Revitalization challenges
To kick things off, the team broke up the scope of the project into discrete sections:
- Project management and collaboration throughout multiple phases of the design and construction building lifecycle
- Dashboard for streaming and monitoring real-time data from buildings for ongoing operations and maintenance
- A reproducible model of the dashboard that could be scaled up or down for use across other properties
The final solution needed to address challenges in each of these areas, says Eric Poon, Director – Works and Contract at URA.
First, a centralized way of accessing all relevant project information was important. Given the many project stakeholders, including property managers, engineers, field team, and contractors, “Using BIM across the project lifecycle improved project collaboration and information dissemination as well as decision-making."
Second, the team had to grant access to information selectively to protect proprietary data.
Third, project managers had to evaluate the existing buildings and see how the as-built BIM could integrate with the new building management system for effective facilities management. The team had to retrofit Internet of Things (IoT)-driven, sensor-embedded devices to deliver crucial information such as lighting or CCTV footage for ongoing operations and maintenance.
"Technically, it is very difficult to connect the as-built BIM, building management system, and facilities maintenance together as a centralized platform," Poon says. "And such an integrated showcase has never been done in Hong Kong as a reference."
Fourth, the interactive dashboard would have to relay information in real-time. "Access from everywhere and real-time information are crucial for incident reports, work order issues, status monitoring, etc.,” Poon says.
Finally, the model had to be custom to each building, yet general enough that the team could reuse it in the future for other applications.
