Current Advantages of Revit/BIM

I found a well-informed article by Archistar that outlines the main advantages of using Revit and BIMs (and some disadvantages).

This is the outline of what they said are the main advantages of using Revit:

1 Parametric Components

2 No Repetition
3 Landscape Design
4 Energy Efficient Design
5 No Paper Documentation

There are obvious advantages to BIMs over drafters since having anything digital and computerized unlocks endless possibilities. Drafter or even very basic computer blueprints require lots of hours of work, especially if the design changes. If you edit the ground floor of a tall building to be a meter wider and all the above floors already have the plans drawn you have to manually go back and fix each plan. This could have to be done for both the 2-D schematics and 3-D representation. This can delay deadlines and requires hours of work done by engineers and architects. With Revit however, all that work is done automatically. You can edit a 2-D drawing and it will make the edits to the 3D drawing and if that the 2-D or 3-D drawing affects any other plans connected to that edit then it will fix that too. This is a huge time saver and also prevents errors and discrepancies in drawings. Autodesk also always better visualization of the end product and you can even add google map views and virtual environments.

Revit being an Autodesk product means it connects to so many different applications. Since many Engineers with a multitude of Autodesk applications, the layouts and properties are familiar. This prevents a learning curve for engineers and architects. Since there are so many apps that all offer different aspects but they are all Autodesk, they can all be compiled nicely. Therefore a basic blueprint can be passed around between disciplines without errors and it is still comprehensive. File sharing between a group is one way of sharing but there are also huge databases of open-source designs that can be shared through Autodesk.

Revit and BIM models are also capable of simulating the energy efficiency, the sturdiness, as well as other performances of the building to prove the worth of the designed building. This is only becoming more accurate and probably the biggest advantage of BIMs.

Coorey, Ben. “The Advantages and Disadvantages of Revit.” ArchiStar Academy, ArchiStar, 20 Jan. 2020, academy.archistar.ai/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-revit.

Comments:

Isabel,
I certainly agree that the lack of people knowing how to use BIM and Revit software is a huge issue for the growth of that technology. I think that is one reason Autodesk products are incredible because even with complex programs the interface is pretty similar between each Autodesk product which is beneficial when learning a new program. I do agree that these programs would only help graduates when they find a job, luckily if that is the type of work you will likely be doing you may learn how to use Revit and other programs during Coop
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Andrew
I think a lot of what you mentioned BIM is already doing which is what it is made to do, however, one thing I love that you said is that it will be common practice to use BIM. Once BIM is a common practice everywhere you are right, engineers and architects will be able to focus on other parts of the design. This can lead to more complex, sustainable and economical designs.

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Abdul,
That's a cool graphic you used. In the 4D column it brings up modeling the time in simulations of the building, this can include construction sequence of the building. This reminds me of what our speaker on Thursday was saying where the engineers did not know how to properly communicate to the contractors when building. Those tools will allow the engineer to see the limitations of construction when they are designing a building.

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