Use data to optimize buildings
“The visible part of BIM that makes" wow! "Is 3D; but the subject is the database, ”says David Ernest, Development & Innovation Director at Vinci Facilities. He continues: “The real use of BIM is not design or construction, it is operation: that is where the costs and value of a building are found. "
His point is in line with the opinion expressed by Constance de Batz, Director of Operations at MBAcity: “Everything that has been put in place in recent years in terms of digitization of design and production will be used in the years to come. It is important to invest in this second phase of BIM, in operation and maintenance, because 75% of the costs of a building relate to operation. Studies have shown that you could save 25% in maintenance by using BIM.
Define needs
"BIM interests us to manage buildings in operation," says Gabrielle Millan, Director of Project Management at Allianz Real Estate, which manages a portfolio of 200 buildings in France. “We are taking advantage of the departure of a tenant to set up BIM during renovation and restructuring operations for the building. Called Signature, this global project to deploy digital on buildings aims to manage communications, comfort and uses; in return, it brings up information from the buildings. “We are going to use the digital model to host information, the objective being to create a data room for each building in order to collect the information available to develop service for the occupants. Internally, we have basic information, such as leases for each building level ... BIM therefore becomes a digital transformation tool for the professions. "
François Caumont, Director of Heritage and Logistics at the University of Caen, presents a rich experience since the first steps of BIM in its service, in 2014. If he considers this transition to digital heritage management as inevitable, he has however developed a precise and cautious approach. It is based on:
- a needs definition program established in 2014,
- writing a workload plan over 2015 years from 15 - with the assigned tasks and budgets,
- the creation in 2016 of a "pilot group" dedicated to heritage BIM management,
- then, since 2018, a foreshadowing of BIM methods on two buildings - one tertiary, the other research.
The results will be audited in 2021. This feedback should make it possible to define the priorities for BIM development for the operation of buildings before extending the approach to the entire campus; it has 17 sites on 118,23 ha, or 97 buildings totaling 285 m² operated.
Already, according to François Caumont, moving to BIM Exploitation Maintenance is based on change management: “We are leaving our comfort zone! " As such, he underlines that the signing, in 2018, of the "BIM 2022 Objective" charter by the presidency of the University constituted "a political commitment and manifested the will of the establishment to enter into operational management virtuous maintenance. "
Retain the right tools
What tools are available for operation and maintenance? “We have two types of data in a digital model, explains David Ernest: static data which belongs to the owner on the building, and dynamic data which belongs to the user of the building. Vinci Facilities has drawn up a charter regulating the operation of the digital model. The user does not necessarily share this data with the owner! This is a subject to be specified in the drafting of the appendices to digital leases.
Constance de Batz replies on the rational use of information: “The BMS provides measurement points in dynamic mode, the CMMS will propose the equipment change schedule at an instant t and the digital model will geolocate this data in the building. "She continues:" The challenge is to make these different systems communicate. This difficulty finds its solution today with the BOS, the Building Operating System, whose central interest is to be able to connect these three systems in order to read the data dynamically to provide a common repository, centralized and updated information. . "
David Ernest underlines the strategic importance of mastering this know-how to optimize the works: “The more access to usage data, the more access to valuable data. The BIM operations and maintenance management service will create this value. "
Gabrielle Millan indicates that Allianz Real Estate is currently implementing these BOS, Building Operating System, to retrieve usage information on buildings. “It thus becomes possible to use the BIM model to visualize data by graphs to understand the use of buildings over the long term. The objective is to carry out management actions. "There remains the time for configuration and interoperability between model, CMMS and building management ..." This phase is still delicate and long, stresses Constance de Batz. Controlling interoperability would produce a gain of around € 2,3 / m².year. "
BIM, for existing structures
François Caumont reveals that the first actions on the heritage of the University of Caen are already producing tangible results. “This qualitative and global approach to managing our documentation has made our areas more reliable: we have 100% knowledge of our heritage and property assets. This new management method has already made it possible to optimize areas, which has resulted in rentals to other local administrations, and even the creation of land to manage these areas. "A reality which was not initially envisaged by the University of Caen, and which will result in new income", recognizes François Caumont.
"Is BIM reserved for new projects? Asks David Ernest. “The existing is the big project ahead of us. The problem is that of the investment to initiate the project to derive value from it. "He gives some methodological leads:" We must use the data that we already have: 2D plans, CMMS, building management, security plans, etc. The buildings are teeming with heritage data which, moreover, represent a cost for project owners who are already carrying out their maintenance. Then, we perform a detection of "clashes" in these documents, to make them consistent. "
Second step: “We compare the documents to the real life of the building. This bonding of information will be very important for the rest of the work, because - in the opinion even of the technicians - if the digital model does not conform to reality, nobody will use it! Two precautions are better than one. Constance de Batz indicates that even in the new one, “the DOE models are sometimes not consistent with the DOE plans, or even the reality of the work. We recommend checking the building with a 3D scan to verify the accuracy of the information. Already, new trades are being set up to make this data reliable and maintain.