It is an unfortunate fact that many people involved in designing and constructing buildings only occasionally give thought to the running of the building once it has been handed over. Yet much of the information produced by the construction team would be invaluable to the building operator — who, more often than not, has to start from scratch in populating new databases.

Response

The ‘virtual building’ concept has evolved in response to this situation and seeks to ensure that the information relating to the building, from the architect’s designs right through to the space planning carried out by the facilities manager, is all maintained and used to full effect.

Essentially, the virtual building is a single project database that can be used throughout the design, construction and life of the building. So, for example, the building is initially created by the architect as a 3D computer model, with the ability to extract 2D working drawings as the project proceeds, but retaining all the information and feeding it back into the 3D model.

This model is then exported to the building-services design software, where the initial data required by the engineers, such as thermal characteristics, are automatically generated. Once the services design is complete, all that information is fed back to the virtual building, along with any changes to the design, as the project proceeds.

End result

The end result is a virtual building that lives on a computer disc, in parallel with the real steel-and-concrete building, holding all the information that the facilities manager needs to operate it. When the real building is handed over, therefore, so is the virtual building.

At this stage, all the information in the virtual-building database is available for use in facilities-management software for the day-to-day running of the real building. It can be used for planning how the space is used, choosing decor during refurbishment, planning maintenance of plant — in fact ‘virtually’ anything the facilities manager can think of.

Building services provide a host of examples of how this concept can work. One example can illustrate the principle.

It is the role of the facilities manager to ensue that the ventilation system is properly maintained so that a healthy environment is also maintained.

The ideal situation would thus be that the ventilation fans installed in the real building are also included in the virtual building and that they would carry some information about themselves that could automatically be included in the facilities manager’s maintenance regime (known as asset defence in facilities-management circles).

Reality

This scenario may sound a bit fanciful, but it is already reality, thanks to the work of the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI), which has been developing ‘intelligent’ objects known as Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs). What this means is that the virtual fan in the virtual building knows what sort of fan it is, its physical dimensions and its capacity. When introduced to the virtual building-services design, it will know if it has been connected to ductwork of the wrong diameter or the wrong electricity supply and issue a warning to the designer.

From the maintenance point of view, this virtual fan will also know its maintenance intervals and how long it has been running and will warn the facilities manager when it is due for maintenance or if a problem occurs. If this principle is applied to every item of services plant in the building, it is clear that the facilities manager can very quickly build an intelligent asset register that virtually manages the planned preventive maintenance itself.

Asset

The virtual building also helps end users to treat their building as an asset, rather than an overhead. Effective space planning, based on the building information in the virtual model, helps to make efficient used of the space, ensures that costs for space are accurately allocated for each department and can often free space for sub-letting.

The virtual building being 3D provides major benefits for all concerned. Although architects and building-services engineers are trained to work in 2D and then visualise the result in 3D, that quantum leap in perception is not so easy for the clients. The ability to show 3D representations to clients or potential clients can help them visualise the end result and improve communications throughout the design team.

The virtual-building concept has been developed by Graphisoft and is used across its ArchiCAD, Cymap and ArchiFM software packages, as well as in co-operative ventures with other software developers such as Navisworks.

Brendan McFarlane is technical director with Graphisoft (UK), 40-56 Victoria Street, Bristol BS1 6BY. Graphisoft is the parent company of Cymap.

[mail@graphisoft.co.uk]

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend