Coming Soon: Practical BIM Implementation for Facility Management

By Luke Carothers

Starting in August 2021, Civil + Structural Engineer Magazine will feature a 5-part series from a team of experts that focuses on improving BIM Implementation throughout the lifecycle of a building from design through construction and commissioning to operation and maintenance.  The authors of the series will be George Broadbent, Dr. Eve Lin, Dr. Jeff Chen, and Kai Yin.

Building on last year’s series that focused on the expansion of BIM technology from traditional 3D replacement of 2D CAD drawings to a much broader term that encompasses the process of creating and managing digital models of buildings and structures, this year’s series likewise focuses on the management of these digital models.  This year’s series discusses the traditional use of level of detail (LOD) in BIM management and advocates for a move towards an AM/FM concept.

These concepts are explored in the following five installments:

1. Beyond Level of Detail into AM/FM–August
2. Modular Data Analytics and Reporting in Facility Management–September
3. Scoring System for Facility Health Assessment–October
4. Sustainability in Facility Management–November
5. The Center-Hub of Data Integration–December

George Broadbent is the Vice President of Asset Management for Microdesk.  Broadbent originally began his career in the mechanical engineering field before moving into IT systems and system architecture; he credits this move for introducing him to the concept of structured and unstructured data.  This background allowed Broadbent to enter asset management, which he has been a part of for the last 15 years, carrying the same attention to information into the realm of asset management.

Dr. Xifan (Jeff) Chen is the EAM Assistant Director at Microdesk; his focus for both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees was structural engineering before moving into energy analysis and green building.  Dr. Chen then completed his PhD while specializing in asset management and infrastructure management, and, in addition to working for Microdesk, he also completed BIM management for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in addition to other work in the transportation and infrastructure industry.  .

Dr. Eve Lin is an EAM Strategy Consultant and Sustainability Lead at Microdesk; she began her career in civil engineering and worked on the construction side of the industry.  Dr. Lin has completed Master’s programs in both construction engineering and management as well as building sciences.  Drawing on her experience in her native Taiwan, Dr. Lin worked to study regional water patterns, eventually leading her to specialize in sustainability.  Combining different processes and methods of analysis, Dr. Lin credits the ability to fit seemingly disparate pieces together to her varied background.

Kai Yin founded his company ZhiUTech to focus on the problem of technology dislocation.  After completing a Master’s program in building sciences in the United States, Yin moved back to China to focus on moving the AECO industry into the future by adopting innovative technologies.  Yin partially credits his current professional aims to his background in building sciences which blended engineering with computer sciences.

Luke Carothers is the Editor for Civil + Structural Engineer Media. If you want us to cover your project or want to feature your own article, he can be reached at lcarothers@zweiggroup.com.