Mddb.apec.org



How Building Information Modeling Standards Can Improve Building Performance

Joint APEC-ASEAN Workshop

June 24-25, 2013, Medan, Indonesia

Meeting Report

In support of the second focal element of the multi-year project, “The Role of Standards and Conformity Assessment Measures in Enhancing the Performance of the Commercial Building Sector” (M CTI 02 12A) the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held a joint workshop, “How Building Information Modeling Standards Can Improve Building Performance,” on June 24-25, 2013. The multi-year project is being conducted by the APEC Subcommittee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) in partnership with the APEC Energy Working Group (EWG)/ Expert Group on Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EGEE&C) and the ASEAN Consultative Committee on Standards and Quality (ACCSQ).

Key Themes of the Workshop Discussions

• Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a technology that is transforming the design and construction industry, with a specific relevance to Green Building. BIM can be utilized to drive Green Building by delivering concrete benefits in the planning, design, construction and operation of buildings.

• BIM provides a powerful tool to reach the higher performance outcomes economies seek for the built environment. The benefits of BIM also extend beyond the individual building, enabling better planning at the neighborhood and urban planning level.

• Standards play a crucial role in maximizing the benefits that can be achieved through BIM. At its core, BIM is an approach that facilitates communication, collaboration, and improved decision-making. BIM allows stakeholders to share, model, test and refine ideas and options early in a building’s design life. BIM also enables decisions to be carried through efficiently and effectively into building operation. Standards provide a facilitating foundation for economies to pursue BIM in accordance with their specific objectives and the technologies in use.

• Standards used in BIM should be developed using the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT) principles for what constitutes an international standard. This includes transparency, openness, impartiality and consensus, relevance and effectiveness, coherence and developing country interests.

• APEC and ASEAN economies have in common both the opportunities and challenges associated with BIM. Opportunities include the ability to achieve increased building performance, more efficient and environmentally supportive construction processes, decreased building operation costs, as well as operation and maintenance supporting green design goals, among other benefits. Challenges economies often encounter include a lack of demand for BIM, industry entrenchment in current 2D technologies and approaches, lack of skilled manpower, resources to build BIM expertise, and policy support.

• The materials shared at this workshop create a foundational compendium of resources on BIM, available at . This includes information on best practices, the most essential aspects of successful BIM planning and implementation at an economy level and at the project level, and methods of educating stakeholders on the benefits of BIM and educating current and future BIM practitioners.

Introductory Remarks

APEC SCSC Chairman Teungku Hanafiah launched the event, noting the Asia-Pacific region is experiencing rapid growth and urbanization, bringing opportunities in the sustainable construction sector to create buildings that operate efficiently, safeguard scarce natural resources and utilize state of the art practices. The current SCSC Multi Year Project is a centerpiece of the strategy to reduce or prevent technical barriers to trade in green building products by encouraging the use of international standards, and open standards, where appropriate to ensure widespread use of the best available technology. This work has been recognized by APEC Leaders as making contributions to both APEC’s regional economic integration and GHG emissions reductions goals because greening the commercial building sector can yield significant energy savings, given that the building sector accounts for between 30 and 40 percent of energy usage in most industrialized economies.

Given that this is an extremely complex subject area that utilizes evolving standards and conformance tools, and addresses critical energy saving policy goals, the APEC economies will be able to make well informed planning decisions if they are able to understand the full scope of green building standardization activities. This is a new technology arena where there is an opportunity to influence the standards and conformity assessment requirements that underpin trade in these technologies. In doing so, APEC economies can minimize unnecessary obstacles to trade.

Strong regional interest in green buildings has led to the joint branding of this and previous workshops as APEC/ ASEAN events. That collaboration, which began in 2011, enables leading technical experts and policy makers from more than twenty four economies to build strong regional communication and collaboration networks.

Session One: Overview

Joanne Littlefair, U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, provided details of the green building-related work conducted by the SCSC since 2011, together with details on the four main components of the ongoing multi-year project. In March 2013, SCSC conducted a workshop on building codes as a tool to enhance building performance, hosted by collaborating partner Peru in Lima. The current workshop on utilizing BIM to increase building performance is the second focal element of the multi-year project. SCSC also plans two green building events in 2014. The first workshop will focus primarily on testing and rating of materials in the building envelope, and will be held in China during the first half of 2014. The second workshop will focus on laboratory testing requirements for flooring and ceiling products, and will be held in Singapore later in 2014.

Ms. Littlefair noted the extensive materials available to all economies that were developed in conjunction with the SCSC 2011 green building work and the ongoing multi-year project. All workshop speaker presentations, case studies, surveys, and in-depth consultant reports on the wide range of policy tools and green building-related initiatives underway in APEC member economies are publicly available on the APEC web site in the Meetings Document Database.

Steve Jones, McGraw Hill Construction, delivered a comprehensive presentation on BIM to Facilitate Green Building Practices, inclusive of global, regional, and economy-specific trends in green building, BIM and green BIM, a summary of the benefits BIM can generate for stakeholders, and requirements for continued BIM growth. BIM has the potential to deliver transformational efficiencies to the construction sector across the planning, design, construction, and operation phases of the building life cycle. Mr. Jones’ presentation reflected, in part, responses to in-depth surveys by diverse construction industry stakeholders in sixty two international markets.

Globally, the strong growth trend in green building continues, with an intensification of existing rationales for building green. That said, the issue of perceived affordability of building green has increased as a barrier. This makes it all the more important to view the benefits of green building on a life cycle basis. When concepts of sustainability are tied to concrete business benefits, green building presents a more compelling case: lower operating costs, higher building value at time of sale, quality assurance via documentation and certification, higher rental rate achievability, higher occupancy rates, increased tenant productivity, and ability to educate occupants about sustainability, among other benefits. One of the more powerful statements that emerged in the survey responses was the perceived operating cost decreases associated with green retrofits.

Mr. Jones detailed how BIM can advance green building by driving improved sustainable outcomes. Via design, BIM can deliver higher performing buildings. It allows a fully coordinated model to be developed and refined before starting construction, reducing material waste and reducing cost and schedule overruns. In the construction phase, BIM facilitates more efficient and environmentally responsible construction processes. In a building’s commissioning and operational life, BIM enables practices that allow owner/operators to attain green design goals. Examples of specific ways in which BIM applications can advance green building include: create energy performance snapshots to assess the impact of design decisions; evaluate building loads and the impact of conservation strategies; develop carbon foot print reduction strategies; assess passive/hybrid/renewable strategies; assess the impact of daylight and solar gain; incorporate bulk airflow, ventilation, and IAQ into the equation; and assess compliance with regulations and codes.

McGraw-Hill Construction’s SmartMarket Report, Green BIM, provides extensive trend data on green building BIM uptake. This and other McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarket reports are available, free of charge, at market-research.

Looking forward, Mr. Jones identified seven keys to BIM growth: standards and software integration, standard agreements for green BIM services, greater use of integrated design/construction, modeling standards to create reliable deliverables for exchange, increasing use of BIM for smaller green retrofit projects, integrated output from different building systems, and using BIM for building performance monitoring and verification.

Session Two: Introduction to Building Information Modeling and its Applicability to Green Building

John Mitchell, buildingSMART Australasia, presented on BIM Sustainability and Precincts. His discussion centered on an influential trend: movement from a single building focus, where BIM has demonstrated results, to a larger focus on neighborhoods, or precincts. This is the scale at which urban design needs to make its contribution to city performance. Precinct assessment involves the performance dimensions of low carbon, resilience, and sustainability, requiring an integration of BIM, GIS and infrastructure.

Relying on project case studies, Mr. Mitchell demonstrated how BIM enabled a new way to focus on the whole life cycle, allowing a holistic view of programs. Benefits include the ability to create life cycle and alternative comparisons, as well as reliable budgets and cost controls before work is even begun on the construction side. BIM modeling can maximize sustainable opportunities from financial feasibility, concept, design, construction, operation, churn, and even demolition of a building.

The buildingSMART philosophy is based on open, neutral, international shared access to data. Its view is that open, share-able information will help the supply chain unlock more efficient and collaborative ways of working throughout the entire project and lifecycle end-to-end. The organization has regional chapters in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and the Middle East. buildingSMART has originated ISO standards for BIM data, BIM terminology, and BIM processes.

Looking forward, Mr. Mitchell identified the following requirements for precinct level sustainable modeling: an integrated built environment object framework, supported by government and industry; the availability of rich product data, which must include LCI – embodied and operational carbon; access to national digital data sources; and improved metrics for performance measurements and benchmarks. Mr. Mitchell emphasized the view that government can drive positive outcomes by promoting open standards to achieve a large exchange of data. With this, a substantial body of users will be in a position to demand of vendors what they truly need.

buildingSMART goals include developing and maintaining open international standards for BIM, while providing networking opportunities, specifications, and written guidance. The organization seeks to accelerate market assimilation of interoperability through successful sustainable projects, and to resolve high cost problems that hinder data sharing. It also hopes to extend buildingSMART processes and technology to the whole built environment over its lifecycle.

Session Three: Current State of National BIM Standards

Li Zheng, Standardization Administration of China, provided an Introduction of BIM and its Application in China, including an introduction of the China Academy of Building Research (CABR) and its work to develop BIM standards, technologies, tools, and training resources. The strategy for advancing BIM in China involves research on individual BIM applications, followed by standardization for single BIM applications, in turn leading to integrated BIM applications and standardization of such integrated applications.

Dr. Li noted the official work start of developing Chinese BIM standards in 2012, following the 2010 publication of the Industry Foundation Class Platform. The work in China focuses on a Uniform Standard for BIM Application, a Storage Standard for BIM Application, as well as a delivery standard, classification and coding standard and application standard for BIM Design Information Models. The standard development strategy takes lessons from the mobile communications industry and focuses on applications: how to apply BIM technology to improve the quality and efficiency of the construction industry. In its 12th Five Year Plan, China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development recognized BIM as one of the most important new technologies for the construction field. China seeks to develop BIM recognizing the context of globalization as applies to standards, software, hardware, networks, and processes.

Steve Jones, McGraw-Hill Construction, presented on the National BIM Standard – United States (NBIM-US), highlighting an approach that sees best results in consensus and industry-wide collaboration. Mr. Jones built on prior speaker comments about the buildingSMART alliance, noting its inclusive membership and its belief in an open BIM standard.

The core principles underlying NBIMS-US are that standards are critical for accomplishing share-ability of data and interoperability; foundational principles need to be established as quickly as possible, while allowing flexibility for change and growth moving forward; and the work should reflect a global perspective where there are core commonalities between markets and regions amid differences. Reliability of shared data is a key concept, in the context of traditional approaches in which 2D drawings were not trusted by building professionals.

Mr. Jones underscored that while NBIMS-US remains a work in progress, there is enough in place now to be valuable and useful. It started with a focus on buildings, and now includes infrastructure. The standards extend beyond the Industry Foundation Class (IFC). The presentation then detailed BIM Use Cases, which are the basic organizing elements for the standard. Detailed information was then provided about the development of NBIMS-US’ most recent version, and then vision for the road to international BIM standards. The ultimate goal is to increase efficiency in the global construction industry.

Kenji Suzuki, Toshiba Corporation, provided a detailed review of the work being done within ISO Technical Committee (TC) 268/SC1 Smart Community Infrastructures. Mr. Suzuki established the context for the TC work, noting rapid population increases and urbanization trends in emerging economies has and will continue to cause serious problems with energy consumption, traffic congestion, and medical costs in urban areas. There are numerous evaluation indicators for “smart” communities, and an international standard of measurement is needed to facilitate planning, purchase decisions, procurement, and provider management, as well as achieve more effective and efficient R&D, global sales, and a better understanding of buyer needs.

The TC work is guided by the principle that the focus should be community infrastructure that can be improved by technologies, can be evaluated by defined metrics, and defined as a measurement standard. Relevant existing standards (energy, water, transportation, waste management, ICT) should be taken into consideration. Trade-offs and synergies must be considered. With respect to deliverables, the Technical Report, Smart Infrastructures for Communities – Review of Existing Metrics (ISO TR37150) is expected to be published in August 2013. The Technical Specification, Smart Community Infrastructure Metrics – General Principles and Requirements (ISO TS37151) is expected to be published in 2014.

Mohd Harris Ismail, Construction Industry Development Board, Malaysia, presented on Malaysia’s Current Initiatives and Activities on Building Information Modeling. Setting the context, Mr. Harris explained how BIM supports important national priorities in Malaysia, including increasing sustainability and green materials, advancement of information technology, achieving project management standards and best practices, and government transformation programs. While BIM uptake in Malaysia is still in its early stages, BIM has garnered serious attention from both the public and private sector based on the benefits it offers.

Mr. Harris detailed the BIM initiatives currently under way by public and private sector entities, noting these efforts are, at present, uncoordinated. Within the Malaysian government, extensive activity is underway to begin developing pathways forward in key aspects of BIM development. In the private sector, select larger developers have embraced BIM. Challenges to expanding BIM uptake include stakeholder commitment and support, hardware and software costs, changes required in processes and the construction industry culture, and BIM competency development.

Session Four: How Standards Support BIM Projects

Calvin Kam, Center for Integrated Facility Engineering, Stanford University, presented on How Standards Support BIM Projects. Dr. Kam noted the fundamental purpose of BIM is to enable communication, information sharing, collaboration, and improved decision-making for the built environment. BIM allows rehearsal – i.e., idea advancement, modeling, and testing – in a virtual digital environment, based on reliable data, at the earliest stages of a building’s design life. Errors can be detected and eliminated virtually, before they have cost impacts in implementation, and specific pathways to desired cost and performance outcomes can be achieved.

Dr. Kam referenced a scientific way of looking at BIM, developed by bimSCORE, which identifies five key characteristics of a BIM pathway: (i) Status Quo, (ii) Piloting, (iii) Policy, (iv) Industry, and (v) Innovation. The pathway begins with the fundamental question about the current state/status quo: can we afford not to use BIM? This requires examination of what it costs to fail to proceed without achieving more productivity growth in the construction sector, among other questions about opportunity costs associated with making no change. There is an early opportunity to ask tough questions about the status quo, determine targets for “success,” and align performance targets with pilots in the next stage of the pathway.

The piloting stage of the BIM pathway provides an important opportunity to test ideas and make decisions before policies are locked in place. Solid, ands-on piloting experience is crucial to sound policymaking, given the challenges with BIM. In the policymaking stage, Dr. Kam noted the need to think about the average player, not only the BIM champions and experts, and whether the policy aligns well with the fundamental goals. People, processes, and technical aspects must be incorporated, and all stakeholders must understand the fundamental purpose of policies.

The logical next step is industry engagement, and industry needs to understand the benefits to provide buy-in for policies. Dr. Kam emphasized the need, therefore, to build an integrated team early in the BIM development process, to allow open, collaborative, information sharing that leads to reduced risk. There is a drive for an open BIM standard that will facilitate this depth and breadth of collaboration.

Dr. Kam concluded by noting the next logical step in advancing BIM is to share the lessons learned with one another, and by inviting all economies to work on the Open Source BIM Modelserver (BIMserver).

Session Five: Increasing Use of BIM through Policy and Procurement Tools

Cheng Tai Fat, Building and Construction Authority Academy, Singapore, delivered remarks on the Singapore BIM Roadmap, which was developed in accordance with the vision of realizing a highly integrated and technologically advanced construction sector and skilled workforce by 2020. Singapore approached the roadmap by looking at the major challenges economies face in advancing BIM (a lack of demand for BIM, industry entrenchment in current 2D technologies and approaches, lack of skilled manpower, resources to build BIM expertise, and policy support) and tailoring specific actions to address each challenge. In Singapore, the public sector has taken the lead with BIM, establishing regulatory approvals, systematically working to remove impediments, building BIM capability and capacity, and incentivizing BIM adopters.

An instrumental step was the decision of the Singapore Government to use Government Procurement Entities (GPEs) to conduct pilot projects and stipulate use of BIM as part of project requirements starting in 2012. Establishing an E-submission system for bids was another crucial step in developing industry readiness for BIM. A key part of the roadmap seeking to remove impediments involves the development of BIM standards, as well as a comprehensive BIM Guide (the Guide was launched in May 2012). Education of practitioners is recognized as a fundamental key to the future success of BIM as a means of boosting productivity and efficiency in the construction industry and making it more competitive globally.

There are a number of BIM focused events slated to take place in Singapore in the coming months, and workshop participants are encouraged to participate.

Calvin Kam, Center for Integrated Facility Engineering, Stanford University, presented on U.S. Federal Efforts in BIM, highlighting work by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) in its National 3D-4D BIM Program. To establish a context for his remarks, Dr. Kam noted five essential elements required for successful implementation of any program of change: vision, skill, incentive, resources, and an action plan. He further noted that when making decisions about whether to proceed with a BIM-based or non-BIM project, it is important to consider costs and risk associated with scope, project phases, the maturity of technology, the capability of the project team, the contract set-up, and the parameters (hardware, security) of the information exchange mechanisms.

With respect to GSA, Dr. Kam provided details of projects involving 3D laser scan documentation of GSA building assets, including historic buildings, mid-century structures, and new design and construction. The 3D scanning projects led to extremely high returns on investment because the 3D documentation exposed significant errors and omissions in the 2D drawings available for these projects. 3D laser scan was first introduced in 2003 through pilots, which demonstrated its benefits such that GSA management has mandated scanning on all GSA projects since 2006, more than 100 projects to date.

In addition to its 3D laser scanning project activities, and its ongoing 3D-4D BIM projects, GSA has positioned itself as a one-stop center of expertise, with extensive resources available on: BIM strategy, policy and tactics, program and pilot funding, development, implementation, and standardization, solicitation and scope of work, internal knowledge portal (SOW, metrics, case studies), training opportunities, public outreach, and international collaboration.

Session Six: Real World Use of BIM

Andrew Hill, CSI Global Services, Australia, delivered a presentation on New Children’s Hospital Real World Use of BIM. New Children’s Hospital was envisioned as a state-of-the-art hospital to replace a 100 year-old facility, which would become a center of excellence for child and adolescent-focused family-centered care in Western Australia. The project was conducted as a partnership between the Government of Western Australia, John Holland group, and CSI Global Services. After public-private collaboration on the BIM strategy and contract award, all aspects of the $1.2 billion project have been conducted in BIM. Utilizing BIM, continuous management of information is the goal through design, construction, and operations.

Mr. Hill provided details of the BIM workflow, which yielded benefits including a defined structure for deliverables, all information requirements captured early, making green building decisions easier, and a systematic approach to the management and delivery of information. In work areas/work packages, BIM delivered benefits including simplification of the structure and the model, allowing work areas to be the coordinating information for other design aspects, and allowing accurate dissemination of information to consultants. Significant benefits also were achieved through BIM in the areas of clash detection, model integrity reviews, audit and coordination, cost and quantity integration, and construction sequencing and logistics planning elements of the project.

Mr. Hill underscored how BIM can extend the use of the model after the construction phase, allowing the facility to be efficiently operated, managed, and maintained in accordance with design goals after construction has been completed.

Ghang Lee, Yonsei University, Korea, presented on How to Quantify the Economic Benefit of Using BIM to Detect Design Errors: Case Study – D3 City Project in Seoul, Korea. Beginning with the premise that if one is not getting resistance, then one is not changing the world, Dr. Lee emphasized the need for credible measurements to convince stakeholders of the value of BIM and the returns that can be expected from making an investment in BIM adoption. His team’s research seeks to move beyond perceptions of return on investment (ROI) to examine the quantifiable economic benefits of BIM in detecting design errors. The case study was the D3 City Project in Seoul, Korea.

Dr. Lee found that BIM-assisted design error detection is the most common and most beneficial way of using BIM. His team adjusted prior methods of assessing BIM ROI by adding the likelihood of detecting error as a weight to the analysis value, which traditionally has reflected the total sum of the construction costs to rebuild problem areas. BIM-assisted early error detection is beneficial, as the economic impact of problems, such as schedule delays, caused by project teams not being able to detect errors is significant. Discrepancies between drawings turned out to be the most common error, both in terms of frequency of occurrence and monetary value, and BIM is effective in detecting these types of errors.

Dr. Lee indicated some key lessons learned from his analysis include: a detailed data collection scheme (including data collection processes and forms) must be established before construction. Data must be collected on an ongoing basis during construction, and data collection should be viewed as an integrated part of a team’s daily work process, instead of as a separate activity.

Rahmi Andarini, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Clearinghouse, Indonesia, presented on The Role of Building Energy Modeling in Design Practice in Indonesia. Dr. Andarini established the factual basis of the current energy crisis in the economy, with public subsidization of domestic energy use, in the context of rapid growth of cities and increased energy consumption. This is an environment in which cooling (AC) dominates energy consumption requirements, at 63% of usage, with the second largest category, lighting, in a distant second position at 24% of usage. Dr. Andarini shared the view that energy efficient buildings are of crucial importance, given Indonesia’s urbanization and climate demands. Indonesia would benefit from adapting global best practices to Indonesia’s climatic conditions. The impact of energy efficient design was highlighted, given the opportunity to change the design is unlimited during the planning stage and requires no cost. Dr. Andarini provided a series of case studies to illustrate her findings and recommendations.

Session Seven: Educating Green Building Stakeholders about the Benefits of BIM

Vinci Nicholas Villasenor, Association of Structural Engineers, Philippines, presented on Educating Green Building Stakeholders about the Benefits of BIM – The Philippines Experience. Mr. Villasenor highlighted the need for an integrated approach in educating green building stakeholders on the benefits of BIM. Use of BIM in the Philippines construction sector is still in its early stages. Currently there is a low level of design technology using BIM, lack of national standards for design documents and classification systems, disbursed investment for BIM technology development, a gap between current policy and BIM technology, among other barriers to BIM advancement. It is acknowledged that BIM could improve and facilitate documentation in the design, construction, and operation of the built environment. The Philippines currently is experiencing very strong growth in its construction market.

Mr. Villasenor outlined specific initiatives that could be proposed to advance BIM education. This educational capacity building by institutions of higher education could take the form of training of trainers, equipment and IT software acquisition, gaining support from industry by way of collaboration in the development of case studies, collaborative research and development of open standard BIM platforms, and academically supported preparation of educational materials. Some facilitating trends within the Philippines educational system include a requirement to implement outcomes-based education.

Other potential strategic initiative Mr. Villasenor indicated would be beneficial, while likely disturbing “comfort zones” in the status quo, include forming a new alliance of BIM practitioners, industry-academic partnerships to implement training, a technical committee under the Department of Trade and Industry to develop Open BIM standards, and a technical panel to consider the inclusion of BIM in appropriate courses in engineering curricula. The government could take leadership and make mandatory use of BIM for essential government facilities, and international collaboration and various information sharing mechanisms are encouraged.

Session Eight: Pathways Forward (Roundtable Event)

Tony Rinella, , led the final Pathways Forward event of the workshop, in which a panel of workshop speakers provided their perspectives and interacted with audience members via question and answer. Panelists included representatives from Australia (buildingSMART Australasia), Indonesia, Korea, Singapore and the United States.

Based on its research reflecting the experiences of economies in Asia, Europe, and the United States, bimSCORE has established five key characteristics of an economy’s BIM pathway: (i) Status Quo, (ii) Piloting, (iii) Policy, (iv) Industry, and (v) Innovation. These characteristics established a foundation for the roundtable discussion. Mr. Rinella also highlighted four primary evaluation areas contributing to the success of an economy’s BIM journey: Planning (establishing objectives and protocols), Adoption (finding the right people and process), Performance (tracking impact and progress), and Technology (providing the right tools). The discussion among the panelists and audience members brought out a diversity of views, highlights of which are summarized below.

Performance: Acknowledging that the definition of success depends on the objective established, participants contributed a range of views on the most important measurable success factors for the built environment. At the building level, improved energy performance is a widely identified goal, with comments indicating some of the simpler energy consumption metrics might not tell the entire story and factors such as density and productivity should be considered. At the level of the building owner, participants indicated a need to respect the owner as a critical player, aligning the definition of success with the financial success of a finished building asset that functions in accordance with owner requirements. At an industry level, the view was shared that if the construction industry is not fully conversant in BIM, one success factor may involve a narrow goal of bringing companies up to a basic level of awareness and understanding. For economies that have progressed significantly on the BIM pathway, increased productivity and enhanced global competitiveness of the domestic construction industry is an important success factor. Views were also shared about potential definitions of success at a societal level, including increasing societal happiness, developing zero energy public housing, or doubling an economy’s global market share.

Policy: Participants discussed the role of public policy in establishing and furthering BIM-enabled goals, the mandates, standards, and programs now in place, and whether these have advanced economies’ BIM goals. Views included a large potential opportunity for public policy, if the government could provide training and capacity-building for stakeholders and implement standards. A panelist view was that the government could take a leadership role, while starting with small, specific steps to build incremental capacity. Another view was that in the absence of concrete governmental support, or while public guidelines are under development, relevant industry associations could commence BIM education and capacity building, focusing on creating successful pilot projects that could be used to campaign on the benefits of BIM.

Where government has taken focused policy action to advance BIM, participants noted the importance of looking at three aspects prior to policy development: systems (is there a technical infrastructure?), processes (are standards in place?) and people (are there sufficient competent workers with a BIM skill set?). A specific example of Singapore beginning an electronic submission system for public construction bids was noted as a key development, pre-BIM that smoothed the way for the construction community to later move into BIM. The Singapore Government also has been instrumental in supporting BIM training and certification.

Building Experience: In terms of adopting BIM, economies reflected on a range of experiences. Singapore noted the importance of observing other economies’ experiences and adopting good practices when it developed its BIM action plan. It noted training and education of stakeholders as a critical success factor. Indonesia indicated the need to demonstrate proof of concrete benefits to stakeholders as a key to future adoption. The Australian panelist noted that positive developments can be brought about through collaboration between people, industry, and government, with one challenge being first achieving a consensus across all levels of government. The United States panelist shared the view that adoption would reach a higher level of maturity if, within organizations, champions could align, achieve true collaboration, and train others. Participants also noted the challenge of advancing workers with limited training in the 2D realm into more sophisticated BIM environments.

Session Nine: Conclusion and Workshop Recommendations

With respect to ongoing collaboration and developing resources that would provide tangible benefits, participants indicated an interest in:

▪ A simple guidance document that states clearly and succinctly what BIM is, what are concrete steps that can be taken to advance BIM, and what benefits BIM can provide to stakeholders involved in planning, design, construction, and building operation;

▪ A potential BIM workshop for policymakers, to highlight best practices in advancing BIM. Ideally this would cover a wide range of elements from policy tools to innovative approaches such as awards used to inspire, empower, and showcase concrete steps that can be taken;

▪ Ongoing collaboration on standards;

▪ Ongoing collaboration on metrics;

▪ Ongoing collaboration on approaches to stakeholder education;

▪ Further information exchanges on public policy mandates.

The workshop outcomes were shared with the APEC Sub Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) at its meeting on June 28-29, 2013, and will be reported to the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI). This report will also be shared with the ASEAN Consultative Committee on Standards and Quality. Given the high level interest in green building and green growth, it is expected that the elements of M CTI 02 12A completed this year will be reported to APEC Leaders.

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