With the growing demand of new Infrastructure and the limited availability of the space, the buildings are growing vertically, and we are seeing more and more high-rise buildings. Structural stability for the high-rise buildings has always been a concern and now with the new emerging technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), also known as Virtual Construction, new Structural Stability Analysis Tools can simulate the ‘Buildings of the future’.

What is high-rise: A Building is considered high-rise when it is high enough to have serious impact on evacuation ora building which has impact of winds and the lateral forces (any building above 35m high is considered a tall building).

Wind Analysis, Stability Analysis, Seismic Effect, Dynamic Analysis, Management or planning or Mechanical, Plumbing, Electrical, Fire Fighting systems for these buildings, Planning for Evacuation, Solar Studies, Shadow Analysis, Area calculation, Load Bearing capacity Analysis or any other analysis is possible with BIM; basically every analysis requires some sort of 3d model and 3d is the basis of any BIM.

In BIM, the ‘I’ which is Information is the most important part. Information can be categorised in several aspects. BIM can be implemented at the very initial stage of the project i.e. Concept Design where it can help in doing basic shape analysis, area calculation, shadow analysis etc. For the next phase of any Building/Infra project, BIM can be very useful in the Tender Document/Design Development Phase. With BIM, we can collaborate between different stakeholders in the project i.e. Architects, Structural Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Plumbing Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Interior Designers, Systems Engineers, Façade Designers, Facility Managers, Owners etc.

BIM brings all the stakeholders and one common platform and the advanced CDE platform can help in managing the revisions and updates in the design and drawings in a better and professional way.

For the Green Building part, if any client wants to adapt LEED Certification, they can use BIM to meet the LEED/Griha requirements during the design phase. BIM enables the construction companies to eliminate the waste and to implement an integral approach with other contractors and sub-contractors. BIM based as built are far more accurate in comparison to the traditional CAD based as built drawings. The Guarantee/Warrantee information along with the Manufacturers information, cost, maintenance schedule etc. can be clubbed with the BIM Models. BIM can bring benefits at the Design, Construction and Facility Management stages during the life cycle of the Buildings.

BIM brings benefit in terms of better coordinated designs (3D), to better control over time (4D) and better control over procurement plans, quantities and the cost database (5D), Building Analysis (6D) to BIM based Facilities Management (7D). BIM is the new way of designing and construction planning, digital project management is changing the way construction industry was managing the projects.

With better tools like BIM, we can accurately design/plan the route of MEPF services and the location and alignment of Architectural and Structural elements; in high-rise projects it can bring lots of cost benefits. For example, If a Chilled Water Pipes takes 18 Meter length and 14 fitting to reach from the Chiller Room the HVAC unit in a room, with BIM we can plan better route and save let say 2 Meter of pile length and reduce the number of fittings to 11, saving 3 fittings.

Multiplying this saving the total floors in the building can be a huge saving, not only in terms of the Capex but the operational and management cost of the building will also be reduced. With BIM we can plan the plenum space (defined for the MEPF services between the Ceiling and the Roof). We can save the plenum space by better route and size optimization for the MEPF services. For example if we can save 100mm in one floor plenum space by implementing BIM, then multiply this 100mm by the number of floors in a high-rise building (let’s say a 70 storey high-rise), 100 mm x 70 = 7000mm = 7 Meter, which can add two more floors in the building. These are real life examples and can be substantiated with live case studies.

With implementing BIM and choosing a professional BIM partner, the high-rise building owners/designers/contractors/facility managers can be benefitted. With all sorts of Earthquake, Wind effect Analysis etc., the high-rise building can be safer for our future generations.