Implementing 6 Million Square Feet of BIM Takes Teamwork, Standards and Model Accuracy
This blog is part three 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.
Phase 0: Standards and Process Development
As discussed in the previous post, Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center senior leadership signed off on the “Big Bang” approach to converting all 6 million square feet of Medical Center space from a 2D CAD based process to an intelligent BIM managed process in November of 2010. Starting in February of 2011, we began Phase 0 of our implementation plan, which included four primary objectives:
There were also extensive conversations about what the appropriate level of detail for the models would be (for both now and in the future) to accomplish the outcomes we had defined for this project. This dialogue not only provided a structure for the content/standard development in this phase of the project, but also set a foundation for the process map and workflow integration that would be defined as well.
Knowing there is no easy way to move from AutoCAD to Revit, our collaboration with Brian allowed the team to clearly understand how the conversion process would occur. This would include using the AutoCAD floor plans as an underlay in Revit for the team model on top of. While this provided the floor plan information there was a significant amount of data needed to build a full 3D model that did not exist in the AutoCAD files, such as floors, ceilings, roofs, exteriors, and window, door and wall heights.
With this in mind, the last step in Phase 0 was to collect as much existing building information as possible to ensure the students could hit the ground running when they started in June of 2011. For each of the 53 buildings we planned to construct models for, we would need to:
As part of this implementation project it was our intent to have each of the building information models accurate within a 1% deviation from the actual conditions. Following our field verifications, only 7 buildings did not meet this standard as AutoCAD drawings, and would get additional attention during the next project phase.
Our estimates indicate that Phase 0 took approximately 1080 hours over about a 4 month period of time spread across five staff, with Tracy Palmer, as the BIM Coordinator, incurring the bulk of those hours. Based on this, preparation time for the project was about 0.011 minutes per square foot.
The initial project preparation of Phase 0 proved to be critical to the success of the project, as significant and long lasting decisions were made that would have been difficult and painful to change once our implementation began. In addition, the Phase 0 work that was conducted significantly accelerated the students’ work in creating the building information models.
In the next post, I will cover the execution of the actual conversion process, along with our training program, and updated time metrics.
By Joe Porostosky with Brian Skripac
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.
About Brian Skripac
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.
- Creation of the BIM Implementation Team
- Development of BIM Standards and Revit Templates
- Development of a process and workflow for model development
- Preparing for Phase 1 (Big Bang Conversion) kick off
- Brian Skripac: Project Consultant from DesignGroup
- Joe Porostosky: Project Champion
- Dave Pifher: Technical and Process Lead
- Tracy Palmer: BIM Coordinator
- Okey Tolley and Peter Pollock: Project Support
There were also extensive conversations about what the appropriate level of detail for the models would be (for both now and in the future) to accomplish the outcomes we had defined for this project. This dialogue not only provided a structure for the content/standard development in this phase of the project, but also set a foundation for the process map and workflow integration that would be defined as well.
Knowing there is no easy way to move from AutoCAD to Revit, our collaboration with Brian allowed the team to clearly understand how the conversion process would occur. This would include using the AutoCAD floor plans as an underlay in Revit for the team model on top of. While this provided the floor plan information there was a significant amount of data needed to build a full 3D model that did not exist in the AutoCAD files, such as floors, ceilings, roofs, exteriors, and window, door and wall heights.
With this in mind, the last step in Phase 0 was to collect as much existing building information as possible to ensure the students could hit the ground running when they started in June of 2011. For each of the 53 buildings we planned to construct models for, we would need to:
- Conduct a field verification to determine accuracy of the existing AutoCAD floor plans
- Collect supporting drawings such as: as-built plans, wall sections, building sections, elevations, etc.
- Photo document the building exterior and any of its unique features
As part of this implementation project it was our intent to have each of the building information models accurate within a 1% deviation from the actual conditions. Following our field verifications, only 7 buildings did not meet this standard as AutoCAD drawings, and would get additional attention during the next project phase.
Our estimates indicate that Phase 0 took approximately 1080 hours over about a 4 month period of time spread across five staff, with Tracy Palmer, as the BIM Coordinator, incurring the bulk of those hours. Based on this, preparation time for the project was about 0.011 minutes per square foot.
The initial project preparation of Phase 0 proved to be critical to the success of the project, as significant and long lasting decisions were made that would have been difficult and painful to change once our implementation began. In addition, the Phase 0 work that was conducted significantly accelerated the students’ work in creating the building information models.
In the next post, I will cover the execution of the actual conversion process, along with our training program, and updated time metrics.
By Joe Porostosky with Brian Skripac
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.
About Brian Skripac
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.Related Blog Posts
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Download the eBook here!
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