Awards: 2005 Institute Honor Award for Architecture
Recipient: Perkins + Will--Ralph Johnson, FAIA
Project: Contemporaine at 516 North Wells; Chicago
Client: CMK Development; Chicago
Photo: Steinkamp/Ballogg Photography
 

   
 
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BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors

by Chuck Eastman (Author), Paul Teicholz (Author), Rafael Sacks (Author), Kathleen Liston (Author)
review by Kristine Fallon

In the BIM Handbook (A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors), a remarkably knowledgeable and credentialed team of authors has provided a sound, thoroughly researched and comprehensible review of the technology, the market drivers and the business transformation issues surrounding Building Information Modeling (BIM). This book is a must-read for anyone involved in the design, construction or operation of buildings who needs to understand and apply effectively the emerging BIM tools and techniques. University professors of architecture, engineering and construction will find this an excellent text for introducing BIM to the emerging generation of design and construction professionals.

The concepts underlying BIM have been evolving for a quarter century, as the book makes clear. In the past few years, however, market drivers and technology advances have converged to produce software tools that have an extraordinarily positive impact on the design and construction of buildings. In the industry scramble to take advantage of this potential, there has been much confusion about what BIM is, how to use it and who benefits from it. The BIM Handbook tackles all three questions.

Highlights include the chapter on the interoperability of building models, which clarifies what is probably the least understood technology issue related to BIM. Of immediate utility is the evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the major BIM software products. Even the most design-oriented readers will marvel at the variety and innovation demonstrated by the ten case studies. The very thoughtful chapter entitled "The Future: Building with BIM" provokes lively conjecture and debate.