Browsing by Author "Thabet, Walid"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 28
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    A 6-Step Systematic Process for Model-Based Facility Data Delivery
    Thabet, Walid; Lucas, Jason D. (2017)
    The use of BIM for FM by owners is growing, yet there are challenges that exist because of the need for customized data standards to fit each owner's need. This research examines the development of a model-based approach for capturing and handing over facility data. Previously completed research consists of a spread-sheet based documentation method for capturing identified facility-related information to support an owner's operation and maintenance of educational facilities. An approach was developed and piloted to validate a process that utilized milestone information submissions for documenting appropriate information throughout the design and construction of a facility using a spreadsheet based approach with direct input into the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS). Using a pilot project approach, this paper builds on the spreadsheet based approach by identifying how the facility information could be captured throughout the project using a model based approach. A six-step systematic process is defined for BIM-FM integration to capture facility data and integrate the information into a CMMS. Various challenges and considerations to capture and deliver facility data are discussed. The paper also discusses the need for further validation of the proposed process and summarises ongoing study to test the proposed approaches using a second pilot project.
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    A BIM-based Object-oriented Data Model to Support Sustainable Demolition Waste Management Decision Making at End-of-Life
    Hamidi, Behzad (Virginia Tech, 2015-05-22)
    Sustainable demolition waste management is rarely practiced within the construction industry. This is mainly due to the fact that the decision-making process for sustainable demolition waste management is a very resource-demanding and time-consuming task in terms of data collection and data management. The decision-making process includes multiple analyses of possible demolition waste management alternatives from economic, environmental, and social perspectives. Such analyses require waste managers to capture and manage huge amounts of data scattered within fragmented data sources at the end-of-life of a building. The process of capturing and managing this information for the building end-of-life would be time-consuming and costly. Therefore, the waste managers are reluctant to pursue sustainable demolition waste management practices in order to prevent potential delays and incurred costs. This research identified information that is required to conduct sustainable demolition waste management analyses. The identified information was then classified based on information sources. An object-oriented data model (OODM) was proposed to allow the waste managers to more efficiently store and manage the information at the end-of-life phase. Furthermore, a sustainable demolition waste management prototype application was developed to demonstrate how the required information is captured from different sources of data, stored within OODM classes, and retrieved from the integrated database. Finally, the proposed OODM was verified in terms of its scope, flexibility, and implementability. The goal of the research is to offer a method for storing and managing end-of-life information in an efficient and effective manner to support sustainable demolition waste management decision making. To achieve the goal, this dissertation outlines the objectives of the research, the methodologies used in developing the object-oriented data model, conclusions, limitations, and potential future research work.
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    A Case Study Towards Transferring Relevant Safety Information for Facilities Maintenance Using BIM
    Wetzel, Eric M.; Thabet, Walid (2018)
    Facilities maintenance (FM) personnel in the U.S. experience a much higher rate of injury and illness than the national average when compared to all other fields of employment. In order to aid in the mitigation of these incidences, a Safety for Facilities Maintenance Framework is being developed. This framework delivers safety relevant information to FM personnel through the use of a data processing and rule based system that processes safety relevant information stored within a comprehensive BIM model. One major issue associated with utilizing a comprehensive BIM model as a repository for FM data is the transfer of relevant information from the design and construction phases to the facilities management phase. This paper reviews the detailed issues surrounding data transfer, identifies current market solutions by others, and presents a case study in order to transfer data utilizing existing data exchange tools. Finally, utilizing an existing transfer mechanisms within Autodesk Navisworks, coupled with a newly developed framework, a method to get asset-specific safety information to FM staff prior to initiating an FM task is proposed. Although this method of data transfer may not be the most efficient, it utilizes existing functionality within Navisworks software. Using Navisworks minimizes the learning curve and execution in comparison to similar proprietary transfer mechanisms.
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    Commercialization for Innovative Products in the Residential Construction Industry
    McCoy, Andrew P. (Virginia Tech, 2008-07-25)
    This work presents the development of a new framework for the commercialization of innovative products in the residential construction industry. It is the aim of this work to identify commercialization decisions, actions, risks, barriers and accelerators specific to the residential construction industry market that will increase the acceptance of product innovations for those developing them. Commercialization is broadly defined as the process of developing a business enterprise from an idea, through feasibility and implementation, to its acceptance into a market (USDOE 1999, Goldsmith 2003). Commercialization frameworks describe the concurrent decisions and actions along the innovation development process, optimizing all of the technical and business decisions required for a successful introduction to the marketplace. Successful commercialization frameworks serve as a form of development plan, promoting solutions to questions and problems that arise along the development path. This research derives such a framework for the commercialization of innovative products and makes it specific to residential construction through the following tasks: 1. Understanding standard terminology: defining innovation and commercialization as they relate to this work. 2. Creating a lens for the unique nature of commercialization in this industry: deriving a commercialization framework (matrix) from the research literature in business, construction, and concurrent engineering, capable of accepting later alterations. 3. Understanding the manufacturer's role and risks: conducting case study interviews for fifteen innovative residential construction products that specify important tasks, risks and benefits for commercialization. 4. Understanding the role, risks and benefits of builders, as users of innovation: comparing case studies and workshop surveys of many residential construction industry players that focus on the builder to establish parameters for the innovation commercialization matrix. 5. Linking both manufacturer and builder: comparing manufacturer commercialization best-practices with builder adoption patterns for innovative products over time.
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    Decision-Making Framework for the Selection and Design of Shading Devices
    Olbina, Svetlana (Virginia Tech, 2005-02-11)
    Most shading device systems installed in windows or glass walls are used only for protection from overheating and glare, neglecting other possible functions, such as increasing the daylight level in the space or collecting solar energy. The blinds are usually made of opaque or translucent materials, and if they are partially open/closed or completely closed, a direct view to the outside is blocked. A balance between a sufficient amount of daylight and protection from overheating of the space in summer is not often achieved due to inappropriate control of the blinds’ tilt angle. There is also a need for specific guidance for the selection and design of shading device systems in the windows. This research develops a general decision-making framework (DMF) that can be used by architects and manufacturers of shading devices. The general DMF is a guide for the user in analyzing shading device performance in the process of selection/design of the shading device. This research also develops a specific DMF to better understand and validate the general DMF. The specific DMF, based on illuminance and luminance, is used for an analysis of daylighting performance of shading devices to select the best possible existing system or new system among several alternatives. Architects or manufacturers of shading devices, as the users of the DMF, analyze various systems of blinds applied on a particular building and at a given location. The users of the DMF can apply either an experimental procedure or computer simulation that provides information about illuminance and luminance levels in the space. Based on the analysis of the results of the experiments or simulations, the user of the DMF decides which blinds to select. The specific DMF proposes a methodology for both the analysis of the daylighting performance and for the process for making a decision based on the results of the analysis. A case study is conducted in order to validate the DMF. Three types of shading devices are tested: an existing system, a patented system, and a new system, proposed by this research. The shading devices are installed in an office space located in Roanoke, Virginia. The software Autodesk VIZ 4 is used to simulate daylighting performance. The output information, such as illuminance and luminance levels in the space, is used as a basis for making the decision about which type of blinds to apply. A new system of shading device, which has a triangular cross section and is made of clear plastic with a silver coating on one side, shows better performance than the existing shading device and the patented shading device, given the research limitations. By using the specific decision-making framework, a shading device manufacturer/designer is able to understand the shading device daylighting performance from his design-imposed criteria. Selection of the shading device, given the designer's daylighting objectives, is better achieved. Existing shading devices are also able to be analyzed from a building designer's perspective. This analysis is based on the designer-imposed daylighting criteria. The specific decision-making framework helps the designers of the buildings, together with the clients, select the most appropriate shading device based on daylighting performance. The decision-making framework is a model for development of decision-making software that will help designers of buildings, facades, and shading device systems in the selection/design of shading device systems in all phases of the design.
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    Design and Evaluation of Domain-Specific Interaction Techniques in the AEC Domain for Immersive Virtual Environments
    Chen, Jian (Virginia Tech, 2006-10-25)
    Immersive virtual environments (VEs) are broadly applicable to situations where a user can directly perceive and interact with three-dimensional (3D) virtual objects. Currently, successful interactive applications of VEs are limited. Some interactive applications in the AEC (architecture / engineering / construction) domain have not yet benefited from applying VEs. A review of prior work has suggested that 3D interaction has not reached a level that meets real-world task requirements. Most interaction techniques pay little attention to the application contexts. When designers assemble these techniques to develop an interactive system, the interfaces often have very simple and not highly useful UIs. In this work, we describe a domain-specific design approach (DSD) that utilizes pervasive and accurate domain knowledge for interaction design. The purpose of this dissertation is to study the effects of domain knowledge on interaction design. The DSD approach uses a three-level interaction design framework to represents a continuous design space of interaction. The framework has generative power to suggest alternative interaction techniques. We choose the AEC domain as the subject of study. Cloning and object manipulation for massing study are the two example tasks to provide practical and empirical evidences for applying the DSD. This dissertation presents several important results of the knowledge use in the DSD approach. First, the DSD approach provides a theoretical foundation for designing 3D interaction. Techniques produced using DSD result in more useful real-world applications, at least in the domain of AEC. Second, the three-level interaction design framework forms a continuum of design and expands our understanding of 3D interaction design to a level that addresses real-world use. Third, this research proposes an integrated system design approach that integrates DSD and the usability engineering process. Fourth, this work produces a large set of empirical results and observations that demonstrate the effectiveness of domain-knowledge use in designing interaction techniques and applications. Finally, we apply domain-specific interaction techniques to real world applications and create a fairly complex application with improved usefulness.
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    A Design Framework for Integrated Design and Control Strategies in Energy Efficient Buildings
    Abaza, Hussein Fuad (Virginia Tech, 2002-04-22)
    This research proposes a computer evaluation model that assists architects and designers in producing buildings with low energy consumption. The model is based on computer-designer interaction. Here, the designer suggests a range of design alternatives, and, in turn, the computer evaluation model generates a matrix of design solutions and performs various environmental simulations. The performances of the various design solutions then analyzed by a statistical analysis package that derives relationships. These relationships explain the impact that the different building components have on energy consumption. The relationships are represented in the form of statistical relations and interactive data charts. The evaluation model was tested and used to support new ventilation strategies for the Beliveau House in Blacksburg, Virginia. The designer of this house implemented strategies for integrating solar radiation, thermal mass, thermal insulation, and air ventilation to conserve energy. A field study and computer simulation were conducted to monitor the actual performance of the house and to validate the evaluation model results. Based on the evaluation model results, this research suggests new direct and indirect ventilation control strategies to reduce cooling energy and to improve comfort. The research also suggests general design guidelines to improve the energy performance of buildings and to enhance thermal comfort. These design guidelines are based on a holistic view of integrating the building components that has significant impact on buildings thermal performance.
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    Development of a Virtual Reality Excavator Simulator: a Mathematical Model of Excavator Digging and a Calculation Methodology
    Park, Borinara (Virginia Tech, 2002-10-31)
    Virtual Reality (VR) simulators have become popular because of two distinctive merits. One is the capability to transfer data and information to users in an intuitive way by means of 3-D high-quality graphics output and real input devices. The other is the capability to represent physical systems in mathematical models so that meaningful responses of the systems can be predicted. Previous efforts in VR excavating machine simulator development, however, showed a lack of balance between the fidelity of the model of the physics and the visual representation of the simulated equipment. In order to ensure that a VR construction excavator simulator provides convincing operating results to users, the focus of simulator development needs to be shifted to interaction of physically valid soil and the excavator machine. This research aims to contribute to the development of a VR construction excavator simulator system by proposing a mathematical model of excavator digging and a calculation methodology. The mathematical model of excavator digging provides physically meaningful soil-bucket interaction information to a simulator. The calculation methodology provides systematic and efficient computation methods to ensure the seamless integration of the excavator digging model with a VR simulator system as well as adequate system speed. As a result, the simulator is realized as an engineering process tool equipped with real-time interactivity.
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    Establishing a Commercialization Model for Innovative Products in the Residential Construction Industry
    McCoy, Andrew P. (Virginia Tech, 2007-05-09)
    Throughout the world, innovation is viewed as a critical factor in the future health of the construction industry. There is universal interest in successful commercialization of innovative construction products. This thesis focuses on the US construction industry's ability to successfully commercialize innovative products. US small, limited-resource innovators will be key players in this success. Recent failures of entrepreneurial business ventures in the commercialization of such products would benefit from a unique model for construction industry commercialization. The general approach is through an identification of accelerators for previously commercialized products, which are incorporated into a generic commercialization model. This process consists of five stages that are presented in this work: defining commercialization and innovation through literature for the residential construction industry; reviewing literature from other-industry commercialization models; establishing a new generic model (or framework) for innovative construction products from such literature; capturing qualitative and quantitative construction data from industry experts regarding actions that facilitate commercialization; populating specific cells of the generic model deemed relevant through this industry data, resulting in the accumulation of important cells, actions, and sequences. This work uses industry cases to present challenges specific to the construction industry and its products. It is limited to five such cases and their important data for residential construction innovation commercialization success.
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    A Framework For A Decision Support Model For Supply Chain Management In The Construction Industry
    Perdomo-Rivera, Jose Luis (Virginia Tech, 2004-11-01)
    Materials are one of the areas that require special attention while creating a project's master plan as well as during the daily construction progress. The absence of materials when needed is one of the main causes of loss of productivity at a jobsite. Inefficient materials management can lead to an increase of 50% in work hours. As a result, a detailed plan for the materials management of each construction project is necessary. The critical role of materials management in the success of a construction project motivates the development of a new framework for the process of materials management for the construction industry, specifically the electrical construction industry. Materials management problems have a great impact on general contractors, but are more critical for specialty contractors such as electrical contractors. Based on the co-authors' experience, the construction industry has moved toward specialty contractors in the last decade to the point where at least 80% of the work performed on a typical construction contract is done by specialty contractors. General contractors have become, for the most part, project managers. Currently, materials management functions in the construction industry are often performed on a fragmented basis with minimal communication and no clearly established responsibilities among the parties involved. In addition, the collaboration required among departments has not been considered and implemented. This fragmentation creates gaps in information flow, which leads to delays in material ordering and receiving, expediting costs, excessive inventories of some items and project delays. However, model-based, computerized solutions to materials management problems are proliferating. Unfortunately, the typical electrical contractor may be overwhelmed by the technology required by these solutions and the challenges of implementing them into their business practices. A way out of this dilemma is presented by designing an industry-specific framework for the development of computerized decision support systems for the supply chains of the electrical contracting industry. Decision models are ever-present in the materials management processes of industries other than construction and have proven their worth in improving productivity and profitability. Knowledge-management concepts were applied to design an integrated, effective system of decision-support tools for materials-management decisions of an electrical contractor during the construction phase of a project. The framework developed is valuable in two fundamental ways. First, the framework identifies and describes all phases of materials management for an integrated, holistic view of all factors that affect the total cost of materials and material shortages. The research created detailed mappings of the essential decisions, decision models and data that are required to support supply-chain activities of construction contractors throughout a project life cycle. Second, the framework differentiates those steps in the materials management process that are straightforward applications of methods from those steps that are decisions. For these decisions, that are critical to the performance of the materials management process, we introduce the concept of a decision model and describe how such models can be incorporated into an advanced materials management system. This phase of the research developed a structured systems design of distributed, integrated decision support systems for materials management of the electrical contractor. The research derives the optimal integration of people, decision processes, decision support systems and data that are required to support efficient and effective systems for acquisition, procurement, transport, storage and allocation of material in the construction industry.
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    A Framework for Building Assembly Selection and Generation
    Nassar, Khaled (Virginia Tech, 1999-06-03)
    In practice, the building design process can be divided into three major stages; schematic design, design implementation and construction documents development. The majority of the time in the building design delivery process is spent in the latter two stages. Computers can greatly aid the designer in the latter two stages, by providing a tool that helps in choosing the best assemblies for a particular design and, helping in automating the process of construction detail generation. There is lack of such a tool in the architecture design domain. In this dissertation, a novel approach for the selection and generation of building assemblies is presented. A building product model is described. In this model the building is broken down into assemblies. Each assembly has a graphical representation. By using the assemblies' representations a designer can specify his/her design concept. These assemblies are intelligent. They know how to select the correct assembly constructions for each particular design situation, based on a set of defined criteria and constraints. The different kinds of criteria and constraints that affect the selection of assemblies are identified, and examples are provided. A selection procedure is developed that can perform the selection taking into consideration the various criteria and constraints to produce a best compromise solution. A computer prototype is developed on top of a traditional computer graphics package (AutoCAD) as a proof of concept. In the prototype, the design knowledge is encapsulated and intelligence is added to the building assemblies of a specific construction type. This intelligence allows the assemblies to be automatically selected and analyzed. Several examples of assemblies are developed in the computer prototype. The treatment of building components as intelligent objects will significantly increase the efficiency of design in terms of economy and performance. This is because issues related to the specific design can be addressed in an organized way. Issues like cost, constructability, and other performances can be taken into consideration at the design level. The approach described here provides a more efficient and time saving way for selection of building assembly constructions.
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    Framework for Context-Aware Information Processing for Design Review in a Virtual Environment
    Shiratuddin, Mohd Fairuz (Virginia Tech, 2009-02-06)
    Design review is a process of reviewing construction design documents to ensure that they reflect the owner's design intent, and are accurate in describing the owner's desired building or facility. Information generation becomes more intensive as the design stage progresses. The use of valuable information during design review stage can lead to a more comprehensive and high quality design, and a building or facility that is constructible, and within the intended budget. However, in current design practices, valuable design review information is scattered, ineffectively placed, and is not used efficiently. The design review process will be more efficient if this valuable information is integrated and centralized. The author developed a framework to improve the design review process by incorporating a centralized repository of design review information and 3D CAD model, in an interactive Virtual Environment (VE). To develop the framework, the author used Action Research style where he identified and confirmed the design review problem area, promoted the potential solutions to the problem, and developed a prototype. In gathering and analyzing the data for the research, the author used the synthesis of three methods. They include review of literature, a case study (interviews with industry personnel and content analysis of design review documents), and dissemination of the author's progressive findings in conferences, conference proceedings and journal publications. From his findings, the author developed the framework to improve the design review process by using information filtering based on context-aware concept, coupled with the benefits of a VE. The required design review information in the form of textual, numerical and geometric information is processed (queried, retrieved and stored). The author defined four contexts for information filtering: discipline-centric, task-centric, object-centric, and location-centric. IF-THEN rules are used to trigger the processing of the required design review information and present it to the design reviewer in a VE. A low cost 3D Game Engine is used as the enabling development tool to develop a work-in-progress (WIP) prototype design review application in a VE.
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    Implementation and Evaluation of a VR Task-Based Training Tool for Conveyor Belt Safety Training
    Lucas, Jason D.; Thabet, Walid (2008)
    Conveyor belts are dangerous to the working environment and the source of many injuries and fatalities that end up costing the industry a lot of money. In order to reduce the injuries that occur on an annual basis, better training techniques are examined. Virtual reality is examined as a way to enhance current training practices that consist mainly of slide show presentations and videos. Virtual reality is examined for task-based training where the user can interact with a working environment safely. The user is given tasks to complete within the virtual environment similar to tasks a worker would have to complete on a day to day basis. The purpose of the program is to be a method of rapidly training younger miners while supplementing on-the-job training practices and ultimately reduce accidents. The model was developed using CAD software and then imported into Deep Creator's Right Hemisphere where animations were added and functions were programmed to objects. The user's performance is tracked through the use of LISP programming and scores are tallied to judge user performance. The application was tested for quality of information, usability, and learning potential over other training methods.
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    Improving Conveyor Belt Safety Training Through the Use of Virtual Reality
    Lucas, Jason David (Virginia Tech, 2008-12-18)
    Working around conveyor belts is the cause of numerous accidents each year that are costly to the mining industry. Current safety training practices generally include the use of slide show presentations, lectures, videos, and paper material before sending each worker onto site with an experienced person for on-the-job task training. These training methods are passive in nature and do not allow for an actual realization of consequences resulting from ignoring safety practices during interaction between the employee and the environment. It is with this in mind that virtual reality (VR) is being proposed as an added effective method of safety training. In order to prove this hypothesis, a working VR prototype application of a mining environment has been developed. The application is designed in two modules. The first consists of an instructional based module, where the user is given all relevant information based on background research dealing with safety issues, hazard awareness, conveyor maintenance, and conveyor components and assemblies. The second module is a task-based training session that then tracks the user's performance as they complete assigned tasks. An evaluation scheme was performed on the prototype to determine the usability and usefulness and identify areas in need of improvement. First, industry professionals were presented the application in an informal setting where the types of information and overall concept were examined and perceived usefulness was discussed. Secondly, users, both novice and industry professionals, were asked to go through the prototype training application and rate their agreement with statements based on the user interface and usability of the application. Finally, subjective interviews were performed to record perceived benefits of the virtual reality application over typical training material. This final stage consists of using both industry professionals and novice experience individuals and documenting their perceptions of benefits and challenges of using both typical methods of training and the designed prototype. This document consists of an explanation of the research steps and papers that are published (or in press) detailing certain areas of the research, compiled findings, conclusions, and future research suggestions.
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    An Integrated BIM Framework to Support Facility Management in Healthcare Environments
    Lucas, Jason David (Virginia Tech, 2012-08-07)
    The quality of healthcare environments has been linked to patient safety, patient and staff stress, clinical output, and patient outcome. As part of maintaining the physical environment within the healthcare settings facility managers need to ensure that complex systems are working properly. Facility management tasks need to be completed with minimal interference with clinical services. This is often difficult to do because facility information is often stored in multiple systems and may be inadequate and incomplete. Communication and exchange of information throughout the lifecycle and throughout the operational phase of the building is fragmented. Relevant information and effective facility information management are important for efficient operation and maintenance of the facility. It is even more important when systems are being constantly upgraded and renovated due to new technologies and for the need for facility managers to do more work with fewer resources. This research is examining the link between facility management and clinical activities, especially in terms of information exchange and management. A framework is proposed to help facility managers more efficiently manage healthcare facility information. Case analysis was completed on facility related patient safety events to determine the types of information needed and exchanged through the event's response by facility personnel. The information was then organized into a product model and ontology to help capture, manage, and retrieve the information. The goal of the research is to offer a method of storing healthcare facility information in an efficient and effective manner to support facility managers in their response to patient safety events. This dissertation outlines the objectives of this research and the methodologies used in the case analysis. The development of the product model and information exchanges identified is also discussed. Lastly, conceptual model for a prototype was developed and is presented to demonstrate how the product model and ontology can be used to allow the user to query information and interact with the system.
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    An Interactive Digital Manual For Safety Around Conveyor Belts In Surface Mining
    Worlikar, Poonam (Virginia Tech, 2008-05-08)
    Belt conveyor accidents are mainly attributed to negligence of safety procedures during maintenance work. Entanglement, falling from heights, & collapse of structure or loose materials are the main cause of accidents. While performing maintenance tasks such as cleaning, installation and repair, belt alignment and so on (Lucas et. al. 2007). Current industry safety programs provide general guidelines for safety training, but do not require any specific training program structure (Shultz, 2002 and Shultz, 2003). For example MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) only requires 24 hours of training. Typically this training is broken down into four hours of training before the employee starts work, the remaining 20 hours has to be performed within the first sixty days of work (Goldbeck, 2003). The information collected through site visits showed that in addition to completing MSHA safety training requirements companies try to reinforce safety issues through daily and weekly safety meetings on job sites. Due to lack of a required safety training structure, every company is independent in terms of their training format that they follow to train their new and experienced work force. As a result, safety engineers depend heavily on in-house safety programs (e.g. audio-video presentations) to deliver the required training hours specified by MSHA for miners. Based on a review of current training methods this research identifies four problems; existing training methods to educate miners about dangers involved in conveyor belt environments are mainly passive, safety related information in scattered in various media such as images, videos, paper manuals, etc., access to information in current format is difficult, and updating information is difficult. This research addressed these identified problems by devising a new approach of learning to augment existing methods of training and evaluate the potential of this concept as a safety-training tool. Research has shown that individuals have their own learning style in which they can increase their retention and stimulate their cognitive learning. The proposed work addresses issues relative to passive vs. active learning and classroom-based vs. self-paced training by developing and implementing an interactive multimedia-based safety-training tool called the Digital Safety Manual (DSM). After the DSM was developed it was put through a series of usability evaluation and subjective analysis to measure the potential of the concept. The evaluation and subjective analysis involved both the novice and expert users. The results that were yield after the evaluations and subjective analysis shows that the DSM has more learning advantages than the typical training methods and it can be used as a supplementary training method to complement the current approaches of training.
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    Linking BIM to Power BI and HoloLens 2 to Support Facility Management: A Case Study Approach
    Harode, Ashit; Ensafi, Mahnaz; Thabet, Walid (MDPI, 2022-06-18)
    Facility lifecycle data captured in BIM during design and construction are very valuable for effective facility operations and maintenance. Traditionally, model authoring and analysis tools have been used to search and query model information. These tools are not well designed to search and display needed data and they require a steep learning curve. In this paper, the authors propose the use of Power BI dashboards to facilitate easy access and display of lifecycle data embedded in the model. The implementation and use of dashboards for facility management are discussed using a case study. The effectiveness and usability of the dashboards are validated using a focus group of six industry experts that were first interviewed then asked to complete a questionnaire. Feedback from interviews indicated that customized dashboards are effective tools to view, analyze and draw insights on data from various sources and can improve facility operations and management. Numerical results from the PSSUQ using fourteen questions indicated positive responses overall with an average score of four or five from the majority of respondents. Finally, the authors tested integration of the Power BI dashboards with the HoloLens 2 to deliver relevant up-to-date facility lifecycle data in near real-time to field staff.
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    Linking life cycle BIM data to a facility management system using Revit Dynamo
    Thabet, Walid; Lucas, Jason; Srinivasan, Sai (Sciendo, 2022-01-01)
    Facility management (FM) requires multidisciplinary activities, and thus has extensive information requirements. Much of that information is created during the design, construction, and commissioning phases of a project. Providing the owner of a facility with usable life cycle asset information after construction has been a challenge to the industry. Traditional methods of manually inputting data into FM systems are time consuming and error prone. Various automated approaches and workflows continue to be developed to respond to specific owner needs. This research developed a unique workflow that uses Dynamo within Revit to automatically extract asset management data from the model and export the data to a proprietary format required by the facility owner. The formatted spreadsheet allows for direct linking of the data to the owner's FM system, hence eliminating time wasted in manual data entry and avoiding missing any maintenance cycles that would result if the FM system is not populated with critical information in a timely manner. This article utilizes a case study approach to demonstrate this novel Dynamo workflow. The required case study asset data identified and captured include asset groups, their properties and attributes, and corresponding metadata. A basic three-dimensional representation of the facility and all its equipment are modeled in Revit and asset data are input to corresponding model elements. This article also describes the complexity of the owner's proprietary information needs and the resulting automated workflow that extracts and exports data from Revit into an Excel format that can directly link into the FM system.
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    New strategies to improve the management capacity of contractors for labor-based methods in road rehabilitation in Ghana
    Quagraine, Victor Kwesi (Virginia Tech, 2007-03-29)
    Ghana, like many African countries, is plagued with unemployment, poverty and annual trade deficits. Unemployment and poverty have led to a socio-economic breakdown. They are believed to be among the causes that led to the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Despite the abundance of an unemployed labor force, Ghana continues to depend on imported equipment, costing $174 million annually for its earthmoving and construction activities. In 1986, the Government of Ghana, the World Bank, the International Labor Organization and the United Nations Development Program introduced labor-based road rehabilitation program in Ghana to help create more jobs and reduce the high unemployment and poverty incidence. The program has not been patronized due to the casual labor usage and labor organizational and management problems. This research formulates the Family-Based Labor Management (FBLM) concept (also referred to as the HPWT-FBLM concept) by incorporating High Performance Work Team (HPWT), the Ghana Family System, and Roles and Responsibilities Matrix (RRM) concepts to make the program more attractive to labor and management. The FBLM concept would equip local contractors with the managerial skills to increase average monthly production from 1.33km to between 4km and 6km gaining competitive advantage over the 3.07km monthly production of the equipment-intensive contractor. Since the HPWT-FBLM concept has not been used, the related concepts HPWT and RRM concepts are used to validate the newly formulated recruitment, training, work method, communication and reward strategies. When adopted, the HPWT-FBLM concept would annually invest 10% of the $174 million for five years and yield employment increase of 23,000-34,000 the first year, growing to a total of 116,000-170,000 in five years. This concept will help reduce import deficit, conserve foreign exchange, and develop a pool of skilled workers and managers in Ghana. It has the potential of boosting the Ghanaian manufacturing industry for making hand-tools in lieu of purchasing imported equipment. The HPWT-FBLM concept can be adopted by the agriculture and building construction and other industries in Ghana that use large supplies of unskilled and semi-skilled labor.
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    A Pilot Model for a Proof of Concept Healthcare Facility Information Management Prototype
    Lucas, Jason D.; Bulbul, Tanyel; Thabet, Walid (2013)
    Within the healthcare industry it is important that facility information is efficiently and effectively managed to aid in the successful operation and maintenance of the facility and provide a safe and well-maintained environment of care for patients and staff. In order to do this, a healthcare facility information management prototype was proposed. The goal of the prototype is to allow facility managers to more efficiently and effectively respond to facility related events within the healthcare environment. The prototype was designed by using case analysis methods to identify information needs and draw connections between clinical information and facility management operations. This information was organized into a product model which is used as an ontology to capture, store, and retrieve the information. A conceptual model is developed to demonstrate the potential use of the developed product model in aiding facility managers' responses to facility related events. The conceptual model uses developed Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) that are mapped to the product model to demonstrate the information interactions. Information from one of the analyzed case studies is used as an example to describe the conceptual model development. A walk-through of the model is included to demonstrate how the different GUIs would be used to respond to the example event. This paper discusses the system architecture, the goals of the conceptual model and prototype, and the conceptual model development and validation. Future research strategies for the proposed healthcare facility information management framework are also addressed.