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?
• The main advantages of using a single building information model is having all of the context for a building in one place and have the ability to see what was there in the past, and what is being added to it. Having a single building information model can also be useful in various energy and daylight analyses, in which having everything modelled in the same place will prevent overestimation or underestimation.

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?
• Building a single building information model of the existing conditions and modeling several proposed design alternatives for portions of the building can be helpful because each alternative likely has a lot of similarities that you would not want to model each time. One might choose to not create separate models for each of the design alternatives, as it is easier to see differences between different models on one model, and so alterations to each alternative (that are intended to occur across alternatives) can be made in one, centralized location.

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?