How is a Building Information Model made?
BIM is often perceived to be a graphic tool to assist architects in visualising projects. In true BIM, this is really a spin off rather than the main event. The most important thing in BIM is the ‘I’, … the Information. Other than for producing fancy images, the actual 3D graphic which holds the information is incidental to the information or data contained within it.
It is the quality of the information within the ‘Content’ which heralds the true benefits of what BIM is all about.
BIM is a new way of ‘drawing’ for designers. 3D models for buildings are constructed from smaller 3D models of all the components that make up the buildings, such as doors, windows or steelwork or ductwork. These smaller models are known under various pseudonyms depending on the authoring software. ‘Families’ in Revit, ‘Cells’ in Bentley, ‘Objects’ in ArchiCAD and Vectorworks and these have become generically known as ‘Content’
Content becomes intelligent when ‘Parameters’ are applied to it. Parameters can be anything, such as size, colour, material, thermal properties, weight …… the list is virtually endless. Once you have intelligent Content, you can automatically produce schedules and draw down information from them.
