Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/814050
24 | MAY 2017 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk ADVERTORIAL EXPLORING THE BENEFITS OF BIM FOR THE WATER INDUSTRY While the principle element of Building Information Modelling (BIM) is associated with the built environment, and more specifi cally deemed the role of specifi ers and architects, the benefi ts for the water industry are also great. Jamie Mills, Systems Engineer at Xylem and member of the BIM4Water Steering Group explores the relevance of BIM for the water industry and the lessons that can be learned from other sectors. Better information management Building a new commercial of ce space may seem far removed from the building of a new water industry asset, but there are similarities. The water industry has embraced BIM into its day to day opera- tions, but there are some key differences in terms of under- standing the methodology. Although the strict de nition of BIM relates to building in- formation modelling, we like to see it more as better informa- tion management; enabling a more ef cient design process, construction and operation. Evolution The principle methods of BIM have worked well in architecture, construction and building services for many years, so it is only logical that this now extends to other aspects of the built environment. In fact, following the UK Government's mandate for BIM Level 2 on centrally procured construction projects the method has gained considerable recognition amongst other industries. Globally, there will ever growing interest in the methods of BIM with the forth coming release of ISO19650 which will describe the organisation of construction work using building information modelling. BIM4Water A typical water asset such as a pumping station is in fact an incredibly complex system that requires the skillset of a number of cross-industry specialists. Of course, pumping stations are intrinsically different to a building, not least from the perspective that pump sumps are below ground and buildings traditionally above it and inhabited. While the principles of BIM remain the same, it presents a number of potential questions and/or issues, all of which are being debated through BIM4Water – a dedicated group of individuals from across the water industry, who have come together to devise a mutually agreeable strategy to help facilitate BIM within the sector. Outlining the delivery process The construction and delivery of a water asset using BIM level 2 requires clear de nition of the owner operator requirements. A project brief and Exchange Information Requirements (EIR) provide speci c technical details about information drops, data environment structure, timescales and methods of data transfer. These describe the architecture of the Asset Information Model (AIM). Once the project is complete, the information from the Project Information Model is handed over to the client in order to update the AIM. Using these structured Parties work within a common data environment comprising of a graphical model and a non-graphical asset database Example of a product datasheet