Georgia Tech’s Digital Building Lab has collaborated with Precast Concrete Institute, the American Concrete Institute, and the American Institute of Steel Construction to establish global standards for transportation of three-dimensional digital models among fabricator, architecture, engineering and construction groups.
These building information models (BIM) undergo transfer several times in any project, between interior designers, engineers, and planners; and between fabricators and contractors and between project tasks like structural design, and space planning, which result in expensive working hours and inadequate communication and require revision and interpretation of the information. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology report, $15.8B is lost every year due to deficient data exchange.
Georgia Tech Digital Building Lab Director, Chuck Eastman says that this has been a hindrance in accepting and operating BIM’s full capabilities. The Lab is functioning with its industry groups and corporate members directly in order to develop the information standards and technology.
BIM, a technology directed by Eastman at Georgia Tech, is an integrated modeling technology and a method of project analysis, wherein its major functional, physical, and performance characteristics are digitally examined before being constructed. This facilitates the earlier supply of projects, with decreased environmental impact, besides being cost-effective.
Georgia Tech’s research team accommodates national workshops within the campus and works in partnership with the three influential organizations for co-authoring enterprise-wide Information Delivery Manuals. Charles Pankow Foundation supports the standards and interoperability functions.
Source: http://www.gatech.edu/