About the National BIM Standard®
The transformation in the building industry fostered by the evolution from use of analog drawings and text to the use of digital electronic Building Information Modeling (BIM) is comparable to the transformation that occurred in the aircraft, microprocessor and automotive industries. Early definitions which assert that BIM is simply a 3D model of a facility are far from the truth and do not adequately communicate the potential of digital, object-based, interoperable building information modeling processes and tools and modern communications methods. BIM is best thought of as "a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility...and a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life-cycle; defined as existing from earliest conception to demolition." Soon, nearly every piece of information that an owner needs about a facility throughout its life can be made available electronically. The industry, however, doesn't yet have the standards and infrastructure in place to capture, organize, distribute and mine that information. Our goal at the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) is to establish, through the NBIMS Project, the standards needed to foster innovation in processes and infrastructure so that end-users throughout all facets of the industry can efficiently weave information needed to create and operate wonderful buildings. The buildingSMARTalliance™ is the overall home for this activity which includes the NBIMS specification and standardization activities as well as industry-wide coordination, outreach, education and community adoption activities.
The beneficiaries of BIM include owners, planners, realtors, appraisers, mortgage bankers, designers, engineers, prototypers, estimators, specifies, safety, occupational health, environmentalists, contractors, lawyers, contract officers, sub-contractors, fabricators, code officials, operators, risk management, renovators, first responders and demolition. Each has their own view of the information, many share the same information but some have unique uses. Some supply information, some use information some do both. For all this information to be useful it must adhere to open standards.
View/download PowerPoint presentations on BIM/NBIMS from the right column.
