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Designing fire protection installations using BIM technology is a task that requires professional knowledge and new skills compared to the still popular 2D design. However, the benefits of a new approach to design completely reward the work for our specialist https://karnoenergy.com/.
BIM technology and its place in the design of fire protection installations
BIM technology is a tool that enables the reduction of potential errors that may occur during the implementation of the investment. Thanks to 3D design and ongoing updating of the entire model of the designed building, designers from various industries can remove any collisions on an ongoing basis, e.g. between the distribution pipeline of a fixed fire extinguishing device and the building’s ventilation system. The effect of industry coordination is, inter alia, shortening the assembly time of various internal installations and minimizing costs – there is no need to create stocks of materials or parts necessary to build a given installation.
The use of BIM modeling in the design of fire protection systems allows you to create designs of fire protection installations, including fixed fire extinguishing devices or fire automation systems, optimally suited to the conditions in the installation destination. Each object created in BIM technology has all the parameters of a real building, and any changes made to the design by an architect or designers from various industries are immediately visible in the 3D model. Thanks to this, a designer from a particular industry has the opportunity to take into account all elements outside his scope, because he must remember that his work has an impact on other participants in the process. This allows you to eliminate possible errors at the initial design stage.
What is and what is BIM technology?
BIM (building information modeling) is an abbreviation of the English name, which can be translated as “building information modeling”. BIM technology can be defined as the flow of information about the designed object and all costs related to its construction and maintenance. Therefore, this concept applies not only to the building design stage, but also to the implementation of the investment or facility management in the future. BIM technology allows you to create a spatial, virtual object that reflects the planned investment and has all the possible parameters of a real building.
The information included in the BIM model can be a tool for analyzing the effectiveness and ergonomics of the applied solutions, as well as for estimating the costs of investment implementation and subsequent use of the implemented systems. This means that we already know at the design stage to what extent a given investment is profitable. We can, among others check whether the assumed budget is within the costs of implementation or whether some materials will not be wasted during its implementation – thus we will eliminate the problem before it arises. This, in turn, enables significant savings in time and financial resources.
3D design
For the purposes of the implementation of BIM technology and 3D design, software has been created to aid design – they operate by placing previously defined three-dimensional objects in the design and adjusting their parameters to the whole. Any modifications made to individual attributes are immediately taken into account in area tables and the entire 3D design reflecting the parameters of the real building.
One of such programs is Autodesk Revit, on which our team of designers works. This program uses parametric design in BIM technology. Designing in Revit allows you to automatically track changes made to the design and documentation by all parties involved in the design process: architects, constructors or designers of internal installations, including fire protection installations. At the same time, you can see how the proposed solutions look in three-dimensional space, which allows you to avoid collisions or other errors in the design. Each change is also visible to the investor or general contractor. Thanks to this, it is easier for each of the parties to visualize the space and understand the idea of the project, including the relationship between the functioning of individual systems or devices in the facility.