BIM-based Construction Networks (BbCNs) are teams comprising members from several specialist organisations to undertake BIM-related tasks on BIM-enabled projects. Fostering collaboration within BbCNs ...is a top priority for construction project managers, yet no explicit body of knowledge has focused on investigating the relevant research gaps in knowledge. The present study intends to address this gap by plotting the storyline of relevant research studies in the last 10years (2006–2016). A “Collaboration Pentagon” consisted of context, process, task, team and actor as the theoretical lens is created through integration of relevant frameworks. The study draws upon a bibliometric analysis of 1031 studies on BIM alongside the outcome of a qualitative evaluation of a total of 62 carefully selected papers on collaboration in BbCNs. The findings reveal that the scholarship on collaboration on BIM-enabled projects has predominately focused on technology as one antecedent of collaboration while project-related and managerial antecedents have remained under-researched. Moreover, though enhancing collaboration necessitates inclusion of all influential antecedents, studies with such an all-inclusive perspective are rare. The study contributes to the field through this inclusive Collaboration Pentagon and by providing a systematic and objective evaluation of available literature on collaboration in BbCNs and uncovering respective gaps.
•The corpus of the literature associated with collaboration in BbCNs is analysed deploying bibliometric and qualitative techniques•Core research areas of published studies on collaboration in BbCNs are identified and visualized•Gaps in the literature on collaboration in BbCNs are identified
The construction industry is currently undergoing digital transformation due to emerging technologies. Hence new forms of organisation are needed. Collaborating with Building Information Modelling ...(BIM) is complex and challenges the management of projects. The ubiquitous digital information sharing among multi-disciplinary actors in BIM-based projects, activates dense inter-organisational processes. This study offers insights into collaboration with BIM, through the theoretical lens of boundaries. By analysing two projects of BIM-based collaboration in the Netherlands, the interplay between structure and agency of collaboration was discussed. The various artefacts of BIM, as boundary objects were interpreted in multiple ways by different communities of practice and this resulted in poor communication and consequently poor collaboration. The findings challenge the prevalent view of BIM as a software artefact and showed that this view only partially supports collaboration. Additionally, a structurational view (enabled by communication, conflict management, negotiation, and teamwork) as opposed to a structural view of collaboration (e.g. BIM as a software) can fully support the implementation of digital innovations. Finally, the paper revealed a ‘tactical gap’ in the implementation of digital between strategic and operational decision-making needs fine-tuning to ensure better collaboration in projects where digital innovations are adopted. The study concludes with propositions for supporting organisation of teams through integration of activities and the management of BIM-based collaboration in projects beyond merely structural and technological approaches, which dominate the field but from a structurational view instead.
•The software-centred view of BIM only partially supports collaboration management.•Digital technologies need a structurational rather than structural view of collaboration.•Liminal roles support the structurational view of collaborating with digital.•Firms need to address a ‘tactical gap’ in the implementation of digital innovations.•Boundary conditions related to digital necessitate liminality in project management.
•Introducing the conventional design and emerging integrated design process.•The development of Building Information Modelling and Building Energy Modelling.•Analysing prevailing Building Information ...Modelling based Building Energy Modelling methods.•Outlining future development of Building Information Modelling based Building Energy Modelling.
The emerging of building information modelling provides opportunities to break through the limitations of conventional building energy modelling such as tedious model preparation, model inconsistency and costly implementation, and promotes building energy modelling into the digital building design process. The method of using building information modelling for the building energy modelling process, named building information modelling-based building energy modelling has become a prevalent and attractive topic in both the research and the industry society in recent years. This paper presents an overall review on the building design process, and applications of building information modelling and building energy modelling in the design process. It also provides an in-depth review on the development of building information modelling-based building energy modelling methods and the development of prevalent informational infrastructures. Meanwhile, this literature review provides a special consideration on the maturity of building data transformation between building information modelling and building energy modelling for building energy simulation process, from the step 1 identifying the geometry, thermal properties of buildings to the step 6 the information and components for HVAC systems. In general, the current building information modelling-based building energy modelling methods are thoroughly evaluated and the trends for future developments are outlined. It is realised that the Building Information Modelling based Building Energy Modelling is particular appropriate for the early design stage, where the most suitable and cost effective approaches for energy efficient design can be integrated into the overall building design process.
With the rising adoption of building information modelling (BIM) for asset management within the architecture, engineering and construction sectors, BIM-enabled asset management during the operation ...and maintenance phase has been increasingly attracting more and more attention in both research and practice. This paper provides a comprehensive review and analysis of the development of state-of-the-art research and industry standards that impact on BIM and asset management within the operation and maintenance phase. However, in the aspects of both information richness and analytical capability, BIM is not always enough in delivering effective and efficient asset management, particularly in the operation and maintenance phase. Therefore, a framework for future development of smart asset management is proposed, integrating the concept of digital twins. Digital twins integrate artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics to create dynamic digital models that are able to learn and update the status of the physical counterpart from multiple information sources. The findings will contribute to inspiring novel research ideas and promote widespread adoption of digital-twin-enabled asset management within the operation and maintenance phase.
Rapid advancement of technology continues to leverage change and innovation in the construction industry. Continued digitization of the industry offers the opportunity to totally reinvent ...contemporary construction design and delivery practice for future development. Building Information Modelling (BIM) within the context of Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC) has been developing since the early 2000s and is considered to be a key technology. Despite major technical advancements in BIM, it has not been fully adopted and its definitive benefits have not been fully capitalized upon by industry stakeholders. The lack of widespread uptake of BIM appears to be linked to the risks and challenges that are potentially impeding its effectiveness. This paper aims to discuss the reality of BIM, its widespread benefits and current level of uptake. The risks and challenges associated with the adoption of BIM, as well as recommendations regarding how future BIM adoption could be developed are also highlighted.
Integrated project delivery (IPD) in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry relies on risk/reward sharing and deferral of parties' profit payments until all project activities ...are completed. A decentralised, automated and secured financial platform is needed to enable all parties to control and track financial transactions, with no unauthorised changes allowed. The new technology, blockchain, enables data to be recorded, has no network participant with dominant power and manages data using specific functions, in line with smart contracts. The present study is the first to develop a framework proposing blockchain technology utilisation in IPD projects. The framework would enable core project team members to automatically execute all financial transactions, through coding the three main transactions of IPD projects: reimbursed costs, profit and cost saving, as functions of the IPD smart contract. To demonstrate the proposed framework's applicability, a “proof of concept” is developed and validated through an IPD case project. The practicality of the built-up hyperledger network (IBM® Blockchain Cloud Beta 2) and the advantages of the proposed smart contract functions are examined. The user-friendliness of the proposed financial system and its efficiency in automating all transactions are demonstrated. No deficiency is found in the blockchain network components. The study's findings, applied in a favourable external context, would facilitate IPD adoption and use across the AEC industry by providing a workable solution to existing financial barriers. The findings extend the horizon for further research on exploring blockchain's capabilities to solve comparable deficiencies to those affecting the AEC industry.
•Developing logical operators to estimate key IPD financial transactions (reimbursed cost, profit and cost saving), applicable to typical scenarios.•Proposing a methodology to enhance financial transaction management and risk/reward sharing practices in IPD.•Creating a toolset through BIM/blockchain integration, to provide an automated financial platform for IPD.•Creating blueprints for blockchain-enabled smart contracts for construction projects•Introducing a use case for hyperledger fabric application in IPD financial management.
The subject of building information modelling (BIM) has become a central topic to the improvement of the AECOO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Owner and Operator) industry around the world, ...to the point where the concept is being expanded into domains it was not originally conceived to address. Transitioning BIM into the domain of infrastructure projects has provided challenges and emphasized the constructor perspective of BIM. Therefore, this study aims to collect the relevant literature regarding BIM within the Infrastructure domain and its use from the constructor perspective to review and analyse the current industry positioning and research state of the art, with regards to the set criteria. The review highlighted a developing base of BIM for infrastructure. From the analysis, the related research gaps were identified regarding information integration, alignment of BIM processes to constructor business processes & the effective governance and value of information. From this a unique research strategy utilising a framework for information governance coupled with a graph based distributed data environment is outlined to further progress the integration and efficiency of AECOO Infrastructure projects.
•259 academic publications reviewed regarding infrastructure and construction BIM•Analysis of trends exhibited within the domain of infrastructure BIM.•4 research gaps identified for infrastructure and general BIM•Gaps identified address definition, process and connection of information.•Roadmap for infrastructure constructor BIM development proposed
Digital tools based on Building Information Modelling (BIM) provide the potential to facilitate environmental performance assessments of buildings. Various tools that use a BIM model for automatic ...quantity take-off as basis for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) have been developed recently. This paper describes the first application of such a BIM-LCA tool to evaluate the embodied global warming potential (GWP) throughout the whole design process of a real building. 34 states of the BIM model are analysed weekly. The results show that the embodied GWP during the design phase is twice as high as for the final building. These changes can be mainly attributed to the designers' approach of using placeholder materials that are refined later, besides other reasons. As such, the embodied GWP is highly overestimated and a BIM-based environmental assessment during the design process could be misleading and counterproductive. Finally, three alternatives to the established automatic quantity take-off are discussed for future developments.
•First application of a BIM-LCA approach throughout the design process of a real building•Tracking of design decisions using 34 fixed states of the continuously evolving BIM model•Identification of limitations of the current BIM-LCA approach•Proposals for future effective environmental performance improvement during the design phase
Across the world, the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and the three-dimensional (3D) model in projects are increasingly frequent for supporting design tasks. The digital data embodied in ...the BIM model is shared between the project stakeholders from the various disciplines. After giving an overview of the BIM 3D Model data used for planning (4D) and costing (5D), the study assesses the level of clarity or confusion on what the numbers of dimension refer to after the 5th dimension. A systematic review of the different BIM dimensions was conducted associated with an online questionnaire sent to various Architecture, Engineering and Construction stakeholders across Europe. The online questionnaire survey was limited to the 28 European Union (EU) countries. Each of the 28 EU countries was represented by at least one respondent. The research identified 52 papers considering BIM 4D Model, 15 considering 5D modelling, 6 considering the 6D Model and 2 considering the 7D. It was also identified a confusion between academics and practitioners for the 6D and 7D BIM dimensions. In fact, 86% of the professionals, actually using 6D, allocate Sustainability to 6D. Whereas 85% of the professionals using 7D allocate it to Facility Management.
•No current agreement on what BIM dimensions represent beyond the 5th dimension.•Neither academics nor practitioners are united in what each dimension best represent.•Most common suggestions on what the dimensions should represent are proposed.
Grounded in institutional theory and the innovation diffusion literature, this paper identifies the motivations of designers and general contractors to implement BIM in construction projects, and ...investigates how different motivations are impacted by organisational BIM capability and other contextual factors. Results of factor analysis with survey data collected from China provide support for the theoretically developed motivation model which classifies BIM implementation motivations into four categories: image motives, reactive motives, project-based economic motives, cross-project economic motives. Hierarchical regression results suggest that although project participants will have stronger economic motivations to improve project performances as their BIM capability matures, this increase in economic motivations does not necessarily require a parallel decrease of desires to improve social image. Regression results also suggest that BIM implementation motivations relate to organisational ownership type and project characteristics. The findings contribute to a broadened understanding of the multi-dimensionality and dynamics of construction organisations' innovation implementation motivations.
•Motivations for BIM implementation in construction projects are classified into four categories.•Social and economic motives are not mutually exclusive as conventional wisdom might indicate.•BIM capability increases project-based economic motives but is not related to other motives.•BIM implementation motives relate to organisational ownership type and project characteristics.
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