by Shane Henson — April 22, 2013—Microdesk, an Autodesk partner and nationwide provider of business and technology consulting services to help firms plan, design, build and operate land and buildings, announced it has been tapped for two new engagements to assist the New York City Department of Buildings (NYC DOB) and The Irvine Company with the development and adoption of formal building information modeling (BIM) standards. The projects signal a growing trend towards owners and developers leveraging BIM as both a comprehensive technology platform and workflow process geared towards building smarter.
Working closely with each organization, Microdesk will create a complete implementation plan designed to establish a BIM standards ecosystem. According to the company, this includes publishing a formalized BIM standard that creates a formal delivery methodology for both internal teams and external contractors. Using these standards, organizations such as the NYC DOB and The Irvine Company can effectively streamline the internal workflow process, save time and reduce building costs associated with major projects. As formalized BIM programs also encourage collaboration and more effective data management, further benefits include increased project efficiency with a free flow of information between team members.
The NYC DOB ensures the safe and lawful use of buildings and properties in New York through the enforcement of codes and laws, with an emphasis on safety, service and integrity. Through the development and implementation of guidelines and procedures for delivering future building projects in BIM, the DOB aims to automate a significant amount of the project safety review process.
The Irvine Company is a California-based, privately held real estate investment company and master-planner focusing on balanced communities with a full range of housing, job and retail centers, schools, recreation, and permanently preserved open spaces. With the goal of streamlining internal workflow processes, the implementation of BIM standards will provide the developer with access to critical real-time project information using data captured in their building models to generate more accurate project performance estimates. Downstream processes such as facilities and asset management can be expanded and automated as well, says Microdesk.
In order to ensure the early success of the BIM standards, Microdesk will provide the NYC DOB and the Irvine Company, along with their respective consultants throughout the design and construction community, with hands-on training and project mentoring on how to most effectively leverage the new BIM standards processes. The company notes that it has worked successfully with other entities nationwide to develop BIM standards that provide a cohesive deliverable framework that enables them to leverage the full benefits of BIM.
