1. Building Information Modeling
Overview
SUBMITTED BY:
Brian K. Smith
LJT & Associates Inc.
9881 Broken Land Parkway
Suite 400
Columbia MD, 21046
Brian.Smith@ljtinc.com

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
LJT & Associates, Inc., chartered in 1994, is a diversified engineering services company
headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, and operated out of our Columbia, Maryland
office. A small, veteran-owned disadvantaged business, LJT is certified by the U.S.
Small Business Administration as a SDB firm through May 2011.
LJT holds a Top Secret Facility Clearance and has more than 200 employees nationwide
providing system engineering, sustaining engineering, launch operations support, and
general engineering and administrative support to the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, the
Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the National Science
Foundation (NSF).
Over the last five years, LJT has and continues to support a variety of critical functions
associated with the United States Navy that includes Geographical Information Services,
Information Technology Support, Anti Terrisom Force Protection and Building
Information Modeling. During this tenure, LJT has developed an experienced team of
professionals with many years of GIS, BIM, engineering, and program management
experience
BIM ME UP SCOTTY!
In the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, Building Information
Modeling (BIM) has been a buzz-word for quite a while. Integrating the results of BIM
with a Geographic Information System (GIS) will be the way everyone involved in the
development, maintenance and management of land, buildings and asset information will
communicate.
First off, how did we get here and what is BIM? BIM is an enormous milestone on the
timeline of how we communicate information about a structure. Many years ago, this
was done mainly by hand as architects and engineers drew construction documents on
linen, vellum and mylar. In the early 1980’s, 2D Computer Aided Drafting (CAD)
systems were beginning to emerge. CAD drafting is essentially manual drafting on a
computer. The CAD Technician would draw lines, arcs, circles and text to represent the
necessary information.
In the late 1980’s came the ability to create a 3D model on the computer. This would
allow the industry to better visualize the design and solve issues that may have not been
apparent until actual construction. 3D modeling quickly evolved into Object Based
modeling. Here, for example, if an architect was developing a commercial building,
instead of electronically drawing lines to represent a wall or a door, he would “add” a
“wall system” or a “door system” to the model. The model would know and understand
how to incorporate the wall or door with the other information in the model. Now the
model is starting to have some intelligence. Another example would be as the architect
develops spaces within a model, he can associate other information that could range from

3. wall/floor finish information, information about the occupants of the space or engineering
data that would be used in calculating heating, cooling and lighting requirements.
BIM, in it’s most simple form, is the act of combining non-graphical (or tablature)
information to graphical information (CAD model or object) to better understand the
design and purpose the object. Utilizing advanced BIM software and procedures,
architects and engineers use the BIM platform to solve many design and engineering
issues such as structural analysis, real time cost estimation, mechanical electrical and
plumbing engineering, sustainable design, virtual reality visualization, etc. The
construction industry can take advantage of the 4D (time) aspects of BIM. Before
construction begins, material staging, equipment placement, etc. can all be orchestrated
and tested before the first truck drives onsite. Where the development of construction
documents was once the goal of the CAD technician, construction documents are now a
bi-product or “report” of the BIM model.
BIM is certainly here to stay. The industry is responding with standards, ownership
outlines and specialized consulting. Many developers and owners are specifying how
BIM shall be used in their current and new projects. In FY08, a BIM deliverable is
required for all military construction projects. Other facets of BIM are starting to emerge
such as Building Lifecycle Management which enjoys a single BIM model from design
to space planning and facility management. Integrated Design techniques are also being
deployed which allows many groups or disciplines to collaborate on a single BIM model.
BIM is not just for new Construction
Much of the BIM discussion has been centered on new construction. What about the
thousands of existing structures? Focused on government applications, groups within
LJT & Associates are developing an “As-Built BIM” procurement processes. This
framework incorporates cutting edge laser scanning of facilities to develop a precise 3D
model as well as traditional in-person analysis to populate current spatial information and
connect to existing facility databases. Once established, the information collected and
incorporated in BIM can significantly aid in operation and maintenance of the facility.
LJT & BIM/Space Management
NAVFAC MidAtlantic
NAVFAC MidWest
NAVFAC Hawaii
NAVFAC Northwest
Return on Investment
It is apparent we are diving much deeper into the information age. Organizations are
enjoying an ever increasing ROI of 10 to 25% for BIM systems that are properly
implemented. Processes are now being developed to access and integrate the vast amount
of BIM data associated with individual structures into GIS. By combining standard
imagery and feature classes that traditionally make up the GIS structure with the logical
and analytical BIM information, everyone that plays a part in the development,
maintenance and management will benefit immensely. Soon hunting through mounds of

4. paper drawings to gather information about a parcel or structure will be a thing of the
past.
About the Author
Brian K. Smith is a CAD / GIS Analyst at LJT & Associates and has more than 20 years
experience in architectural CAD and visualization systems. Prior to his role at LJT &
Associates, Mr. Smith was a project manager and technology consultant for a leading
Autodesk software solutions provider. He is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia.