ABSTRACT
The challenge of using Building Information Modeling (BIM) systems is becoming an important issue in the building industries of the USA and Japan, as well as in other countries. BIM enables front-loading decision-making in the planning, programming, and design phases, meaning more is discussed and decided in the basic design stage, rather than in the succeeding detailed design stage. The use of BIM provides a holistic picture for the general contractors, where in the conventional construction process the information is scattered throughout architectural, structural, mechanical, and electrical drawings. Starting from the latter half of the 1990s, with more efficient personal computers and Internet access, studies on computer usage in architectural planning and design became easier. The chapter explains these advantages and discusses the development of meta-BIM as a major player in the current innovations to the building delivery cycle.
