The buildingSMART alliance, part of the U.S. National Institute of Build-
ing Sciences, provides useful tools to developers and users of BIM software
and promotes the use of BIM. There are many important organizations that
are a part of the buildingSMART alliance including the American Society of
Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).
The use of BIM may soon replace the Computer-Aided Facility Manage-
ment (CAFM) process for facility managers. Typically the facility manager
scans paper floor plans or imports electronic CAD files for use within
the CAFM application. The electronic floor plans are then used to create
“polylines” to define an area and identify room numbers to name that area.
For a typical commercial building, this process can take weeks. Instead, BIM
files can be moved from the BIM creation software to facility management BIM
software. The user can import the BIM file into software, which would include
the room boundaries, room areas, room numbers, and space descriptions
from the BIM. It would then perform the same functions as the typical CAFM
software would but without all the lost time from the creation of “polylines.”
In the not too distant future design and construction projects will require an
information manager. This person or team will set the requirements for data
management for the owner’s project team, the design team, and construction
contractors; manage the “supply chain” of data from design to construction
to operations; and manage the integration of the data from the building and
building systems into the owner’s facility management and business systems.
The drivers are economics, technology, increased functionality, and the overall
value proposition.
Existing Buildings
With increased focus and higher visibility on new construction we tend to short-
change the marketplace for making existing buildings smart and green. With
existing properties making up 99% of building stock there are no reasons why
existing buildings cannot be as smart or as green as new construction. In this
section selected implementation issues in existing buildings along with a strategy
for improving the performance of existing building stock are discussed.
Unlike new construction existing buildings come with existing building-
technology systems and unique implementation issues such as the following:
n A number of systems, especially automation systems, will probably be
using proprietary or legacy network protocols that must be migrated to
open protocols. Typically, this may mean the use of gateways or some mid-
dleware to translate protocols.
154 Smart Building Systems for Architects, Owners, and Builders