., Cassano, M., Todaro, D. & Bossi, B., BIM Level of Detail for
Construction Site Design, 2016.
[18] Feng, C.W. & Lu, S.W., Using BIM to Automate Scaffolding Planning for Risk
Analysis at Construction Sites, Taiwan, 2017.
BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING POTENTIAL FOR

AN ENHANCED REAL ESTATE VALUATION APPROACH
BASED ON THE HEDONIC METHOD
SIHAM EL YAMANI, MOHAMED ETTARID & RAFIKA HAJJI
College of Geomatic Sciences and Surveying Engineering, IAV Hassan II Rabat, Morocco
ABSTRACT
Housing valuation is a process of determining an accurate estimate of the market price of a property.
Current methods and tools are mainly based on sales prices comparison with recent transactions, which
is the major method applied in the taxation and cadastre services in Morocco. However, housing
properties are in general heterogenous and unique in their shapes, construction materials, orientation,
location and other environmental factors. These parameters are taken into consideration by the hedonic
pricing method. Many of the researches about housing valuation are based on the geographical location
as the main spatial factor affecting the property value. 2D GIS (Geographic Information System)
applications used in this respect are limited in terms of communicating efficiently the complexity of a
3D building structure and modeling accurately environmental factors. Such factors could only be
considered through 3D modeling and building information modeling (BIM). In this paper, we will try,
through a brief review, to point out the weaknesses and drawbacks of the conventional valuation
methods. Then, we will demonstrate the BIM potential in real valuation as an emerging technology and
process used to mainly improve the housing valuation system based on the hedonic approach. Many
studies are, nowadays, widely exploring the use of BIM in the building cost estimation, but this is an
embryonic area of research in real estate valuation system. Therefore, this paper examines also the first
methodological guidelines for an advanced housing valuation approach by implementing a BIM
prototype based on the hedonic pricing method.
Keywords: BIM, housing valuation, cost estimation, real estate valuation, hedonic method.
1 INTRODUCTION
Housing market becomes a major economic issue of our times, that is tackled by many
challenges such as unaffordability, unsustainability, speculation etc. Nowadays, seeking for
the best housing offer which combines environment quality and indoors properties at an
affordable price, becomes a difficult task. A housing valuation exercise is basically conducted
by different players which include real estate agents, appraisers, mortgage lenders, property
developers, among others [1].
The estimation of a property value usually applies both mathematical and computational
approaches/methods which have been classified into traditional and advanced methods [1].
Researchers have argued that the traditional real estate valuation methods are mainly
inaccurate and subjective [2]. While, advanced methods have demonstrated an enhanced
property valuation estimate [1].
In a Moroccan context, where the regulation of real estate valuation and structuring of
the real estate market is in progress, the efforts made, in terms of creating real estate
observatories for better transparency of the local market and the introduction of a real
estate tax referential by the General Tax Direction, remain mostly insufficient initiatives.
Indeed, the lack of legislation and transparency of the real estate market (speculation) and
the difficulty of accessing reliable and recent real estate data remain the main obstacles to
effective real estate valuation. Fig. 1 shows an extract of maps representing the tax reference
system applied by region.
doi:10.2495/BIM190261
(a) (b)
Figure 1: (a) Moroccan Tax reference system, Casablanca city, 2016; (b) Updated taxation and
cadastral zoning, Casablanca city, 2019. (Source: Real Estate in Morocco [3].)
Several methods for real estate valuation exist in the literature. These methods can be
grouped into traditional and advanced ones. Some examples of the traditional methods are:
Regression models, Comparable method, Cost method, Income method, profit and
contractor’s method. Some of the advanced methods are Artificial neural networks, hedonic
pricing method, spatial analysis methods, fuzzy logic [4].
The reality is 3D in nature. Hence, real estate valuation of a property should be performed
in a 3D space. In fact, the value is the association of intrinsic parameters which are associated
to the property as a 3D object and extrinsic parameters related to the 3D environment. Thus,
real estate valuation should benefit from 3D technical achievements in BIM technologies.
The use of BIM modelling approach is intended to refine the real estate valuation by the
integration of internal parameters specific to each building element as well as the accurate
quantities take off and the global construction’s cost.
A BIM includes the geometry, the topology and the characteristics of building elements:
cost estimates, material inventories and project schedule [5]. BIM model is so the rich
information available through BIM model can be managed and used for advanced analysis
in real estate valuation, such as using BIM for quantity take-off in cost approach [6] and
simulating the impact of lightening, ventilation and noise propagation on the building model.
This paper aims to demonstrate the BIM potential in real estate valuation as an emerging
technology and process used to improve the housing valuation system. Among available
methods, we consider that the hedonic method is the most suitable for BIM integration. Many
studies are, nowadays, widely exploring the use of BIM in the building cost estimation, but
this is an embryonic area of research in real estate valuation system. Therefore, this paper
examines also the first methodological guidelines for an advanced housing valuation
approach by implementing a BIM prototype based on the hedonic pricing method.
2 REAL ESTATE VALUATION METHODS

Here, we present an overview of some traditional and advanced methods of real estate
valuation. We focus on the hedonic pricing method as the basic method of our approach.
2.1 Traditional methods
The traditional methods of real estate valuation are described as methods analyzing the
market value which is in general guided by the valuer interpretation. They are described as
traditional because the estimation of the property value is based on classical techniques [1].
There are three valuation approaches based on the market analysis: 1. Comparative method
(market approach); 2. Income method (capitalization) and 3. Cost method (replacement cost).
2.1.1 Comparative method

The wildly used method is the comparative approach. It is based on comparing the property
price with many houses, sold recently, and providing comparable properties (physical,
environmental) for the same economic area [1].
However, properties are unique, and many dissimilarities are observed in term of location,
shape, orientation and physical compounds, so practically, there no identical comparative
criteria [7]. In some cases, the first determination is adjusted after analyzing the market [8].
The price achieved from this comparative exercise represents an estimated market value also
called a market approach [9].
The main property value relies on observing the seller and the buyer behavior without
considering the cost of the construction operation which is an essential factor especially for
the future building operations. Hence, when comparing the property with existing similar
ones, the value relies strongly on an existing observed market prices, which is barely close
to the real value [10].
According to this method, the final adjusted comparative value depends on data quality
and availability which is rarely justified in the market [11]. However, this approach can be
practical when a large database of qualified comparatives is provided, so the value
determination is based on an objective process. Unfortunately, the problem of data
inaccessibility is frequent. As a result, the method is inaccurate, and the resulting value is
timeless. That is why valuers use subjective way for estimating the final property value. Due
to these limitations, researchers tend to improve the valuation methods by integrating spatial
modelling and BIM technologies with many factors defining the estimated property [12].
2.1.2 Income method

The second income method is like the comparative one in a sense that housing value is also
based on the market observation. The property income is determined by comparing similar
properties located in the same area to estimate operating income [13]. There are two ways of
using the income approach: the simpler direct capitalization approach and the more advanced
discounted cash flow method.
Contrarily to the capitalization method, the advanced method calculates the present value
dependently to what future cash flows the property is expected to generate [14]. This
approach is criticized for the same limits the comparative ones have. Because of the market
non-transparency, the determination of the value-based income approach is also inaccurate
and timeless.
2.1.3 Cost method

The cost method, called also the contractor’s method, estimates the property value based on
the building replacement cost including the appropriate depreciation. This approach is used
especially if there are no similar properties to the appraised one. It’s also particularly efficient
for the insurance building estimation in case of a building being destroyed [13].
2.2 Advanced methods
Advanced methods are based on mathematical and modelling approaches [1]:

1. Artificial neural networks (ANNs);
2. Hedonic pricing method;

3. Spatial analysis methods;
4. Fuzzy logic;
5. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA).
2.3 Hedonic pricing method
As a first definition, the hedonic pricing method is a statistical method based on multiple
factor regression models that gives a clear answer to what a price a person can give to buy a
property. The model relates the dependent variable i.e. the sales price with all variables of
interest as explanatory variables – based on quantity and quality attributes of a large sample
of similar properties. The samples are often selected using a combination of geographic
distances as well as key attribute ranges such as size [7].
The basic mathematic formula is defined by Miller and Geltner [10] as:
Sale Price = a + b1(Building size) + b2(Lot Size) + .+bn(x) + residual,
where:
a = is the constant term such as the land value. It might not be essential to have constant term
unless the analyst is sure of omitting a key and stable influence such as land.
b = the regression coefficient, which is the estimate of the influence of variable x on value
c = explanatory variables from each observation such as building size, lot size, and age, as
shown above. Other variables could be used such as the number of bedrooms or bathroom.
n = this represents other regression coefficients.
residual = the average unexplained portion of selling prices for the sample of homes used in
the estimation procedure.
According to the equation, the estimation of value comes through the estimation of the
price function of all the property factors. In fact, the relevant factors affecting the property
price are included event the extrinsic one [7]:
Price = f(lightening, accessibility, noise propagation etc.),
where the determination of the property value comes from the estimation of some property
factors [7], such as the building size, the lot size, the age, etc. The method is extensible to
other external factors jugged relevant by the valuer. However, the advanced hedonic pricing
method uses the geospatial modelling of many variables affecting the property value [15] and
the main valuation is concluded by the multicriteria analysis [16]. The main limits of using
the hedonic approach is the lack of price information and unavailable comparatives of the
property attributes.
Although, the advanced hedonic method remains inaccurate without integrating 3D
dimension. In fact, the main properties factors impacting the value depend also on elevation
views, 3D geometry, orientation and the 3D location. For example, an apartment in the first
floor isn’t affected by the daylight factor in the same way as a one in the last floor [17].
Hence, the hedonic method needs to be enhanced in order to consider the real estate valuation
in a 3D environment where houses are represented as 3D geometric and semantic objects.
Several researchers have addressed the determination impact factors of the housing value:
Mccluskey [18] studied the application of spatially derived location factors within a GIS
environment. Zhang et al. [19] have used 3D GIS to model the sunlight factor for real estate
valuation. Cohen and Coughlin [20] proposed a framework for improving hedonic pricing
method accuracy by introducing 3D Terrestrial Laser Scanning technology. Helbich et al.
[21] addressed noise spatial modelling, while Des Rosiers et al. [22] investigate the analytical
potential of factor analysis for sorting out neighborhood and accessibility factors in hedonic
modelling using a simulation procedure that combines GIS technology and spatial statistics.
3 BIM POTENTIAL FOR REAL ESTATE VALUATION

In this section, we try to highlight the potential of BIM in real estate valuation. First, we give
a general overview about BIM. Then, we analyze some examples of indoor factors simulation
based on BIM models. Finally, we expose some reflections and first guidelines of our
approach based on the integration of BIM and the hedonic pricing method.
3.1 BIM overview
Nowadays, numerous intelligent models and methods are improving the way building
analysis are performed. Building information modelling (BIM) has proven to be one of the
major innovations in the building industry. By offering a rich 3D model with geometric,
topologic and functional characteristics of the building at the conceptual design phase,
opportunities to simulate some parameters related to different domains (energy, noise,
property valuation, …) are improved [17].
BIM refers to two distinct contexts: as a product and as process. As a process, BIM is used
to create, manage, derive and share building information among different actors involved in
the building development process in order to facilitate collaboration and communication
among them [23]. Consequently, the result of the BIM process is a BIM product which
includes 3D digital spatial information as well as semantic information about a building to
support decision making throughout its lifecycle [24]–[27].
The common standard Industrial Foundation Classes (IFC) was developed as a reference
model for BIM models in the building industry. IFC was initiated with the idea of archiving
the details of a building project throughout its life cycle. More fundamentally, it is a shared
data model. Besides representing building geometric and topologic components, IFC also
supports advanced processes and analyses based on the spatial relationships between these
components. The IFC building model is defined according to the specifications made by
International Alliance of Operability (IAI) and International Standards Organization (ISO) in
the IFC standard documentation [28].
3.2 Building cost estimation (5D BIM)
The process of cost-estimating is strongly related to the take-off quantity. A well-detailed

take-off can make cost-estimating more accurate, faster and requiring less interventions.
In traditional design work, accurate cost-estimating is only possible after presenting the
documentation, when the exact amounts of materials and labor are available [29]. However,
with BIM methods, such estimation can be available at an early stage of building lifecycle
and updated after any changes.
Cost can be estimated in various ways and for different purposes during the whole
building life cycle from design stage of construction projects until the facility management.
In the early design stages, cost must be evaluated to study the project’s feasibility and to
make a reasonable decision. These early cost estimates are usually made without much
information on the project and rely mostly on the designers’ experience. A common quick
estimation method is to use a per square meter cost ratio (building gross area). For
stakeholders who often have a limited range of house typologies, such approximations can
be provided based on comparing past project’s cost estimation [30]. Fig. 2 shows the general
process of the cost estimation method based on BIM.
Figure 2: BIM cost estimation method.
More advanced techniques that use additional dimension information have been
developed. Cost estimation method based on all building component surfaces that uses a
specific weighting for each type of surface depending on its relative cost (i.e. a basement
would receive a higher weighting than a wall because of excavation cost [29]. One of the
most useful tasks that can be automated through the BIM use is the Quantity Take Off
application. A BIM based the Quantity Take Off is supposed to provide simpler, more
detailed and accurate cost estimation of the project, so reducing time and expenses [30].
There are a variety of ways of getting quantities and material definitions out of a building
information model into a cost estimating system. Broad categories of integration approaches
include [31]: Application Programming Interface (API) to commercially available estimating
programs from vendors (ex. COST); ODBC connection to estimating programs such as
CostX ODBC is a tried and true standard, useful for integrating data-centric applications like
specification management and cost estimating with building information modeling. A part of
the integration includes a reconstitution of the building data within the costing solution;
linking cost geometry, attributes, and pricing; Output to Excel: in comparison to the
approaches outlined above, quantity take offs done within Revit and output to a Microsoft
Excel program may seem tough, but the simplicity and control is perfectly suited in some
costing workflows.
Recently, several BIM-based cost estimation software programs have been developed to
improve the efficiency of estimators. Widely known as ‘BIM-based cost estimation’,
programs include the following: Innovaya Visual Estimating, Vico Estimator 2009, Tokmo
Production System, Success Design Exchange, Timberline Extended and WinEst Design
Estimation Pro. However, and plugins such as CostX, widely used software of this type in
Australia [32] the combination of different software types is in general hardly applicable
within interoperability [30], [33].
3.3 BIM for indoors factors
There are several property characteristics that are integrated in the valuation method [34].
Basically, the building situation, area and physical attributes (number of rooms etc.) are the
main used characteristics [35]. Another study investigates noise propagation, accessibility
and building orientation as an impacting factor for housing estimation. In fact, other
research’s focus on modelling the outdoor environment and estimates as there impacts on the
property value [36]. These factors are hardly modelized and their impact on the final property
value is barely noticed accurately.
This section is presenting the main indoors factors affecting the property value and how
they can be modelized accurately by using the building information modelling technology
and other connected software’s and plugins.
BIM provides a 3D model which is used by various simulation tools to extract the building
impacting factors, especially the ones affecting the indoor environment (orientation,
daylighting, ventilation etc.). These tools allow predicting the future housing valuation by
the contactors and different stakeholders and also the real estate appraisal to make the right
decisions at an early design phase [37]. Table 1 presents the variables associated to each
factor and the corresponding data sources in the building model with the potential software
[12], [38], [39].
BIM sunlight duration analysis uses professional software based on BIM model (Revit,
Insight plugin) to simulate the sun movement in a day and result in a grid with sunlight hours
on the surface of buildings. BIM indoor/outdoor ventilation analysis based on CFD
(Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis model, and 3D community building models to
simulate the indoor environment ventilation or surrounding environment ventilation. While
Table 1: Indoors impact factors.
Factors Variables Relevant data/source Potential software

Area, floor level,
Building number of units, - BIM model
BIM Revit
components materials, (conception plans)
heating system.
Wall, roof, - BIM model
Building
stairs/elevator, (conception plans) BIM Revit
elements
materiel - IFC standard
- Building elements
- BIM Revit
Cost - Building components
Building cost - Green Building
information - Quantities Take-off
Studio
- Fabrication cost per m²
- BIM model
Indoor daylight - Weather, Location - Insight plugins
Shading/lightning - Orientation - 360 rendering and
Sunlight duration - Sunshine time lightning analysis
- Façade materials
- Building geometry - Green Building
Indoor Indoor/
- Weather/Materials Studio
environment Outdoor
(wind speeds) - Autodesk
Ventilation
- Orientation flow design
(Air flow)
- Thermal comfort - Autodesk CFD
- Materials
Noise propagation - Building Volume - Rhino/Revit
- Absorbance coefficient
Figure 3: Weighted impact factors (wi) on the final value.
BIM noise propagation analysis determines the decibel value by professional analysis
model. BIM indoor daylight analysis is based on the detailed 3D building model by
considering the different construction materials to calculate the daylight factor under
different sunlight conditions [36].
Modeling indoor factors provides a visualization of theirs impact on the 3D building
construction cost. In purpose to estimate the final adjusted valuation depending on the
weighted impact of each factors (Fig. 3), the performance of factors is required.
BIM also provide building performance analysis and energy simulation’s plugins and
programs. In fact, the BIM software (Revit) integrates daylighting, ventilation and energy
(Computational Fluid Dynamic) performances simulations [40]. These simulation tools
can analyze and improve building environmental performances throughout the design
development stages. Thus, the benefits of BIM for indoors factors modelling had been wildly
investigated by researchers. For instance, the BIM model can be used for estimating the
indoors factors value and its impact on the property value [41].
BIM-based factors simulation is the most time and cost saving method that allows testing
on variety of design configurations. It allows study of building performance from the design
development stage until post occupancy evaluation. A BIM model can be employed for
various simulations.
Autodesk Revit offers a form of simplified energy performance analysis (Green Building
Studio), estimating whole building performance. This is useful at early stages of design for
comparison between options, but later where calibration of operating schedules and
definition of equipment loads is essential; a validated analysis tool is necessary [33].
3.4 BIM based hedonic approach for housing valuation
In this section, a first methodological guidelines for our prototype are presented. The
proposed method (Fig. 4) is based on integrating the housing 3D model into the BIM software
with the different data input required for an accurate 3D simulation of the different relevant
factors for the estimation of the property value. In order to do that, the first step consists of
the BIM modelling from the design data project which will be structured according the
specifications of the IFC format. The BIM model will provide geometric and semantic
information and some characteristics such as the building materials of all compounds.
Then, an enhanced housing valuation method is introduced as the combination of the
advanced hedonic pricing method and the building information modelling. At this stage,
the first hedonic variable is calculated based on the building cost estimation. Thus, the
hedonic factors values, presented in Section 3.2: BIM for indoors factors, are determined.
Figure 4: Guidelines for the proposed approach.
Table 2: Performance analysis based on the value of daylight factor. (Source: Yu,
2014 [12].)
Grade Description (average value of daylight factor c)

0 C < 1%
1 1% ≤ c < 2%
2 2% ≤ c < 3%
3 3% ≤ c < 4%
4 C ≥ 4%
These factors are analyzed, and the property value is estimated by weighting each factor.
The weighting valuation can be conducted based on national/international performance
standards. An example of this valuation according to standards for the daylight factor is
presented in Table 2. However, first housing valuation determination is intended to be
adjusted in case of any changes that could affect the BIM model (i.e. change of materials due
to the budget’s limits). Therefore, the weight of some factors can be impacted, which makes
the final value estimated through an iterative process.
4 DISCUSSION
As previously highlighted in this paper, Moroccan housing market is facing a challenging
issue in terms of speculation, transparency, unaffordability and unsustainability etc. In recent
years, several attempts are made to overcome those struggles. The General Taxation
Administration and the cadastre launched a property price reference guide in order to regulate
the real estate market behavior by providing a basis for real estate valuation. However, this
reference guide is based on a classical comparative approach which is limited in terms of data
efficiency as reviewed in Section 2. So, the efforts made remain insufficient and the adoption
of a new enhanced approach is a crucial need.
In Morocco, the adoption of BIM for new construction projects is a growing trend. Several
leading projects are adopting BIM as a new technology for modeling and storing 3D buildings
information, mainly in the design and construction phases. Therefore, BIM potential could
serve as a support for real estate valuation methods. This is a way to take advantage from
BIM potential in modeling and simulating real estate from intrinsic and extrinsic factors
affecting the indoor environment.
We can so argue that introducing such a potential method to the market is feasible but still
need time and tools to be adopted. Some of the key guidelines that will enable the
implementation and the adoption of such BIM-based approach are:
- Presenting significant results that demonstrate the efficiency and the enhanced
property valuation as a proof of concept;
- Feasibility to introduce such a method to real estate appraisers as a potential to their
professional prestation’s;
- Developing interoperable tools and frameworks to implement this new approach;
- Making a comparison between the BIM-based real estate valuation method and the
traditional ones.
- Raising the awareness of decision makers to adopt such a changing paradigm
approach;
- Providing specific “BIM-real estate valuation” training and education programs
delivered by academic’s institutions or professional associations.
5 CONCLUSION
Building information modelling is now recognized as a challenging technology in the
building industry. Real estate valuation methods, mainly based on classical tools, should
benefit from BIM achievements in order to make simulation of factors more consistent and
accurate. However, the integration of BIM in real estate valuation is a challenging issue. We
presented in this paper, our first reflections about a new approach based on the integration of
BIM and the hedonic pricing method. We also proposed a conceptual workflow to deal with
this integration.
However, we argue that work is needed to deal with some conceptual issues such as the
extension of the IFC format to respond to the real estate valuation domain, as well as technical
issues related to the implementation of the BIM model, the interoperability between BIM and
some external simulation tools (i.e. for energy analysis) and the simulation process according
the guidelines of existing performance analysis methods.
Our future work will focus on testing the proposed workflow through a case study in order
to demonstrate the potential of the BIM and to validate and refine the methodology of the
approach. Another extension of this work should consider the environment of the building as
relevant for real estate valuation. Thanks to 3D GIS evolution, a BIM model can be integrated
to a 3D GIS prototype in order to add some extrinsic environmental factors and all data about
the quality of life. This will be led to a refined property valuation method.
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IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE WORKFLOW

INTEROPERABILITY BETWEEN BIM
AND FEM TOOLS
ANDERS SAGVÅG BIRKEMO, SIMEN CHRISTENSEN HJORTLAND
& S. M. SAMINDI M. K. SAMARAKOON
Department of Mechanical and Structural Engineering and Materials Science, University of Stavanger, Norway
ABSTRACT
Transferring models, developed using Building Information Modelling (BIM), to Finite Element
Method (FEM) tools is an important task in the integration of structural engineering into the open BIM
workflow. Such integration saves the time spent by a structural engineer modelling a structure from
scratch. There are various problems that can arise while transferring from BIM to FEM tools. A
common problem in transferring the geometry and data from the BIM model into an FEM tool is the
question of where to place nodes. Each column, beam or slab is defined as a volume in the BIM model
and must be interpreted as lines and areas in the FEM analysis. This can be problematic, as transfer of
forces must happen at a singular point in the FEM analysis, while the BIM model may be ambiguous
regarding where these points are to be placed. This paper discusses the problems that occur when
transferring a model from BIM to FEM tools and how to reduce some common mistakes by improving
the existing workflow. Based on the needs of local Norwegian industries, the study mainly focuses on
the transference of analytical models from Revit software to FEM tools such as Focus Konstruksjon,
Robot Structural Analysis and SOFiSTiK. Then, improvements for the existing workflow are proposed
for the aforementioned interoperability between BIM and FEM tools and verified using a case study.
Keywords: Building Information Modelling, Finite Element Methods, workflow.
1 INTRODUCTION
The Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industries have been dependent on
paper-based modes of communication; such paper-based documents can cause errors and
omissions, resulting in rework, unanticipated cost and delays in construction projects [1]. For
example, in Norway, 25–30% of construction costs are due to fragmentation of processes and
poor communication [2]. In the case of implementing Building Information Modelling
(BIM), expenses can be paid back in multiples, as it enables a significant reduction in wastage
of time and resources. In order for BIM to be effective, it is important to share information
with other participants in the AEC industries. For example, it is vital to exchange
information of a building analysis and design process, in which many changes can occur
based on the requirements of other involved parties. Moreover, during a structural analysis
and design process, a structural engineer creates an analytical model (AM) in Finite Element
Method (FEM) software, based on information given by the architect (e.g. drawings, initial
dimensions and section sizes, etc.) and based on his judgement and experience (e.g. how to
create the analytical model, how should the loads be applied, etc.) [3]. However, updating
the analytical model manually whenever there are design changes is time-consuming and
difficult. In this case, it is vital to have a mechanism to transfer/import models from BIM to
FEM software, which reduces the time taken to create a new model from scratch.
Various authors in the literature have discussed interoperability between BIM and FEM
tools. For example, Dravai et al. [3] stated that both the Revit–Robot Structural Analysis
(RSA) and Tekla Structures Learning–RFEM links showed great potential, as they were able
to transfer all the information necessary for structural analysis in an easy and fast way.
However, although interoperability of BIM and FEM software exists, a structural engineer
doi:10.2495/BIM190271
faces difficulties if the architecture does not follow right workflow. One of the reasons for
this is that the design process and workflow needs to change and adapt to a BIM-based one,
and there is strong resistance against this change from many engineers, who insist on sticking
with the old design methods.
This paper focuses on how to effectively implement BIM in the structural analysis and
design process. Moreover, it discusses important considerations that should be taken into
account while modelling analytical models in BIM, using a proper workflow to achieve
optimum integration in FEM tools. Interoperability of BIM (i.e. Revit) and FEM software
(i.e. Focus Konstruksjon, Robot Structural Analysis and SOFiSTiK) is chosen based on the
interest of local Norwegian industry.
2 USE OF BIM AS A TOOL FOR STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

The structural engineer is usually provided with a proposed building design that must be
analysed and designed to withstand external loads/actions. If this proposal is delivered as
a conceptual BIM model, the work begins with converting the conceptual model into a
structural BIM model. Columns, beams, walls and doors must be assigned attributes that
define their structural properties. This is a process that can involve cooperation with the
architect from the beginning of the conceptual design, especially if the structure is likely to
require advanced structural design. When the structural BIM model has been assembled, the
structure can be analysed in FEA (Finite Element Analysis)/FEM software. The engineer
may choose to define the analytical model within the BIM model or to allow the FEA/FEM
software to define it outside the BIM model. Whether it is chosen to define the AM within
the BIM model or not, there are a few options for transferring the structure to the FEA/FEM
tools, as shown in Fig. 1.
Figure 1: Typical BIM to FEM workflow.
Norwegian AEC industries widely use software, Focus Konstruksjon, SOFiSTiK and
Robot Structural Analysis (RSA), in structural analysis and design. Before starting the
analysis of structures, it is vital to transfer the AM to the aforementioned software. It is vital
to follow the workflow of each type of software. For example, Focus Konstruksjon can
accomplish direct transfer of data, as shown in Fig. 2. However, significant differences
can occur between the AM in Revit and in Focus. Also, the work is somewhat detached from
Revit, in the sense that once the data is transferred, the Revit model is “forgotten” until the
analysis is done (one-way communication). However, RSA allows for the direct transfer of
data. The Revit link option generates a close relationship between the Revit model and the
analysis RSA (two-way communication). The workflow of such a level of integration is
shown in Fig. 3. SOFiSTiK allows for direct transfer of data. It is even possible to analyse
forces and design members from within Revit and; such a level of integration is shown in
Fig. 4 (two-way communication).
Figure 2: Focus Konstruksjon workflow.
Figure 3: RSA workflow.
Figure 4: SOFiSTiK workflow.
2.1 Industrial challenges
One challenge that structural engineers face while working with BIM models is achieving
integrity in the analytical model (AM), which represents the structural system derived from
the BIM model. If the modelling work is done without proper attention to the AM, the
analysed BIM model might contain analytical discontinuities in the connections between
the structural elements. Overcoming these discontinuities can be a time-consuming task,
forcing many projects to remake the entire structure within the FEA software.
Using case studies, this study has identified failure modes by observing the behaviour of
the AM in response to different modelling practices. One of the case studies is Arkivenes
Hus, Stavanger, Norway, as shown in Fig. 5. Arkivenes Hus is a combined and an archive
building; it has around 10,700 m2 of floor space, approximately 6,200 m2 of which is storage
space for the Norwegian National Archives. It was completed in 2017, and the structural
design of the building was conducted by one of the consultant companies, Niras Norge AS,
Stavanger, Norway, along with some subcontractors. The floors below ground are built up of
prefabricated concrete floor slabs, resting on prefabricated concrete beams and concrete
columns. The floors above ground are modelled as cast in situ concrete on steel beams and
columns. In this case study, Revit software has been transferred to FEM tools, Focus
Konstruksjon, Robot Structural Analysis and SOFiSTiK. The initial model in Revit is
improved until signs of reasonable behaviour can be shown in the analytical model.
Figure 5: Revit model of Arkivenes Hus building.
Table 1 gives a summary of findings after applying the workflows of different software
(i.e. Figs 2, 3 and 4) for the Arkivenes Hus building. According to the results, it can be seen
that, if the Revit model does not model considering proper workflow, it results in a lot of
errors after transferring to FEM tools. Furthermore, it is quite time-consuming to adjust errors
in FEM tools. The success and accuracy of any analysis relies on the AM being consistent
and correctly assembled. On inspection, the model of Arkivenes Hus had a variety of
problems, such as discontinuity in connection points (e.g. slab to column), overlap of line
segments (e.g. prefab slabs overlapping) and continuous columns going through several
floors. These are all errors that will either prevent the analysis from starting or severely
skew the results to a point where they no longer represent the stresses that would occur
in the building.
As previously mentioned, if the BIM model is to be used for structural analysis, it is
heavily reliant on the AM being intact and accurately representing the real-world structure.
The most common problems were that the nodes that connected the structural elements
together were either misaligned or not properly connected. One way of overcoming these
problems was to constrain every structural element to the given grid and level lines and, by
that, force the structure to achieve the desired integrity. This practice was used to eventually
get the Arkivenes Hus model to behave reasonably in SOFiSTiK. However, since these
practices had not been followed from the start, there might still be problems which were not
identified by the investigation. For that reason, it leads to the conclusion that preventive
measures must be taken beforehand, to avoid ending up with a corrupted analytical model.
Such measures have been summarized as a set of guidelines, based on our findings; these aim
to serve all parties involved in constructing the BIM model.
Table 1: Summary of challenges and solution.
Workflow Challenges Solution

 Unable to find steel cross  Manually define the
section profiles in Focus RAT cross-sections
 Experienced instability of the approximately
model  Not able to fix the
 Unable to export some of the problem due to
Revit to Focus
structural elements due to software limitations
inaccuracies in the AM  Manual placement of
 Discontinuity in AM nodes
 Missing common node in  Manual remodelling of
shell  line intersection problematic areas
 Unable to find some cross-
Revit to Structural
section profiles
Robot
 Instability of the model
 Manual placement of
 Missing or dislocation of nodes
nodes  Adjusted using
Revit to SOFiSTiK
 Missing of line intersection Analytical Check
points feature in the
SOFiSTIK ribbon UI
3 SUGGESTION FOR EXISTING PRACTICES OF WORKFLOW

Based on the challenges, solutions and experience gained from working on the Arkivenes
Hus BIM model and other simple models, the workflow suggestions have been drawn up.
They are a summary of good practices that have been found to reduce the risk of producing
BIM models that contain analytical models with problematic behaviour in a structural
analysis context. The case solutions where the analytical model was made compatible with
FEM analysis all share the property of having most of these suggestions covered where they
are applicable. Some software will also aid the user in achieving the completion of these
points and therefore create a greater chance of the successful transfer of information. It is
observed that these mainly aim to restrict the analytical representations (segments and shells)
of the different elements to certain grid and/or level lines. The accompanying volumetric
elements are therefore free to be set for a more accurate representation of the realistic location
of the object. This is important when the model is to be used in a collaborative environment
and for optimizing the model for collision checks at a later stage.
The main objective of this workflow is to reduce the occurrence of problematic behaviour
in the analytical model. Since all connection points have some relation to a specific grid
intersection and level line, the model becomes very customizable. In other words, the
workflow encourages the use of parametric principles. For instance, if the height of each floor
is to be raised by a certain amount, it would only be necessary to adjust the height of all the
relevant level lines accordingly. All the elements which have some kind of relation to these
level lines will follow and, presumably, without compromising the analytical model.
This workflow aims to cover the most commonly used load bearing elements, and the
structural elements which have been considered in this paper are columns, beams, slabs and
walls. However, these guidelines are also applicable for elements such as diagonal bracings
and prefabricated slabs, as placement of these elements will follow many of the same
conditions as for beams. The common goal for all elements is to force the connections
between the analytical representations (line/shell) together in a desirable way to enable the
AM to be exported and analysed without compromises. This is achieved by constraining them
to already predefined grid and level lines. By doing this, the AM is not altered, if the
volumetric representations have to be offset to correctly mimic the real-world structure (for
collision checks), and misalignments are avoided. Another problem to overcome is that
common nodes are not always generated at element intersections; one way of solving this is
sectioning the structural elements as follows: columns are sectioned at beam and slab
intersections, beams are sectioned at column and beam intersections, slabs are sectioned at
beam and wall intersections, and walls are sectioned at beam and slab intersections. By
following these suggestions, proper connection between all analytical elements is achieved,
as nodes are automatically generated at both ends for line segments and at all corners
for shell segments. A graphical representation of these guidelines is shown as a flowchart
in Fig. 6.
Figure 6: Workflow for generating consistent analytical models.
A new model with comparable complexity to Arkivenes Hus has been prepared, based on
the proposed workflow given in Fig. 6 and the aforementioned guidelines, with the intent of
investigating the behaviour of the analytical model while strictly following a proposed
workflow. Every single structural element was placed according to the guidelines, and the
model was later checked for inconsistencies using SOFiSTiK. According to Fig. 6, for
modelling columns, each column was placed one by one in the floor plan view at the relevant
grid intersections. Furthermore, each beam was placed one by one in the floor plan view
between the relevant grid intersections.
3.1 Placement of structural elements
3.1.1 Columns
The building consists of columns that span over several floors but intersect beams and slabs,
as shown in Fig. 7(b). According to the workflow for modelling columns, each column was
placed one by one in the floor plan view at the relevant grid intersections. This was done for
all the floors in the building (Fig. 7(a) and (b)). The bases and tops of the columns were
constrained to the current level and the level above, respectively (Fig. 7(a)) (base and top
constraints). This was repeated for every floor of the building.
(a)
(b) (c)
Figure 7: Placement of a column. (a) Grid intersection in Revit; (b) Volumetric model of
columns; (c) Analytical model of columns.
3.1.2 Beams, prefabricated slabs and diagonal bracings

The building consists of beams that intersect other beams, columns and slabs. According to
the workflow for modelling beams, each beam was placed one by one in the floor plan view
between the relevant grid intersections (Fig. 8(a)). The reference level was set to the same as
the current floor level (Figs 8(b) and (c)), and this was repeated for every part of the building.
(a)
(b) (c)
Figure 8: Placement of beams, prefabricated slabs and diagonal bracings. (a) Placement of a
beam, two grid intersections; (b) Volumetric model; (c) Analytical model with
sectioned beams.
3.1.3 Slabs
The building contains slabs that intersect beams and walls (Fig. 9(b)). According to the
workflow for modelling slabs, each slab was placed one by one in the floor plan view between
the relevant beam and wall intersections (Figs 9(a) and (b)). The reference level was set to
the same as the current one and is applied for every floor of the building.
(a)
(b) (c)
Figure 9: Slabs in Revit. (a) Placement of slabs; (b) Volumetric model; (c) Analytical model.
3.1.4 Walls
The building contains walls that intersect beams and slabs. According to the workflow for
modelling walls, each wall was placed one by one in the floor plan view on the relevant grid
line. The bases and tops of the walls were constrained to the current level and the level above,
respectively (base and top constraints). This was repeated for every floor of the building.
3.1.5 Final model

Fig. 10(a) shows the final model, which is based on the geometry of the physical model and
now also contains an AM (Fig. 10(b)) that, according to the workflow, should be consistent;
the model was later checked for inconsistencies using SOFiSTiK (Fig. 10(c)).
(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 10: Final model. (a) Volumetric final model in Revit; (b) The final AM; (c) After
analysis of AM in SOFiSTiK.
4 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Today, structural engineers may or may not have a generalized set of guidelines for
modelling. Implementing a manual/guidelines ensures that all the contributors to the BIM
model have reached a certain level of competence. Consequently, misunderstandings are
reduced, and it might be easier for different people to pick up on others’ work. Finally, the
amount of time spent troubleshooting the model will be reduced, as the modelling methods
are known to all involved parties. It is vital that all involved parties are familiar with the same
modelling practices. Many companies already have more or less strict rules for modelling,
but these may not be specialized for structural engineering and FEM analysis. If the
interoperability between BIM and FEM is increased, time and money will be saved.
The objective of this paper is to suggest a workflow improvement for modelling that
facilitates interoperability between BIM and FEM. This has been accomplished in the form
of a short and generalized document containing guidelines and modelling rules that could be
implemented as a centralized methodology. According to the feedback from NIRAS Norge
AS (i.e. Norwegian consultant company), the suggested workflow is a useful set of rules for
application in structural modelling. However, some concerns could be raised regarding cross
discipline collaboration. These concerns were taken into account in the final version of the
workflow. Implementing a manual ensures that all the contributors to the BIM model have
reached a certain level of competence. Consequently, misunderstandings are reduced, and it
might be easier for different people to pick up on others’ work. Finally, the amount of time
spent troubleshooting the model will be reduced, as the modelling methods are known to all
involved parties.
5 FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS
To further improve and refine the suggested workflow, several areas should be looked in to
as given below.
5.1.1 Use of Dynamo

Due to the algorithmic nature of the workflow, some or all steps could probably be executed
by a Dynamo script. By doing this, the person doing the modelling can rely on the script to
somewhat function as a failsafe to ensure mistakes are avoided.
5.1.2 Use of Autodesk refinery

Autodesk refinery is a plugin for Dynamo which make use of Machine Learning
methodologies to iteratively generate an optimal design according to predefined constraints
and free variables. Such technology could be used to enhance and improve the implantation
of the guidelines into the BIM-workflow. The software is currently in beta and might be
lacking some capabilities at this stage, however, the power of machine learning has proven
that it certainly should not be overlooked.
5.1.3 Need improvements in Autodesk Revit

To improve the interoperability between BIM and FEA software, Autodesk could improve
some aspects of Revit. FEA software that does not offer direct transfer through a Revit
plug-in relies on other means of transferring the model. Often IFC is brought up as a valid
alternative, however, the analytical model (AM) is not included in the Revit IFC export. This
will effectively cause all the work previously set up by the workflow to be void and such
FEA software would not draw any benefits from utilizing it. Secondly Autodesk should also
improve their toolkit for achieving consistent and corrupt free analytical models, as it is
currently not very intuitive and could be more user friendly.
5.1.4 Further case studies

To further refine and improve the proposed workflow additional case studies should be
modelled and observed for AM integrity. Especially large buildings containing complex
geometries are of interest, as these more than likely would shine light on some of the
shortcomings of the workflow. Additional findings would be used as inputs for a
revised workflow.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank Helge Mæhle and Stephan Niderehe, NIRAS Norge AS, for
providing valuable input and feedback for the proposed workflow.
REFERENCES
[1] Eastman, C. et al., BIM Handbook, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2011.
[2] Hjelseth, E., buildingSMART Norge, Presentation on 15 Jan. 2015.
[3] Dravai, T., Khalyar, H. & Nagy, G., The effect of interoperability between BIM and
FEM tools on structural modelling and analysis. Master’s thesis, Aalborg
University, 2016.
ROLE OF AN INNOVATION COMMUNITY IN

SUPPORTING BIM DEPLOYMENT: THE CASE
OF BUILDINGSMART NORWAY
NAM BUI1, CHRISTOPH MERSCHBROCK2, BJØRN ERIK MUNKVOLD3 & EILIF HJELSETH4
1
Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
2
Jönköping University, Sweden
3
University of Agder, Norway
4
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
ABSTRACT
The construction industry is notorious for being slow to adopt technological innovations. One way to
support the industry and accelerate the uptake of technologies is to establish open standards. This paper
examines how the buildingSMART community helped the Norwegian construction industry in their
attempts to implement Building Information Modelling (BIM) with open standards. The interventions
were identified by using the Institutional Intervention Model in the data analysis. Data were collected
through interviews with industry experts affiliated with the Norwegian chapter of buildingSMART.
The interviewees were selected for their central role in the community and for working hands-on with
developing open standards, processes, guidelines and educational resources for BIM implementation.
Our findings show that the community has succeeded in their efforts to further BIM-related
competences in the industry. Moreover, we document how the interventions of non-profit communities
have contributed to creating tangible business values for firms in the construction industry. The insights
from this study have implications for other industries or countries which desire to develop innovations
based on a community approach.
Keywords: building information modelling, construction industry, open community, open innovation.
1 INTRODUCTION
Innovation can help the construction industry to increase efficiency, corporate performance
and sustainability [1]. However, the construction industry still lags behind other industries in
innovation activities because of different barriers derived from its nature and context [2]. The
low uptake of innovation adoption also happens when construction practitioners digitalise
with building information modelling (BIM) technology. BIM supports the shift in
construction projects from paper-based to model-based design [3], [4]. This technology also
assists in the change from fragmented construction processes to an integrated and
collaborative working style based on Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
platforms [5], [6]. Besides development in separate organisations, construction practitioners
also advance innovation through communities [7], [8]. We contribute by expanding the
literature on construction communities and innovation, particularly in BIM development. Our
research question is: “How do construction communities advance BIM technology?”.
To answer this question, we interviewed eleven industry experts affiliated with the
Norwegian chapter of buildingSMART. Moreover, to understand how the community
intervenes in industrial practice, we used the Institutional Intervention Model [9] to make
sense of the interview data. This model helps to disclose how the community’s activities
influence the adoption and use of BIM technology. The paper aims to broaden understanding
of innovation activities in construction communities by describing the role of a professional
association for innovation in the construction industry and explicating how construction
companies can obtain business value from community work.
doi:10.2495/BIM190281
The paper is organised into six sections. The first section introduces the research question
and objectives. The second section briefly describes BIM technology, openBIM and the
buildingSMART construction community. The third section presents the theoretical lens
guiding the data collection and analysis. Then, the method section introduces the case study,
followed by a presentation of the findings and discussion. Finally, the conclusion summarises
key contributions and topics for further research.
2 BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING AND INNOVATION COMMUNITIES
2.1 Building information modelling
BIM is an ICT innovation supporting data sharing and collaboration in construction projects.
In such projects, different disciplines, such as architecture, structure and mechanics, perform
various tasks, including design, implementation, maintenance and management, requiring
extensive collaboration among the construction partners. BIM software provides a platform
for this collaboration, integrating separate construction processes into an information model
of the construction project. The model typically consists of non-geometrical and geometrical
data of the building components. While geometrical data include physical measurements,
non-geometrical data support construction management with information such as scheduling,
costs, material types and relationships among components. The main idea of BIM is to create
a digital object that includes all relevant data and make these data available for relevant
parties within the construction life cycle. The results of BIM use include but are not limited
to fewer errors, lower expenses and shorter duration [10], [11]. To gain benefits from BIM,
construction organisations have invested in BIM development through various options, such
as open innovation. An example of the open approach to BIM development is openBIM.
An initiative of buildingSMART, openBIM is “a universal approach to the collaborative
design, realization, and operation of buildings based on open standards and workflows” [12].
Simply put, openBIM is a digital language for the open and free exchange of information on
the built environment. With openBIM, construction partners can work together regardless of
the software they use through a vendor-neutral data exchange format. Regarding “closed
BIM”, the BIM tools are from just one vendor [13]. Since construction involves different
disciplines and tasks, it is difficult for a single software vendor to provide necessary tools
that match all construction demands. Thus, construction companies use different software
systems. These software systems should feature interoperability for effective collaboration.
If construction data cannot be exchanged from one software system to another, then
construction practitioners must process the data every time they are received. Gallaher et al.
[14] reported that the cost of correcting software interoperability in the US was a financial
burden to the construction industry. Construction owners and operators bore about two-thirds
of this cost, while the remaining cost was borne by contractors, suppliers, architects and
engineers. Reducing this type of economic waste was the main reason for establishing the
Private Alliance in 1995 with 12 companies. The main purpose of this alliance was to achieve
interoperability through full information exchange. The Private Alliance became
buildingSMART in 2008. The core principles of buildingSMART are openness, neutrality
and non-profit [15], together presenting an open approach to developing digital standards for
the built environment. The products of buildingSMART are open standards, including
the Industry Foundation Class (IFC), the International Framework for Dictionaries (IFD), the
BIM Collaboration Format (BCF) and the Integrated Delivery Manual (IDM). Although
some problems, such as data loss and misinterpretation, still happen [13], it is clear that the
construction community has made progress on digital innovation in construction.
2.2 Innovation community
Open innovation, coined by Chesbrough [16], is an approach to innovation through

communities. Open innovation has promoted technology development in various industries,
such as chemical, ICT, consumer-product, automotive and retail industries [17]–[19]. Open
innovation is “a distributed innovation process based on purposively managed knowledge
flows across organizational boundaries, using pecuniary and non-pecuniary mechanisms in
line with the organization’s business model” [20]. The open approach helps technology
development overcome inefficiencies, such as rising development costs, shorter product life
cycles and underused patents [21]. Open innovation facilitates knowledge to flow in and out
of the company boundary, creating inside-out and outside-in types, respectively. Companies
can also perform a so-called “coupled process” which allows knowledge to flow in both the
inside-out and outside-in directions [20]. By facilitating knowledge flows, the open approach
provides new development paths for underutilised ideas. This approach encourages
companies to apply external ideas if they are considered better than internal ones [22].
A community can be a group of individuals and/or firms based on voluntary participation
[23]. Communities play an important role in innovation by developing technical standards,
organising interactions among members and encouraging members to create their own
start-ups to commercialise newly developed technologies [24]. These interactions form the
basis of a community. Through interactions, members can share their knowledge, form
collective solutions and create joint artefacts [24]. The joint production is an important
indication of a successful community [24].
3 THEORETICAL LENS
King et al. [9] reminded us that innovation is a process of turning an invention into a usable
form, where an invention is a new idea or a new product. Innovation may also be a product
developed from an invention. To explore how an organisation intervenes in ICT innovation,
King et al. [9] proposed a model, referred to as the Institutional Intervention Model in this
paper, which includes six forms of institutional actions across two dimensions (Fig. 1).
The first dimension is influence – regulation, expressing the extent of persuasive or
compelling control. The second dimension is about supply-push and demand-pull forces
driving the innovation. While the willingness of potential users to use the innovation
generates demand-pull forces, the supply-push forces derive from the innovation itself [9].
SUPPLY-PUSH DEMAND-PULL
INFLUENCE
Knowledge building
Knowledge deployment
Subsidy
Subsidy
Mobilisation
Innovation directive
REGULATION
Subsidy
Subsidy
Standards
Standards
Figure 1: Dimensions of Institutional Intervention. (Source: Adapted from King et al. [9].)
Table 1: Six forms of institutional action. (Source: Adapted from King et al. [9].)
Form of action Institutional action
Creating knowledge bases that are necessary for innovative activity.

Typically, conducting and funding basic research belong to this
Knowledge
category. Governments may also mobilise large corporations or
building
their agencies to conduct research on particular topics of national
importance.
Facilitating the dissemination of new knowledge. For example,

Knowledge introducing individuals and organisations to knowledge of an
deployment innovation, creating repositories of technical facts, providing
training.
Using the resources of an organisation to reduce unavoidable costs
and risks to innovators. This action includes the funding of
Subsidy prototypes, internally producing goods and services from an
innovation, supporting complements for using innovation, and
reducing barriers to the production of an innovation.
Encouraging external individuals and other organisations to have the
Mobilisation same opinion on innovations. The main instrument for mobilisation
are promotion and awareness campaigns.
Establishing socially constructed agreements among organisations

Standard
interested in using an innovation. The implementation of standards is
setting
voluntary, but it can become mandatory if enforced by law.
A command to produce, use or facilitate innovations. Directives

Innovation
appear in requests for a particular technology, investment in research
directive
and development, requirements to use particular products, etc.
An organisation can increase the supply of a particular technology to the market through
various actions, such as providing financial and personnel support for research and
development [25]. These two dimensions provide four different contexts of innovation.
Based on the context, an organisation can perform appropriate institutional interventions to
facilitate innovation. Table 1 describes six forms of institutional actions.
Each innovation requires appropriate interventions for development, and organisations
have different ways of adopting innovations [9]. Furthermore, an organisation can change its
role in the innovation process depending on the context [9]. Since the Institutional
Intervention Model can provide a framework to understand the context of ICT innovation,
this model is a suitable theoretical lens to guide data collection on how the buildingSMART
community advances openBIM in the construction industry. In the context of this research,
the buildingSMART community and its member organisations use a combination of
institutional actions to develop openBIM innovations. An individual organisation, for its
sake, exerts the demand-pull force, such as requesting training programmes from the
community. This organisation can also perform the supply-push force, such as funding
prototype development to benefit the community. The actions which happen inside the
network of the studied organisation and influence openBIM development will be considered
as institutional actions.
4 METHODOLOGY
We conducted an interpretive case study of the buildingSMART Norway Chapter (bSN), a
member of buildingSMART International. The establishment of bSN began from the visit of
a Norwegian construction delegation to the Singapore Building and Construction Authority
in 2003. During that visit, the Singaporean agency showcased how to use BIM and IFC for
electronic plan checking. Impressed by this BIM application, the Norwegian delegation
decided to promote openBIM in Norway by performing an establishment project. This project
led to the establishment of bSN in 2010. Since then, bSN has conducted various BIM-related
activities that seek to positively influence the dissemination of openBIM. These activities
include participating in standardisation, organising hackathons, preparing openBIM training,
organising annual conferences and meetings, arranging different discussion groups and
providing BIM-related information [26]. In 2010, Statsbygg, the Norwegian Directorate of
Public Construction and Property, began to request the use of openBIM in their projects [27],
making Norway one of the first countries to request open BIM standards. Statsbygg was also
an active member in the establishment of bSN. Besides Statsbygg, other Norwegian
organisations have also adopted the open approach to BIM, such as the National Rail
Administration (Bane NOR), the Defence Estate Agency, the Public Road Administration,
and various software vendors and consultants. At the time of data collection, bSN had 131
organisation members, like government agencies, software vendors, contractors, consultants,
universities and standardisation organisations. bSN is an example of openBIM promotion
through the community. With diversified activities and different types of members, bSN is a
suitable case to explore how a community advances BIM technology in construction.
We prepared a list of 20 potential interviewees and contacted them for appointments. The
criteria for selecting interviewees were as follows: (1) Having experience with BIM and with
bSN’s activities; (2) Having experience with decision making on technology adoption in their
organisations; (3) Being active within bSN and within construction community activities;
and (4) Representing different types of bSN members. Our interview guide had two sections.
The first section focused on the working experience and background of the interviewees. The
second section consisted of nine open questions on the interviewees’ activities related to BIM
and bSN participation. Based on the Institutional Intervention Model, these nine open
questions revealed different forms of bSN’s actions. The interviewer also asked follow-up
questions to get as much detail as possible from the experience of the interviewees.
Table 2 shows an overview of the interviewees. From November 2018 to January 2019,
we conducted 10 interviews with a focus on the decision makers from the bSN members
because they can influence the knowledge flow between their organisations and bSN. The
contacted bSN members were from different organisations, including those in the private
sector, in non-profit companies and in academia. Eight interviewees were at the director level,
while three were company founders.
The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed in NVivo 12. The Institutional
Intervention Model formed the framework for coding, but we also arranged one category for
any activity that was different from the six forms of action. Since this paper focuses on the
open innovation community, the case study needed to have an open boundary. This means
the analysis investigated any activity leading to openBIM innovation with the participation
of bSN members, also including activities not organised by bSN. Other relevant documents
and information from bSN were also part of the collected data.
Table 2: The list of interviewees.
Experience
Interviewee no. Company type Level
(years)
Interviewee 1i Construction associationn Director +20
n
Interviewee 2 BuildingSMART Norway Director +20
i
Interviewee 3 * Software vendor Founder, Director +20
i
Interviewee 4 * Software vendor Founder, Director 15–20
i
Interviewee 5 Software vendor Founder, Director +20
i
Interviewee 6 Software vendor Director +20
Interviewee 7 Consultant Manager, strategy lead 15–20
n
Interviewee 8 Standardisation Director +20
n
Interviewee 9 Standardisation Project manager +20
i n
Interviewee 10 University Senior engineer 10–15
n
Interviewee 11* University Associate Professor 15–20
*Holds a PhD degree, i: Has experience from ICT projects, n: Non-profit organisations.
One group interview was conducted with both Interviewee 8 and Interviewee 9.
5 FINDINGS
In addition to institutional actions, the data also revealed what motivated the interviewees to
engage in community work. This section describes the motivation of members and the
institutional actions in bSN. bSN uses various communication channels, including annual
conferences, forums, sub-forums, slack online forums, workshops, group meetings, Oslo
BIM meetings, newsletters and websites. bSN members gather via these communication
channels for discussions on openBIM use and development. The discussions happen at both
the whole community and sub-group levels. The results are demands for new standards,
experience sharing and joint products related to open standards. The joint products can be
new applications of openBIM, new adoption processes, training programmes, etc. Therefore,
these communication channels are essential for bSN to intervene in openBIM development.
5.1 Motivation to join the bSN community
The establishment of bSN was successful because of the strong leadership of the steering
committee. The leaders of the bSN establishment project had extensive experience in various
leading positions in buildingSMART international and different construction organizations.
The leaders’ reputation and management made the members contribute to the community:
“There was a good sense of community across companies and organisations
and there was a lot of willingness from each organisation and community to
spend their own time and own money to get this going. So a lot of individual
efforts combined into a big community level controlled by a reasonably strong
leadership”. (Interviewee 4)
Following the inspiration on openBIM from the bSN leadership, bSN members actively
contributed to various buildingSMART activities, particularly IFD development,
standardisation and summit organisation. The bSN members received no payment for their
contributions to the community.
The bSN members saw the benefits for their business from contributing to the community,
and the bSN community shared a belief in the advantages of openBIM, which benefited all
parties in the construction value chain:
“All of us have a sort of grounding belief that open standards are the only way
to make innovation flourish”. (Interviewee 3)
“Why we have supported the dictionary [IFD] development is because we've
seen the future value for the community and for us”. (Interviewee 5)
Anyone with innovative ideas on buildingSMART deliveries can develop their products
or services. Various members of bSN chose openBIM as their core competency and have
invested in open standards; e.g., Catenda creates a cloud-based collaboration platform
supporting IFC files, while CoBuilder develops product data templates based on IFD.
Although their work for the community might be different from their business, by showing
their competence with openBIM, they gave other members the impression that they possessed
good skill sets and thus associated their products with good quality. Thus, the interviewees
believed their contributions to the community could create benefits for their business.
“People in the buildingSMART community almost know us for the data
dictionary. That is not what we are about… It’s been a rough idea that we didn’t
want to be in the buildingSMART community pushing our product…We were
trying to contribute in a good matter that creates trust”.
“I think people have seen that there are some good skill sets behind someone
they can trust, and when they hear about our product, immediately they will
think it must be a good product because there are good people behind it”.
(Interviewee 4)
Also, the bSN members wanted to take social responsibility by contributing to the
construction community. According to Interviewee 6, improving efficiency in construction
can bring benefits to society, such as affordable houses, a better environment and so on. He
believed that digitalisation was the right solution to the construction efficiency problem.
“The construction industry consumes 40% of energy use but creates 40% of
solid waste because of bad communication and bad processes. That is the
difference from other industries which are digitalised more and use more
technologies to reuse the waste”. (Interviewee 6)
Despite the mentioned advantages of bSN, some interviewees still expected changes for
innovation to happen faster. They argued that bSN and buildingSMART were suitable for
meeting people but inappropriate for making changes and decisions.
5.2 Knowledge building
bSN members have created new technical knowledge on openBIM in academic, industrial
and collaboration projects. Regarding academic projects, the researchers in the bSN member
universities have published research articles and guided student projects on openBIM. In
2018 and 2017, bSN introduced 113 student projects related to openBIM to the community.
Besides academic knowledge, the guidance also includes connecting to companies for
accessing data. The industrial projects create practical knowledge on openBIM, such as
software tools, the Digital Roadmap and the results from the openLab hackathons. The
Digital Roadmap is a strategy for digitalisation in the Norwegian construction industry with
a vision towards the year 2025. This strategy suggests Norwegian construction organisations
should digitalise together based on BIM and open standards. At the time of data collection,
bSN was creating an innovation programme to push joint activities.
“We are now creating an innovation programme for this network for innovating
and developing digitised ways of working together… We need to innovate in
solution and standards”. (Interviewee 2)
A typical activity in this programme are the openLab hackathons, in which bSN supports
the problem owners to organise a competing ground for innovative solutions. The results
from the hackathons might lead to standardisation or practical solutions for the problem
owners. Besides the project’s focus on the Norwegian market, bSN also participates in the
development of buildingSMART deliveries, particularly on the IFD. This serves as a way for
bSN to share their experience and products on openBIM to the community.
In addition to conducting research in their domains, academia and industry members also
collaborate for mutual benefits. On the one hand, the universities invite industrial practitioners
to give guest lectures, which provide essential updates to the educational programmes. On the
other hand, the industrial companies need researchers’ expertise for their product development.
In this way, the companies can absorb external knowledge for their innovations.
5.3 Knowledge deployment
bSN supports the dissemination of openBIM not only in Norway but also in other countries
through presentations and networking among their members. These members are either
leading working groups in buildingSMART International or they have experience with
openBIM implementation in Norway.
Besides, bSN organises a repository of open standards on their website. Construction
practitioners can find relevant information – including an overview of openBIM, events,
annual competitions, open standards and competence services, such as teaching curriculums
and certification, training courses and an online portal for certification. The website also
provides student theses on openBIM. The website represents an archive to explore what
students can do with openBIM in their educational programmes.
5.4 Subsidy
The bSN community has two schemes of funding for innovation. The first scheme, managed
by the steering committee, focuses on bSN activities. With the funding from the membership
fee, bSN employs four full-time staff for the administration board. This staff manages
activities in Norway and participates in standardisation, maintenance of communication
channels and the openBIM repository, as well as research collaboration with members and
other organisations. With this full-time staff, bSN has become a formal entity dedicated to
openBIM development in Norway. This has resulted in diversified channels for innovation
and more members joining bSN.
The second scheme, derived from the organisational members, aims to create innovative
solutions for the members’ interests. The funding comes from the members’ budget. For
instance, based on a request from Statens Vegvesen – the Norwegian Public Roads
Administration, bSN organised a hackathon to generate ideas on applying open standards for
the planning and execution phases in road and bridge projects. Statens Vegvesen paid all
expenses of the event.
“A hackathon is an activity in a large project of Statens Vegvesen. Statens
Vegvesen came to us and said they wanted to use open standards for
model-based project planning and execution and see how they can use open
standards…So bSN started a project, and hackathon is an activity in that.
We also have other members who come to us, and they want direct support
or use buildingSMART as an arena for innovation”. (Interviewee 2)
Besides hackathons, bSN members also conduct their own research projects. The
building research organisation, SINTEF Byggforsk, for instance, sponsored the creation of a
cloud-based collaboration platform for seamless information flow in construction projects.
The prototype of this platform served as the foundation for creating a start-up later on. The
support from SINTEF reduced the risk and cost in the initial phase of the development, and
thus stimulated innovation on openBIM.
5.5 Mobilisation
While deployment actions provide openBIM with knowledge, mobilisation actions require
more interactions with potential users. bSN used this form of action to persuade potential
users to believe in openBIM capacity. Mobilisation can be combined with deployment
actions in the community activities. bSN encourages other construction practitioners to adopt
openBIM through offline events. The offline events include annual conferences, meetings
and workshops. There is no restriction on joining the discussion, and anyone can use the bSN
communication channels to discuss how to adopt openBIM with the community. In addition,
bSN inspires students to apply openBIM in their projects with education awards. bSN
members actively approach students for promoting openBIM.
“We engage universities and vocational schools. We have a good relationship
with most of the vocational schools that educate people with BIM technology.
We also have relationships with NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and
Technology) and OsloMet (Oslo Metropolitan University) … We do try”.
(Interviewee 4)
5.6 Standard setting
The core of openBIM is about open standards. Therefore, developing standards is an

important task of bSN, and the members understood that they should standardise together.
“Instead of starting up an initiative here and there… they understand that if
they want to influence their future in terms of profession or business, they
should come together here [for making standards]”. (Interviewee 8)
Besides buildingSMART International, bSN members hold leading positions in
technical committees related to BIM in three other standardisation organisations, namely
Standard Norway, the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO). According to Interviewee 8, Norway
initiated the European standardisation in the BIM domain. The active participation at
different geographic scales of standardisation resulted in two positive consequences. First,
the bSN members were familiar with European and ISO standards on BIM in the preparation
phase. Therefore, it was convenient for them to do business in countries that adopted those
standards. Second, bSN could learn how to improve the quality of the standards by utilising
standardisation processes and resources in CEN and ISO.
5.7 Innovation directive
Although the bSN community has been active in developing open standards, the application
of openBIM was low until a client formally requested it. Interviewee 7 commented that
“when Statsbygg said that all our projects would require openBIM from the year 2010,
then the market changed, and the industry also changed”. In the case of bSN, Statsbygg
supported the development of open standards and has become the market leader in using
those standards. Interviewee 8 suggested an example model for the implementation of open
standards, which was “Standard Norway develops standards, Statsbygg chooses which to
apply, and bSN supports the implementation”.
6 DISCUSSION
Innovation communities focus on pushing innovation development through the voluntary
contributions of members. We argue that the success of such communities relies on how
members perform innovation together. Our analysis suggests that the members participate in
the bSN activities because of inherent benefits from the community activities. The collected
data shows that bSN performs six forms of institutional action for innovation (see Table 3).
6.1 How buildingSMART Norway contributed to openBIM development
Regarding innovation communities, leaders should have a strong technical contribution

and be able to bind the community together [28]. In the case of bSN, the leader of the
establishment project was successful in setting the digitalisation vision for the community
as specified in the Digital Roadmap. This vision and the leader’s reputation made the
members believe they should digitalise together and develop BIM innovation based on
the open approach.
Table 3: buildingSMART Norway innovation activities.
Form of action buildingSMART Norway innovation activities

Creating the Digital Roadmap and product data templates,
Knowledge
organising openLab hackathons, conducting academic studies and
building
research projects, guiding student projects
Attending various events as keynote speakers, publishing case
Knowledge
studies, providing an online tool for certificates, advancing a
deployment
training curriculum, creating the open standard repository
Providing funding for an administration board with four full-time
Subsidy positions, conducting projects to make BIM tools, sponsoring
hackathons and research projects
Organising education awards, presenting openBIM to different
Mobilisation
audiences, performing guest lectures, making marketing videos
Standard Participating in standardisation in ISO, CEN, buildingSMART
setting International, Standard Norway
Innovation Requesting openBIM in public projects of Statsbygg, Statens
directive Vegvesen
In addition to strong leadership, bSN members saw the benefits of participating in the
community. The benefits have both commercial and social aspects. The commercial benefits
come from the support for both the prototype and knowledge development. From the
technology foundation, bSN members can perform further development to gain competitive
advantages. This finding is in line with a study on the Linux Foundation community, where
IT organisations not only adopted but also modified the Linux kernel to suit their business
and strategic needs [29]. Furthermore, the technical contribution to the community can build
relationships and trust among members, which might turn into business partnerships later on.
Another benefit derives from social responsibility. We argue that social responsibility can be
a promising driver for construction technology development in the digital era. How social
responsibility supports digital innovation in construction might be an interesting topic for
further studies.
bSN has performed six forms of institutional actions. However, knowledge deployment
and mobilisation seem to be the key action forms to exert supply-push forces to the
community. These actions from the community suggested that bSN members adopt
openBIM. In return, bSN members demanded more support from the community to apply
openBIM in practice. The members’ requests resulted in knowledge building, subsidy and
innovative directive. In the bSN case, the Norwegian community was aware of openBIM by
early on participating in Private Alliance activities. After the visit to Singapore in 2003, the
Norwegian delegates believed in the benefits of openBIM and decided to promote it in
Norway. As a result, bSN members organised hackathons, supported BIM research,
mandated openBIM use and performed other activities to apply openBIM. We argue that
knowledge deployment and mobilisation are essential institutional actions to support the
construction community in developing not only openBIM but also other innovations. We
propose that further studies be conducted on institutional actions to broaden the
understanding of innovation in the construction community.
6.2 Open innovation and construction communities
In the bSN community, the interviewees reported gaining benefits from open standards, such
as the software companies that have built their business competencies from the community
work. These companies have not only developed open standards but have also used these
standards to build their commercial services. The openLab hackathons are other examples
where bSN members organise events for creative ideas on problems raised in the community.
The practice of the bSN community reflects how knowledge flows in and out of
organisational borders. It also represents how companies can benefit from community work.
More studies on this topic can contribute to the development of the construction industry and
broaden the understanding of open innovation in another context.
If a company chooses open innovations as its core competency, then its management
board must balance the tension between standardisation and customisation. Standardisation
reduces fixed costs and offers efficiency, while customisation leads to high satisfaction but
lower efficiency [30]. The more customisation an organisational member makes, the more
active this organisation is in the standard development. For example, the software vendors
that develop their openBIM tools often hold the leading position in the working groups for
developing standards. Although the relationship between innovation and standardisation is
still unclear [31], we would argue that the variety of standardisations might have positive
influences on innovation. The relationship between how an organisation uses open standards
and how this organisation contributes to innovation development might be an interesting
topic to explore further.
6.3 Contribution and limitations
This paper contributes to the understanding of the influence of an innovation community on

BIM development in the construction industry. Through the analysis and discussion, the role
of bSN as a professional construction association was elaborated. The bSN members showed
different levels of using open standards and participating in the community work. Also, the
paper reveals how a construction company turns community contributions into business
values. The following limitations of our study should be noted. First, our data collection did
not include the voices of clients, contractors or research funding agencies. Second, all
interviewees and interviewers used English as a second language, which might have affected
the collected data. Third, all interviews took place in Oslo, Norway, and thus we could not
identify any issues related to location constraints. Therefore, we propose expanding the study
to include the remaining stakeholders and broadening the understanding of the impact of the
open community on construction innovation in Norway and internationally.
7 CONCLUSION
In summary, this paper describes how the bSN community developed openBIM through
different institutional actions. The bSN case study highlights the importance of the leadership
as well as the motivation of members to contribute their resources for technology
development. To support openBIM development, the bSN administration board might direct
activities to knowledge deployment actions to form the foundation for innovative ideas.
Besides, mobilisation actions are important to encourage construction practitioners to adopt
openBIM. The bSN members, on the other hand, should consider subsidy actions for
innovative solutions to their specific problems. Thus, innovations can flow into organisations
and become new business advantages or core competencies of spin-off start-ups. To provide
a better understanding of innovation communities, we have suggested topics of interest for
further studies in the discussion. Although some limitations remain, this paper addresses the
research question by providing an understanding of how a construction community advances
BIM technology.
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Author index
Abd Hamid Z. .................................. 105 Hajji R. ............................................. 305
Abdalrahman M. A........................... 281 Harty J. ....................................... 15, 255
Abidin N. I. ...................................... 105 Harun M. F. ........................................ 33
Agostinelli S. .................... 193, 205, 217 Hjelseth E. ........................................ 329
Ahmad M. H. ..................................... 33
Albitar S. ............................................ 81 Kuo H.-Y. ......................................... 181
Aminudin E. ............................. 105, 281
Andújar-Montoya M. D. ...................... 1 Ladiana D. ........................................ 291
Lamartina L. ..................................... 229
Barbini A. ......................................... 269 Lau S. E. N. .............................. 105, 281
Beddiar K. ........................................ 131 Lavenia I. G. ..................................... 169
Beladjine D. ..................................... 131 Lee C. ............................................... 281
Bui N. ............................................... 329 Lim Y.-W. .......................................... 33
Bukhori Shaharuddin A.................... 105 Loo S.-C. .......................................... 281
Burggräf P. ....................................... 143 Lou E. ............................................... 105
Chai C.-S. ......................................... 281 Majid H. A. ......................................... 33

Chang Saar C. .................................. 105 Malacarne G. .................................... 269
Chen C.-J. ......................................... 181 Manfredi C........................................ 157
Chen C.-W. ........................................ 21 Martin P. ........................................... 131
Chen Y.-J. ........................................ 181 Marton J. ........................................... 255
Christensen Hjortland S. .................. 317 Massari G.......................................... 269
Cinquepalmi F. ................................. 205 Matt D. T. ......................................... 269
Cioni C. ............................................ 291 Merschbrock C. ................................ 329
Cumo F............................................. 217 Mohd Zain M. Z. .............................. 105
Mohsen M. .......................................... 81
Dannapfel M. ................................... 143 Munkvold B. E. ................................ 329
Delgado A. J. .................................... 157
di Sivo M. ......................................... 291 Olugboyega O. .................................. 117
Ebade Esfahani M. ........................... 143 Pasetti Monizza G. ............................ 269

Echarri-Iribarren V. .............................. 1
El Yamani S. .................................... 305 Radwan A. .......................................... 81
Essam M............................................. 81 Rizo-Maestre C. .................................... 1
Ettarid M. ......................................... 305 Ruperto F. ......................... 193, 205, 217
Farhan Roslan A............................... 105 Sa J. .................................................. 229

Feng C.-W. ......................................... 21 Sagvåg Birkemo A............................ 317
Samah A. A. ....................................... 33
Galiano-Garrigós A. ............................. 1 Samarakoon S. M. S. M. K. .............. 317
Genova G. .......................................... 45 Schneidermann D. ............................ 143
Gheisari M........................................ 281 Schwamborn N. ................................ 143
Gómez Morales A. ............................. 93 Seghier T. E. ....................................... 33
Gonzales Alfaro P. H. ...................... 255 Seiß S. ............................................... 245
Sferra A. S. ....................................... 193 Warren D. ........................................... 57

Sheward H. ......................................... 69 Windapo A........................................ 117
Sorino G. .......................................... 157
Sykes C. J. .......................................... 93 Zakaria R. ......................................... 105

Building Information Modelling BIM in Design Construction and

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BIM AND LEAN CONSTRUCTION INTERACTIONS:

2 CURRENT APPROACHES TO OPTIMIZE THE

2.1 Last planner system

As stated in the previous paragraph, Lean Construction is based on the management of

2.2 BIM paradigm

Figure 1: Flow diagram showing the research process.

4 CONTENT ANALYSIS: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Qualitative research results

Figure 2: BIM and Lean construction synergies according to content analysis.

Improvements through BIM and Lean Construction paradigms

More clearly defined deliveries between parties

Creates and uses information early

Improves scheduling capabilities

Fast evaluation of alternatives

Facilitates information flow

Clash detection capabilities

4.2 Quantitative research results

Figure 3: Quantitative research results.

[18] Galiano-Garrigós, A. & Andújar-Montoya, M.D., Building Information Modelling in

integrating BIM-Lean approaches–an empirical study. Journal of Civil Engineering

REWARDING PERFORMANCE IN CONSTRUCTION

3 LOW MARGIN MENTALITY

5 NEW VALUE PROPOSITION

6 INTRINSIC INTANGIBLE VALUE

USING BIM AND MR TO IMPROVE THE PROCESS OF

2.1 Inspection form

2.2 Information required

In the process of construction inspection, a lot of information needs to be transferred,

2.3 New technology

In order to improve the efficiency of construction inspection and progress tracking,

3.1 Demand analysis

Figure 1: The research procedure of the construction inspection system development.

3.1.1 Progress tracking and inspection information

Table 1: Unit information for progress tracking.

Type Element Work item Unit Information need

Table 2: Information required for inspection.

Work item Inspection item Information examined Inspection type

3.1.2 Inspection process

Figure 2: Traditionally inspection flow.

3.2 Information and function identification

Figure 3: The information of BIM elements.

Figure 4: The Uniformat II coding system in Revit.

Figure 5: The functions of MR system.

(a) (b) (c) (d)

3.3 Development of the BIM-MR on-site inspection system

Figure 7: The information link of MR on-site inspection system development.

4.1 Progress tracking

4.2 Construction inspection

4.3 New process of the construction inspection and progress tracking

Figure 9: On-site MR construction inspection.

Figure 10: (a) Inspection forms; and (b) Assistant information.

Figure 11: Inspection flow diagram.

5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

COMPUTATIONAL BIM FOR GREEN RETROFITTING

1.1 Green retrofitting of the building envelope

Due to growing concerns regarding climate change, depletion of non-renewable resources

𝑂𝑇𝑇𝑉𝑖 15 𝛼 1 𝑊𝑊𝑅 𝑈𝑤 6 𝑊𝑊𝑅 𝑈𝑓 194 𝑥 𝑂𝐹 𝑥 𝑊𝑊𝑅 𝑥 𝑆𝐶 , (1)

SC is the shading coefficient of the fenestration system.

1.2 Computational BIM for green building analysis

BIM can characterise building geometry, spatial relationships, geographic information,

1.3 Multi-objective optimisation

Figure 1: Conceptual framework of computational BIM-based method workflow.