BIM as a sharer of expertise
Darren Finley of Ideal Commercial Boilers, looks at the growing emphasis the Government is placing on Building Information Modelling (BIM) and explores the opportunities this will offer boiler manufacturers, enabling them to share vital product information throughout the construction process from design through to building handover and beyond.
Addressing the Government Construction Summit on 2 July 2014, Peter Hansford, the Government’s chief construction advisor, uttered the words, ‘The BIM revolution is becoming unstoppable.’ Many in the industry might offer a correction and say it has already become unstoppable.
With BIM named as one of the five key areas of the industrial strategy, along with skills, innovation, construction’s image and sustainability, it is clear that the Government’s intention for BIM to become standardised across all disciplines in the building sector is unwavering. Their first deadline is 2016, when the mandate for Level 2 BIM for publicly funded work comes into force.
The latest NBS National BIM Report, which has been published annually since 2010 to monitor BIM usage and awareness within the industry, as well as offering assessment and analysis of its implementation, reveals that uptake is increasing exponentially. The humble statistics revealed by the report just four years ago showed that only 13% of industry professionals were aware of BIM and that 43% were completely unaware of it. Fast forward to today, when results reveal that 53% of the industry has used BIM for at least one project over the last year and 93% of those who know BIM believe they will be using it by 2016. This data shows that a blanket adoption of BIM across the industry is not just happening, it’s happening fast.
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| Sharing information through BIM helps building services engineers install and service commercial boilers like the condensing Evomax from Ideal Commercial. |
As with any evolving idea, BIM is being developed and standardised over time through trial and error, feedback and results-monitoring, which is an in-depth process. Each member of the supply chain has their part to play, but to be prepared manufacturers and distributors will need to invest time and resources to understand the entire BIM process, remaining aware of any changes as the system continues to evolve and creating the necessary components. However, this is arguably a worthy investment, as those not ready for the Government’s 2016 deadline are likely to miss out on an increasing number of business opportunities.
Leading boiler manufacturers have developed a comprehensive range of 3-dimensional BIM components representing their entire condensing boiler ranges; they can be easily downloaded and are currently being utilised in building design software nationwide. Each component is embedded with a wealth of essential technical information, such as outputs, efficiencies, clearance zones, pipe kit options, flueing options, NOx emissions, and flow and return requirements. This data can then be imported directly into the building project plan — enabling the building designer to monitor how the system functions when different boiler models and outputs are integrated.
To ensure the designer’s requirements are met, different components must be available for all possible boiler configurations. For instance, a manufacturer might offer the option of a frame and header kit that allows wall-hung boilers to be installed in cascade either in-line or back-to-back, sometimes up to six boilers, with differing total outputs depending on the individual models selected. Their representative BIM components must also reflect these options, not only because the size and shape of configurations will be different but also because outputs and efficiencies will vary depending on the controls used. The designer can then substitute different boiler models to achieve the desired results, testing them in a virtual environment in order to monitor overall efficiency.
There is no doubt that BIM offers a clear channel for boiler manufacturers to share their expertise early in the design process and throughout each project as it evolves, greatly reducing the potential for mistakes on-site and delivering time, materials and cost savings. One of the challenges in the advancement of BIM is ensuring standardisation across different processes and software. For manufacturers of boilers and other building products, the standard electronic format they should use to provide product data is known as COBie, which stands for Construction Operations Buildings information exchange and is an open (non-proprietary) standard. The specific UK version is known as COBie UK 2012.
This format will also include information for building operators, such as the boiler’s maintenance requirements and important operating instructions, ensuring that the end user is aware how boiler efficiency can be maintained.
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| BIM information can include maintenance requriements. |
One of the keys to ensuring a condensing boiler is operating at peak efficiency, for instance, is to ensure the flow and return temperatures are low enough for the appliance to operate in condensing mode. The information provided through BIM will allow the designer to calculate how this will be achieved, and this knowledge will then be included in the dedicated operation and maintenance documentation given to the facilities manager during building handover. This completes the circle of information from manufacturers through to the end user, ensuring both the individual boilers and the entire heating system achieves the intended efficiency from construction through to the occupancy phase and beyond.
Darren Finley is national sales director for Ideal Commercial Boilers.
