WHITE PAPER. From Building Information Management to Facilities Management

Transcription

1 October 2011 WHITE PAPER. Management to Facilities Management A look at the benefits to be found by fostering the links between Building Information Modelling (used by the construction industry) and Computer Aided (used by property owners and operators).

2 Management to 1 The construction industry is increasingly adopting (BIM) techniques and processes to design, build and renovate today s buildings. In the same way building owners and operators are using a wider range of Computer Aided tools to effectively understand, assess, plan, manage and maintain their properties. These groups are often working on the same information at a top level this is space and physical assets yet they rarely share that data. An improved process and new techniques could significantly reduce costs, decrease timescales and better manage risks; so bringing benefits to all. In this white paper we look at the processes and techniques in each sector and how it is becoming more and more practical to bridge the gap between these sets of valuable information. Building Lifecycle Costs Organisations of all sizes are facing a broadening range of challenges in managing what is often their most costly asset property. Once, operational costs were fairly straightforward, but now we also have to wrestle with increasing regulatory demands, changes in working practices, health and safety, climate change, business continuity, security and a myriad of other issues. Furthermore, the demands of a challenging economic climate mean that we must ensure we are operating at an optimal level not just to achieve our organisational goals but sometimes to just ensure the business survives. 30 Year Cost of Building lifecycle Lifecycle Facility Management Costs (76%) Initial Design and construction (24%) FFFF 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% At a property or building level a lot of effort often goes into reducing design and construction costs. However, it is widely recognised, and illustrated by the chart, that the costs of operations and maintenance over the life of a building far outweigh that initial investment. Furthermore, with an increasing concentration on renovation and the need to maximise the return we get from current building stock, there really needs to be a re-examination of how we can further reduce operational costs maybe by further renovation. In both new build and renovation an increased understanding and consideration of future operational requirements and opportunities can reap huge benefits particularly by reducing energy and maintenance costs.

3 Management to 2 systems have traditionally helped owners and operators manage post-construction costs with success. However, as the two disciplines have historically worked in isolation, the costs associated with building hand over and the absence of joined up technologies has largely been hidden or ignored. As today s technologies become smarter and operational costs are analysed more closely to drive business savings, a common question is emerging, namely, what savings be achieved. It now seems clear that there can be benefits for all through improved communication between the facilities management professionals (on behalf of the building owner/operator), architects and engineers (those performing the analysis and design function), and the contractors (the actual construction companies). Technology, and the processes it enables or simplifies, can support this improved communication of information and understanding; furthermore this technology is rapidly advancing to address this more and more effectively. The practice known as (BIM) is used by designers (architects and engineers) to create their design as a digital model within a computer. This model can then be reviewed, presented, modified, analysed and documented faster, more effectively and with a reduced risk of error. BIM is equally applicable to renovation projects as it is to new build, so analysis tools and design options can be rapidly created as part of a review of current building stock. BIM is the latest term applied to a technique which has been developing for a number of years and has been used in a large number of UK construction projects both large and small including many where Excitech has played a major part in supporting the implementation and use of this process. A recent independent survey suggested that 36% of European construction organisations are now using BIM and drawing measurable benefits from it. These benefits include a better understanding of design intent, improved quality, reduced change requests, faster client approval, better cost control, etc. A key aspect of BIM is that the model, which at a most basic level can be considered an information rich database, contains real data about the components of the building. In a traditional computer aided design process a particular window or boiler is simply a collection of graphical shapes; but in a building information model these elements will contain real data. This data might include manufacturer, part number, energy characteristics, connection types and location, service intervals, etc. Architects and engineers can use this information as part of their building analysis for energy as well as to more easily and rapidly test design options and costs. Furthermore, such data, if passed over to the building owner in a suitable format, can aid subsequent building management. These benefits don t just provide an improvement for the construction companies but also the client. What is often overlooked is that the building information model produced digitally in the design process already contains the key information that the Facilities Manager is going to need in order to manage that asset. At a top level the model contains the space and asset information that makes the foundation of a Computer Aided system. Despite this, the intelligence created in a BIM model is usually largely lost when an owner takes over a new building, as they are typically provided with flattened, unintelligent drawings, PDFs or in some cases boxes of plotted drawing plans. The first job of the building operator is therefore to commission a survey of the space and assets to collate this data often at considerable cost.

4 Management to 3 Computer Aided The practice known as Computer Aided (CAFM) is used by the managers of properties to effectively understand, manage and maintain these assets for the organisation s use. Such systems provide facilities for managing leases, space, resources, utilities, equipment etc. so that all of these are known and maintained in good order, can be monitored in terms of use, charged as necessary to particular departments, and purchased or disposed of according to the demand which is seen. CAFM systems, which can also be thought of as an information rich database, bring together disparate sets of data into a single integrated whole. For example, a space management system will associate buildings, floors, areas, furniture, equipment and people for, amongst other requirements, space analysis, reporting and chargeback. A maintenance system will associate equipment information such as part numbers, costs, service intervals, suppliers etc. with location and maybe hazard information. Excitech s experience in CAFM goes back to the 1990s, covering all industry sectors with national and international clients where process, system review and improvement have been key to development and delivering results. As shown at the start of this document, the management costs of a facility far outweigh initial design and construction; and such costs extend over decades when unforeseen costs and issues such as legislation on energy or safety can significantly affect expected costs and operation. Effective use of a CAFM system can result in efficient operation and cost reduction for the organisation through better resource management, faster response to issues which arise, effective control of space and energy, plus management of health and safety factors. No wonder that CAFM is used by all organisations of reasonable size within manufacturing, retail, finance, government, health and education. Much of this facilities management information relates to the actual building and its fixtures and fittings; all of which could have come from the designs as created by the architects and engineers then built by the construction company. Mind The Gap! Given the descriptions and explanations above, the question has to be asked as to why the construction industry s design data does not get directly linked into the system; after all both systems are inherently compatible as at their most basic level they are both databases that have an ability to share information. A simple question, but with a number of answers! Until recently BIM was not as common as it is now so the design and construction data was not as useful. Typically, the building design data was not a model but sets of often disconnected graphical information plus lists of parts. Such information required considerable time invested to become useful for. Secondly, the fragmentation of the construction design data was often not coordinated to such a degree; which meant that the as built information was often very different from what was set out in the designs. Thirdly, the data tended to be incomplete or uncertain and the time taken to audit it approached the time which might be taken to simply survey it from scratch.

5 Management to 4 However, even with BIM projects the information (and there is increased recognition of the importance of the I for Information in the BIM acronym) was not ideal. The actual volume of data produced with BIM in the design and construction process is vast but only a small part of this is of relevance to the FM team. Furthermore, despite its size, it is still incomplete and fails to meet all of the needs of the Facilities Manager. In short, while there is a great deal of information available, much of it is of the wrong type. For example, a BIM model may contain a great deal of information about door and window schedules but may lack useful information about maintainable assets such as part numbers, warranties, maintenance schedules etc. As a result many still saw it as easier to resurvey the building to gather the information required rather than sort through huge quantities of data. Finally the computer systems used for were, and still are, very different from the design systems used in so it was often easier to use more basic graphical data from computer aided design systems and enhance with the other asset information gathered by resurvey. The Need and The Opportunities However, we are now potentially at a turning point. The demand for better management of organisations assets is even greater, the use of building information modelling in construction is now well established, the understanding of the issues has evolved, and the motivation for using the emerging technologies to drive savings is high. The illustration below highlights how a traditional stepped approach to data creation encourages waste and unnecessary cost when data is continuously recreated as it passes through the design, construction and finally on to the management and operation phases. By moving towards a workflow arrangement where data is created once during the design and construction phases and embellished with additional useful information (maintenance schedules, O&M manuals, serial numbers, site photographs, hazard information, etc.) the costly arrangement of taking a stepped approach to data creation can be removed.

6 Management to 5 While the benefit of swapping the stepped approach to one where data is created once in a smooth curve is clear, the sharing of data between these systems introduces additional potential benefits. There is the potential to analyse data for compliance to regulations, to consider environmental assessment and impact, to remove or reduce the requirement for day one surveys, to ensure information is correct at day one of occupation and even use the information to run space related scenarios to maximise chargeback or utilisation prior to occupancy. Making simple digital models of a range of an organisation s current buildings has been seen to allow fast sustainability assessments; which enables work to be focussed on the reduction of energy use where the greatest benefits will be achieved. Using space plans from the original building information model, either directly or converted and filtered through a data management process to another format, can significantly reduce survey costs. Furthermore, if the original information model can be used and kept up to date with changes then, when renovation or refurbishment is needed, costs of resurvey could be minimal. This is especially true if the same architect is kept involved so he has confidence in the data. Component information (for example an air handling unit) from the design model can be exported or linked to an independent database or shared with an asset management system. This can then provide all its standard features while also maintaining a way to track back to the original design information, and hence the exact location of the asset and what other systems or spaces it might affect. Practical Methodologies If the potential benefits are as described, and the technologies and processes to deliver them are now coming, then what is the proposed solution? As is so often the case, there is no one process or method that can be applied to all at least at present. Different organisations will be starting from different strategic positions, and will have different visions and goals in mind. Different construction projects will use different BIM processes and data structures; different clients will have different CAFM systems in place. For these reasons, each organisation and project will need a different plan, and it is probable that the plan will differ for new build and refurbishment projects and may also need to involve multiple threads and technologies.

7 Management to 6 A review of these plans will undoubtedly involve much discussion concerning workflows and processes; and a successful plan will undoubtedly include some or all of the following items: The early involvement of the team in the project The formation of a framework agreement between all parties involved in the building s lifecycle Identification of which data will be gathered during the construction phase Identification of whether construction data and asset information will be derived exclusively from the model or from multiple sources Planning for how, and in what format, the building information plans, building services systems, fixtures, fittings, furniture, equipment etc. will be passed to the owner/occupier Agreement on who will be responsible for capturing and entering asset information and where, i.e into the BIM model, into the CAFM system or somewhere between the two. Agreement between all parties about who owns this information and what rights each party has to use it Agreeing who will maintain the information as changes occur during the building lifecycle i.e renovations, re-fits, extensions, decommissioning etc. This change in how each building s information is provided then changes how the team could use it. Having saved what is often considerable cost and time in surveying and creating asset registers from scratch, we need to ensure the processes going forward gain maximum benefit from this. Using traditional processes, most FM teams will carry out surveys to create new building plans and asset information; and these electronic drawings and databases are owned by and maintained by the FM team. They typically contain no more data than is needed for that function, are closely linked into the other Computer Aided systems and can be updated easily by that team. Building information modelling files will contain far more data and need more sophisticated software to handle them; which is why historically these have been seen as unsuitable for use by FM teams. However, these issues can be overcome and the disadvantages actually turned around to become benefits. There do remain, though, a range of methods appropriate to different organisations or projects. In summary, these methods include: transferring information from these sophisticated building models into the System using data templates and manual processes or scripts; transferring the data into a separate database that will sit between the BIM model and the FM system; or ultimately to form dynamic bi- directional links between the BIM model and the facilities management solution. In the first solution (using templates and manual processes or scripts) it is possible to achieve integration at a relatively low technology cost and the FM team can operate as they have traditionally, but the handover process has been improved significantly. However, this process will include manual processes and unless carefully managed runs the risk of human error..

8 Management to 7 The second solution (transferring the data into a separate system ) is gaining favour amongst some in the construction industry because its natural next step is to turn this database into a project or building knowledgebase where construction data that is unavailable in the BIM model can be easily added. Whilst this solution has many merits and will undoubtedly drive savings, it is probable that Facilities Managers will want to use this mid-point database as a single source of data from which they will want to link their facilities management systems. The third option suggested is to form bi-directional links between the BIM model and the facilities management solution that allows operators in either the construction or facilities management disciplines to dynamically update data and drawings using their familiar work tools. For the designer this may be their usual CAD software and in the case of the facilities manager this may be a CAFM application suite. In this case one of the software applications used must have extra modules to interact with the data of the other system. By taking this path the handover process is improved, human error is reduced and the need for a midpoint knowledgebase to transition data between the systems is negated. Already software developers on both sides of the project are providing and enhancing their solutions to provide such close interaction between software and data types by integrating new modules into BIM software and into CAFM software. However, there remain the questions of whether any of these methods will do all that is necessary for a complete solution; whether it is really appropriate or even efficient that facilities managers should use design software or designers use facilities management systems; and whether the unaudited, unfiltered or incomplete data is immediately suitable in both environments. No matter which method is chosen considerable costs and time savings are likely to be achieved. However, we do need to ensure we have agreed with the design and construction companies the level of detail and quality of the data and we may still need to carry out a sample audit to ensure this is the case. A further option might be to involve the architects, engineers or construction companies in our FM projects so they can share the challenges and potential benefits. Improved Asset Information The closer integration of and Computer Aided will result in better knowledge of the assets and, therefore, help owners and operators improve efficiency, make better informed decisions about their buildings and assets, support improved decision making through the availability of rich information, and drive savings throughout the entire lifecycle. can: Provide for closer involvement in the design process; in new build and refurbishment Better convey design intent to everyone in the project Capture the design and asset data for the subsequent FM process Design/redesign buildings for better construction and management Provide better performing buildings especially for sustainability Reduce risk, cost and timescales More easily maintain design data for subsequent refurbishment projects

9 Management to 8 Computer Aided can: Provide more accurate and complete asset knowledge Increase the return on the assets employed Improve organisational performance through better coordination Reduce risk in planned and unplanned maintenance as well as better regulatory compliance Enhance corporate decision making by access to consistent and credible data The closer integration of these disciplines, in some of the ways explored in this article, can bring efficiencies, improvements and cost savings in many areas but particularly handover and commissioning; energy and maintenance; and overall asset management. Conclusion Until now building design and building management teams have been too separated but the needs and benefits of closer working are clear with the technologies and processes of BIM and CAFM capable of delivering real benefits. Organisations which understand both areas are increasingly able to provide solutions which at present, and maybe well into the future, will need to be tailored to particular needs. However, the savings which can be made possible in both the short term through the building handover process and long term through reduced cost of ownership more than justify consideration. The crucial first step is for the building owners/operators, the building designers (architects and engineers) and the construction companies to consider such an approach for future projects; which is where Excitech s understanding and experience can support such discussions to identify and deliver on the potential opportunities. Excitech Design Technology Centre, 8 Kinetic Crescent, Innova Business Park, Enfield, Middlesex, EN3 7XH United Kingdom P: I: +44 (0) F: W: E: [email protected]