Our Executive Director, Justin Kirby, met with DBC members John Clarke from One Sightsolution Ltd and Sam Norledge from LMG. They will be participating in the “BIM to Smart” panel at Digital Construction Week, which is part of the DBC’s partnership on the new Digital Operations Theatre at the event.

This discussion brings together two Master Systems Integration (MSI) expets to explore the critical relationship between Building Information Modelling (BIM) and smart buildings, particularly in transitioning from digital construction to digital operations. They identify a significant gap between the BIM process, which focuses on design and build asset information, and the needs of operational smart buildings, which require structured data and defined relationships between systems for effective performance. Initiatives like the BIM to Smart working group within the Digital Buildings Council and the IoT Interoperability Project at buildingSMART UK & Ireland are aiming to bridge this disconnect through standardisation, increased collaboration, and education, ideally driven by top-down mandates from building owners. The participants also foresee how emerging technologies like AI could significantly improve the automation of data mapping and relationship identification within BIM models for smart building applications.

We have provided a summary of the discussion below. You can listen to an abridged version on LinkedIn and find the full conversation on YouTube.

Briefing Document: Bridging the BIM to Smart Buildings Gap

Subject: Discussing the disconnect and potential for integration between Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Smart Building technologies, with a focus on the role of Master Systems Integrators (MSIs).

Key Themes and Ideas:

This podcast discussion highlights a significant gap between the BIM world, traditionally focused on design and construction, and the smart buildings world, concerned with operational performance and data utilization. The speakers, both Master Systems Integrators, offer insights from their practical experience in bridging this divide and the initiatives underway to address the challenges.

1. The BIM to Smart Gap:

• Fundamental Disconnect: The core issue identified is the disconnect between BIM’s focus on delivering an asset information model at practical completion and the need for dynamic, live data and relationships for smart building operations. As Sam Norage states, “There is definitely a gap… a lot of this information doesn’t get used in the delivery stage where we where where we’ve got a lot of asset information in these BIM models that we’re not pulling out and vice versa. There’s a lot of relationship modeling that’s done in these models that that that we’re not pulling out for the MSI.”
• Data Utilisation and Relationships: John Clark emphasizes the MSI’s need to understand and normalize data from various building systems (metering, lighting, BMS) and the relationships between assets. While BIM models can be a “single source of truth” for asset data, they often lack the dynamic operational data and the modeled relationships crucial for smart building functionality.
• Siloed Communities: Sam Norage describes the issue as “two silos not being joined up.” This refers to the separate development and practices within the BIM and smart buildings communities, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities.

2. The Role of the Master Systems Integrator (MSI):

• Bridging the Divide: Both John Clark and Sam Norage emphasize the MSI’s crucial role in “making the smart systems talk to each other.” They are the practical link between the designed asset information and the operational data streams. Sam Norage describes his background as a “mix of building controls and BIM which gives me quite a unique perspective on this subject and as Justin touched on that bridging that that gap between the digital digital construction to digital operations is is part of my previous experience.”
• Data Normalization and Consistency: John Clark highlights the importance of MSIs in “normalizing data about making sure things are consistent consistently named and that we understand what what the data is, where it’s coming from, who’s who’s kind of sending it to where and to who.”
• Aligning Stakeholder Documentation: The complexity of projects involves aligning documentation from various stakeholders, including design consultants’ specifications, main contractors’ BIM Execution Plans (BEP), and the client’s Employer’s Information Requirements (EIR). The MSI often navigates these different documents to ensure integration.

3. Initiatives to Address the Gap:

• Building Smart UK and Ireland Project: Sam Norage is involved in a project with Building Smart UK and Ireland, in collaboration with Japan and Singapore, focused on “how we can utilize the data structures within the BIM environment… within IFC to better enable smart buildings.” The goal is to “offer a more rich BIM model that can be utilized for smart building delivery.”
• Digital Buildings Council (DBC) BIM to Smart Initiative: John Clark is the project leader for this working group within the DBC. The initiative aims to identify challenges and gaps from a smart buildings perspective, focusing on:
• Standardization: “The smart world doesn’t necessarily follow what the BIM world’s doing and vice versa. So, you know, can we try and close that gap and and and push some sort of standard and alignment between the two.”
• Collaboration and Education: Highlighting the importance of getting different groups (smart angle, BIM key users, consultants) talking and understanding each other’s needs.
• Streamlining Data Requests: Avoiding multiple trades being asked for the same data in different formats, emphasizing the value of a single request through the BIM process.

4. The Importance of Employer (Client) Driven Requirements:

• Top-Down Push: Both speakers agree that a “top down approach” driven by end clients is crucial for driving BIM for smart building adoption. Sam Norage states, “if we went with the top down approach of employers actually requesting this this smart building information in their employers information requirements, their EIRs, then we have the they have a much more drive drive driving potential than than a a a smart building consultant or or a design consultant on a building.”
• Learning from BIM Adoption: Sam Norage draws a parallel with the UK government’s 2011 mandate for BIM Level 2, which significantly boosted adoption. He believes a similar push is needed for smart buildings, urging the industry to learn from the “mistakes and failures” encountered during BIM implementation.
• Operationalisation of BIM: John Clark points out that clients often lack the internal skills to manage and maintain the BIM model post-practical completion. This leads to the model quickly becoming outdated and losing its value for operations. He stresses that the BIM model should be seen as a “live a live kind of model really from from PC.”

5. Digital Twins and the Evolution of BIM:

• Asset vs. Performance Twins: The discussion touches on the concept of digital twins, distinguishing between an “asset digital twin” (developed during design and build) and a “performance twin” (focused on operational data and performance). The gap between BIM and smart buildings is seen as a proxy for the challenge of evolving from one to the other.

6. Future Technology Trends:

• AI and Machine Learning: John Clark sees significant potential for AI and machine learning to automate the identification and modeling of relationships between building assets, which is currently a time-consuming manual process. He highlights tools being developed that can “model BIM model… taking a BIM model and are actually able to use kind of, you know, AI, machine learning and actually model some of those relationships without having to spend a long time manually going through and mapping things.”
• BIM Models as Standard Ontologies: Sam Norage makes a bold statement: “in the in the near future we’re going to start to see bin models actually being implemented as standard ontologies on buildings.” He argues that BIM’s structured data format is ideal for AI models to read and utilize.
• Evolution of Standards: Sam Norage suggests that changes to standards like ISO 19650 (information management standards) could incorporate smart building requirements and metadata ontologies, further driving adoption through client mandates.

7. Linkages to Other Industry Discussions:

The speakers acknowledge the connections between the BIM to smart discussion and other key themes at Digital Construction Week, including:

• Smart Buildings Overlay to the RIBA Plan of Works: The BIM to smart challenges cut across all stages of a project and could inform updates to existing frameworks.
• Plugging the Gap Between Digital Construction and Operations: The core of the BIM to smart issue directly addresses this broader challenge.
• Soft Landing Frameworks: These are linked to bridging the gap between design/build and operations, aligning with the BIM to smart objectives.
• Why Aren’t BIM Models Used by FM Teams?: The discussion on the cost and expertise required to maintain BIM models in operation directly addresses this question.

Conclusion:

The podcast discussion provides a valuable overview of the critical need to bridge the gap between BIM and smart buildings. It emphasizes the vital role of Master Systems Integrators, the importance of top-down client requirements, the need for standardization and collaboration, and the potential of emerging technologies like AI. The speakers highlight the ongoing initiatives to address these challenges and the interconnectedness of this topic with other key discussions in the digital built environment. Learning from the evolution of BIM adoption is seen as crucial to avoid repeating past mistakes in the smart buildings space. The influence of regulation and large-scale public sector projects in driving future adoption is also acknowledged.

We will be announcing more on how you will able to get involved in the DBC’s BIM to Smart project initiative soon. In the meantime, stay connected by following the DBC on LinkedIn for the latest updates, events and insights from the founding members and reach out to learn how to join our community and contribute to our mission.