| Making BIM the Foundation: HNTB Federal Designs Two Successful Projects Using BIM |
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By Lauren Browne, ConnectPress Editor
Building information modeling (BIM) seems to be the “it” phrase in the AEC industry. The design firm, HNTB Federal, recently designed two government buildings, the U.S. Army Human Resources Center of Excellence at Fort Knox and phase I Wheeled and Tracked Vehicle Maintenance Training School at Fort Lee using BIM as the foundation of the projects. For both projects HNTB Federal used a combination of Autodesk Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Revit Architecture, Navisworks and 3ds Max Design. The use of BIM was stated in the proposal, providing an efficient modeling process that allowed designers to all stay on the same page and collaborate.
Turner Universal contracted HNTB Federal as a partner in the project for the 883,000-square-foot Fort Knox Project, and it consists of six buildings and houses over 4,300 people. Impressively, the project was designed and construction started in just six months, which was achieved by the implementation of BIM, according to Brad Schulz, HNTB Federal’s architecture market leader. The value of BIM was shown early on, as using a BIM design philosophy was established from the beginning of the design process. “During early design phases quantity and cost analyses were performed, and we analyzed several different design solutions. We identified the best solution for the project and because of BIM, it gave us the ability for the model to provide us data on the fly and allowed us to head down the right road early on,” said Schulz. The model provided HNTB Federal with data on the floor area, exterior envelope information, glass to skin ratio and roof area. With the model being particularly large, BIM helped designers in the program verification stage. “To manage the program and design, and make sure we had all the cubicles and conference spaces represented in those spaces is a task in itself. The model’s ability to identify spaces and schedule them back out and compare that to the program was of great benefit to the team,” said Schulz. Schulz also said that having a centralized model was important because there were not multiple renderings floating around from structural engineers, renderers, interior departments, etc. “The information was updated centrally, so there was minimal lost work,” said Schulz.
Interestingly, Revit MEP (used in the construction phase), Revit Structure and Revit Architecture were all used for the Fort Knox project and Navisworks was used on the design side of the project to help aggregate models from all these sources for design coordination. “Bringing all these designs together early on was key and issues were resolved before coming up with the final model. This I believe, is the most important thing we’ve done with Fort Knox,” said Marwan Bakri, HNTB Federal’s BIM manager.
 Courtesy of HNTB Rendering of the Fort Knox Human Resources Center of Excellence (HRCoE) displaying architectural, structural and building systems components.
There were also several other unique aspects to the Fort Knox project. All of the furniture, fixtures and equipment were fully modeled, which helped with documenting furniture requirements. Then this detailed model was used with 3ds Max Design to create a Quest3D model where an Xbox gaming controller could be used to digitally walk through the model for easy visualization. Also aiding in visualization of the model, it was tied into the physical model by translating the Revit model into a 3D printed version. “The value of BIM was exhibited as we moved forward with the project,” said Bakri.
The BIM and clash detection process torch was then passed to Turner Universal. Using the BIM model and Navisworks, “it was eye opening for a lot of the field staff see how easy things were,” said Schulz. Schulz gave an example of a site superintendent who found plumbing conflicts that could be resolved virtually instead of on site. “We were able to work out issues without traveling, and have a go-to meeting without spending resources like we would have traditionally,” said Schulz.
The Fort Lee project consists of a new 773,000-square-foot construction by HNTB Federal with collaboration from Balfour Beatty Construction and Hankins and Anderson Engineers. Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, 3ds Max and Navisworks were all used in the project. Early on in the proposal process, BIM helped resolve program documentation issues. “We modeled both the bubble diagram and the net area program to compare the two using Revit’s scheduling capability. We discovered that they did not match and were able to find a correction to the issue early on in the process,” said Schulz. Also in the proposal process, HNTB Federal used the model to show the client a graphical understanding of the model. The model was colored by department, there were color floor plans, floor and ceiling finishes, and you could tell what function the rooms had. “It was a great tool to provide a deeper understanding for the end users and for those who had little experience of what a finished schedule meant and was used for,” said Schulz.
Similar to the Fort Knox project, with 3ds Max and the Revit model, Xbox gaming controllers were used to explore and create walkthroughs through the digital 3D model.
Because the model had been designed so efficiently with BIM in the proposal stage, when it came time for construction, it was also very efficient and allowed the team to stay on track with the project schedule, according to Schulz. With construction not completed yet, the initial buildings from design to completion will be done in 24 months. In total, the full project is scheduled to be completed in 26 months. Also in the construction process, the BIM model was used for a 4D Navisworks sequencing model to help with phasing and sequencing the construction and to understand how the project was to be built.
Not only were the buildings successful examples of BIM, but they also incorporated green design. Both projects received an Army classification equivalent to a Silver USGBC LEED certification. HNTB Federal made a BIM template to document and track LEED points. For example, sustainable building aspects that were used to achieve points were white TPO roofs, recycled material points and many of the “standard points,” according to Schulz. Unique to Fort Knox, the mechanical system was designed for the possibility of a future geothermal well to be used so that the campus can be converted to a geothermal well system. 3ds Max was also used in the Fort Knox project for daylighting analysis, to ensure a design that implemented successful use of daylighting.
 A daylighting analysis study from Fort Lee
On top of the success of the building design, HNTB Federal was selected to receive an Autodesk BIM Experience Award because of its impressive implementation of BIM in such large-scale projects. There is no doubt that HNTB Federal used BIM to its fullest. From the first ideas of design to the construction, BIM was a focus for the projects. “As architects we have to take on the leadership role and initiate BIM. If you don’t have the basics developed in BIM at the early stages the contractor is not as interested in investing their time in something when it can’t be coordinated as well as it could be. Having everyone on the same page with BIM and being able to clash the steel against the mechanical and architectural, you see significant advantages as far as the contractor,” concluded Schulz.
For more information on the projects and the Autodesk BIM Experience Award, visit http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=13136284. To listen to a podcast with Schulz and Bakri, click here.
Lauren Browne is a writer and editor for ConnectPress Ltd. in Santa Fe, NM. She received her BA in English and a minor in journalism from Northern Arizona University.
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| Published 2009-09-25 17:35:28 |
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