IFC-based clash detection for the open-source BIMserver

When designing construction objects, different disciplines have to collaborate intensively. Each discipline is responsible for its own contribution to the overall design. However, when the partial designs are combined, objects from different disciplines might occupy the same position in space or 'clash'. Such a clash will often be noticed during...

Plug-and-play solutions for energy-efficiency deep renovation of European building stock

Ninety percent of the existing building stock in Europe was built before 1990. These buildings are in urgent need for a significant improvement of energy-efficiency through renovation. State-of-the-art renovation solutions are available, but costly and lengthy renovation processes and incomprehensible technical complexities hinder the...

Connecting the knowhow of design, production and construction professionals through mixed reality to overcome building’s performance gaps

At present European buildings typically consume two to five times more energy than predicted at the design stage. An important cause of this performance gap is the discrepancies between the design specification and the As-Built condition. Such discrepancies are mainly due to the gaps in knowhow between design, production and construction...

Towards sustainability through energy efficient buildings' design: semantic labels

When designing buildings, it is a challenge to take into account Energy Efficiency in the early design stage. This is especially difficult for hospital designs, because these buildings comprise many different room types and functions. This greatly increases the number of design directions available. Choices made early on in the design process...

Collaborative engineering with IFC and BCF: managing openings and recesses

In a BIM data flow, an essential part of the coordination between disciplines is the agreement on recesses and openings in building elements. Different disciplines will request recesses and openings in elements that are managed and maintained by others. Using the full dataset of the elements has proven to be inoperable because of the information...

Introducing process mining for AECFM: Three experimental case studies

The research field of process mining is relatively new and not been applied often in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Facility Management industry (AECFM). Process mining uses databases of existing IT systems to gain major insights in processes. Currently the AECFM industry increasingly adapts IT systems within all phases of the...

BIM on the construction site: Generating on demand, task specific drawings in the site office

Building Information Modeling is accepted as the new technology for design, engineering and collaboration AEC projects. There is a group of people that has specific needs on the BIM data: the construction workers. At this moment drawings are created from a BIM model at a specific moment in the whole building process. The information on the...

BIM on the construction site: Providing hidden information on task specific drawings

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is accepted as the new technology for design, engineering and collaboration AEC projects. BIM can be seen as a collection of objects, properties and relations. Many parties in the construction process use the data in their benefit. There is a group of people that has very specific needs on using BIM data: the...

Experiment for integrating dutch 3D spatial planning and BIM for checking building permits

This paper presents a research project in The Netherlands in which several SMEs collaborated to create a 3D model of the National spatial planning information. This 2D information system described in the IMRO data standard holds implicit 3D information that can be used to generate an explicit 3D model. The project realized a proof of concept to...

Semantic BIM and GIS modelling for energy-efficient buildings integrated in a healthcare district

The subject of energy-efficient buildings (EeB) is among the most urgent research priorities in the European Union (EU). In order to achieve the broadest impact, innovative approaches to EeB need to resolve challenges at the neighbourhood level, instead of only focusing on improvements of individual buildings. For this purpose, the design phase...

Distributed modeling for road authorities

A great challenge for road authorities is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their core processes by improving data exchange and sharing using new technologies such as building information modeling (BIM). BIM has already been successfully implemented in other sectors, such as architecture. But the civil infrastructure sector still...

BIM quickscan: Benchmark of BIM performance in the Netherlands

In 2009 a “BIM QuickScan” for benchmarking BIM performance was created in the Netherlands (Sebastian, Berlo 2010). This instrument aims to provide insight into the current BIM performance of a company. The benchmarking instrument combines quantitative and qualitative assessments of the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ aspects of BIM. The use of this instrument...

Integrated design and engineering using Building Information Modelling: A pilot project of small-scale housing development in The Netherlands

During the design phase, decisions aremade that affect, on average, 70% of the life-cycle cost of a building. Therefore, collaborative design relying on multidisciplinary knowledge of the building life cycle is essential. Building information modelling (BIM) makes it possible to integrate knowledge from various project participants that...

Changing roles of the clients, architects and contractors through BIM.

Breaking through business and legal barriers of open collaborative processes based on building information modelling (BIM)

Tool for Benchmarking BIM Performance of Design Engineering and Construction Firms in The Netherlands

Building information modelling (BIM) is becoming more and more important to manage complex communication and information sharing processes in collaborative building projects. A growing number of design, engineering and construction firms have made attempts to adopt BIM to enhance their services and products. However, there remain many...

Changing roles of architects, engineers and buildings through BIM application in healthcare building projects in The Netherlands