I have recently rediscovered Autodesks BIM Curriculum which is aimed at students and AEC professionals learning the basics as well as advanced level BIM techniques / wrork flows. I would recommend checking out as many of the tutorial videos as possible, as unlike many other BIM videos and tutorials, this collection concentrates on the information going in to the building rather than the actual modeling side of the project.

I found this series of interesting tutorials on YouTube posted by Simon Gillis from Autodesk on the Sustainable Toolbox YouTube channel. The videos focus on using 123D Catch to capture an existing building and create a mass out of the scan. Following on from this, it will then be possible to peform energy analysis on the mass to provide a good estimate of current energy conditions of the building. As well as the possibility to simulate future changes.

Education in BIM is one of the key aspects which will drive the process further into the AEC industry. The students and professionals who are keeping up to date with the latest developments in the curriculum will be the ones who are pushing and advancing the roll of BIM in the construction industry. The process is an on going learning curve. Anyone who tells you they know everything about BIM is clearly mistaken. These educations give the student the insight into the industry to start to develop a stratergy for BIM implementation.

I came accross a very intersting article on BIM academy recently which I feel brings more relevance to my last blog post and leads me on to an interesting discussion about implementation plans and education in this area. I will post a small section of the blog and suggest you head over to this link 'Building Information Modeling; A True Story' to read the full article on their blog site. The article was originally written by Neil Thompson and published on the site by George Mokhtar.

So, I'm sure most of us know by now what IFC are, if not, this post may be for you! I just wanted to make a small post to anyone who was still in the dark. IFC or Industry Foundation Classes are a data modeling standard which are complete and fully stable, open and international standards for exchanging BIM data. buildingSMART developed the idea and the certification process. 

Just a quick post to clear up the definitions of some of the acronyms commonly used in the AEC / BIM communities. This post is for anyone who is less familiar with the AEC industry, as a reference for definitions and terms.  

AEC Architecture, Engineering and Construction
AIA American Institute of Architects 
API Application Programming Interface
AT Architectural Technician
BIM Building Information Modeling 
BREEAM Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method 
CIAT Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists 
COBie Construction Operations Building information exchange 
DGN DesiGN, format used by Bentley
DXF Drawing eXchange Format
DWG DraWinG, format used by Autodesk
gbXML Green building eXtensible Modeling Language 
GIS Geographic Information System
IBD Intelligent Building Data 
IFC Industry Foundation Class
IGES International Graphics Exchange Standard
IS International Standard
ISO International Standard Organization
IT Information Technologies
LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
LOD Level Of Detail
NBIMS National Building Information Modeling Standard
MEP Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing
MQC Model Quality Control
MVD Model View Definition
RDB Revit Database
REM Rapid Energy Modeling
RIBA Royal Institute of British Architects
RVT Revit project extension file
RFA Revit Family Archive file
RFT Revit Family Template file 
VDC Virtual Design and Construction
VRML Virtual Reality Modeling Language

A significant roll for contractors in the construction industry today is to prepare and produce documents such as; equipment lists, product data sheets, warranties, spare part lists, preventive maintenance schedules, and other information. This information is essential to support the operations, maintenance, and the management of the facilities assets by the owner and/or property manager.

Over the last couple of weeks I have heard a lot about Grasshopper for Rhino. After watching a few videos online I decided to download a trial of Rhino and the Grasshopper plug in. I am now in the process of trying to learn this software. As a beginner, my initial feelings are that it seems a little confusing and not like anything I have used before to model / design. Saying that, I can also see the excellent potential of the product, especially for drawing custom curves etc. For this reason, I decided to explore the software a little further and over the next month will try and learn it, and hopefully in the process get some tutorials / reviews uploaded on here.

As I'm sure all of you have heard countless times by now, Ecobuild UK is being held this week from Tuesday 20th - Thursday 22nd March 2012. I am planning to attend the event on Thursday for the first time. I am very much looking forward to seeing what is on offer and also checking out the exciting location at ExCel London. Many comapnies have set up stalls, showcasing the latest of their technologies and proects. 

The NBS along with BIM academy and other involved parties, today launched the new National BIM Library at Ecobuild 2012. The new website which was also announced contains pre-made standard object configurations which are compatible with Revit, ArchiCAD, Tekla, Vectorworks and Bentley. The site also has links to manufacturer specific content and other useful documents and videos. 

I found a very interesting article this morning which was posted last month on the Californian Construction website. It describes how KH&S contractors teamed up with a software manufacturer Scenario to create a customised VPD system which could be used for all of their BIM projects. There seem to be a lot of companies investing in BIM management software, to make the work flow of projects run smoother and become more user friendly. Below is a snippet from the article.