Text summary of a Northwestern University Building Industry Technology Symposium.

1. Symposium on Technology for Design and Construction
Provides Comprehensive Perspective
Northwestern University's McCormick Engineering Master of Project Management Program
provided it's second Symposium on Technology for Design and Construction in August 2012.
A thorough offering of almost 20 presentations provided a comprehensive overview of current
technological issues facing the building industry today.
Dana K. “Deke” Smith, FAIA, buildingSMART alliance Executive Director, provided the
summarizing presentation. His comments are incorporated into the following overview by
Michael Bordenaro, BIM Education Co-op, Co-founder.
The symposium was organized by Burcin Kaplanoglu and John Jurewicz, faculty members of
Northwestern University’s Master of Project Management Program. The symposium provided
advanced building industry technology case studies and lessons learned as the heart of a
comprehensive event bringing national and international leaders to Chicago for three days of
focused learning.
The event is summarized by Mr. Jurewicz at http://virtualconstructions.net/. Images are
available at his link.
The following is an all-text summary by Mr. Bordenaro.
Stéphane Cote, a part of Bentley's Applied Research Group, started the event by speaking
about significant potential for augmented reality in the AEC market. Providing numerous
examples, including an information-rich walk through the 60 billion Euro Crossrail project, it
was not hard to see the benefits available for building industry professionals able to link real-
world conditions to virtual world information.
Ground penetrating radar used to help map existing structures for civil engineering work and
showing cables, pipes and other items in walls were some of the potential benefits of
representing BIM data in augmented reality business applications.
Mr. Cote recommended watching “The Future of Augmented Reality” video on
www.YouTube.com and the “Sight” video by Daniel Lazo at www.Vimeo.com
Howard Ashcraft, Jr., Esq., with the Construction Group at Hanson Bridgett LLP explained
how Integrated Project Delivery contracting methods are increasing in popularity. His team
has been involved in “35 full blown Integrated Project Delivery projects” and “gets a serious
call once a week now.”
Integrated Project Delivery contracts allow building industry professionals to perform in a
collaborative manner with confidence, thereby encouraging the best work from a united team.
Mr. Ashcraft has been involved in establishing multi party contracts with as many as 11 parties

2. signing one document.
A Sutter Health Care project guided by an IPD Contract with 11 signatures was delivered 18
months early and for $30 million less than similar, non-IPD projects. The project enjoyed a 99
percent accurate mechanical model. Because of this, there was a .5 percent mechanical
change order rate compared to the typical 7 to 10 percent.
On one IPD project, the average time for having RFI's answered was 22 minutes . . .
“because everyone is working in the model,” according to Mr. Ashcraft.
Twenty-two minutes for the average Request For Information response. That changes
everything.
Mr. Ashcraft described how Integrated Project Delivery contracting methods previously were
being pursued by health care owners almost exclusively. This is changing as his team is now
working on two non-medical IPD projects – one for an educational owner and one for an
institutional owner. Each is valued at approximately $500 million.
According to Mr. Ashcraft, the question of who owns the model has usually been answered,
“the owner. ”He added that the intellectual property rights of participants are protected by
having appropriate licensing rights established from the outset of the project.
Also established at the outset of the project is a profit-related-to-performance formula.
Participants are paid their fees and overhead, but profit is not allocated until the project is
completed. There can be a greater profit if less contingency fees are used.
Insurance companies are starting to prepare Integrated Project Delivery products, which will
reduce the cost of insuring IPD projects, according to Ashcraft. XL Group, Zurich and other
insurance companies are developing IPD product lines, he said.
Mr. Ashcraft provided an excellent a series of significant, measurable benefits when advanced
technologies, are properly guided with Integrated Project Delivery contracting mechanisms.
And what he presented were just some of the ways savings are realized with Integrated
Project Delivery, according to Mr. Ashcraft.
“Howard again reminded us that lawyers are really not bad people and that there is
tremendous value in having good contracts for IPD and what we do implementing BIM,” said
Deke Smith, FAIA, Executive Director, buildingSMART alliance.
Daniel Ladek, an Enterprise IT Architect with CH2M Hill, used a Prezi presentation format,
which is a good way of dealing with the extensive amount of data needed to be conveyed at
building technology seminars.
“We are all information technologists,” Mr. Ladek said. The secret is to put access to
information in places where people are already working. “Make it easy for them. Listen to
them.”
To do this, Mr. Ladek suggested following the eight following steps:

3. 1) Know your 5-year business growth strategy
If you don't understand where you are aiming to be in 5 years, you will not know how
technology will help you get there.
2) Establish a technology architecture – a systems road map.
3) Mergers and Acquisitions – have a repeatable play book for bringing new people on board
with your system
4) Have mobile and social technology in your road map and play book.
5) Enterprise Information Management – Classify, manage, retain, archive, search and
dispose data in a predetermined manner.
6) Use Business Intelligence Dashboards and Reports to make “Big Data” actionable. Move
information from being useful to being actionable.
7) Governance and controls. Know your Sarbanes–Oxley_Act, GAAP/IFRS, ITIL/CMM,
International Standards Organization and other governing issues.
8) Security. Make your data secure while also making it accessible. A challenging balance has
to be established and maintained.
Fred Cardenas of Trimble/Meridian combined with others to show the importance of digital
data, the importance of accurate layouts and increasing capabilities to get multiple data sets
from a single, mobile tool.
An interesting demonstration of what scanning capabilities can provide drove home the value
of advanced measuring technologies. Precision Midwest had produced a scan of the
auditorium ahead of the event and mock design program showed how the data is useful for
owner. Seeing the space we were sitting in as a digital point cloud – clearly representing
everything down to the plants on the stage - was a highly effective teaching technique.
Craig Larson, Industry Director, Engineering & Construction, Oracle stated that half of the
databases in the world are Oracle databases. Oracle has a feature called Spatial that allows
access to building and geographic data.
Larson used examples from Boston's Big Dig and other projects to illustrate the way Oracle's
Spatial access helps the design and construction industries.
The company is supporting Industry Foundation Classes established by buildingSMART.
Deke Smith said in his overview, “The buildingSMART alliance is excited about Oracle's
support of IFCs and is hoping the company takes a more proactive role in the BIM
transformation in the future.”
(Michael Bordenaro's note: If there is one company that will benefit from the explosion of

4. Building Information Model use around the world, it is Oracle. Modeling all of the world in
visual relational databases (BIM) will dramatically increase the need for data storage. If there
is a second company that will benefit from BIM, it is Cisco, but that is another story.)
Peggy Yee, Program Expert, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) addressed the
many BIM programs, pilots and innovations being explored by our federal facilities manager.
Deke Smith summed up Ms. Yee's presentation with this sentence. “Peggy told of the
proactive actions that GSA has taken to include guidelines, multi-national agreements for
open BIM, IFC, NBIMS-US, and COBie support.”
That one sentence is so packed with meaning that there could be an entire Master's course
on it alone.
I sum up the GSA's BIM work as the best use of tax dollars since the creation of NASA. By
the way, NASA supports GSA BIM activities and has some of it's own. But it is the GSA that is
being the clear provider of measurable benefits from BIM, GIS, web services and basically all
key fundamentals for doing business in the building industry.
Here is a point list of some of the issues Ms. Yee addressed in her always clear and
understandable manner.
− GSA is using Energy Plus for energy modeling. It is available from the Government and
it IFC compatible. Open standards allow the energy models to be connected to
Building Automation Systems to compare designed performance to actual performance
so reconciliation can occur.
− Proper use of BIM and COBie data exchanges enables immediate as-builts, immediate
inventories and immediate lists of equipment/component/parts/special tools.
− GSA anticipates that preparation for work order systems and connections to CMMS is
dramatically reduced, allowing for immediate and measurable management benefits.
Anticipated improvements include better management of warranties in the first year
when service is contracted. Commissioning service improvements from having data
accessible and actionable.
Single Dashboard exploration, involving facility managers in creation of BIM Execution Plans
and looking at the larger problem of existing condition surveys are just some of the other
forward-looking initiatives the GSA is addressing.
Unlike private companies, the GSA is obligated to share all its breakthroughs with the public.
As one of the largest building owners in the world, what the GSA learns about planning,
designing, constructing, operating and maintaining buildings is of great value to all building
industry professionals.
One of the key solutions to the management of so much information is the creation of a
central repository and use of a BIM server, according to Ms. Yee. The central repository
becomes the one place for trusted data and the BIM server allows various levels of access.
Together, valid reports can be created.

5. The GSA works with agencies of other countries, such as Norway, which already has a BIM
Server in effective use. Through it's BIM IDIQ contracting system, the GSA is working with US
companies developing BIM Server capabilities for testing in pilot projects.
There is too much more to say . . . for information see www.gsa.gov/bim
Andy Stapleton, Mortenson Construction, has a background that includes working with
production home builders and on the seminal Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Mr.
Stapleton brings a wealth of experience to his work for Mortenson in Chicago.
In a key pilot project with the University of Chicago, Mr. Stapleton said Mortenson was able to
participate in generating many technology benefits for a $3.3 million renovation project.
Completed in 29 months, the 22,500 square foot, three-story renovation, included integration
of Revit information and general information in a hard drive organized like a web-browser
instead of in a three-ring binder.
The improved management data allowed for a smoother input of data into the Maximo CMMS
system used by University of Chicago.
Mr. Stapleton said the Construction Operation Building Information Exchange (COBie)
template had to be customized for the project, but that is what is intended. A third party
vendor was used to integrate the COBie data into Maximo.
“Spares are a big issue for large owners,” Mr. Stapleton said. Having easily accessible data
about what equipment is in a building and what replacements are in stock is a great
contributor to increased productivity.
Eric Zoetmulder from SciQuest talked about his company's work with KBR to assist in
management of large construction contracts. Using a case study from the Oil & Gas industry,
Mr. Zoetmulder discussed the benefits of contract management on strategic procurement and
supplier management solutions.
Using contract dashboards with “Not to Exceed” red lights, green lights and yellow lights
helped people understand when they need to get together and address potential problems
with costs, schedule and other issues on the Gorgon Project. Early appearance of change
orders on their dashboard is a clear sign of concern.
Having similar systems in place for building industry contract management can provide
information management benefits, according to Mr. Zoetmulder.
Stanley Pepper, CEO, Plansandspecs was joined by colleagues who told a compelling story
of the benefits of Autodesk 360 Glue, a web-based viewing tool that allows so many benefits,
it is hard to keep up with all of them.
Mr. Pepper pointed to the ever increasing number of project team members and their need for

6. information. Using 360 Glue as a secure portal is one way of giving and taking information
from team members.
Milin Trivedi who was with Horizontal Glue when it was purchased by Autodesk and
rebranded 360 Glue, stated that the system parses 55 file types to allow accurate viewing and
data sharing from many programs at the same time.
(Mr. Trivedi agreed to provide a webinar for the Chicago BIM/IPD Community. We will keep
you updated on how that develops and how you can access it in person or on the web.)
Raymond Topping, PE, Fiatech Director, explained how his organization promotes
innovative practices in technology that brings business value to companies that want
assistance in deployment of advanced hardware and software.
Mr. Topping had been at CH2M Hill as a project manager of large-scale activities, such as
London's Olympic facilities. He took the position with Fiatech after being on the board for
more than two years.
Mr. Topping said that one of the many key initiatives at Fiatech is Regulatory Streamlining. It's
AutoCodes program is being rolled out to introduce the ability of reading Building Information
Models to determine basic egress and circulation issues.
Minnesota-based retailer Target has sponsored part of the AutoCodes project and has
allowed the design of a store to be used as the test project by participating municipalities and
jurisdictions having authority. Mr. Topping noted that Target pays more than $12 million each
year to resubmit the same plans to different jurisdictions. As a testament to the potential
improvements, Mr. Topping said that in four states that were able to streamline regulations,
Target saved $50,000 per building on 150 projects.
An effort to improve acceptance of Digital Signatures is being pursued and a vision paper on
Interoperability is available at www.Fiatech.org according to, Mr. Topping.
Deke Smith said, “Our hat is off to FIATECH’s efforts toward culture change. These are big
issues that we must work towards. Autocodes is a great example. We are also working with
FIATECH in coordinating ISO 15926 and 16739.”
Stuart Bull, BIM Coordinator and Associate, Arup, Sydney, Australia, presented some real-life
mega projects that likely demonstrate what the future may look like for other building industry
professionals, according to Deke Smith.
In his usual, enthusiastic presentation style, Mr. Bull showed case studies, shared lessons
learned and made suggestions about technology implementation.
Mr. Bull made a strong case for attending to the culture of new processes as much as the
technology behind them. At one airport project, Mr. Bull had to delegate day-to-day team
management for a short while and everyone went back to working on 2D processes alone.
“We lost 30 days!” Mr. Bull exclaimed.

7. Looking to the use of visualization business processes for infrastructure projects can provide
a wealth of education. “Infrastructure professionals are visualizing the client's investment,” Mr.
Bull said as an expression of the highest value you can provide clients. When clients see their
investment in clear terms they can make increasingly subtle decisions that give them a
competitive advantage.
On a sludge processing facility, Mr. Bull commented on the high level of detail in the model
created by the team he joined in progress. “Every component had 20 fields of input,” Mr. Bull
said. Professionals using COBie would be very happy to have 20 fields of data for every
component in a model.
Mr. Bull noted that the use of multiple tools has been a benefit in his projects. Using multiple
tools implies a need for a unifying code, which points to Industry Foundation Classes of data
from buildingSMART as a common language for Building Information Model software tools.
Being able to share information among multiple tools would allow opportunities on current
projects such as the Sydney Opera development, according to Mr. Bull. He mentioned the
potential of developing of a GIS-based Emergency Response tool to assist fire department
personnel based on processes being used by other building industry professionals around the
world. Sharing IFC data in effective, repeatable processes is one way of improving
emergency response with existing building data.
Mark J. Frisch, Principal, Solomon Cordwell Buenz, provided a view of one architecture
firm's journey through adoption of new technologies and processes. The company now does
a great amount of animations and analysis in house along with designing for digital
fabrication. Deke Smith said, “Mark walked us through his companies journey through CAD
to BIM to help others with the transition.”
Robert Snyder spoke on Bentley's Hypermodeling capabilities released this year.
Robert demonstrated a tool that links 2D and 3D visualizations in a way that speeds decision
making about complex subjects. What he presented may seem so advanced to many people
that might seem like science fiction, but it is possible today.
Mr. Snyder noted that even industry leaders have been slow to recognize the inevitable next
generation of technology. He noted that in 1926 Jack Warner of Warner Brothers movie studio
said talking pictures will never be widely available.
So it is important to recognize the fast moving data sharing capabilities of advanced
technologies as demonstrated through Bentley's Hypermodeling.
Cory Davis, Director of Capital Renovation and New Construction for Chicago Public
Schools, noted the large number of projects being managed and the significant benefits being
enjoyed through advanced technologies. Chicago Public Schools has nearly 700 schools, 150
active projects, $540 million in capital projects and 400,000 students.

8. Harmonization of facilities and student needs can be achieved by accurate understanding of
data. Through its close working relationship with Oracle and its Primevera enterprise project
management software, Chicago Public Schools has been able to measure its success in
many ways.
In 2011 there were 139 people in Mr. Davis' department. He now is able to achieve the same
results with approximately 20 fewer people. Even with this leaner management staff, the
change order rate has declined from 12% in 2010 to 4.5% in 2012. This has resulted in
avoided costs and savings of approximately $40 million.
Through a variety of contractor training programs, Tuesday and Thursday workshops, phone
support and other vendor provided assistance, Chicago Public Schools now is ahead of
schedule on 84% of projects, according to Mr. Davis. He also noted that $3.5 million has been
saved with electronic design management that provides 100% web-based as-built drawings
that reduce the need to print documents.
Mr. Davis said now that his department has better organized information, it is considering a
greater role for Building Information Models. “BIM is where we are going. It has to be,” said
Mr. Davis.
Deke Smith said, “Cory identified the management tools CPS has implemented and reminded
us it is not all about graphics. The bottom line is you can’t improve what you can’t count. He
has demonstrated significant successes in his short time with CPS. BIM is also now on his
radar screen.”
Bryan Jurewicz, President of GradeBeam.com, A Division of Textura Corporation, started
with an interesting premise. He stated that there is no longer a technology problem in the
building industry. There is almost too much technology. How to share the information is the
real issue.
GradeBeam allows a way to almost reorganize internal processes to interact with general
contractors and subs. With featured provides, it is possible to score subs in a way that reflects
your business metrics, so you work with the subs who work your way. Also, it is possible to
establish a customizable GC dashboard so large portfolio owners can see who is doing what
and when they are doing it.
“Bryan looked at the B2B issues of managing projects and integrating various ERPs. Their
companies extensive work with business process modeling could be the basis of future best
business practices to help re-engineer the management practices surrounding the facilities
industry,” said Deke Smith.
Sandy Damasco and James Park, of Lend Lease provided a high-level view of building
industry technology and a ground-level, working view of scanning advancements they are
making.
Mr. Damasco started by directly stating the real issue. The building industry is lagging behind
every other industry in the world in terms of using technology to gain real, measurable
benefits. Because every other industry provides case studies, software, hardware, processes

9. and other learning opportunities, we can have considerable confidence approaching the
dramatic changes that accompany the challenge of a tool set change over.
While there are challenges, Mr. Damasco noted that benefits of technology integration exist,
“it is only a matter of if you are smart enough to make it work.”
The concept of Value Engineering as something that is done separate from the core design
process was dismissed by Mr. Damasco. “Make changes as they are happening, like every
other industry,” Mr. Damasco advocated.
The use of advanced technology allows processes to occur faster, be eliminated or added.
“Work flow has to be defined within your own organization,” he said. Showing a slide of the
many responsibilities of a Project Manager, Mr. Damasco stated that this person has to be
able to address information in many forms through every step of every phase.
According to Mr. Damasco, the AIA BIM Level of Detail system provides an advantageous
way to structure and understand projects. The AIA Levels provide a rating system between
100 and 500 to express how Building Information Models can be detailed. “You need to
redefine your process,” he said. People can determine sub numbering systems within the
AIA's general framework to express their own understanding of model completeness.
In addition to keeping up with all the current advanced technology, Mr. Damasco indicated
there is an opportunity looking forward to meet evident needs. “It would be good if there was a
mini app that would scroll the model and it into a COBie format,” he said. Since there are
COBie developers working on that, his vision is spot on.
Mr. Damasco also noted the market for post construction information. Clearly, the BIM-to-FM
buzz moving through the industry is evidence of the acceptance of the value that can be
derived by institutional owners.
Mr. Parks discussed the use of ASCII in the implementation of laser scanning processes.
“Instead of just having point clouds, intelligent points are collected,” said Mr. Parks.
Point clouds are excellent for capturing three dimensional shapes that let people see what a
space looks like. The points can have data related to how far they are from the scanner and
how much light is at that point. By using ASCII – which allows the data points to be shared as
CSV or Excel documents – more data can be conveyed about each point. Values that can be
shared include existing conditions behind each point and the conditions of the surface – is it in
need of renovation, cleaning, painting and almost any other desired data set.
Mr. Parks indicated how this scanning approach helped on a high rise renovation. The
scanning process used helped identify clashes between existing structure and new
mechanical systems. More than 20 clashes were resolved on each floor, saving $4,500 per
clash. It is possible to estimate savings of more than $1 million from the use of laser scans on
the high rise renovation project.
Ville Kyytsönen, Development Manager, Tekla BIMsight, talked about how Tekla has been
involved with Building Information Models since the 1960s. It is using all of it's technology

10. processes in the construction of it's new US headquarters in Denver.
A cornerstone of Trimble's growing building industry technology group, Tekla now offers
BIMSight as a free iPad application to allow zero training use of advanced building industry
technologies. Released in 2011 BIMsight allows combining and checking of models from
different programs using IFC data sharing processes. Images and text from the combined
models can be captured and sent to colleagues.
Deke Smith said, “Ville described how Tekla integrates with Trimble and spoke of their view of
BI Modeling, BI Management and BI Consumption. They fully support and use IFC. He said “If
you are really doing BIM then you use IFC.”
Mr. Kyytsönen noted that Tekla and SketchUp, another Trimble company, are sharing data in
meaningful ways. Companies are using SketchUp to make the stark engineer-based drawing
style of Tekla structures easier for all stakeholders to understand. “SketchUp doesn't support
IFC, but creates visualization options that work fine,” Mr. Kyytsönen said.
Kirk Olson talked about how the Syncro scheduling/CMP tool can support a project by
visualizing construction and identify problems. Synchro supports IFC and many other formats.
This allows the repurposing of model elements and schedules in many ways that previously
were not possible. Being able to see existing data in new ways contributes to significant
savings with relatively little effort.
Deke Smith said, “Kirk talked about how the Syncro scheduling/CMP tool can visually support
the project by visualizing construction and identify problems. They support IFC and many
other formats. Their goal is to get from a 2D and 3D world to a 4D world. They would like to
have all normalized data in Syncro. All about repurposing data.”
Dana K. “Deke” Smith, FAIA, buildingSMART alliance Executive Director, provided a short
introduction to the buildingSMART movement, including it's international and national
implications. www.buildingSMARTalliance.org
Of particular interest is the U.K.'s legislation regarding BIM mentioned on slide 27 of his
seminar summary available at: http://projects.buildingsmartalliance.org/files/?artifact_id=4915
Based, in part on BIM developments in the U.S. and including Construction-Operation
Building Information Exchange (COBie) processes developed by the US Army Corps of
Engineers, NASA and others, the U.K. BIM requirements show that legislative action can help
encourage large-scale savings for government building owners.
China is watching the US BIM initiatives very closely, according to Mr. Smith. A building
industry delegation from China recently visited Washington, D.C. and provided an update on
their BIM activities, which very closely mirrored U.S. BIM activities, according to Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith provided a presentation-by-presentation synopsis of the 3-day symposium. Slides 5
– 12 are his summaries of each presentation. The other slides illustrate his overall summary
of the State of the Building Industry related to advanced technology.

11. Mr. Smith emphasized the collaborative requirements of working with advanced technology.
“BIM is a team sport. You are not doing BIM if information is not being transferred from
authoritative sources to end users.”
Citing established case studies and effectively implemented programs, Mr. Smith told the
story of how BIM and related processes helped the $176 million USC College of Cinematic
Arts Phase II be finished four months ahead of schedule for $6.4 million less than estimated.
While providing a wealth of references and resources, Mr. Smith indicated that the path to
effective use of today's tools is not necessarily easy, but it is possible. “We are transforming
the facilities industry to the information age – that is a significant cultural change, equal to or
greater than moving to the industrial age. Expect some pain before the gain,” Mr. Smith said.
To ease the transition, Mr. Smith added that training is key. “Education is a key factor – it is a
long term investment in our future.” He noted that the online Whole Building Design Guide
from the National Institute of Building Sciences provides a wealth of educational material. One
American Institute of Architects staff member noted that all the AIA continuing education
credits for two years can be obtained for free at www.WBDG.org
Mr. Smith also advocated attendance at the National Institute of Building Sciences' first
independent conference in Washington, D.C. January 7 – 11, 2013. See more about the
Building Innovation conference at http://www.nibs.org/?page=conference
End