N G I S E D BIM allowed designers to quickly and easily portray the potential of an existing elevator lobby at Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital in Hastings, Neb. N O T S N H O J . M Y N N E P Y B G N I R INSIDE VIEW E D N E HOW CAN BIM HELP THE INTERIOR DESIGN PROCESS? R BY PENNY M. JOHNSTON, AAHID, IIDA, EDAC, LEED AP uilding information modeling (BIM) is a new buzz phrase in the planning and design profession. However, the general train of thought is that BIM is just a new piece of software that makes it Bpossible to create a more complex building model. ABOUT THIS ARTICLE... While it is true that a three-dimensional (3-D) model is generated in the process, BIM is much more This feature is one of a series of quarterly articles than just a 3-D model or a software tool that architects and designers are using to create construction published by Health documents. Facilities Management (www .hfm maga zine .com ) BIM is intelligent. It can be used by a multitude of disciplines and across software platforms to share magazine in partnership information about a building from early design concepts through construction, to the facility manage - with the American Academy of Healthcare Interior ment of a building. It is an ever-changing model, just like the buildings in which we live and work. » Designers ( www.aahid.org ). WWW.HFMMAGAZINE.COM | FEBRUARY 2011 | 23 » INSIDE VIEW parameters, such as model number and cost, from which the schedules pull their information. As long as the information entered into the object is accurate, the schedule will be spot-on and instantly updated every time the floor plan is modi - fied. Designers are able to start scheduling furniture and equipment the moment the object is added into the model. N O This saves significant time T S N when the purchasing agent H O J needs budget numbers and . M quantities. It can save even Y Using BIM, the design N N more time if the purchasing E team is able to experi - P Y agent is involved with the ence the entrance to a B department before the G selections as the data is N I space is even built. R being entered into the E D N parameters of the objects. E R Some manufacturers are catching on quickly to the Design team collaboration accurately in all related schedules, views BIM movement and have started provid - The traditional process of designing and and drawings. ing their products to designers already constructing a building can be compared modeled with all the information needed to a relay race. Every discipline is waiting Planning coordination to specify and purchase their products. for its turn to grab the baton and run with The most significant benefit interior design - Accurate furniture and equipment it. Along the way, batons are dropped and ers experience with BIM is the degree and counts lead to accurate schedules for important information is lost. The process ease of coordination possible among archi - those items. This, in turn, leads to mini - under BIM is more like a rowing team. tects, engineers and interior designers. mal late changes and more precise equip - All disciplines are working on the same Because everything is modeled, and the ment counts. file at the same time. Everyone is in the models from all consultants are linked, an Finishes. Finishes that are modeled, same boat working together with the interior designer is able to see every electri - such as flooring, can be tagged, sched - same goal in mind — to create an effi - cal box and plumbing or light fixture. As uled, quantified and even can be put into cient, easy-to-maintain building designed an elevation of an interior wall is created, “take-offs” while they’re being selected. for healing. for example, the interior designer instantly If a department director decides to According to San Rafael, Calif.-based can see if the electrical engineer has pro - change the flooring patterns for an entire Autodesk Inc.’s white paper on “BIM for vided the junction box behind a base cabi - floor the day before the subcontractor Interior Design” ( http://images.autodesk. net or above the countertop. needs to place the order, for example, the com/adsk/ files/ bim _for_interior_design In the past, this level of coordination designer can instantly and accurately _jan07_1_.pdf ), the key advantages of didn’t happen until the construction doc - schedule the carpet quantities for the BIM include the following: uments were nearly ready to be sent out areas affected and tell the contractor • The speed and ease of creating an the door, and this was done by looking at exactly how many square feet of different interior-design model, coupled with the two-dimensional plans. The byproduct of types of carpet tile need to be ordered to ability to visualize that design; this coordination is a significant increase meet the deadline. • The ability to capture and manage the in communication among the designer, The ability to calculate area and quan - design as multiple options such as space engineer and, ideally, the subcontractors tity of materials effortlessly and reliably layout and material selection within a sin - in the earliest stages of design, rather reduces the overall project cost by pro - gle model ; and than after the fact in the field. ducing accurate estimates and minimiz - • The richness and reliability of the Key areas of concern for interior ing orders of excess or unnecessary mate - data embodied within the model. designers include the following: rials. Accurate area measurements lead to The tools within a BIM software sys - Furniture and equipment. BIM is a accurate finish budgeting for items like tem make it easy to communicate ideas, powerful tool for placing, documenting carpet and ceiling tile. analyze and evaluate the space, and give and scheduling such items as furniture an advantage to predicting real-world and equipment. Benefits during construction performance of the finished building. A The ability to sort, count and filter the Architects and interior designers should designer is able to easily study multiple databases are endless and accurate. allow, and even encourage, contractors design alternatives that are reflected Every object placed in the model has and suppliers access to the information in 24 | FEBRUARY 2011 | WWW.HFMMAGAZINE.COM the 3-D model as soon as the contractor is a part of the team. In an ideal world, an integrated project delivery method would be used. The open sharing of information builds trust N G and a sense of collaboration among team I BIM improved S members, which can reduce time and the decision- E cost to the owner. making process D With BIM, there is a significant reduc - for patient tion in change orders as well as requests headwalls dur - ing the design for information from the contractor and phase of the their subcontractors. Because BIM is a Butler County 3-D model, there is no fudging of dimen - Health Care sions. In two-dimensional software pack - Center project. ages, dimensions can be overwritten, making the completed document inaccu - rate and often resulting in a change order BIM helps design team achieve goals during construction. BIM software won’t let designers make up numbers and enter what they think it should be. It is as it hen a design team planned to inexpensively renovate two 50-year-old appears, and if it’s modeled wrong, it patient wings into private rooms at Butler County Health Care Center, David must be fixed immediately. WCity, Neb., they sought to help reduce patient and staff falls and improve Construction can be streamlined even patient satisfaction scores. Additionally, the team wanted to minimize change orders more with project information manage - significantly from the industry average by utilizing building information modeling (BIM). ment (PIM) software and electronic docu - With the existing structure, there was little room to create safe and accessible mentation. With PIM, submittals, requests patient rooms. This forced the design team to create an efficient layout. for information, change orders and trans - BIM was used to show three-dimensional (3-D) design solutions incorporating evi - mittals are exchanged immediately dence-based features from The Center for Health Design and other industry databases. between team members with notifica - The 3-D solutions made it easy for the building owner and representatives to visualize tions arriving in everybody’s in boxes. the potential of the renovated rooms. This dramatically improves the con - With enthusiastic support from hospital administration, chipboard mock-up rooms struction administration portion of the were created in the facility’s maintenance vehicle bay. The mock-up room was based project. For example, it allows interior on the preferred 3-D design solution. Nursing staff and medical staff simulated patient designers to turn around a paint submit - transfers, code blue situations and toilet assistance. tal the same day the contractor submits Design was monitored by architectural personnel and hospital representatives. With it. Other members of the construction slight modifications to the original building information model, the design team was team will see similar benefits. able to move quickly into documenting the project. The first 12 months of monitoring indicated a reduction of 80 percent in patient BIM after construction falls. Monitoring will continue for a minimum of two additional years. If the results are There is currently a convergence of consistent for 36 months, the entire design fee will be recovered through savings from opportunities brought on by technology prevented patient and staff injuries alone. and new business processes. With this The combination of a building information model, the inclusion of the nursing staff, comes a strong desire for more pre - hospital representatives, architects, engineers, interior designers and the creation of a dictable, accurate and responsible out - mock-up room allowed for a better solution early in the design process.