About NBIMS-US™
About the National BIM Standard-United States™
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 has already 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. As defined in the original NBIMS document "A BIM is a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. As such it serves as a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its lifecycle from inception onward." If implemented, nearly every piece of information that an owner needs about a facility throughout its life can be made available electronically. The industry, however, does not yet have the open standards and infrastructure in place to capture, organize, distribute, and mine that information. Our goal at the Institute is to establish, through the NBIMS-US™ Project, the standards needed to foster innovation in processes and infrastructure so that end-users throughout all facets of the industry can efficiently access the information needed to create and operate optimized facilities. The buildingSMART alliance™ is the home for this activity which includes the NBIMS-US™ specification and standardization activities as well as industry-wide coordination, outreach, education and community adoption activities. The United States National CAD Standard® is also under the authority of the buildingSMART alliance™ for the intent of ensuring that both these documents work in harmony.
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 managers, renovators, first responders and demolition contractors. Each has their own view of the information, many share the same information but some have unique uses. Some supply information, some use information and some do both. For all this information to be useful, it must adhere to open standards and no one software tool can or should cover all aspects, as it would be far too complex to sustain.
To understand better the opportunities possible download / view the PowerPoint presentation from the column to the right.
