Growing potential of BIM

BIM as a technology is growing day by day. The basic purpose of utilizing BIM in construction projects is to safely tackle the digital information that is optimized in construction. BIM technology is improving continuously which is ultimately responsible for seamless construction. In other words new features and tools are added to BIM software so that engineering services that are executed in pre-construction stage can be improved.

Since the time BIM first appeared, a lot of improvements have been made in its functioning. For example in the beginning its users were only aware about 3D BIM models, but slowly it evolved to 4D and 5D with the addition of extra dimensions. The addition of new dimensions helped in conquering new heights, such as all the stakeholders would now know in advance the time and money required to complete the project. This greatly transformed construction activities since contractors started optimizing this information for improving productivity by utilizing minimum resources to get maximum output. 

Slowly and gradually construction of green buildings also became possible with BIM, wherein BIM software tools are  fully utilized by architects and engineers to develop better performing designs for different building systems. This became possible when architects and engineers started performing energy analysis for the building designed by them. Energy analysis is done with the help of modeling software such as Revit, wherein the already created models can be converted into energy analytical models and building’s future performance can be measured in terms of energy consumption.

BIM can now optimize laser scanning technology in construction projects and this is a huge development. Laser scanning technology is used in the execution of renovation projects, wherein the entire building can be scanned in a very short period. The data which comes in the form of ‘point cloud’ is then used to create BIM models of as-built structure. Construction drawings such as floor plans, sections, elevations etc, can be extracted by architects from this BIM model, which assist them when they start working on the structure.

In this way the power of BIM to influence new areas is increasing continuously, and we might see new developments soon in feature for improving construction.