The Hindu Business Line : Software to create building models

A FUNDAMENTAL shift from illustration of building projects through drawings to representing the structure on the computer by using the Building Information Modelling (BIM) solution is in the offing.

The technique, though new even in the US, could have a revolutionary impact on how buildings are designed, constructed and operated, says Ms Lachmi Khemlani, founder of the US-based Arcwiz, a consulting firm in the computer-aided building design space.

Recapping the road to BIM, she said: "It was only in the early 80s that architects began using PC-based CAD (Computer-aided Design). The use of CAD files helped communicate information about a building in ways that a plotted drawing could not.

"With the increasing use of the Net, digitised data sharing of such information started taking place. CAD files that had been exchanged on floppy disks within the design team appeared instead on Internet FTP sites, on Web pages, an attachment to e-mails etc. Now we see the emergence of the next generation information-centric software in place of building graphic software."

Speaking to Business Line, Ms Khemlani explained that the building information model included not just the list of building components and locations but also the relationships between the objects.

Replying to a query, she said that the use of BIM could directly impact the bottom line as it helps fix conflicts at design time rather than at construction time, where it could be relatively expensive to fix.

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