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?

If anything needs to change in both designs, you’d have to make the exact same change in both models, which is very inconvenient.

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?

Different elements can appear differently, and making changes to one can affect it throughout the other phases. Making sure to keep track of not only when each element is created but also when it is demolished is important. You can prepare for these complexities by designing your model in a way which makes it easy to modularly alter your model as it changes, like making a wall in two parts if one part will later be demolished.

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?