Collaboration par excellence

Example: Hasselt City Hall, Belgium — The building of the new municipal administration center in Hasselt, Belgium, demonstrates how seamless collaboration in building projects can minimize risks and save costs from the design phase all the way to commissioning.
A joint project of several brands of the Nemetschek Group.
Nemetschek brands involved: Allplan, GRAPHISOFT, Solibri

Pioneering planning and project execution with Open BIM

“The end-to-end use of BIM solutions constitutes genuine added value for all stakeholders in the building process
because it enables seamless and efficient collboration”
Steven Hendrickx, Head Architect in Hasselt

Large-scale, highly complex building projects in particular require ongoing, reliable and efficient coodination between all stakeholders – both internal and external – across disciplines and between companies. Therefore, in association with other market players, the Nemetschek Group is promoting the Open BIM data standard. This is a universal, collaborative approach to designing, constructing and operating buildings based on open standards and workflows It makes it possible for project stakeholders to collaborate, even if the type of software varies from user to user. The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) interface has established itself as an open standard and is therefore of central significance.

Sharing and evaluating data throughout the entire product life cycle saves time and money and improves quality. The administration of data is key to this digital transformation, for it is only possible to take full advantage of the potential if each stakeholder can access the data that he or she needs at any given time. This begins with a realistic BIM building model, which is an essential prerequisite for a genuine 5D workflo. This model is no longer limited to just 3D construction data; it also includes data concerning the dimensions of time and costs.

Seamless collaboration exemplified by the Hasselt City Hall

Under the management of the architect team comprising Jaspers-Eyers, MASS Architects and Michel Janssen, a new municipal administration center is being built in Hasselt. The complex, consisting of a renovated building section and a new building, provides approx. 17,000 m2 for the city administration and social services as well as offices. The architects and their most important partners are using Open BIM software solutions for the entire construction process. Three Nemetschek solutions are being implemented for this project: Archicad from Graphisoft for the design and planning of the architects, Allplan Engineering for civil engineering, and the Solibri Model Checker for the BIM quality control carried out by the construction company.

From the beginning, all information concerning the building project is contained in the digital building model – from the draft to implementation – including all design details, desired materials, fire protection requirements, acoustic properties, insulation and building structures, and administration. This constitutes considerable added value for all stakeholders compared to the old standard model, which was purely 3D. Thus, this improvement ensures more than just seamless collaboration between all those involved. The complex project can be turned over to the municipality – the proud building owner – with the required quality, on time and within the specified budget.

Hasselt City Hall is groundbreaking – in terms of design, planning and project implementation.

Independent and yet consistent

Steven Hendrickx, the head architect in Hasselt, recognized four decisive factors with Open BIM over the course of the successful project:

  • Individual partners design their model with their preferred BIM software, and with their own templates. Outstanding collaboration is ensured, though, thanks to a common, uniform standard which is specified in advance.
  • The division of labor is defined at the beginning of the project. Data on statics, for instance, have an essential impact on the architecture and structural design. Data on heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, on the other hand, are also important but don’t generally flow directly into the architecture. These data, for example, can be sufficiently analyzed with the BIM solution for quality assurance from Solibri.
  • Design changes in one area don’t necessarily affect the plans of all the others involved in the project. The architecture and the building stage are inherently the most closely linked.
  • The expertise of the staff, i.e., extensive holistic knowledge of the various building disciplines, is also critical for the success of the project.

Two examples of the advantage of precise planning

In Hasselt, the construction company was commissioned with excavation, among other tasks. An assessment of the amount of sand that needed to be removed was done based on a cal culation using conventional 2D planning methods, which yielded a result of 800 cubic meters. The engineers used the Solibri Model Checker based on Open BIM and the data provided by the architects and arrived at a figue that was just half this amount, i.e., 400 cubic meters of sand. This shows how exact the work with Open BIM solutions can be.

The steel struts to be installed are another example: With the interface function IFC Exports from Allplan, it was possible to use the BIM model to automatically calculate which steel struts needed fieproofing. All it took was a mouse click to obtain precise results, right down to the running meter. In projects that don’t use Open BIM solutions, these calculations are made by manually entering the data from 2D drawings in Excel or some other software and then recalculating and evaluating the data for use in quotations and planning, a process that is susceptible to error and one that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. These errors often go undetected until the actual cost planning is already completed. In the case of the Hasselt City Hall,  it was possible to avoid such errors from the outset.

Converting to Open BIM pays off

As is the case with any change, it takes a certain amount of time for companies and employees to accept BIM as the norm. The best way, according to Steven Hendrickx, is to start out by planning smaller projects using BIM. The experience thereby gained will make it possible to complete successively larger BIM projects. The advantages of collaborating through Open BIM are obvious: The entire workflow is much simpler for all project stakeholders, and building projects are completed within time and cost budgets.

CONCLUSION

Consistent standards and open interfaces in par-ticular are essential for successful building projects. Stakeholders need solutions that can “work together” for all and any individual tasks being performed. Seamless collaboration between humans and machines: This is ensured with Open BIM, and backed by the brands of the Nemetschek Group.

Reference projects on this topic:

Nemetschek acquires US software provider Bluebeam

Bluebeam Corporate News Brand News News Company News

  • Bluebeam is a leading provider of PDF-based workflow solutions for digital processes and collaboration
  • Significant reinforcement and expansion of market position in North America
  • Extension of user base by more than 650,000 users

Munich, October 3, 2014 – Software provider Nemetschek AG (ISIN 0006452907) announced today that it will acquire 100% of Bluebeam Software, Inc., headquartered in Pasadena/California, USA.

Bluebeam is a leading provider of PDF-based workflow solutions for digital processes and collaboration in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, Construction) industry with more than 650,000 users worldwide. In the 2013 financial year, Bluebeam generated revenues of approx. US $22.4 million, which corresponds to a 48% growth over the previous year. In the first half of 2014, Bluebeam continued on an accelerated growth path and generated revenues amounting to US $16.5 million. The operating result (EBIT) in the first half of 2014 was US $3.2 million. Bluebeam has been recognized on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 as one of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology companies in North America and named on the Red Herring Top 100 North America list.

Its customers include more than 74% of top US companies in the construction industry, according to industry rankings by Engineering News-Record. In addition, Bluebeam increasingly addresses a major market potential of companies from the sectors of oil and gas, utilities, manufacturing and government. According to the company’s own calculations, the use of Bluebeam solutions increases productivity by 60%, reduces the costs of paper and distribution by up to 85%, and leads to a reduction of schedules of 40%.

The desktop, server-based and mobile solutions address document-intensive industries and administrations for the digitalization of workflows. The PDF-based technology combines the process steps of “create – comment – collaborate – organize” in growing workflow automation. The intuitive and flexible solutions are used, for example, in all phases of the building process – from designing to bidding and the awarding of contracts all the way to the building stage and management. As a result of the provision of digital and paperless workflows, the platform technology called “Bluebeam Revu” considerably improves collaboration of all parties involved in the construction project.

“Bluebeam is a perfect complement to our solution portfolio for the entire building process and the life cycle of objects with the addition of drawing-based processes to our model-based BIM workflows. As a result of the acquisition, we reinforce our goal of rising to become the world-leading provider of open standards in the AEC market,” says Patrik Heider, CFOO and Spokesman of Nemetschek AG.

Market presence and customer base in North America considerably strengthened

With the acquisition, the Nemetschek Group not only extends its solution offering strategically but also reinforces its international market presence especially in North America. At the same time, as a result of Bluebeam, additional customer potential is within reach for the strong CAD brands from the Design segment. Bluebeam, in turn, will profit from Nemetschek’s stronger presence in Europe and Asia.

“North America is a very important and rapidly growing sales market in which we currently generate about 10% of our revenues. As a result of the acquisition of Bluebeam, we are taking a leap forward and considerably strengthening our market position,” continues Patrik Heider. “At the same time, in North America, we are gaining qualified employees, a well-known brand with great software and marketing know-how and a large customer base.“

Bluebeam fits perfectly into the strategy of the Nemetschek Group to cover solutions across the entire life cycle in the AEC industry, as well as reinforces the necessity of open standards in the building process. All solutions of the Nemetschek Group can be integrated into the Bluebeam workflow with a simple PDF conversion.

“Today is an exciting day for Bluebeam Software and Bluebeam users alike,” said Richard Lee, Bluebeam Software CEO. “With its Open BIM philosophy, Nemetschek is committed to making project information available to everyone, a belief strongly held by Bluebeam as well. I look forward to working together to make digital project collaboration more transparent and easier to access by all parties from design, build to operate.”

Innovative and fast-growing company

Bluebeam was founded in 2002 and has about 150 employees. In addition to its headquarters in Pasadena, the company has offices in San Diego, Chicago and Manchester. Sales are made online, via direct sales and a network of about 180 resellers worldwide.

In keeping with the strategic alignment of the Nemetschek Group, Bluebeam will continue to be led by its current management as an independent brand company in the future.

The purchase price of the acquisition amounts to about US $100 million (cash-/debt-free). Financing is provided by the company’s own capital resources and the taking out of a loan. The purchase price includes earn-out components, which are linked to the increase in revenues and profitability in the financial years from 2014 to 2016. According to today’s perspective, earn-out payments of approx. US $3.5 million are anticipated. The acquisition is subject to the approval of Bluebeam’s shareholders and is expected to be closed in October 2014.

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