Are real estate developers utilizing BIM well?
The majority of business operations in the current real estate market scenario are not resilient enough. Also, the recent economic slowdown and ever-changing government guidelines are making it difficult for businesses to keep up with their cash flow. Therefore, the real estate sector definitely needs an intelligent approach that keeps all the necessary information in one common data environment to optimize credit borrowing and, subsequently, resource allocation.
This is exactly where BIM can bring multiple benefits to the real estate industry. Some of it could be helpful for buyers to evaluate their buying decisions with smart metrics, or some of it could be helpful for organizations to navigate some of the pressing challenges in their operations.
Why customers should push their real estate agents for a BIM approach?
The biggest benefit that comes with BIM-oriented real estate development is real-time, detailed information updates in your modeling workflow. This enables companies to develop prospects that are more transparent and fulfilling to customers’ revenue aspirations with:
Faster Sales and Increased ROI
BIM enables buyers to have a comprehensive understanding of a property, eliminating doubts and uncertainties. Detailed BIM models allow buyers to explore every aspect of the building, leading to quicker decision-making and potentially faster sales.
Enhanced Buyer Planning
BIM empowers buyers to visualize their lives inside and around the building. They can measure spaces, plan furniture arrangements, select paint colors, and even simulate renovations. Buyers can make more informed decisions and accurately plan for their future in the building. VR software such as Kuula and VRcollab would also enable you to visualize your designer’s vision as detailed BIM models. This is putting you one step ahead as a customer by determining your expectations more closely than ever.
Consequently, Enhanced Seller Planning
If BIM is enhancing the buying experience, it obviously implies that the seller is also getting all the benefits associated with the usage of BIM in real estate development and management. Sellers are also better able to convey the value associated with properties and their constituting assets. One gray aspect of the real estate industry that still persists is a lack of transparency. BIM for real estate not only helps in achieving distinctive visual real estate products, but consumers who are more conscious could push for more and more BIM for real estate.
Convenient Replacement for Blueprints
BIM replaces traditional blueprints with well-detailed, computer-generated digital replicas that can now be easily shared on mobile devices as well. The mobile BIM coupled with the cloud eliminates the need to carry physical blueprints, reduces costs associated with copying, and provides a more comprehensive understanding of the building through enhanced 3D visualization experiences.
Elimination of Building Surprises
BIM provides an accurate digital representation of the entire property, including its entire MEPFS components, i.e., the comprehensive suite of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire, and structural systems. Sellers can confidently showcase the construction quality and answer potential buyers’ questions, while buyers can assess the condition of the property and identify any potential issues or improvements needed. Even if the facility is already on the ground, scan to BIM processes could be deployed to capture it in reality for digital twinning, ensuring real-time transparency.
Simplified Upkeep and Renovations
BIM is not only useful for the initial purchase but also for the long-term management of the property. By utilizing BIM, buyers get a VDC approach for future maintenance and asset management, understanding the costs of even the smallest of building components required to keep the building in optimal condition.
And why should real estate companies and construction firms actually go for BIM?
It is said that if you can sell a piece of land, you can definitely sell anything. Real estate is the toughest market to keep the cash flow churning in parallel with heavy credit borrowing to run the operations. Thus, ultimately, real estate operations should incorporate the most cutting-edge facility management tools into their practices. This itself means subscribing to BIM automation methodologies.
1. Smart workforce distribution based on predictive maintenance:-
Dependency on manual labor and the skill crunch associated with it cause hefty issues in property development and maintenance. In order to resolve this, a data-driven BIM approach is a must for smart predictive maintenance. With scheduling and cost analysis through 4D and 5D BIM, respectively, executives in decision-making positions can upskill and organize their labor workforce in an optimized way.
2. Efficient inventory management in times of inflation :-
ERP Software is crucial for cost management and process improvement in this sector, which is dominated by the concrete industry. ERP gains much more value when integrated with BIM by offering financial and data insights while developing projects. The IFC4Precast project, which simplifies procedures and gets rid of contradictory information, is one illustration. The real strength of AI-driven ERP systems is their compatibility with pricing fluctuations in the commodities market and their ability to make smart material sourcing decisions for your requirements. Further customizing ERP software improves cost management for the success of construction businesses.
3. Enabling VDC in times of commutation issues:-
In today’s time, BIM is the best asset for your virtual design and construction (VDC) operations. With a diverse pool of smart plugins for an automated workflow, BIM software is able to optimize pre-construction stages. It facilitates remote collaboration with real-time updates on visualization and clash detection to improve your construction and lifecycle management operations.
4. Finally, delivering an economically and environmentally sustainable property:-
These very same AI and BIM integrations allow a designer to take care of multiple metrics, such as cost and carbon footprint, while developing a project. This is not so much a cakewalk with a linear and humane design methodology. Thus, an economically and environmentally sustainable output could be more possible for real estate developers through the adoption of BIM tools.
BIM enables economically and environmentally sustainable properties through enhanced design analysis involving
- Material efficiency
- Lifecycle assessment
- Energy performance monitoring
- Collaboration and communication on sustainable principles
- Proactive facility management
Challenges in adopting BIM for Real Estate
Adoption of BIM in real estate is surely rewarding, but the real estate industry is still lacking in the initiative for this. One of the major reasons could be the existence of dubious practices and non-compliance with governmental regulations. Also, even the biggest player is not technologically well-equipped when it comes to the latest BIM practices. However, the incorporation of advanced BIM practices in real estate services would increase industry compliance and transparency with customers. The future is definitely more and more real estate players partnering with BIM vendors or BIM-oriented real estate services.
Some organizations do not use Building Information Modeling (BIM) for real estate operations due to reasons such as lack of awareness, cost constraints, resistance to change, difficulty in hiring skilled professionals, fragmented industry practices, complex integration with existing systems, regulatory considerations, and a perceived lack of immediate ROI. To overcome these barriers, organizations can raise awareness, provide training and support, collaborate with stakeholders, standardize practices, address regulatory considerations, and showcase successful case studies. Governments and industry associations can also incentivize and promote BIM adoption.
BIM LOD and Dimensioning for Real Estate
The concept of utilizing BIM in real estate is aimed at achieving detailed transparency with stakeholders. It could act as an important proptech tool, paving the way for more democratized real estate offerings that could propel robust economic growth from this sector. And the concepts of LOD and dimensioning are just add-ons to ensure the same. With LOD (Level of Development), you could have a detailed visualization of how each part has been assembled as you progress with every level. Plus, the BIM dimensions give a critical assessment of important parameters like cost, resources, assets, and sustainability to plan out real estate operations with a good grip on ROI. BIM dimensions beyond 7D (sustainability) ensure effective facility and property management too.
The future of Real Estate is Property Management with a Digital Twin Approach.
Digital twinning is still very underutilized for real estate and property management operations. In the 21st century, with a rapidly growing population and even the pressure of growing climate change turbulence, properties are subject to sustainable management.
Digital twins play a crucial role in real estate by simplifying complex data, improving decision-making, and increasing engagement. Some of the prominent real estate project examples deploying digital twinning include:
- Singapore’s Virtual Singapore
- The Edge in Amsterdam
- Hudson Yards in New York City
These digital twins offer immersive experiences, enabling better resource management, enhanced public safety, and sustainable development.
However, implementing digital twins in real estate presents challenges such as data security, integration complexity, and user training. Therefore, starting with digital twin operations requires investments in cybersecurity, choosing platforms with seamless integration, and providing comprehensive user training to the workforce.
Future trends for real estate and property management include increased adoption, integration with IoT, and AI-powered analytics. Digital twins represent a significant leap in real estate management, offering unprecedented control and insight. The role of UX design in making complex systems accessible and useful is essential, as it’s not just about technology but about creating user experiences that make the technology work for people.
