BIM BIM BIM BIM BIM BIM BIM BIM

Yesterday afternoon I attended the Technology in Architectural Practice's "TAP Revolution" event at the AIA National Convention in New Orleans.  It was an insightful event, and I left impressed with the volunteers who manage TAP, educated about use of BIM in innovative ways, and intrigued by how BIM and GIS technology is helping with disaster recovery in Japan

From Cadalyst

 
With that said, I also left the event with questions on my mind about the mix of BIM and other technologies in the profession.  I was not keeping official count, but it would not be an exaggeration to guess that I heard the term "BIM" possibly over a thousand times in the course of a four hour event.  BIM is of course very important for a number of reasons:

- Building Information Modeling is a significant leap forward in how we envision and manage building information
- BIM is revolutionizing how firms work
- BIM can allow us to design greener, healthier, more efficient buildings
- BIM can reduce conflicts and increase productivity & cost savings during the construction process
- Other technologies will increasingly interact with BIM as part of an overall environment of interoperability

But is BIM the only technology the matters to the discussion today?  From listening to the dialog at the some sessions, it would be easy to make this mistake.  There was no mention of other collaboration tools, project management technology, financial management software, LEED® management software, "Project Information Management" products for managing information internally in a firm, or the many other technology tools in use in the industry today.

In 2009 the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) published a whitepaper, Managing Integrated Project Delivery, that talks about this same issue.  "BIM is sexy," was one quote from the whitepaper, meaning that BIM draws the attention.  But the reality is that other technology tools are equally important to the overall purpose of delivering high quality completed facilities.  According to this same whitepaper, web-based collaboration tools (Integrated Project Collaboration software) that engage the entire project team are equally important for the process of Integrated Project Delivery.  To paraphrase the CMAA publication, these tools are to the design & construction process what BIM is to the building product.

BIM is critically important, and I appreciate the efforts of the dedicated TAP volunteers that have helped to lead the growth of BIM over the past decade.  But as use of BIM becomes increasingly widespread and the conversations continue to mature, I hope we’ll be able to adopt a more holistic view of all the technologies that impact the design and construction process.