by Shane Henson — January 16, 2013—The Building Research Establishment (BRE), a U.K.-based organization that carries out research, consultancy and testing for the global construction and built environment, has announced it will manage the operations of BuildingSMART UK, an alliance of construction and FM stakeholders and a key driving force in the uptake of building information modeling (BIM).
“The uptake of BIM is growing exponentially within the U.K. We are at a critical stage in ensuring that the underpinning knowledge, tools, training and standards are in place to enable widespread take up,” said Nick Tune, director of BRE Wales and South West, who was appointed director of BuildingSMART UK in 2012. “With BRE at the helm of BuildingSMART, we can steer a course for both large and small companies that could transform the future construction and operation of our buildings.”
According to BRE, there are currently more than 50 members of BuildingSMART (formally the International Alliance for Interoperability) who benefit from training programs, networking events and access to standards, educational tools and a helpline related to BIM. BRE’s mission is to extend the membership across the whole construction supply chain.
BRE says it is currently active in BIM across a multitude of projects, not only in helping clients control energy use in their buildings, but also to understand how their products, materials and systems will perform and how their environmental performance could be improved.
Governance of BuildingSMART will remain with an independent management board with its own set of accounts, says BRE.
