Trends in Professional Services: Architects – Interview Part 2

Here’s part 2 of our interview with Cliff Moser

Chief Innovation Officer: How is technology impacting the profession?

Cliff Moser: The current technological trend is producing drawings through Building Information Modeling (BIM) computer files. For the last twenty years, design and construction drawings have been created using Computer Aided Drafting and Design (CADD) software. BIM changes CADD almost as much as CADD changed hand drawings. To oversimplify, BIM is a databased program which creates intelligent attributes to drawn lines. For example, a “window” drawn with CADD would just be a series of vector generated lines, in order to show the window in elevation or section, new lines would have to be drawn. In BIM the “window” is a database attribute that knows what it is by dimension, manufacturer and location within the building model. This is true for all parts of the building model, doors are doors (with hinges, and doorknobs), sinks are sinks (with faucets and plumbing), and a roof is an assembly of drawing attributes such as insulation, structure, roofing. The BIM drawing can be handed to the client or contractor who can then use the information contained in the model to buy and install from. If a building component is substituted for another material, the drawing model can be updated by re-defining that particular component which would then change itself throughout the mode. AutoDesk and Bentley both offer competing BIM products. AutoDesk’s Revit complements AutoCAD, while Bentley adds BIM to its Triforma offerings. As with any innovation, the value stream is still in flux, with questions such as the liability of “who owns the model?”, or rather who owns the “errors in the model?” Architects are fearful that when litigation starts, it will be us who owns the errors and the risk of an incomplete or problematic model.

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