Creation of an Evolutive Conceptual Know-how Framework for Integrative Building Design

Low productivity of the building sector today is attributed to the fragmentation of tasks, disciplines and responsibilities, as well as to the resistance to adopt integrative work processes and digital means. The increased complexity of architectural projects and the aroused social consciousness for sustainable environment calls for integrative design collaboration. Thus, there is need for a Conceptual Framework combining work processes, technological means and policy aspects. According to the literature, integrative multidisciplinary design is a strategy resulting in high performance buildings nurturing sustainable way of living (Reed et al. 2009, Krygiel & Nies 2008). Responding to the increased technological complexity of our built environment, as well as to the objective of meeting multiple criteria of quality, both necessitating multidisciplinary collaboration during design, Building Information Modeling (BIM) is seen as a powerful means for fostering quality, augmenting productivity and decreasing loss in construction. Based on recent research, we can propose that a sustainable building can be designed through an integrative design process (IDP) which is best supported by BIM. However, our ongoing research program and consultations with advanced practitioners underscore a number of limitations. For example, a large portion of the interviewed professionals and construction stakeholders do not necessarily see a link between sustainable building, integrative design process and BIM, while in our opinion, their joint use augments the power of each of these approaches taken separately. Thus, there is an urgent necessity for the definition of an IDP-BIM framework, which could guide the building industry to sustainable results and better productivity. This paper defines such a framework, whose theoretical background lays on studies in social learning (activity theory and situated action theories). These theories suggest that learning and knowledge generation occurs mainly within a social process defined as an activity. This corresponds to the context in which the IDP-BIM framework will be used, its final objective being the transformation of building design practices. The proposed IDP-BIM framework is based on previous research and developments. Thus, firstly, IDP process was well formalized in the Roadmap for the Integrated Design Process (Reed et al.) which is widely used as a guideline for collaborative integrative design by innovating practices in USA and Canada. Secondly, the National Building Information Modeling Standard (NBIMS) of the USA is putting an enormous effort in creating a BIM standard, Succar (2008) recently proposed a conceptual framework for BIM, but BIM ontology is still under development (Gursel et al 2009). Thirdly, an iterative design process bound to gating reviews (inspired from software development processes) was found to be successful in the context of multidisciplinary design studios (reported in our previous papers). The feedback from this study allowed for modifications and adjustments included in the present proposal. The gating process assures the good quality of the project and its compliance to the client's requirements. The challenge of this research is to map the above mentioned approaches, processes and technologies into the design process, thus creating an integrated framework supporting and nurturing sustainable design. The IDP-BIM framework can be represented by a multidimensional matrix linked to a semantic network knowledge database: - the axes of the matrix being the project timeline, the design process actors and building stakeholders (architect, engineers, client, contractor, environmental biologist, etc.), or different aspects of building performance (environmental, functional, social, interior environment quality, cost, etc.), and - the knowledge database providing multiple layers of semantic support in terms of process, domain knowledge, technology and workflow at a given moment of the project and for a given actor or building aspect. The IDP-BIM framework is created as an evolutive digital environment for know-how and will have an established protocol for regular updates. The paper will firstly present the state of the art in IDP and BIM. Secondly, it will expose the methodology used for the definition of the Framework, followed by a description of its structure, contents and digital implementation. Then, some scenarios for the use of the Framework will be shown as validation.

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