National Physical Laboratory
NPL has set an objective - to improve the Asset Management of all the buildings on the its site. So, it is taking the opportunity to use emerging BIM technology as a collaborative, integrated project delivery tool for the buildings’ on-going surveys, designs, construction and in-use activities.
Implementation of BIMXtra
The buildings at NPL are heavily serviced with complex mechanical and electrical installations, whose continuous operation and performance is critical to the research and development work carried out by the occupants.
Base architectural 3D models of some 50 buildings have been created, using a combination of laser scan survey and existing 2D drawings. Ground terrain was generated using mesh techniques and plantroom M&E services, including underground, using Autodesk Revit MEP.
These 3D models have been loaded into BIMXtra so they can be viewed through it in a Common Data Environment. 2D layouts have been created from these converted models and have also been loaded to the system to enable the use of Insight, Clearbox’s 2D/3D mobile application.
Across the site there are in excess of 1,800 room spaces and 2,100 doors documented in the BIMXtra database and progressively a further >10,000 MEP assets are to be added.
With the use of Insight, NPL is able to review its assets in an interactive 3D model/2D drawing CDE.
Benefits
The production of models, utilising BIMXtra as a Common Data Environment and making these assets available on a mobile device, is enabling staff at NPL to gain a better understanding of the condition of their site assets, which in turn is enabling them to make better decisions that affect the day to day scientific measurement research by the hundreds of employees that work on the site.
This BIM journey is very much work in progress but momentum is growing and in 2016 the focus has moved from architecture to mechanical and electrical assets. Clearbox has used one of the external plantroom pods as an exemplar for the retrospective conversion of M&E installed services where critical assets are located, which will act as a benchmark for other building conversions.