The University of North Texas

Business Information Modeling

in Facility Management

Introduction:
Todays construction industry is rapidly developing due to the amount of
technology that is being introduced into society. New technologies such as TEKLA,
Revit, Navisworks, etc. have given light to such progressions. One of the newest hot
topics in the field regards the use of Business Information Modeling (BIM) systems
in the area of Facility Management. I hope to research exactly how profitable these
technologies could be within Facility Management on the basis of three major factors:
energy, time, and money.
Business Information Modeling (BIM) systems have already begun shaping the
world of engineering and construction during the design process. The basic idea of a
BIM system is that instead of only having a set of 2D drawings to base your
construction on, you have a whole system of electronic information. BIM systems
allow people to program even the most intricate of details into the design. In 2D
representations, you can only gain so much knowledge. With these computer systems,
you can get a better idea for the final product through 3D views and interacting with
the technology. However, the true value of the technology runs much deeper. You can
program information such as the material and the dimensions of the material in a way
that simplifies the entire process of construction. Scientists are only beginning to
delve into the uses of BIM systems to help Facility Management throughout the life
of the project.

Literature Review:
Research in this area has already begun. Scientists suggest that the technology
could be beneficial in numerous parts of the building. The technology could help out
significantly in the areas of preventative maintenance, space management, energy
efficiency, and life cycle changes (Schley). In simpler terms, the technology could
progress to being programmed with an extensive amount of information: a person could
program the exact make, model, and life span of each item in the building. Eventually,
you could set up a system that could analyze the building and set up reminders for
maintenance or flag cautionary items throughout the lifetime of the building.
One of the largest factors in this transition in Facility Management is the factor of
money. The operation and management portion of owning a building will account for
between 60 and 85 percent of the total costs of ownership (BIM Software As A Facility
Management Tool). Facility Management without the use of BIM technologies can be
increasingly inefficient. Without BIM technology, a large portion of inefficiencies result
from manual re-entry of data, duplication of business functions, and the continued
reliance on paper-based information management systems (BIM Software). BIM
systems tear those inefficiencies apart. Since BIM systems are a dynamic database of
information, allowing a more accurate collection of information for the building.
Case studies for using BIM for Facility Management are already underway. For
example, the Sydney Opera House is a very large and complicated building that could
greatly benefit from having a BIM data set. The Sydney Opera House created a BIM
system that recorded not only the simple building information but the service,
maintenance, and cost information throughout the building (Sabol). The maintenance of
such Facility Management data sets require constant synchronization and tedious rework,

but the time spent doing such things is infinitesimal compared to the amount of time and
effort needed for classic Facility Management.

Research Design and Methodology:

The key to a good research project is to be as consistent as possible between your
test subjects. Finding the right subjects can significantly increase the accuracy of your
results. In order to find the most accurate information, I would search for projects that are
nearly identical in all parameters except their use of BIM systems in facility management.
For example, the design of a school is usually used for more than one school. It could be
possible to find identical buildings that had different approaches to facility management.
If not, I would simply find a collection of buildings used for the same general discipline
with the same approximate square footage. The more parameters I could keep the same,
the more accurate data I could collect. As long as the uses of the building and the sizes
were similar, I could test the productivity of the facility management systems and
compare them.
Next, I would need to set the criteria for the testing. Criteria could be
based upon reports that were created based on data from each quarter and each year as a
whole. I would base the comparisons on data concerning preventative maintenance,
energy efficiency, building automation systems, and life cycle management. Setting up a
data set of these four criteria and creating a system of comparison between models would
portray the information that I pursue. I could also collect data regarding the savings due
to each of these four criteria. Calculating the energy, time, and money saved from BIM
technology would basically define my research.

Problems that I may encounter are numerous. However, I feel that the largest
problem would be deciding how much of the savings are due to the new BIM facility
management systems. The answer to this is fairly simple: by keeping the buildings fairly
similar and conducting this research over a large period of time, the credit should sort
itself out. I would conduct this research over five to ten years. This will allow the systems
time to fluctuate and giving me a solid amount of research to consider. Certain data
could be thrown out of the data set as well if it seemed to be an outlier. For example, if
the building required some sort of maintenance due to a local ordinance that did not affect
the other buildings in the set, that information would not be considered as a part of the
research. This will help keep the research unaltered by other random factors.

Bibliography:
"BIM Software As A Facility Management Tool." Facilities Management Key Concept:.
Facilities Net, 24 Nov. 2008. Web. 06 Dec. 2012.
Sabol, Louise. "Building Information Modeling in Facility Management." Design and
Construction Strategies, LLC., Nov. 2008. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.
<http://dcstrategies.net/files/2_sabol_bim_facility.pdf>.
Schley, Micheal. "BIM: Revolutionizing Building Life Cycle Management." FMJ Online.
Facility Management Journal, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.