• BIM

  3D/4D/VR models in the management of construction ... Read More

• Energy Efficiency

  BIM-based building energy efficiency, ... Read More

• Automation

  Automatic generation of BIM, parametric modeling, ... Read More

Building Information Models (BIM)

As defined by the US National Building Information Model Standard Project Committee, 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.

Thus, the use of BIM goes beyond the planning and design phase of the project, extending throughout the building life cycle and supporting a multitude of processes (such as design, quantity take-off, time and cost management, operations analysis, construction management, and facility operation).

A recent survey report on BIM published by McGraw-Hill shows a dramatic expansion of BIM adoption in North America (adoption between 2007 and 2009 expanded by 75%, and from 2009 to 2012 the number of firms reporting engagement with BIM grew by 45%)[Source: McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012]. About 90% of large and medium-to-large organizations are engaged with BIM, compared to less than half (49%) of small ones [Source: McGraw-Hill Construction, 2012].

Similar results are also reported from Europe. UK's largest ever BIM survey (NBS, 2013) reveals growth in latest BIM adoption figures. Against a backdrop of growing industry interest in BIM over the last year, nearly three quarters (71%) of respondents to the National Building Specification (NBS) survey agreed that BIM represents the 'future of project information' and 39% confirmed that they were now actually using BIM.

Proponents claim that BIM offers several benefits, among which: improved visualization; improved productivity due to easy retrieval of information; increased coordination of construction documents; embedding and linking of vital information such as vendors for specific materials, location of details and quantities required for estimation and tendering; increased speed of delivery; reduced costs.

What about us? Where do we stand? Well, we at EUPALINOS try to keep in par with our international counterparts, engaging in a multitude of research and applied efforts to spread the "BIM word". Some of the work is in collaboration with international counterparts and externally funded, and some of it is work with local partners.

This web-section describes some of the studies on BIM performed at the EUPALINOS Lab. Among the many topics related to Building Information Models that interest us, are:

• BIM in construction engineering and management,
• BIM-based building energy calculations,
• fully integrated and automated project processes,
• parametric modeling,
• automatic generation of BIM,
• BIM in education,
• Case studies.