PLS 2016: How does the BIM process fit with street lighting design and maintenance?

Editor's Notes

1. very grateful for the opportunity to speak here today. Not a commercial presentation although some of you may be aware of our street lighting design programme – KeyLIGHTS. I am really here to engage with you in the conversation about BIM and what it means in the context of your work.
2. Let me introduce myself, I have never been a lighting engineer, twenty two years ago I left Avon CC after working for six years as a road safety engineer.
3. I am going to talk around three areas. Firstly I will explore what BIM is, and I will explain a few jargon terms I will ask the question what BIM means for street lighting – it’s pretty clear what it is in the building construction industry. .. And lastly briefly explore what information is important to support the very real gains that BIM can bring, and how that information might be used, is BIM about 3D or is it data?
4. BIM seems to be something different depending on your point of view. The various participants in the design, construction and management of the asset (e.g. building or infrastructure), may experience BIM in different ways. It helps us to make sense of the outputs from each stage in the design, construction and whole life of any asset. It helps us to retain value created at each stage.
5. First and foremost it is a process, it is NOT software. There’s nothing that can be bought to allow you to say you are BIM compliant, at any level. No ‘BIM in a box’. It has been described as game-changing, and the technology that can be used enables key project and asset data to be embedded within a multidimensional computer model This can be used for the effective management of information throughout the project lifecycle from its earliest inception to when the asset is fully operational and beyond.
6. BIP – This blueprint document should be aligned to the objectives and aspirations of the organisation and its business partners. It will also be scaled dependent on the nature and scale of projects that the organisation will undertake. BEP This document underpins each project; is a written plan to bring together all of the tasks and related information with all stakeholders and processes. This should be agreed at the outset and defines what BIM means for the specific project. This will define the standards being adopted, outputs required, when these should be supplied and in what format, plus any supporting documentation. It may stipulate the software to be used but in most cases this can be accommodated by imports and exports from existing software. The BEP is a working document that should be regularly reviewed and evolve as design teams, suppliers and manufactures change throughout the project.
7. BIM Level 0 – simple Computer Aided Design (CAD) and uses lines, shapes and text; 2D drawings and schedules. Data can be provided as a hard copy and is typically unstructured and inconsistent. Level 1 - This is the use of CAD in both 2D and, where appropriate, 3D with some attached data, such as functional and physical aspects that supports design. Described as ‘lonely BIM’ level 2 - builds on level 1 CAD but incorporates additional information associated with objects related to cost and time. Information can be transferred in different formats provided these can be incorporated into a single federated model where clash avoidance, the construction process, and costs can be assessed and managed. Level 3 Currently seen as the holy grail, this represents full collaboration between all disciplines by means of a single, shared project model which is held in a centralized repository.
8. This diagram you’ll see in various forms with a quick internet serach for the ‘BIM maturity model’. It represents, by way of the slope, the increase in value of the digital model as data and information is maintained. ICCP (or CPIC) Avanti, IT and project approaches; BS 1192 – standard for information modelling; Asset Information Model; integrated BIM;
9. Level of Detail – defines the graphical detail of a feature at each stage of the projects development , e.g inspection chambers Level of Information - defines the completeness of specification of features, typically stored as associated data.
10. Federated Model – A single model (literally from the same root as the word ‘federal’ as in the USA) consisting of linked data models and data from different sources. The federated model is useful for design coordination, project development, clash detection and approvals 4D BIM – and beyond the concept of ‘4D’ BIM has become a buzzword in recent years. This equates to the use of BIM data to analyse time; beyond this are ‘5D’ which includes cost management, and ‘6D’ for facilities management Data Formats Construction Operations Building Information Exchange IFC Essentially data exchange formats that have yet to be defined for every type of object. KS has a product for road marking for example, what data should the detailed geometry (if at all) include?
11. But don’t panic! There are some great resources on the National Building Specification web site. The link is thenbs.com, and you will see this on the next slide.
12. The NBS BIM Toolkit (Digital Plan of Works) (URL shown) provides step-by-step guide to help you define, manage and validate responsibility for information development and delivery at each stage of an asset’s lifecycle. In addition, there are BEP templates online that can guide you through the process and help you identify all of the areas that need to be considered
13. Show of hands, who here has been engaged in a BIM compliant lighting design project?
14. Whilst 3D adds value and is an ultimate requirement to model our 3D world, much can be gained from the data around the objects. Much of it informs the model – is not visible in any sense, and we may be able to do without 3D where it relies on a ground model (obviously not really practicable for architects), and data provides a greater richness throughout the construction and whole life stages of any asset. Often the 3D geometry may be something that can be created later on from data such as part numbers when a 3D model of a luminaire could later be swapped in for increased visual realism.
15. In summary… we know that design decision are important for whole life costs There is an implicit circularity in the four bullet points here.
16. The NBS BIM Toolkit (Digital Plan of Works) (URL shown) provides step-by-step help to define, manage and validate responsibility for information development and delivery at each stage of an asset’s lifecycle. In addition, there are BEP templates online that can guide you through the process and identify all of the areas that need to be covered
17. The NBS BIM Toolkit (Digital Plan of Works) (URL shown) provides step-by-step help to define, manage and validate responsibility for information development and delivery at each stage of an asset’s lifecycle. In addition, there are BEP templates online that can guide you through the process and identify all of the areas that need to be covered
18. The NBS BIM Toolkit (Digital Plan of Works) (URL shown) provides step-by-step help to define, manage and validate responsibility for information development and delivery at each stage of an asset’s lifecycle. In addition, there are BEP templates online that can guide you through the process and identify all of the areas that need to be covered
19. The NBS BIM Toolkit (Digital Plan of Works) (URL shown) provides step-by-step help to define, manage and validate responsibility for information development and delivery at each stage of an asset’s lifecycle. In addition, there are BEP templates online that can guide you through the process and identify all of the areas that need to be covered
20. The NBS BIM Toolkit (Digital Plan of Works) (URL shown) provides step-by-step help to define, manage and validate responsibility for information development and delivery at each stage of an asset’s lifecycle. In addition, there are BEP templates online that can guide you through the process and identify all of the areas that need to be covered