BIM integrum

Joeri Beneens was the contractor for this project and gives an extra word of explanation.

What is BIM?

Joeri: "BIM stands for 'Building Information modelling'. The drawing of construction projects has evolved in recent years towards 3D drawing. People used to draw in 2D in Autocad, before that with pen and paper. From 2D to 3D was a nice progression. With BIM, we no longer draw with lines but we start adding materials and information in the model. In Revit, we create families or libraries that we use to design the building. So we draw completely in 3D: starting from the foundation, the structure, the walls, the windows in it. But we go beyond this: we also start drawing the techniques in it. All the pipes, HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning), the electricity, the BEO field, the heat pump ... all these techniques we include in it to do clash detection. These are conflicts that can be resolved in the drawing before we start producing the building. This allows us to exclude a large number of errors in the drawing, so that we are not confronted with them on site. This way, we work more efficiently and are not confronted with mistakes on site, which can cost a lot of money. In terms of content, the drawing work requires a lot of preparation time compared to traditional 2D design but we win this back by avoiding errors on site."

Urban mining

Is BIM adding (circular) value and why?

Joeri: "What we have done today in this project is made sure that we will also enable urban mining through our BIM. This means that we are going to build the future buildings with the material from buildings we can no longer use and not mine virgin materials for this purpose. By connecting the drawings to the building and making it detailed enough and expanding it, this will become possible. Each part in that building gets its own number that is applied to the part itself, for example on the foundation zone. Those numbers are then reflected in the drawing. It also works the other way round: when we start dismantling the building, for example, we can see where that piece has been in the building. If we should demolish the building at some point, we can draw a list in advance and see how many foundations, beams, number of square metres of glass, roof, insulation, etc. are in it. We attach all the parameters we want to know about parts and materials to the drawing, and the technical data sheets and how to assemble and disassemble are also included in the model. This makes it easy to determine the value at the end of the use phase of this building."

Exactly how did you integrate BIM into this project? To what detail was modelled?

Joeri: "West architecture started drawing in BIM right from the design and we are going to be able to say down to every detail which techniques are included. So the HVAC, the HVAC components, all the ventilation pipes, all the cable ducts and lighting, the climate beams ... . The gradation of Level of Development (LOD) is between 400 and 500. This is an industry standard that defines how the 3D geometry of the building model can reach different levels of sophistication, and is used as a measure of the level of service required."

Does Beneens use BIM in all projects? Do you still see major obstacles to integrating BIM in every construction project?

Joeri: "We are currently using BIM in all timber construction projects. We do feel that we are starting to use it more and more in traditional construction projects. We are also looking for additional BIM draftsmen to use in the traditional projects. We notice that property developers are asking more and more to integrate BIM into projects."

Has Beneens experienced the benefits of BIM first-hand since the integration? For example, are there fewer problems/clashes on site since working in a BIM model?

Joeri: "From the first project we started in BIM, we experienced the benefits of this. We would no longer know how to organise it without BIM. The Level of Development has been increasing because we have to control machines. In all companies, BIM will become more prominent and the standard. More architects will start designing from that way and deliver the plans to the contractors."

Will 't Centre's BIM model be used at each stage (design, execution, management) and if so, in what way?

Joeri: "Yes, we have used the BIM model at every stage: in the preparation, execution, production, implementation, installation of the techniques and also in the post-intervention file. We are also going to hook this up to Calculus, a highly developed building management system, and so it will also become the control of the technicians in charge of maintenance. Reports will be generated to change the filter of the air group, for example: the technicians will use the BIM drawing because that way they know on which floor they have to go and at which air group the filter has to be changed. Through BIM, they get a very visual picture of the situation."

How is the cooperation between the different construction partners to achieve one correct model? How is the information exchanged?

Joeri: "There is coordination from our construction company and the BIM manager. He will request the details and diameters in advance from the subcontractors such as Alucon, Benetech, Imtech. That cooperation goes very smoothly; we also had these details drawn in at 't Centrum. All pipes and cabling have been drawn in. Of course, it is always a challenge to have everyone deliver their drawings on time. There are also lots of choices to be made: the lighting, for instance. It was quite a journey to find the most circular lighting. Once that choice has been made, it has to be included in the drawings. Deadlines are hard-wired to be delivered on time to guarantee the site's progress. As for information exchange, everyone works on the same file which is updated via a drive. Updates are confirmed via email."