BIM Use Cases - Design Authoring

Over the past two decades a digital design ecosystem has evolved with regard to the AEC domain. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is at the centre of this ecosystem. BIM should not be treated as a standalone tool, it is a part of a complex network of interactions and workflows with other tools in the design ecosystem. Effective project delivery  requires usage of a series of tools and workflows. The image below represents the myriad tools available during design, construction and operation. By no means is this a comprehensive list but it serves to indicate the complexity of the “ecosystem”. 

The usage of BIM has many use-cases but this article focuses on the use case of BIM and specifically it’s application for design authoring and it’s associated sub-cases. The undercurrent to the entire article is about choosing the right tool for the task at hand and being aware of the pros and cons of the tools that are being chosen.

Design authoring is the first step in the long drawn process of design and construction of any built form. There are multiple sub-use cases under this. First one of these sub-use cases is Reality capture.

Reality capture is a subcase under design authoring that is applicable to existing buildings that are being refurbished, re-adapted, transformed etc. To ensure that all required data is available, regardless of availability of historic drawings, buildings are  scanned digitally to produce a point cloud dataset. This is a set of points in 3D - x, y & z axis. This data can then be imported into a tool like Autodesk Revit to create a BIM of the existing building that can be used for downstream uses.

The next sub-use case is programming. Tools like Autodesk Revit along with MS Excel can be used to go through different iterations and come up with area calculations/ adjacencies/ efficiencies to  narrow down the number of options and ensure the right fit is achieved. The process might vary depending on the nature of the program but the BIM tool acts as the primary source of information.

The next sub-use case is Form Finding at the conceptual design stage. It’s probably at this stage that the most critical decision needs to be made about what tool is to be used depending on the expected outcome. In any case, the usual suspects are Rhino + Grasshopper, SketchUp, Revit + Dynamo. Obviously, this is also based on other factors like available skill set, the firm’s digital design standards and as such other tools might be chosen at this stage. However, the key thing is to ensure that the data is usable downstream.

Another sub-use case is the environmental investigation. Building performance simulation of certain environmental performance parameters helps inform the design. For instance, what is the amount of solar radiation that a building will experience on certain facades during certain times of the year. Other typical examples of building performance analysis might be related daylight, solar potential, orientation & indoor heat gain.There are a number of tools available that might help with certain aspects of the analysis. There are cloud based computing tools that provide detailed dashboards on the building performance of different iterations of the design. The data generated here is typically a fork in the path, meaning that it might not be possible to use this dataset downstream. It is meant to test the various “what-if” scenarios so that the chosen solution can inform the conceptual model that has been generated.

There is the use case for creating visualisations or 3D renders because ultimately, seeing is believing. Although it might not be considered a typical BIM use-case, visualization tools like Enscape that act as plug-ins to Revit, are actually changing our understanding of workflows integrating BIM tools for producing visuals. They are enabling the designers to get quick feedback as well as producing imagery for quick studies and presentations without having to resort to external tools. Although, firms might still use standalone tools to generate visuals using standalone tools like 3DS Max for milestone deliverables.

The next and probably the most substantial sub-use case is technical authoring. Most discussions about BIM are usually centered on the usage of technical authoring or the production of BIM for generating the final deliverables that are due from a design consultant to their client. The true potential of a BIM dataset comes across while generating accurate schedules, material quantities, design drawings, coordinating between different trades and so on. These are the aspects of BIM that most folks would be familiar with. However, the usage of BIM doesn't have to be restricted to just the technical authoring as described above. The other sub-use cases can definitely involve the usage of BIM in conjunction with other tools.

As buildings & building systems get more complex the number of tools that handle specific aspects of the design authoring will keep increasing. Specialization will be the order of the day but foreseeably BIM will be at the center of this universe of diverse tools. Needless to say that the workflows will also get more complicated as the number of digital tools come into the picture. The image below represents the workflow that was prevalent when a CADD tool like AutoCAD was the workhorse of the industry. 

The image below is an example of what a typical workflow might look like while considering a few the currently available digital tools. The difference in complexity is obvious and makes the selection of the digital tools and associated workflows very crucial to the success of a project.

Studio Parametric is a BIM consulting firm with offices in New Jersey, USA & Bangalore, India. It was founded in 2011 by the author, a former Digital Design Director for a Top 100 Architecture Firm and a Licensed Architect in USA & India.