The broader impact/commercial potential of this PFI project includes leapfrogging the United States into a high-technology leadership role in construction, thereby increasing our economic competitiveness. The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry has been implementing building information modeling (BIM) technology for years. However, current offerings restrict data exchange between platforms. This creates inefficient siloes during the building design and construction process that annually cost the capital facilities industry $15.8 billion. This project will provide the first commercial BIM system that puts interoperability at its core, helping to significantly mitigate these industry losses, using a new data-driven software development (DSD) technology. By applying this technology to building code compliance checking and construction automation, the health and welfare of the American public will be advanced through better quality and more efficiently built facilities. To help develop a more globally competitive American STEM workforce, the results of this project will be incorporated into existing undergraduate/graduate courses, and a 'Construction Ready' training program. Ultimately, this innovation will enhance the understanding and application of BIM technology to help the building and construction industry achieve improved efficiency and reduced time, cost, and human-induced errors. The R&D results will also transfer well to the infrastructure domain.
The proposed project aims to develop an interoperable BIM prototype system for automating building code compliance checking and modular construction analysis. This will bridge a critical gap in the AEC sector by connecting the currently-isolated BIM applications involved in the design and construction phases of an AEC project. This PFI project builds upon the DSD technology and the automated code compliance checking technology developed by the PIs. The DSD technology enables BIM interoperability by using invariant features of objects in BIM, which is radically different from existing approaches that rely on standardization or term-based semantics. It is the key to achieving seamless interoperability between different applications. The development of the prototype system will use an iterative method to constantly improve its performance. The planned prototype system will be tested in checking building designs with quantitative requirements of International Building Codes, and analyzing the design for modular construction automation. A 100% recall of missing information and noncompliance cases is sought after. New knowledge will be created about the implementation of the DSD technology so that it can be better utilized to develop other BIM-based applications and eventually lead to a comprehensive BIM solution with seamless interoperability between all applications.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
