What are the principal advantages of using a single building information model of the existing conditions as the foundation for modeling proposed additions or renovations?

• Why not create a separate model for the new proposed design?
• One of the advantages of having all of the building/renovation details on a single model is that it’s convenient when it comes time to calculate how many doors, windows, and rooms there are. If the renovations were in a different model, the person who designs the renovations would have to keep note of each wall, window, and door they change so it can be removed from the final schedule. This is important when it comes to connecting with the contractor and when figuring out total costs. By using a single model and different phases, all the notetaking is done for you and is easy to glance at just by flipping through floor plans.

What sort of complexities are introduced when you construct a building complex in phases?

• What happens at the interfaces between the buildings as the phases advance?
• How can you plan and prepare for these complexities as your create your initial building model?

What are the principal advantages of using a single building information model of the existing conditions as the foundation for modeling several proposed design alternatives for a portion of the building?

• Why not create a separate model for each of the design alternatives?

In your project, which features of the proposed design did you choose to model as design alternatives?

• Why did you choose these building features? And what were the biggest challenges in modeling them as the design alternatives?
• In my building, the NE corner of the building is all glass walls so the café on level 1 and the open workspace on level 2 are on full display for any passers-by to see, making them central design components. I chose to propose alternate models for the café and the open workspace since I would want to make sure my client loves these central spaces and alternate furniture arrangements can help get the client to see the space the same way. The biggest challenge was that I had already spent a long time trying to arrange these spaces to be as efficient and aesthetically pleasing as possible so trying to come up with yet another arrangement I would be happy with took a lot more time.