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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building information modeling | 1/8 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_information_modeling | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:59:08.867051+00:00 | kb-cron |
Building information modeling (BIM) is an approach involving the generation and management of digital representations of the physical and functional characteristics of buildings or other physical assets and facilities. BIM is supported by various tools, processes, technologies and contracts. Building information models (BIMs) are computer files (often but not always in proprietary formats and containing proprietary data) which can be extracted, exchanged or networked to support decision-making regarding a built asset. BIM software is used by individuals, businesses and government agencies who plan, design, construct, operate and maintain buildings and diverse physical infrastructures, such as water, refuse, electricity, gas, communication utilities, roads, railways, bridges, ports and tunnels. The concept of BIM has been in development since the 1970s, but it only became an agreed term in the early 2000s. The development of standards and the adoption of BIM has progressed at different speeds in different countries. Developed by buildingSMART, Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs) – data structures for representing information – became an international standard, ISO 16739, in 2013, and BIM process standards developed in the United Kingdom from 2007 onwards formed the basis of an international standard, ISO 19650, launched in December 2018.
== History == The first software tools developed for modeling buildings emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and included workstation products such as Chuck Eastman's Building Description System and GLIDE, RUCAPS, Sonata, Reflex and Gable 4D Series. The early applications, and the hardware needed to run them, were expensive, which limited widespread adoption. The pioneering role of applications such as RUCAPS, Sonata and Reflex has been recognized by Laiserin as well as the UK's Royal Academy of Engineering; former GMW employee Jonathan Ingram worked on all three products. What became known as BIM products differed from architectural drafting tools such as AutoCAD by allowing the addition of further information (time, cost, manufacturers' details, sustainability, and maintenance information, etc.) to the building model. As Graphisoft had been developing such solutions for longer than its competitors, Laiserin regarded its ArchiCAD application as then "one of the most mature BIM solutions on the market." Following its launch in 1987, ArchiCAD became regarded by some as the first implementation of BIM, as it was the first CAD product on a personal computer able to create both 2D and 3D geometry, as well as the first commercial BIM product for personal computers. However, Graphisoft founder Gábor Bojár has acknowledged to Jonathan Ingram in an open letter, that Sonata "was more advanced in 1986 than ArchiCAD at that time", adding that it "surpassed already the matured definition of 'BIM' specified only about one and a half decade later". The term 'building model' (in the sense of BIM as used today) was first used in papers in the mid-1980s: in a 1985 paper by Simon Ruffle eventually published in 1986, and later in a 1986 paper by Robert Aish – then at GMW Computers Ltd, developer of RUCAPS software – referring to the software's use at London's Heathrow Airport. The term 'Building Information Model' first appeared in a 1992 paper by G.A. van Nederveen and F. P. Tolman. However, the terms 'Building Information Model' and 'Building Information Modeling' (including the acronym "BIM") did not become popularly used until some 10 years later. Facilitating exchange and interoperability of information in digital format was variously with differing terminology: by Graphisoft as "Virtual Building" or "Single Building Model", Bentley Systems as "Integrated Project Models", and by Autodesk or Vectorworks as "Building Information Modeling". In 2002, Autodesk released a white paper entitled "Building Information Modeling," and other software vendors also started to assert their involvement in the field. By hosting contributions from Autodesk, Bentley Systems and Graphisoft, plus other industry observers, in 2003, Jerry Laiserin helped popularize and standardize the term as a common name for the digital representation of the building process.