Lessons from the FieldLessons from the Field

Dr. Carrie Sturts DossickDr. Gina Neff

Brittany Fiore-Silfvast

Dr. Carrie Sturts DossickDr. Gina Neff

Brittany Fiore-Silfvast

BIM + Collaboration = GREEN?BIM + Collaboration = GREEN?

BIM, Collaboration and Green BuildingBIM, Collaboration and Green Building

• Temporary Teams• Establish how they are going to work• Dynamics of people working on the project• Companies that comprise the project

• Through this – technology is introduced and negotiated

• So, we saw organizational and technological innovation

• You innovate in all of these ways both with new technology as well as existing technologies

MethodologyMethodology

Case StudiesNational Interviews

ChicagoSan

FranciscoLos

AngelesNewYork

Seattle Valley

UW RRF Study

Hill

• 28 Architects, 22 Builders 15 Engineers (N=65)

• 60-90 minute interviews on experience, culture & communication

• 28 Architects, 22 Builders 15 Engineers (N=65)

• 60-90 minute interviews on experience, culture & communication

• 7-12 months observation of MEP coordination meetings

• Interviews • Additional materials

• 7-12 months observation of MEP coordination meetings

• Interviews • Additional materials

MethodologyMethodology

Case StudiesNational Interviews

San Francisco

LosAngeles

Seattle Construction

NSF Study Phase I

Design

• + Owners, BIM Experts, Green Building Experts

• 60-90 minute interviews on experience, culture & communication

• + Owners, BIM Experts, Green Building Experts

• 60-90 minute interviews on experience, culture & communication

• 18-month (300 hours) observation of a green building project

• Interviews • Additional materials

• 18-month (300 hours) observation of a green building project

• Interviews • Additional materials

MethodologyMethodology

Fuzzy Set AnalysisAIA Awards Database

Green Award winning projects from the U.S. Types of BIM

NSF Study Phase II

Types of Collaboration

Wide range of projects (N~200)

Survey of architects

Wide range of projects (N~200)

Survey of architects

• Causal Pathways between Green, Collaboration, and BIM

• Causal Pathways between Green, Collaboration, and BIM

Meetings: Design Consultant MeetingsMeetings: Design Consultant Meetings

Meetings: Owner, Architect & Contractor (OAC)Meetings: Owner, Architect & Contractor (OAC)

Meetings: MEP Coordination MeetingMeetings: MEP Coordination Meeting

Individual Scopes to Consolidated ModelIndividual Scopes to Consolidated Model

Company – Communication DivisionsCompany – Communication Divisions

Engineers Subcontractor

Architect

Owner

General Contractor

Fabricator/2nd tier sub

AOC meetings

MEP meetings

MEPPE

GC Organization

FireElectrical

Engineers Architect Owner

Plumb

HVAC

Piping

Company - MEP Hierarchy Company - MEP Hierarchy

“Sometimes you just want to be able to talk to the people who know what you’re talking about”

Balance Projects

Act in Market

Decision on Staffing, Work Practices & Exchange Affect Others

Produce Documents

Translate

Project Dictates Constraints

Mission

Tasks

Relationship to other

orientations

Scope

Produce Building

Manage Team

Scopes Intersect in Unanticipated Ways

Project Company

Comparison of Conflicting ObligationsComparison of Conflicting Obligations

Ramifications of Conflicting ObligationsRamifications of Conflicting Obligations

Project OrientationProject Orientation• Mutual Respect • Influence on Decisions• Mutual Respect • Influence on Decisions

• Confined to scope• Disenfranchised from

decisions

• Confined to scope• Disenfranchised from

decisions

Scope Orientation

Scope Orientation

Three Key Sets of FindingsThree Key Sets of Findings

1. Swift, Wary Trust2. Documents used for Records & Collaboration3. Messy Talk, Clean Technology

Swift (Wary) TrustSwift (Wary) Trust

Design & Construction teams share some aspects of “swift trust”

• Key differences make organizing the work challenging• Hiring & Firing• Similar teams across the industry• Reliance on others’ in the team

Hill Valley Campus

Roles Clear & Predictable

No -- Conflict No -- Conflict Yes

Decision making authority

Limited Limited Expanded

Goal Alignment Conflicting Obligations

Conflicting Obligations

Project Orientation

Documents Documents

Tech or Talk?Tech or Talk?

≠

Clean Technology

Messy Talk

“unexpected discoveries” (Suwa, et al. 2000)

“emergent”(Whyte, et al. 2008)

“documentation, data exchange

and management” (Ku, et al. 2008)

Messy Talk: Three DimensionsMessy Talk: Three Dimensions

Passive and ActiveFormal and InformalFlexible and Inflexible

FindingsFindings

Documentationand analysis

Passive CommunicationPassive Communication

Collaborative problem solving and system optimization

Active CommunicationActive Communication

Direct digital and data exchange

Talkand dialog

AnnotationAnd note taking

FindingsFindings

Formal DocumentationFormal Documentation

Informal DialogInformal Dialog

Procedural and legal documentation

Talk andbrainstorming

Documentation

“For the meeting minutes, I need dialog.”

FindingsFindings

InflexibleVisualizationsInflexibleVisualizations

Flexible VisualizationsFlexible Visualizations

Seeing and communicating

Sketching, editing, and erasing

MCA Report FindingsMCA Report Findings

• There is an increasingly important roll for technologists on project teams

• Mobile computing technologies link the field to the office

• The line is blurring between design and construction

• BIM is enabling and expanding prefabrication

AcknowledgementsAcknowledgements

Thanks to our great research team:Anne Anderson

Hoda HomayouniJJ Powell

Naila CrawfordChris HariharHelen Juan

Kristin Gustafson

Support provided by:National Science Foundation

UW Royalty Research FoundationCollege of Built Environments

Department of Communication

THANK YOU !!!!THANK YOU !!!!