Using Digital Tools to Optimize Facility Design

Abstract

Whether new construction or retrofit, BIM streamlines workflow coordination, allows late submittals to be facilitated more quickly and easily, permits building owners and operators to offer real-time feedback during early design, and can automate and optimize equipment specification. A new project view With a 3D BIM model of the facility, clad with equipment specifications; mechanical, electrical, and plumbing infrastructure; and architectural design, building owners, operators, and other end-users have a unique opportunity to "walk through" a building, room by room, using virtual reality software and googles. On one complex project, for example, the design team was tasked with tackling a large amount of equipment design-10,000 instruments all together-in a short amount of time. Because there wasn't another efficient way to do so, the CRB team designed an automated instrumentation design and specification tool to coordinate with the BIM model.