Urban planning solutions – Building Information Modelling

Building Information Modelling for urban planning

There is no doubt that Building Information Management (BIM) technology is the needed revolution in urbanism. The BIM concept, flexible and open, serves the entire chain of companies and people involved in this industry. Each of the users attached to the BIM system can enter, extract, modify or change data and information, all assigned on various levels of detail. In addition to classic data inputs methods, with drawings or product documentation, the section dedicated to building management uses the standard COBie, a useful tool that unifies the information system and makes it clearer for everybody. The COBie operates with templates created to meet the needs of user information in areas targeting the services attached to the building, especially for applying O & M type instruction (operations and maintenance).

The information in the COBie refers to all aspects of operation considered important by users, aspects and concepts established by them in the early stages of the project. In the beginning phase the main entrepreneur prepares a BIM Execution Plan specifying what information is needed, as well as the communication protocols between users, in absence of which you have a project difficult to coordinate. The implementation of a BIM within a project has as main requirements: defining the purpose of BIM and establishing users, specifying the person/company that prepares and coordinates BIM and the software to be used, regulating the way of entering and processing information (who is responsible, what kind of information is entered and which format), fixing the responsibilities of all the factors involved. An example of information package in BIM for a simple window comprises: the value of the thermal transfer coefficient of the window (taking into account the frame and the glow), security data, acoustic behavior, frames and profiles systems, colors and finishes. Overall, BIM identifies information about:

-General design activities that enter the competence of architects, materialise by 3-D documentations, the main users being all architects

-Activities detailing the initial project, they appear as 3-D documentation and run by the staff of the general contractor who is also the main user

-Construction programming activities, by the general contractor

-Design activities structure and exterior elements, they appear as documents in 2-D and 3-D and involve both the general contractor and the specialist

-Activities in the field of actual construction, developed as methods and instructions and represented by .pdf documents, useful to the general contractor and the experts

-Maintenance activities, as user manual and maintenance, programs and repair sheets, in standardized COBie format and used by the end user

The great advantage of using BIM as a system of information in development resides in its perfectibility, in the sense that the information can be refined during the project, finally giving a real picture of the evolution of the construction and its behavior throughout its lifetime. BIM is also a useful guide in creating Research & Development databases and can be associated through links to government entities involved in disaster prevention and management, delivering essential benefits for safer lives.

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