US Glass - April 2008 - USGlass Magazine

A Model
Approach?
continued from page 30
We still have to interact with [architects] to make sure
what they draw can actually be built; we still have to
check the construction of the document.
—Jerry Kern, Trainor Glass Co.
BIM Libraries
Want to see which other companies have had their products modeled? Check
out these online libraries:
• BIMWorld, www.bimworld.com
• Google 3D Warehouse, http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/
• Sweet’s Network, http://products.construction.com/portal/server.pt
making sure the information they provide
[to the BIM libraries] is conveyed
correctly. “We have to make sure all the
embedded data is correct and also that
all of the limitations [such as with a
curtainwall system] are all included,”
he says.
One challenge for Trainor Glass has
to do with the way the model is drawn.
Kern explains that architects can still
draw whatever they want—even if it’s
not possible to construct. “So we still
have to interact with them to make sure
what they draw can actually be built;
we still have to check the constructability
of the project.” This is also
one of the reasons they’ve not yet ventured
into using BIM for their own design
purposes.
“It’s not that drawing in 3D is different
from the real world, it’s that BIM
does not construct the glazing system
in 3D the same way as it’s constructed
in the real world,” says Kern.
Air of Uncertainty
Just because some companies agree
about the benefits of BIM, not everyone
sees it in the same positive light. Terry
Newcomb, director of marketing for
Thermal Windows Inc. in Tulsa, Okla.,
isn’t yet convinced that BIM is the best
way to go.
“BIM seems like another attempt to
wow the industry with 3D capabilities
and I’ve seen it before,” says Newcomb.
“Architects and manufacturers sign on
to these technologies, and we invest
time and money into developing them,
then get burned because it doesn’t perform
the way it’s supposed to and everyone
ends up going back to 2D CAD.”
In order to adopt the technology,
Newcomb says he would have to see
real results that BIM products truly deliver
what they promise.
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32 USGlass, Metal & Glazing | April 2008 www.usglassmag.com