Module 5 - Points to Ponder

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?

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?

The advantages of using the existing conditions as a foundation for the design alternatives include:

• It is easy to quickly see all of the design alternatives and how they are related to the existing site conditions.
• It gives the potential stakeholders a better understanding of how the site can be used.
• It allows for a better understanding of the construction process. You can see better the process from beginning to end.
• If you want to create a change in all of the different designs, it is easy to do so using a single building information model. If you use different models you would have to make the exact same change in all of the models seperately which is time consuming and can be innacurate.

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?

I chose to model the exterior facades differently in my design alternatives. In each design I modified the location of curtian walls. I chose this for two reasons. The first reason was to gain practice in modeling curtain walls. The second was to provide a more open and airy design alternative in the second design option. I wanted the potential stakeholders to see what such an option would look like.

The largest challenge when modeling them as alternatives was to remember to have certain facades only exist in certain phases. It was my instinct to delete the facade all together which led to complications in my previous design.