BIM, or Building Information Modeling, has been making headlines across the industry for some time now.

You may have heard about it during seminars and conferences, read about it in industry publications, magazines.

Building Information Modeling can be a powerful tool for architects, engineers and construction industry professionals, so I thought it would be a good idea to write a short blog post on what BIM is, and what it can help you and your business achieve.

Let’s start with the basics

At its very core, BIM is a “digital representation” of a building’s physical and functional properties and characteristics.

BIM goes further than just the building’s physical appearance, and includes information about every component that goes into a project.

This helps the designer, whether it be an architect, engineer or construction professional, create and design more effectively when compared to other tools in use on the market today.

Every component of a building is essentially a BIM object. This means you could take a complete window, door or insulation product, as an example, and the file will tell you:

• The product’s properties, like thermal performance.

• The product’s physical characteristics.

• A graphical representation of what the product actually looks like.

• The product’s functional data, allowing the user to manipulate the object (i.e. position it), the way it was intended to be used.

In summary, a BIM object really is a digital version of the product, containing all the characteristics and properties you would find in the physical product.

BIM objects can be component or layered. Component objects are products that have a fixed shape, like windows or doors.

Layered objects represent products that do not have a defined shape or size, like flooring, walls and roofs.

BIM objects can be generic, also known as placeholders that can be updated with specific products as the design progresses, or they can be specific objects that are exact digital representations of manufactured products.

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