The Evolution of Design Process - Sustainable Design: The Science of Sustainability and Green Engineering - page 28

conducting reality checks on visionary concepts and designs.” 18 Danby also notes
the connection between open-source software such as ThinkCycle to the work of
Victor Papanek, the UNESCO designer who refused to patent any of his works
but rather, focused on creating a “public domain of form and function.” 19
BIM Tools
Tools are now available to both architect and engineer to conceive and deliver
design solutions in a more integrated manner. Building information modeling (BIM)
uses computer technology to create a virtual multidimensional models of a build-
ing as an integrated part of the design process, not as an afterthought for use in
marketing the design as a finished product (see Fig. 1.9).
This approach is revolutionary in the design professions. Most design software
used in architectural/engineering offices since the introduction of computer-
aided design systems has represented productivity gains through increased effi-
ciency but really has not represented major advances beyond digitally representing
primitive lines, arcs, and circles to define buildings.
Designers using BIM software can apply digitally bundled information called
objects to represent building components such as windows and doors. These mod-
els are enriched by their ability to represent a much wider range of information
on the physical characteristics of the building. The potential for these models
to behave in an “intelligent” manner provides the opportunity for exploration
and collaboration among design disciplines as well as with the construction com-
munity. The term integrated practice has been coined to describe this approach,
which represents both an opportunity and a challenge for the architecture and
engineering professions.
Better quality, greater speed, and lower cost by way of improved efficiency
can be expected from the BIM approach. From a sustainable design perspective,
the greatest potential is for increased collaboration and integration across design
disciplines supporting the promise of a trend toward systems solutions similar to
those found in nature. This allows the designer to envision positive and negative
outcomes of various options. The BIM process is also a tool for moving beyond
the stepwise model, in that it requires that issues which historically have been
addressed exclusively during the development of construction documents be
discussed during the design phases. Recently, Carl Galioto, FAIA, a partner at
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York, noted that “BIM will change the
distribution of labor in the design phases. When done correctly, the labor is front
loaded earlier in the design process, during schematic and design development
phases, and less in construction documents.” 20 This shift in the labor distribution
is consistent with Pink's notion of value-added input occurring during the early
phases of the conceptual development of design.