The rate at which newcomers join the ranks of BIM users has been increasing, FMI reported. BIM usage grew by three percent in 2003, six percent in 2005 and 11 percent in 2006, the study found.

 A white paper from CMAA is also available:

CMAA’s Emerging Technologies Committee has prepared a white paper on Building Information Modeling and is soliciting member comments on the draft as part of its ongoing effort to support CMs and firms in adopting BIM.

 We had some good discussion on BIM earlier in the month.  I love the point Martin makes about all stakeholders being able to understand the model.  This is a very valid point, but in my experience (mainly using IES), lay-people (patronising term, sorry) are more able to understand a 3D model (especially with fly throughs) than a 2D paper representation.  For this reason, I think it’s actually easier to present to clients than traditional drawings.

 I’m itching to have a play on Second Life but haven’t the access at the minute.  As for Ecotect (which Iain highlighted to me), again, I haven’t had the chance to play with yet.  At first glance I’m alarmed that architects are veering off into what I would class as an engineer’s task!

The point needs to be made, that the entire design team on a project needs to be using at the very least, compatible models and software.  And need I stress the need for architect and engineer to work together from project inception?  In an (my?) ideal world, we would move towards truly independent design teams, a kind of Hollywood model, where the architect, engineers and rest of the DT get together for the duration of a single (or several concurrent) projects.  Then the architect and engineer could sit side by side (physically or electronically remotely) and design the building together rather than the inefficient tag-team approach commonly used today.

Sounds great on paper, but the reality is that this is still a long way off. What does the industry need to change in order to further this technology, which exists today but is grossly underexploited?

One problem is that the information in CAD is not suitable for direct export into BIM (this article explains well). IES are hoping to have moved one step closer. They have teamed up with AutoCAD Revit to enable BIM more easily.

What worries me slightly is the claim:

This direct link means the user can run a variety of analyses, without needing specialised skills, separate analysis packages or separate models for each analysis. Greatly increasing the quality and speed of the technical feedback this development enables building designers to examine the implications of alternative design strategies at the touch of a button and use the tools for sustainable design rather than just plant sizing.

A nice philosophy, but beware of putting software in the hands of those without specialised skills. You still need to know how to interpret results, even if you no longer need to be a master at 3D building modelling, something which Kathy Sierra* touched on here.

But does BIM actually reflect reality?  I don’t think so.  Do you know anyone who uses Hevacomp or IES to it’s full potential? Or are you more likely to come across engineers who use a mish-mash of pencil and paper, excel spreadsheets with a little bit of hevacomp and perhaps a little IES thrown in? This dissonance between what the software is capable of doing and what the user actually wants it to do is probably part of the problem.  Users see the software as too complex for what they want to do and so don’t want to overcome the hurdle of learning a new way of doing things.  There’s some great writing out there on this topic including this (old) article from Jeffrey Phillips :

 So the conundrum is, we’ve got to design for lowest common denominator in a user interface, while providing as much functionality as is necessary for the customer to be interested and excited in the application.  Unfortunately, the users of applications are rarely the buyers of applications, so we need a better method to get the proposed user interface in front of the actual users as often as possible.

So is the problem with the software or with the users?  It’s probably a bit of both.  Another Kathy Sierra’s post tries to explain some of the reasons from the users’ perspective.

A final word from Jeffrey Phillips again:

The real rationale is that requesting a new feature is costless. A customer or prospect can ask for features all day long. However, the user interface and its complexity has tremendous cost, since most people are lazy and don’t want to think – and good design should not require them to think overly much. In fact good design should lead a user to the right conclusions and actions without a lot of training or support help, regardless of the number of features. What people are really saying is: give me the features I want, but simplify the interface to make it even easier to use, so I don’t have to receive training, or support this application once we start using it.

This is a topic I’ll be returning to.  I hope BIM is the future, for lots of reasons, but for the minute there are hurdles to overcome…

*Sadly, Kathy hung up her blogging boots back in April 2007 after a nasty cyber incident involving death threats.  Yikes.  I still miss her blog…

   On 22nd August 2007, Faero Ltd’s board unanimously agreed that Faero Ltd should immediately cease to trade, and proceed towards corporate dissolution. The reasons are set out in the Notification of ceasing to trade      

Whilst the website is now not functioning, old pages exist in most search engines caches. From this page:

 These assessors are individuals who have registered with one of the Authorised Energy Rating Organisations (AEROs). To register, they have had to pass a test of competence, and following registration they are regularly monitored to show their work continues to be up to scratch.  

There was a strange situation a few months back where Hevacomp was an accredited SAP software (which the majority of building services engineers have access to) but unless the individual using the software was also with one of FAERO’s accredited companies (such as Elmhurst or NHER), the calculations were not able to be given to Building Control without checking by BC. What the situation is now with regards to the validity of SAP calculations done by, say, a chartered CIBSE engineer on Hevacomp as opposed to those done by a newly qualified EPC home inspector is unclear. I know which I would prefer, but I also know how much both would cost!

“We can no longer
afford the thermostat mindset when every effort is strained and every
system stressed to achieve typical UK office temperatures of 20ºC in
offices in the summer and 24ºC in winter. We have to recognise that
people can be comfortable at a wide range of temperatures if they have
the freedom to dress appropriately.

“If we can achieve
a consensus that floating temperatures are the way to go, and outlaw
the thermostat mindset – the future will be better for us all. Building
energy use will be reduced and our carbon emissions will similarly go
down, rather than heading inexorably upward.”

via BSEE

This is much more easily achieved when the building is for a bespoke client, rather than a speculative office trying to be all things to all occupants. Market expectations of speculative buildings need some subtle changes…

Technorati Tags: thermostat temperature

I almost fell off the sofa last week when I saw this ad on TV. According to the Construction Skills website:

‘The new advertising campaign ‘Make Your Mark’ features iconic buildings, which come to life in a specially animated style, evoking the sense of dreams becoming reality. For the first time this year we will be running an interactive TV campaign, where by young people can pass us their details and opt into the on going email communication campaign through the red button on their television set. To maintain recognition with our core target audience, the advert has a distinctive voiceover from T4 presenter June Sarpong to reach young women without alienating young men.’

The accompanying website can be found at www.bconstructive.co.uk. It’s ok, but I think they’ve missed a trick by not emphasising the sustainability side of things. Under building services engineering they describe the role as:

‘Your house or college wouldn’t be much fun to be in without a building services engineer. For a start, it would be cold and dark – and you’d be pretty smelly! It’s their job to design, install and maintain the essential services such as gas, electricity, water, heating and lighting – as well as many you probably don’t give much thought to. These all help to make buildings comfortable and healthy places to live and work in.

If this sounds like your cup of tea, you’ve probably already got a healthy interest in science, especially physics. On top of this, you’ll also need to be keen on protecting the environment, because you’ll be making sure that all types of energy are used properly and efficiently. For more info on what it takes to make it as a building services engineer, visit www.cibse.org.’

They also reckon an associate architect earns £5k more than a senior engineer. Hmmm. Not sure about that. The latest salary survey (registration required – published May last year – which means a new one out imminently) at BSJ puts senior building services design engineers (30 y.o. working towards chartership) on a national average of £32,538, £4.5k more than the bConstructive site. Whilst RIBA have a private practice salaried 30 y.o. architect on £31,500. Score! The most the architects make is £67,000 by the time they hit 50 and have their own practice, whilst BSE has a Partner, chartered in Yorkshire at 45 y.o. on £61,500 max. Not too shoddy.

How can we persuade young folk to become engineers? If the figures above don’t persuade them, then what more can we do? Attracting young engineers is currently vying with the Peter Principle (a post for another day) as the biggest challenge facing the industry today. Do we know how to appeal to the myspace generation? It should be easy – compare building simulation to creating cities in SimCity? Fairly similar skills required (the ability to think in 3D, think ahead, visualise, etc).

Is the key schools? Would a leaflet from an employer be enough to persuade someone sitting in a classroom to do a degree in architectural engineering?

No, I think we need a groovy TV show a la CSI – apparently enrollment in forensics degrees have skyrocketed…

(If readers have an interest in youth culture and the whole myspace phenomenon, Danah at Apophenia has some good observations)

Update: Just found this link on BBC :

Writers are being offered £35,000-worth of prizes to feature engineering characters on stage, screen or radio.

::via Archinect

‘Over the past three decades the M&E engineer has moved on from just designing the ‘pipes and wires’ that service a building, to advising the design team on building orientation, levels of thermal insulation, building airtightness, glazing performance, daylighting, geothermal heat sources, aquifer water supplies, rainwater reclamation, combined heat and power and tri-generation, the effects of earth mounding buildings, wind power generation, photovoltaics, biomass as an energy source…the list goes on. Once this has been achieved, the conventional building services role of designing the ‘pipes and wires’ can be undertaken where necessary’

‘building services professionals are clearly changing to become building physicists and energy specialists to accomodate these needs’

‘the new engineer has an ever-increasing set of tools to accurately simulate building options… but without being involved early enough, being given the time at the appropriate stage or adequate funds or foresight, we’re on a sticky wicket. Our involvement is essential at the inception of a project as our input can have a major effect on its viability and its performance’

An interesting fact I hadn’t appreciated before was that CIBSE has only been in existence since 1976 (shortly after the oil crisis of 1973). Compare this to RIBA (1837) and ASHRAE (1959). In 30 years CIBSE has tried to adjust to the scenario Bill describes. Last week, their strategic vision for 2006-2010 landed on my doorstep along with the Annual report for 2005. Of the 6 strategic objectives, the one that most resonated with me was the register of competent persons, which CIBSE have addressed with the Low Carbon Consultants scheme. This ‘elite’ squad of engineers signal the way the industry is headed…