The Facts of BIM

"Let me tell you 'bout the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees, the moon up above, and the thing called love." - Dean Martin

Our Revit family of products is based on the notion of building information modeling or BIM for short. So I was not surprised to see a recent Tweet.

Wanting to respond, I asked around. Senior Industry Marketing Manager, Sarah Hodges, provided me with a list.

• The 2009 McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarket Report1, The Business Value of BIM: Getting Building Information Modeling to the Bottom Line (2009 SmartMarket Report), states that nearly half of the U.S. building industry is using BIM, a 75 percent increase since 2007.

• According to the 2010 McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarket Report, The Business Value of BIM in Europe: Getting Building Information Modeling to the Bottom Line in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany (2010 SmartMarket Report on BIM in Europe)2, 36 percent of the industry in Western Europe has adopted BIM.

• The 2009 SmartMarket Report reports that six out of ten architects in the United States create BIM models, with half of those users also performing analysis on the models. According to the 2010 SmartMarket Report on BIM in Europe, in Western Europe 70 percent of architects that use BIM believe that it leads to better-designed projects.

• The 2009 SmartMarket Report states that over the next two years, the use of BIM is expected to double by structural engineers, triple by mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineers, and quadruple by civil engineers. The 2010 SmartMarket Report on BIM in Europe states that in Western Europe nearly 70 percent of engineers report positive ROI and 62 percent found BIM to be of high or very high value during the construction phase.

• According to the 2009 SmartMarket Report, the use of BIM among U.S. contractors has almost quadrupled in the past two years, with half of all contractors currently using BIM.

• 70 percent of the U.S. owners surveyed by the 2009 SmartMarket Report reported a positive ROI from using BIM. In Western Europe, 65 percent of the owners surveyed report asking for BIM, according to the 2010 SmartMarket Report on BIM in Europe.

Thanks Sarah.

Umbrellas are alive in the lab ('cause it's raining cold, hold facts up in here.)