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"GreenTips" is a monthly Kiplinger Recommends feature from Greener World Media Inc., which writes environmental news and advice for business in a variety of Web-based publications, including GreenBiz.com, GreenerComputing, ClimateBiz and GreenerBuildings. Scott Boutwell is a former architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) executive of URS Corp. and Oracle, providing technology commercialization and strategy services to IT and clean tech firms as well as to global AEC firms. His blog covers anecdotes and growth strategies in the sustainability and engineering design sectors.The demand for greener buildings -- whether they be new starts or renovated facilities -- is growing sharply worldwide. Facility owners want to save money on energy, water and waste disposal. Many also want to reduce their carbon footprint and dramatically reduce their waste stream -- both out of concern for the environment and because customers, whether retail customers or larger businesses in search of suppliers, are increasingly looking for certifiably green products and services.
In this month's GreenTips column, Scott Boutwell, an expert in technology strategy for the construction trades, discusses how adoption of Building Information Modeling, or BIM, will transform the construction industry as a whole and green building construction and renovation in particular. "BIM is a digital rendering of the physical and functional characteristics of a facility," he writes, that goes far beyond the commonly found computer-assisted drawing. In addition to the usual drawings and varying views, BIM includes what Boutwell calls "intelligent objects" of a structure -- that present information about costs, energy use, scheduling and construction phases and other crucial factors as spatial data, in spreadsheets and in different views.
BIM and the incredible flexibility and collaboration it can lead to "allows for significant exchange of information by all stakeholders involved over the lifecycle of the facility: owners, architects, engineers, contractors and operators," Boutwell says. "This information includes that associated with green technology adoption: efficiencies in energy use, increased emphasis on environmental health and the drive to generate less waste."
This is good news for those thinking about new construction or renovation of business facilities because BIM technology and the new approach to construction it is sparking will help drive down costs over the entire life cycle of a building. BIM also means plenty of new opportunities for vendors of green technologies and for construction companies, architects, engineers and others in the building trades with the ability -- or willingness to develop it -- to make environmental considerations a crucial aspect of their business. "Given the size and projected growth of the market for green buildings around the world, there are plenty of opportunities and potential players seeking ways to leverage new technologies for use in new construction and renovations," Boutwell writes.
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