Implementing BIM at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center – The “Big Bang Approach”
This blog is part two in a series that discusses the challenges and process involved in implementing BIM at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, a project which saw the team win the 2011 [acronym] Magazine Public Sector CAD Award.
Partnership & Collaboration
As Joe discussed in the previous post, the Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center had already reached a decision to adopt BIM in order to get more value out of its space data and transition from AutoCAD, but he now needed to better understand how to implement it. Having decided on Revit Architecture as an important foundation to their overall BIM initiatives, the team still needed to have a much deeper understanding of the technology and more importantly how it would integrate/redefine their existing team and processes.
The conversations that Joe and I began to have were driven from DesignGroup’s leadership with BIM through our early adoption of this technology in late 2005. As we’ve evolved into a 100% BIM environment, since the beginning of 2009, Joe had the assurance that we could successfully lead his team through their BIM implementation. Ultimately, the idea of partnership and collaboration became the cornerstone of our success and provided a mutually beneficial outcome for both of our organizations.
Project Definition
The first step to the implementation was defining the outcomes for the Medical Center, and making sure a solid plan was in place for Joe to present to senior leadership assuring that he would have the commitment of resources to accomplish this project. Understanding how they were going to use the model geometry was important, but equally important was knowing what additional data was needed in the models to optimize their use and met the wide range of uses and expectations for the team at the Medical Center.
In addition, we had lengthy conversations about how the internal team at the Medical Center would be structured. Who was going to take on the task of modeling the more than six million square feet of buildings? Would it be the Medical Center, DesignGroup, or both? Who would provide the needed internal technical leadership for this project and the larger ongoing BIM initiatives, and how could that person quickly get up to speed with the technology so they could provide the needed owner’s perspective to the on-going project development?
A key driver behind this discussion was to make sure we were reinforcing the larger educational mission of the Medical Center, and taking a “teach a man to fish” approach to the project. With this in mind we concluded that the best way to accomplish this project was to further educate the Medical Center team on the applications of BIM rather than doing the work and passing off a completed model for their use.
The final outcome was a decision to bring on a team of architectural and engineering students from The Ohio State University to learn how to develop these models, while providing a valuable real world, educational experience.
Multi-phased approach
These combined approaches proved invaluable as it allowed for a continuous dialog where shared experiences and desired outcomes allowed for a defined scope of work, schedule, and a well planned multi-phased approach to the overall BIM Implementation project. Part of determining the overall schedule was leveraging Michael Lindawan’s initial modeling experience with metrics that DesignGroup provided to identify how long it would actually take to complete the modeling effort of Phase 1 which became known as the “Big Bang Approach”. Joe and his team concluded that a modeling effort covering .025 minutes/sf would be a realistic expectation. Balancing this against a desire to have Phase 1 completed during the summer of 2011 meant the Medical Center would need to hire 5 full time students to meet the schedule.
- Phase 0
- Standards & Template Development
- Process Map and Workflow Integration
- Best Practices & Consulting
- Phase 1
- Implementation – “Big Bang Approach”
- 54 Buildings - 6,012,540 square feet
- Includes basic building information: exterior, walls, windows, doors, columns, etc.
- Student and User Training
- Phases 2 and 3
- Planned future detail to models.
Brian Skripac, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP BD+C, is the Director of Building Information Modeling (BIM) at DesignGroup in Columbus, Ohio. A recognized industry leader, he focuses on the integration of digital design technologies into all of the design processes, including sustainability and building lifecycle management. He is frequently solicited by institutions, as well as professional organizations to present his expertise on the value BIM brings to industry.
About Joe Porostosky
Joe Porostosky is the Senior Manager of Facilities Information and Technology Services at The Ohio State University. His background in technology management has provided a foundation for utilizing BIM to improve the speed and quality of decision making at OSU. Joe and the team at OSUMC were awarded first prize in the [acronym] Magazine Public Sector CAD Awards in 2011.Related Blog Posts
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