Building Information Modeling (BIM) has set up a mark in the construction industry over a decade. In order to gain benefit of BIM in estimating the project cost at the early stage of construction with the limited data available, a new concept of MacroBIM has been introduced in the industry. However, limited amount of research has been implemented to determine how MacroBIM has been accepted in the construction industry. Most research was focused on the accuracy of the conceptual estimation. This research attempted to determine the effectiveness of MacroBIM process applied at early stages of construction for conceptual cost estimation. Experts from the discipline of architecture, contractor and owners were interviewed and their professional opinions on MacroBIM were analyzed using grounded theory. The results show that, compared to the traditional conceptual estimating process, MacroBIM is an effective method for 1) saving labor hours, 2) conveying assumptions with the help of its visualization capabilities, 3) enhancing the collaboration among the project participants, and 4) evaluating multiple design scenarios. However, fear of using MacroBIM and trust in its outcome existed among some contractors, architects, and owners because this technology has not matured yet. Moreover, the need of interoperability between the MacroBIM tools and MicroBIM tools, such as Revit, has also surfaced in the study.

It has been less than a decade that Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been used in construction industries. During this short period of time the application of this new modeling approach has increased significantly, but still the main users of such models are architects (for design purposes) and general contractors (for coordination purposes). Most of the BIM applications are developed to meet design and coordination requirements; yet sub-contractors face hassles when using this new technology to model their products, equipment and services in detail. The literature reveals that one of the reasons is they do not have access to the tools and objects they need to model their work within the BIM environment. Temporary structures, such as shoring systems and formworks, are good examples. Although these structures play a significant role in the logistics of the jobsite, there are neither a special tools nor predefined objects in BIM applications to help model these elements. In this case study a real building project has been used to model these temporary structures by two different methods: 1. Using ordinary tools in BIM application (Revit), and, 2. Using predefined parametric families of objects developed and customized for this project. During the modeling process, time has been recorded as well as other observations describing obstacles, advantages, and disadvantages of both methods. The results show that the usage of predefined parametric families speeds up the process of modeling and also helps to create a model which is more understandable and informative than 2D drawings that are currently being used by most of the sub contractors.

Computer animation projects, specifically feature film productions, require large teams of artists to manage and coordinate the use of enormous amounts of data containing both aesthetic and technical information within a specific time frame and while using finite resources. Mismanagement through information loss or inefficiency can result in both a compromised artistic vision and a financial loss. This thesis presents the conceptualization of a work management system based upon a successful system used in architecture and construction called Building Information Modeling, or BIM. BIM principles are adapted for use in animation production through the use of images as containers of information. The thesis does not include implementation of the management system described but does predict, based upon comparisons with architecture and construction, that a significant level of information carry-through can be achieved from concept art to final frames and we expect a positive gains in the efficient use of production resources. Adoption of this proposed project management structure could reduce production budgets, improve the communication flow between directors and artists, and develop an empirical based record for predicting the resource usage requirements for proposed projects in the future.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is an emerging technology that utilizes 3D graphical representations to improve communication, collaboration, and data exchange. Immersive Visualization Environment (IVE) is another promising technology that enhances the 3D graphical representation to achieve a higher level of a sense of presence. The connection between the BIM technology that utilizes the 3D graphical representation and the IVE technology that enhances the 3D graphical representation has led many professionals to visualize BIM in immersive environments. This study is an attempt to overcome a systematic issue presented by available immersive visualization systems. The problem is that in order to visualize an information-rich BIM model from a commercial BIM application in an immersive visualization environment, the BIM model needs to pass through a tough conversion process and loss a large amount of its information. This research study utilizes the Application Programming Interface (API) of a commercially available BIM application to develop an immersive visualization environment. This approach was applied on Autodesk Navisworks software by developing a software program that utilizes Navisworks' API to control Navisworks' camera angle and generate an immersive visualization environment. A prototype of the approach was built in the Department of Construction Science at Texas A & M University and named BIM CAVE Prototype. The overall goal of this research was to prove that it is possible to transform a commercial BIM application into an immersive visualization system. A phenomenological study was utilized by interviewing subject matter experts from the construction industry. The intent of this effort was to explore and develop a phenomenological understanding of how research participants perceived the BIM CAVE system. The results show that the BIM CAVE can be considered an immersive visualization environment because it contains a majority of the immersive visualization environment features. However, a variety of technical limitations must be overcome before it can be called a fully immersive and functional visualization environment. Moreover, even though this investigation was to some extent successful, this research approach needs to be tested on other commercially available BIM applications before generalizations are made.

According to September 2011 information from the U.S. Census Bureau, the construction industry in the United States is valued at nearly eight hundred billion dollars annually. A 2004 collaborative study by Construction Industry Institute and Lean Construction Institute suggests that as much as fifty seven percent of time, effort, and material investment in construction projects do not add value to the final product. When compared with twenty six percent wastes in the manufacturing industry, it becomes obvious that the construction industry has a problem. Construction projects that come in over budget and behind schedule have become the rule rather than the exception, leading to contentious business relationships and costly litigation. This study will strive to identify and analyze the primary sources of these problems. Research and industry experience point to a lack of communication and cooperation among the various entities required to complete a construction project as the leading causes of waste in the industry. Further analysis suggests that traditional forms of construction contracts encourage adversarial and non-cooperative behavior between parties. Additionally, poor communication between various contributors opens the door for additional wasted cost. Fortunately, the development of tools such as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) present new options to construction professionals that are proving to help address some of the challenges the industry faces today. IPD as a project delivery method creates a culture of collaboration and teamwork, where a culture of risk avoidance and conflict once stood, while BIM provides a platform for better communication among parties. When used together, these tools can reduce or eliminate many of the major sources of waste within the industry. This thesis will provide descriptions, analysis, and case studies that demonstrate the use of these tools and the potential they have to make a positive impact on the construction industry. / text

Building Information Modeling (BIM) with other associated Information Technologies(IT) is reshaping the construction industry worldwide, and is viewed as a systematic solution targeting at the industry’s nature as traditional, fragmented, document-centric and dangerous. In general, the industry is receptive to the change and becoming more Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) conscious, but the adoption of such implementation lags far behind. There have been a number of technology oriented studies aimed at inventing some BIM software functional modules to facilitate the construction safety management, but the philosophy behind that type of studies remains questionable –the applicability of those inventions for the safety management practice, the acceptability of those functional modules by the industrial practitioners, the non-holistic view on the construction safety management, as well as the equivalence of obeying the safety regulations and the safety performance on site. Essentially, the implementation of BIM is a certain Information System (IS) implementation in an industrial discipline, but BIM implementation is always treated as a static, objective and mechanical phenomenon, and the industrial practitioner’s participation during the implementation course have been subsequently not attained enough attention. Therefore, it is justifiable to take a view of management and/or process change on BIM adoption and implementation issues. In this perspective, how to integrate BIM into the construction safety management technologically, organizationally and institutionally becomes the problem for the Hong Kong construction industry, in which context the research is conducted. Driven by the aim of this study – to understand the mechanism for the adoption and implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and other associated Information Technologies (IT) for the construction safety management in Hong Kong–the qualitative method approach is adopted. More specifically, the narrative approach as the strategy of inquiry is formulated given the consideration of the available time and resource for the study. In so doing, the researcher, himself as the most important research instrument, conducts ten open-ended face-to-face interviews with the industrial practitioners as the first-hand data, and a number of in-depth literature studies on the construction safety management in Hong Kong as the second-hand data. To characterize the qualitative study paradigm, all the procedures from drafting the interview questions to validating the research findings occur in an iterative and inductive manner, and a Computer Assisted Qualitative Data AnalysiS(CAQDAS) program, the QSR NVivo 10 is also employed to smooth the data analysis process. Assisted by the program –the Word Frequency Query and the detailed coding analysis –the comparison of the results between the partial and the whole interview texts is made to confirm the sample size of the ten interviews has reached the theoretical saturation. Based on this point, all the sub-categories and child-codes under three top parent categories –Attitudes towards BIM in Hong Kong, BIM Acceptance by the Industry, and BIM and Construction Safety –are grouped into visual models for illustration. By comparing and contrasting with the existing knowledge, the research findings are further validated in terms of how to promote BIM implementation for construction safety management in Hong Kong. Beyond those in line with the previous literatures, the machine readable data format for the construction safety management needs to be further explored on its content and the quantification method. Whereas, how BIM implementation will promote the frank auditing as well as the relational contracting approaches are also worth further studied. By examining the current contextual situations and through narrative inquiry on BIM implementation for construction safety management in Hong Kong, this study provides understandings, which are elaborated in a trajectory of the sociology of technology, on the implementation of a specific information technology BIM for construction safety management in the Hong Kong construction industry. The research also comes to an open conclusion ready to integrate any continuous emerging evidence, for both the expectation of the qualitative research and the nature of the issue to be addressed –BIM implementation as an emerging phenomenon. The thesis finally presents its recommendations for BIM implementation for the construction safety management in Hong Kong for administrators, policy makers and other decision makers. / published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Master / Master of Philosophy

This work deals with the computer aided design technology based on the concept of static graphical – information modeling, which has the following goal: to ensure the succession of the building design, its construction process and project maintenance management; to ensure the integrated management of graphical and information data flows under a unified software environment; to perform life cycle operations of a construction project better, cheaper, and faster. State-of-the-art automated design, to be more specific, computer aided design is based on Object Modeling Technique (OM): “from idea to a real object”. One of the fundamental innovations of this technology includes component modeling. While implementing this design the concept of the relation between a graphical – information model of a building and estimate calculations has been formulated; technique for classifying design elements and materials has been generated; necessary programming tools and data structures have been developed; integration of CAD OM and EP systems has been performed; technique for computer aided evaluation of economic indicators of a construction project has been composed, enabling to price a project interactively. For effective design, technological and organizational variants of construction finishing the proposed TOPSIS method has been selected.

Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) firms are in need to modify their business models to exploit available opportunities by the increasing role of knowledge management and information technology in the global economy. This thesis will propose business models for AEC firms to sell consulting knowledge on-line. The three proposed business models are: business and management intelligence, design optimization and innovation and; software customization and real time data analytics. The business models are based on selling online consulting knowledge services customized to the customers' business needs through enabling emerging information technologies like cloud computing. The models were developed through benchmarking cases in other industries, previous classifications in the area of business models and, experts insights. The suitability of these models to different clients will be assessed in addition to the most suitable revenue streams. Finally, the validated final business models will be presented in the framework by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010).

Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) firms are in need to modify their business models to exploit available opportunities by the increasing role of knowledge management and information technology in the global economy. This thesis will propose business models for AEC firms to sell consulting knowledge on-line. The three proposed business models are: business and management intelligence, design optimization and innovation and; software customization and real time data analytics. The business models are based on selling online consulting knowledge services customized to the customers' business needs through enabling emerging information technologies like cloud computing. The models were developed through benchmarking cases in other industries, previous classifications in the area of business models and, experts insights. The suitability of these models to different clients will be assessed in addition to the most suitable revenue streams. Finally, the validated final business models will be presented in the framework by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010).

This exploratory research examined the degree of adoption and impact of the concepts of Building Information Model (BIM), Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), Integrated Design Process (IDP) and Building Energy Simulation (BES) on the design processes of advanced architectural firms when executing sustainable design. Six offices identified by the press for a strong commitment to sustainable design and influence in the design of high performance buildings were selected as cases. In semi-standardized interviews, these firms presented their perceptions of the influence of BIM, BES, and IPD/IDP. The results show that a generalization of sustainable design processes is possible. A design process for sustainability (DEPROSU) model was created by collecting best practices from data gathered from the interviews and the critical literature review. Secondary contributions show that BIM, IDP/IPD and BES have a synergistic effect in sustainable design methods, and that the human resource profile from these firms has evolved towards multi-skilled professionals knowledgeable in BES, BIM, parametric design, sustainability and construction processes. This research provides evidence of commonalities found in the design processes of the selected firms. These commonalities, which have been represented in the DEPROSU model, can potentially be validated as protocols or standards for sustainable design, providing architectural design practices with concrete patterns for improvement and or validation of their design methods.