BIM
The US National Building Information Model Standard Project Committee has the following definition:
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. A BIM is a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life-cycle; defined as existing from earliest conception to demolition.
Traditional building design was largely reliant upon two-dimensional technical drawings (plans, elevations, sections, etc.). Building information modeling extends the three primary spatial dimensions (width, height and depth), incorporating information about time, cost, asset management, sustainability, etc. BIM therefore covers more than just geometry. It also covers spatial relationships, geospatial information, quantities and properties of building components (for example, manufacturers’ details), and enables a wide range of collaborative processes relating to the built asset from initial planning through to construction and then throughout its operational life.
Log home client, wanting to “feel” the spacial relationships
Contemporary log home client, wanting to “see” home from the lake
BIM authoring tools present a design as combinations of “objects” – vague and undefined, generic or product-specific, solid shapes or void-space oriented (like the shape of a room), that carry their geometry, relations, and attributes. BIM applications allow extraction of different views from a building model for drawing production and other uses. These different views are automatically consistent, being based on a single definition of each object instance. BIM software also defines objects parametrically; that is, the objects are defined as parameters and relations to other objects so that if a related object is amended, dependent ones will automatically also change.[1] Each model element can carry attributes for selecting and ordering them automatically, providing cost estimates as well as material tracking and ordering.
Ghosted framing plan for GC/sub-contractor use
For a log home producer like Town + Country Cedar Homes, BIM enables a virtual information model to be shared by the design team – architects, landscape architects, surveyors, civil/structural engineers, the General Contractor and subcontractors. Each professional adds discipline-specific data to the shared model – commonly, a ‘federated’ model which combines several different disciplines’ models into one. Combining models enables visualization of all models in a single environment, better coordination and development of designs, enhanced clash avoidance and detection, and improved time and cost decision-making. Archicad is the Building Information Modeling (BIM) software tool, developed by Graphisoft that helps us design log and timber structures from the very first conceptual phase to construction.
Log home client, wanting perfect Tetons view
So, what does all of that mean to you, the client? Fly around. Fly over. Cut away. Cut through. Walk around. Walk in. Walk through…
Yes, it will go round in circles…