BIM Adoption explores how Building Information Modeling (BIM) impacts the construction industry through reshaping processes and workflows at both organizational and project levels.
It highlights case studies, such as the Brock Commons Tallwood House, to illustrate BIM’s transformative role in improving project efficiency, collaboration, and innovation. The research provides insights into the challenges and benefits of BIM adoption across various stakeholders.
Relevant papers on BIM adoption at the organizational level:
- Digital Transformation and Structures: The study explores how digital technologies reshape both formal and informal structures in large architecture and engineering firms, affecting roles and relationships within the organization.
- Informal Networks: Informal roles, like “go-to” tech experts, emerge, influencing the way firms operate beyond traditional hierarchies.
- Social Network Analysis (SNA): SNA is used to identify these informal roles, map their relationships, and analyze their influence on the firm’s performance.
- Alignment Challenges: The study finds a misalignment between formal structures and these informal networks, which can impact knowledge sharing and innovation.
- Organizational Recommendations: The research suggests that formal recognition of these informal networks can improve organizational performance, especially during digital transformation, by enhancing collaboration and knowledge management.
Embedded contexts of innovation: BIM adoption and implementation for a specialty contracting SME
- Radical and Incremental Innovation: The paper discusses how BIM adoption for a small mechanical contracting SME began as a radical innovation, followed by incremental advancements that further enhanced BIM capabilities within the organization.
- Contextual Influence on Innovation: It highlights the importance of four embedded contexts—industry, institutional, organizational, and project contexts—in shaping the BIM adoption process.
- Challenges for Specialty Contractors: Specialty contractors face unique challenges in the BIM adoption process, with limited influence over the broader project lifecycle compared to larger stakeholders.
- Strategic BIM Adoption: A structured strategic approach is vital for successful BIM adoption, including setting clear goals, aligning BIM with business strategies, and fostering both top-down and bottom-up engagement within the organization.
- Project-level BIM Implementation: The paper emphasizes that while BIM is often driven by external project requirements, internal organizational vision and expertise development significantly impact its long-term success.
Construction productivity assessment on Brock Commons Tallwood House
- Construction Productivity: The study assesses the construction performance of Brock Commons Tallwood House, an 18-story mass timber building, highlighting significant productivity improvements through prefabrication and the use of a virtual design and construction (VDC) model.
- Crane Days: Analyzing crane usage, the study found that prefabrication significantly reduced crane days, expediting the overall construction timeline.
- Variability of Productivity: Installation productivity improved consistently as crews became more familiar with the process, demonstrating a clear learning curve.
- Schedule Reliability: The actual construction schedule was completed ahead of the planned timeline by 50%, indicating strong efficiency gains.
- Key Innovations: Prefabrication and VDC modeling were crucial to increasing labor productivity and maintaining the project’s critical path.
Relevant papers on BIM adoption at the project level:
Brock Commons Tallwood Case Study Papers
Design process innovation on Brock Commons Tallwood House
- Innovative Design Process: The Brock Commons Tallwood House project employed an integrated design process (IDP) to facilitate collaboration among architects, engineers, and contractors, ensuring seamless coordination.
- Virtual Design and Construction (VDC): VDC tools were used extensively to model and visualize the building, improving efficiency in design and decision-making.
- Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA): Prefabricated mass timber components streamlined construction and reduced on-site work.
- Quality Control: Rigorous quality control processes were implemented for precise manufacturing and installation of mass timber elements.
- Sustainable Innovation: The project showcases innovations in sustainability, leveraging mass timber as a primary material while maintaining high environmental and safety standards.
Construction process innovation on Brock Commons Tallwood House
- Construction Process Innovations: The Brock Commons Tallwood House project utilized a series of construction innovations, including prefabrication, just-in-time delivery, and rigorous quality control, to expedite construction and improve productivity.
- Virtual Design and Construction (VDC): VDC and Building Information Modeling (BIM) played a key role in coordinating design and construction processes.
- Safety and Risk Management: The project integrated comprehensive safety and risk management protocols alongside innovative construction techniques.
- Prefabrication and DfMA: Prefabrication, aligned with the Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) approach, was crucial for reducing on-site work.
- Materialization of Innovation: Full-scale construction mock-ups helped test and validate design solutions, contributing to the project’s overall success.