The title is not completely correct, cars are not really good, but they are less bad than buildings.

We hear constantly:

• “Cars cause Global Warming” (more accurately contribute to Climate Change).
• People are purchasing hybrids to do their part to help save the earth and lower our need for fuel.

We rarely hear:

• Buildings are the main problem. (They are)

BIM, specifically the data component, holds great promise to dramatically improve the performance and operation of buildings, as well as insuring that ecologically superior building products are specified. BIM is dependent upon accurate and available data.

In November I attended the Greenbuild Conference and Exhibition in Phoenix. There were hundreds of presentations, 1,800 booths (mostly Building Product Manufacturers) and over 24,000 attendees — more attendees than either the AIA or CSI National Conferences and Exhibitions. Al Gore was the keynote speaker. What is remarkable about this conference is that it clearly demonstrates that the architects, engineers, contractors and owners (private and government) are aware of the importance of the “green” movement. While many people have known of the advantages of well designed buildings for both energy savings and people productivity increases for decades, it has only been in the last few years that their efforts have turned into a movement.

There are fundamentally two components that determine if you have a “green” building:

• Design – Site selection, orientation, massing, shading, layout, mechanical and lighting conceptual approach, etc.
• Materials and Equipment – Specific products, carpet, tile, paint and equipment, fans, chillers, light fixtures and lamps, etc.

If you have a great design concept but select poorly performing materials and equipment the results of your efforts will be minimized. At Greenbuild, manufacturers promoted their messages as “green” manufacturers. The challenge to those that select and specify manufacturer products is finding out specifics on the products “greenness”, how it quantitatively compares to other products and what approaches were used to make the claims. For example a product could perform extremely well within the building environment but have major negatives associated with its manufacturing process, component materials, or disposal at the end of the buildings life. You need much more information than you can easily find to make the best selection, and you need this information on hundreds of thousands of products and materials.

The selection process becomes even more difficult because the manufacturer’s products data is supplied based upon the products in a “stand alone” condition. Little data is available on how products and equipment combine to perform in the assemblies that are the building. How the window frame is attached to the building structure will greatly determine heat gain and heat loss. We have data on the building wall, and the frame and glass, but what about the performance of the connection of the two elements?

Today BIM is really BiM; we need to get the “i” to grow up to a big “I”. We need more information on products and assemblies. Where are we going to get that information?

Many manufacturers have tremendous testing facilities. US Gypsum has very sophisticated facilities. There are private labs like UL and the NAHB Research Center, there are Universities that have focused programs, the military has research programs such as those managed by the Corp of Engineers, and there are the National Labs like the Lawrence-Berkeley Lab that has a massive collection of data on glass performance.

There is no one Lab devoted to buildings; the materials, assemblies, and design influences on performance. The construction industry is the largest industry in the world, buildings account for almost 50% of all the energy consumed in the world (cars account for 12%). Building construction costs and operations are the largest expense, after employees, for most companies. Through proper design, material selections and operations these costs can be reduced 30%. Buildings are often one of the greatest assets of a company, but only if they have maintained their value and not fall into disrepair or become obsolete.

Automobile manufacturers know tremendous amounts of information on every part and piece that goes into their cars; they are tested, modified, and improved on a continual basis. Cars cost about the same per square foot as a new furnished building, and I have yet to have a sunroof on a car leak, yet I have not seen a building that did not have at least one roof leak. We also know how to make informed purchasing decisions on a car because we have massive amounts of data on performance, options, resale value, reliability and the prestige factor. Ask a car purchaser if they will spend $1,600 more for the sport suspension they can make a quick decision, ask if they want to spend $200 more for a more efficient light fixture and you may get a blank stare. There is simply no easy way to get the data to answer all the questions on the performance and impact of a more efficient light fixture, door, window, etc.

A couple of years ago a collection of architects were asked what contributed to greenhouse gas emissions, the list of options included cars and trucks as well as buildings, the group indicated that 40% was caused by cars and trucks and seven percent from buildings. The actual answer was 12% from cars and trucks and 42% from buildings. If you do not know what is causing a major problem there is a good chance you will not contribute to the solution, so step one to making buildings less bad is that the owners, architects and engineers need to know what is creating the problems, step two is to give them the detailed and scientific information they need to solve the problems through an interface that makes searching for and finding the information needed at the time it is needed.

To help architects, engineers, contractors and other design professionals keep up with the rapidly evolving world of virtual modeling technology, RedVector is pleased to release “Building Information Modeling (BIM): An Introduction.”

The course covers the ways that a Building Information Model can use a digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a facility to enable collaboration among all the stakeholders on a project, and shows how it can increase productivity from the planning stages through the finished product. The origins of BIM are discussed, along with some common limitations, current standardization activities, and its increasing popularity as a primary tool in the industry for project information and coordination.

“Because Building Information Modeling is so effective for helping pros pull together and organize data from the many different sectors involved in planning, it naturally follows that BMI can save time on a project and improve quality while decreasing costs,” says Jeff Nippes, RedVector’s Product Development Coordinator. “It’s quickly becoming essential for industry professionals to have a working knowledge of BIM.”

Because BIM already offers advantages as a single source of building information for the design and construction processes and may eventually impact the entire industry, RedVector will continue to keep A/E/C professionals informed with courses like “Building Information Modeling (BIM): An Introduction” as new developments begin to unfold.

About RedVector
RedVector sets the standard of excellence in online continuing education for licensed and certified professionals in the engineering, architectural, construction and long-term healthcare industries. With an online library exceeding 1,000 courses, authored by more than 100 subject matter experts and spanning all 50 states, RedVector serves more than 130,000 design and construction professionals. The recipient of numerous community honors and industry awards, RedVector was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. For further information call 1-866-546-1212 or visit www.redvector.com.

Contact:
Victoria Zambito
VP Marketing
RedVector 866.328.8883
Victoria.Zambito@redvector.com
4890 West Kennedy Boulevard
Suite 740
Tampa, Florida 33609