If you consider that the construction industry is being driven by megatrends, such as sustainable buildings and increases in population, it faces significant challenges. In fact, the world’s urban population is increasing by 200,000 people per day. These people need housing and infrastructure.
The much-lauded Crossrail project is being developed to alleviate the strain on London’s transport system and is a really good example of huge projects designed to cope with this population increase.
The construction industry must transform to meet these increasing demands and build facilities and infrastructure more efficiently, for less cost with reduced waste and more quickly. Advanced digital transformation techniques contained within BIM methodologies, like BIM-to-field task management, 4D construction planning, off-site fabrication and scheduling offer the opportunity to deliver on some of these aspirations.
We must however as “BIMites” recognise that we still have a responsibility to design and construct buildings for the next generation. A significant amount of our time is spent in buildings, railway terminals and airports for example and how we feel about buildings and infrastructure (BIM or no BIM) has a major impact on our health and well-being. Some reports say as much as 80-90% of our time is spent indoors, so it’s important to realise that the value of BIM goes beyond the building of the asset.
BIM does not replace innovative design and the selection of good finishes and the ergonomics of good interior design. The Construction industry has a responsibility to use BIM to construct “stuff” that can help solve our productivity puzzle. This is not just about the building itself or it’s lifecycle cost. We can drive productivity in other industries by constructing environments that people want to use, that enhance their well-being and that have a positive impact on how they live, work, play and learn.
Man and Machine offer an extensive range of BIM services that will help you deliver high quality BIM construction projects (https://manandmachine.co.uk/services/consulting/bim/) and provide extensive BIM related training programmes (https://manandmachine.co.uk/training/bim/).
