India: Building Information Modelling (BIM) solutions can help reduce the capital cost and carbon footprint by over 20% in the construction sector, claims a study conducted by KPMG and RICS School of Built Environment at Amity University and commissioned by 3D designing software maker Autodesk. The study states project delays, cost overruns and liquidity constraints continue to trouble the real estate and construction sectors.
As per the report, while a number of developed countries across the world have already adopted BIM to reduce project delays and cost overruns, Indian firms are fast adopting BIM. "BIM has the potential to provide significant benefits to the Indian built environment sector. But implementation of BIM requires a change in the mindset of all stakeholders, as managements of most organizations are reluctant to adopt," Autodesk India and SAARC Managing Director Pradeep Nair said.
To promote BIM, it is highly essential that government agencies and clients lay stress on the usage of BIM in their procurement processes and contracts, he added. BIM, that offers digital representation of the project during its lifecycle, right from planning to execution of the project, is gradually picking up among Indian firms. BIM solutions allow users to construct 'smart' and 'computable' three-dimensional (3D) model of the project to enhance its design, construction and operation.
As the awareness for BIM is increasing within the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sectors, around 22 per cent of the firms have already started using BIM; and over 78 per cent firms would adopt the technology in coming years, according to the findings.
According to findings of the survey BIM is used most extensively in real estate sector, mostly in design development and construction stage. Most users who are using BIM fall in the residential segment, building housing projects, followed by those doing mixed land use projects under the commercial category. The lowest usage was found to be in the non-housing sectors such as industrial and infrastructural developments.
High cost of hardware and software, unavailability of process implementation guidelines and lack of support from the government are some of the other challenges that the industry is facing.
Globally, BIM is finding increased attention from the construction sector. The US is still the leader in BIM usage, while other countries like the UK and Australia also see high adoption rates. Estimates suggest it is a USD 10 billion market.
Source: Autodesk
