Lessons Learned

Happy Holidays! This time of reflection (aka a vacation!) and I've had a chance to absorb the lessons and observations of a project team migrating from a traditional, multi-model environment over to a more centralized, 'single' database model environment over a full design phase. Now, take into account that this is for a 500K SF healthcare project, and that brings additional insight:

• Teamwork - This is a massive cultural transformation for any team - learning that anything you do within a model and how it overlaps with a half dozen other team members, and the learned communication is difficult to train. Overlay this with the traditional bell curve of varied skillsets and technical acclimation, and it becomes something that your BIM leads will need to focus on as a top priority.
• Component Development - Outsourcing is a good thing. 400+ medical equipment families that want to be developed as early as possible, plus casework, furniture, annotation, etc. is a huge volume of work that if you can offload it from your team, you will save a fair amount of additional work. Managing this resource library is a topic for a future rant... ;)
• Network - Current file management in the existing BIM apps is pretty sucky (technical term, involving a vacuum-like sound). To their credit, they are not networking companies, and to expect them to handle this much data to 20-40+ users at this point is probably pushing reality (sorry guys!).  
• Generation Gap - He who holds the pen controls the outcomes. Unfortunately, your users that are not in the model become increasingly separated from the content and output of the model/drawings/design/decision-making. Learning how to incorporate and educate these users on the processes and what the expectations of all team-members are will make your life much, much easier. Also, making sure they understand that Autocad methodologies are not the ultimate answer to architectural design and production is essential.
• Technical Balance - BIM requires that your team knows how to put a building together, not just 'draft'. Having the right balance of technical expertise, both in and out of the model, will produce a better entry point and model status before entering CD's.
• Sub-Contractors - A solid selection of design assist partners and engagement of them early in the process, and not just in an advisory but in a model-development role, will only help. They are worth their weight in pulling down costs and improving documentation/construction.
• Engineers - a) Get them on the same software platform, if possible. You will piss through file translation costs like nobody's business otherwise. b) Make sure they are producing models, and early. We don't work in a 2D world, everything has an X, Y, and Z dimension, and without their models you are leaving serious coordination and decision-making in shops or, worse, to be found in the field. $$$, enough said.
• Put your PA's to work - BIM enables your Project Architects to get to work early, establishing drawing standards, systematic design, and other projectwide standards as soon as you start the model. Nothing is wasted, and these standards can evolve as the project moves forward, but a good foundation is worth its weight by the time you hit construction documents.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate. Refer to my last post :)

As we move into the next phase, we will be looking at tighter construction integration, fast and heavy documentation, and probably a new batch of challenges. Stay tuned!

If you VR in a CAVE, does it qualify as SPELUNKING?

Well, there have been some intriguing developments lately in the possibility of utilizing some form of large-format stereoscopic VR as part of pre-construction on this li'l project of ours. Thanks to our reps over at Mechdyne, we were able to make some connections with a terrific Comp Sci researcher at UC Davis' Keck Center, who helped us both translate our Revit data into a custom built Linux ASE viewer as well as being a fantastic salesman for VR. 

Oliver, many thanks.

Going forward, we've been able to track down some potential justifications for utilization of VR as a construction tool:

Virtual mockup rooms -

This is a no-brainer. Construction and schedule costs to traditional, full-scale room mockups are an easy target, as users only get to respond to one room at a time, and changes this late can only be a hit to the construction schedule (can you say escalation and waste impacts...? I knew you can!) Now, imagine a VR environment where you can run your full building, virtualized to 1:1 scale. 

Did I also mention that most users cannot understand architectural drawings?

'nuff said.

Inspector Review tool -

We're dealing with some serious governmental oversight groups out here in Cali. OSHPD alone is bringing potential cost padding of 30-50% on some projects, which is part of the reason hospital construction in CA is through the roof, compared to the rest of the country. Bringing inspectors and other stakeholders through in pre-con holds the potential to identify what they will be reviewing and means and method/sequencing modifications to accomodate the specifics of each reviewer, without getting caught at the 11'th hour in the field.

Design and documentation tool - 

Many architects do not necessarily understand what they're drawing. Any tool to visualize, inspect, and review the data model is beneficial.

Construction scheduling -

The other day, my plumbers brought to light the point that they are having to centralize more of their skilled labor back in the shops, and they are having to deal with an increasing amount of less-skilled labor in the field. This unfortunately means we may have to awake to a fear that we are losing the traditional technical skills (unfortunately, this is hitting architects as well, not just the contractors) that have been honed and handed down in apprenticing over the years. Subcontractors are now in the position that they have to revamp their installation drawings, making them as simple as a user manual, and hoping that the field superintendent can error check and recover in time in the field.

Enter a mobile, onsite CAVE trailer. Large scale VR of the installation to visualize what the installation should be, resolve field coordination issues, and reviewing productivity and sequencing issues from a VICO model. 

I like it.

All of this is just food for thought. Justification and business cases drive our industry, and decisions on this are no different. Tomorrow is another day, and we will have to see where this gets us.....