Future BIM

The future of BIM is very optimistic. Considering the progressing of BIM systems in the last 20 years, from pre 2 dimensional to 3 dimensional and beyond, a lot ground has been gained in how we use these tools to design our infrastructure. The future demands that we build our infrastructure faster and cheaper. BIM can help us solve these demands. Last week’s lecturer showed how present day BIM applications can save time and money with his example of the pipe that was installed around a duct that was not there yet. In the past that pipe would have needed to be retrofitted after the fact because the pipe-fitters would not have realized that space was initially intended for such a duct.

So what does the future BIM look like? First off I have to agree with Gabrielle Carpenter who explains that with the progression of more complex BIM systems that the industry will demand BIM specialists. Ordinarily a drafting degree can be obtained at technical college but soon the BIM systems will be so intricate that they will need to be operated with people who have undergraduate and graduate degrees. I wouldn’t be surprised if a BIM major popped up at a prestigious engineering college in the next decade.

Additionally I believe that BIM software manufactures will focus their efforts on making their software more robust in the arena of finite element analysis (FEA). Currently BIM applications are limited in their engineering capacities. Although BIM software incorporates these elemental analyses they are still guilty of computer error. This computer error may be negligible in building a three story tall building, but imagine when we compound these errors over the course of 200…300 or even 500 stories. Will we not need to build our buildings taller to accommodate our ever growing population?

Lastly I agree with Wang Chunyi that BIM will develop a technique for analyzing the life cycle of a building. Future BIM software will be able to model the effects of more than just wind loads. E.G. rain, temperature and climate and the lasting effects they have on the building materials used.