Building New Hotels Through Integrated BIM and GIS

BIM facilitates the interoperability of software for planning, design, construction, and maintenance of buildings and other physical infrastructure. Overall, it optimizes the AEC ( Architecture Engineering and Construction ) sector to achieve greater efficiency, productivity, cost savings, return on investment (RoI), and faster completion times.

BIM has four dimensions covering the three physical dimensions of Space and Time, although some practitioners are even talking about a 6D BIM. However, interoperability of different types of BIM software is , still , a problem. Users may lose the context that BIM does not provide.

A Plangrid report shows that 80 percent of projects exceed the budget set as primary, while 52 percent require rework during its progress. Worryingly, 20% of projects go over budget. Disclaimer : we are talking about statistical data collected in the U.S. ; in Italy the timeframe is even longer and more penalizing.

Why the need to integrate BIM and GIS?

The integration of BIM and Geographic Information System (GIS) provides a user-specific platform that offers a more holistic view of a project, which can be shared, managed and accessed efficiently by different stakeholders. The benefits are tangible in both the project evaluation and quality control phases.

Integrated GIS and BIM workflows enable a process field for delivery of built structures with improved collaboration, coordination, visualization, project forecasting, and clash detection.

A detailed report published by Geospatial World in collaboration with Esri and Autodesk highlights the benefits of the integrated solution.

At the project evaluation stage, integration provides a range of solutions in the form of non-invasive measurements. BIM solutions not only enable cost-effective and time-efficient project evaluation, but also distribute structural loads and perform other miscellaneous calculations.

Driving energy-efficient construction

With the integration of GIS and BIM, monitoring technical facilities and tracking energy consumption through spatial data can contribute to sustainable and energy-efficient building infrastructure. It also helps assess health and safety on the construction site.

Project monitoring is important for sustainable project delivery, and it is critical to incorporate quality inspection and identify quality tolerances early in the life cycle of a project.

At the quality inspection stage, the integration of BIM and GIS helps conduct virtual inspections, which help monitor the quality of project execution.

The application of integrated GIS and BIM solutions to various project parameters, such as site selection, energy design, structural design, and performance evaluation, among others, has tremendous potential during the planning and design phase of a project life cycle.

Impact of integrated BIM and GIS

Simply put, site selection, optimization of structural and energy design, acceleration of project approvals, cost reduction, performance evaluation, etc. are the main benefits of integrated BIM and GIS.

In the construction phase, the application of integrated GIS and BIM solutions can yield benefits in various activities, such as interference detection, site logistics, 4D planning, and time management.

This has resulted in increasing demand for integrated solutions from all stakeholders associated with construction services, such as design, construction and owners or operators of construction projects.

Challenges of integration

Data interoperability, mismatch and loss of semantic information during the integration process are key challenges for BIM and GIS integration.

Aspects such as the common data environment (CDE), lifecycle information management and orientation of BIM components cause implementation problems for GIS users. To address them, Christopher Allen, VDC/BIM manager and laser scanning expert, Reis Contracting, Inc. says, “The first thing we do to reduce the amount of change orders and time spent is to use geospatial solutions such as reality capture technology from the beginning of the project life cycle. Typically these solutions were applied by designers, but today they are being adopted by contractors to avoid costly rework.”

The success of a digital transformation strategy with integrated solutions plays a crucial role in achieving sustainable results in project delivery.

For the post-construction phase, George Floros, GIS Lead – Infrastructure, Skanska, says, “The integration of GIS and BIM offers owners and operators the opportunity to develop an internallyvigurable system for monitoring their assets in an infrastructure project. It is extremely important not only to capture real-time location data, but also to identify a network that allows stakeholders to make decisions in the event of an emergency by following a specific path, taking into consideration MEPs (Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing), potential hazards around the site, creating evacuation plans, etc.”

“The government must play a role in providing a mandate whereby the BIM model, along with Geo, encourages the adoption of GIS and BIM technologies in infrastructure projects,” says Prof. Henk Scholten, leading scientist and CEO of GEODAN.

Why build new hotel facilities with GIS and BIM integration ?

To re-fit existing facilities with these new technologies is very arduous , obvious one can improve the architectures of some services and make them more eco-friendly . A different discourse is to design the new ones , one could achieve economic savings in the use of materials ; design of structures that adapt to the morphology of the territory ; create new types of hotel services with a low CO2 footprint ; realize , in short , a structure already from birth in harmony with the place of birth .

It would be the ideal solution for both the investor and the guests of the facility , avoiding as it is done today to adapt and make zero-impact existing hotels ; with artifices not always easy to achieve or economically sustainable by the stakeholders themselves .