Building Information Modeling - Collaboration in the AEC Industry

(Image: Dossick and Gramer 2008)

Collaboration with Dr. Gina Neff, Department of Communication 

Drop by a see the new landscaping and newly renovated Architecture Hall

Office: 120E Architecture Hall

Assistant Professor
Department of Construction Management
University of Washington
Architecture Hall 120, Box 351610
Seattle, WA 98195
(206) 221-4894
cell (206) 491-3623
cdossick@u.washington.edu
https://faculty.washington.edu/cdossick

Prof. Dossick's research generally falls into the areas of Emerging Technologies, BIM, Integrated Practice, and the impact thereof.  Current research topics include BIM technologies and collaboration for Green Buildings, Developing BIM for existing buildings, and the Virtual Coach.  Previous work includes the Royalty Research Fund and the evaluation of exterior cladding systems sponsored by Ceraclad. 

National Science Foundation, Division of Social and Economic Sciences, Innovation & Organizational Sciences (IOS), Award No. SES-0823338, 7/1/2008 – 6/30/2011

Collaborators Gina Neff and Carrie Sturts Dossick:  Building on the Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator's previous and current work in computer-mediated communication and technology for industrial and building construction, we will analyze the organizational process of commercial construction using case study ethnographic observations and interviews with 50 leaders in the field to augment our current research of two case study projects and 150 interviews on technology and communication. We will develop typologies of collaborative structures and technology use that reflect our rich ethnographic data. To test the theories we generate from this qualitative research, we will use and augment a national database of green building projects to analyze whether and how collaboration and the use of new technologies helps make buildings greener. Using the scorecards for the LEED green certification process for at least 100 projects in the database, we will measure which aspects of sustainable building design and construction required increased collaboration, the introduction of new IT, or on a combination of the two.

U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), CERL-15 Research Area, $200,000, 1/1/2008 – 9-30-2008  

Faculty: Eddy Rojas, Carrie Sturts Dossick, John Schaufelberger

Current BIM technology is capable of capturing existing facility data, but the cost and time of developing a complete BIM model for each existing facility would be prohibitive and is not needed to achieve the life cycle benefits of having as-built, current, engineering data for all facilities.   In lieu of a complete model, a subset of a complete BIM model could be developed for an existing facility that could capture the minimum amount of information the DPW would need to maintain and manage its facility.  The data captured in this subset could adhere to the National BIM Standard (NBIMS) so that, if the need ever arises to develop a complete BIM of the facility, should it undergo a major renovation or recapitalization, the cost and time effort would be greatly reduced.  The objective of this project is to provide a comparative analysis of alternative methodologies/scenarios of capturing as-built BIM information for existing facilities at the Fort Lewis Army base in Fort Lewis, Washington.

UW Royalty Research Fund, $39,655, 7/1/2007 – 6/30/2008

Collaborators: Gina Neff and Carrie Sturts Dossick

We seek to analyze how people adopt and adapt to new technology in a field where these technologies challenges deeply entrenched work practices. We aim to understand how the introduction of a radical new technology, Building Information Models (BIM), will change collaboration among architects, engineers, and builders within what we call the Building System Coordination process—the months-long problem-solving stage in which designers and builders collaborate on a building's structural, electrical, and mechanical systems. Using a comparative case study method, we will observe two building projects over an eight-month period (one with and one without this new technology), analyze the ramifications of the existing frameworks of standards of practice and occupational boundaries for collaboration, and identify the potential of new technology to change these frameworks. Will the introduction of new technology support collaboration, disrupt established ways of working, or fundamentally restructure work processes? Detailed empirical data combined with rich qualitative analysis of technological and organizational change in this particular setting will help us answer these fundamental social science questions.

U.S. Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), Comprehensive Program, Grant P116B060047, 1/1/2007 - 12/31/2009

Faculty: Eddy Rojas, Amlan Mukherjee (Michican Technological University), Carrie Sturts Dossick

The Virtual Coach project will develop and demonstrate situational simulations for problem-based learning by construction engineering students. Situational simulations using many of the engaging features of video games help learners further develop decision-making skills. These simulations are created with the Virtual Coach, a desktop software tool that will be revised for use on the Internet. The project will produce a simulation development kit for non-programmers.