A Digital Owner’s Rep Speaks
Elon and an increasingly-ripped Zuckerberg in a cage match. And Threads. That’s where we start today’s conversation. But then we move on.
Today we're talking to Jacob D'Albora. Jacob is Director of Digital Building Operations at VIATechnik, LLC. His job is to serve as an owner’s representative in regard to digital plans and related VDC data.
Jacob says that he has seen owners who had to recreate the entire digital presence of their projects and repopulate databases because they don’t receive the assets produced by their designers and contractors. Yes, he means actually retyping room names and countless other details. Ridiculous redundancy.
Eddie recounts his own realizations about the lack of information-sharing among parties involved on a project, and Jacob shares about Danielle O’Connell’s team of “dumpster divers” who scours all project documentation toward the end of a project in order to assemble a cohesive data package.
We discuss how an owner’s interests differ from various other parties in regard to documentation. The owner will spend years–hopefully decades–engaging with various aspects of the building. Jacob’s team focuses on the costs of ownership over those decades and helps owners plan for smooth, efficient management.
The pace of construction is obviously a major concern for owners, so Jacob helps owners find the balance between construction pace and costs, including early-completion incentives. He says that most owners are willing to spend a bit more money if they know they can accelerate a project. This allows them to get the paying tenants into the space sooner.
We discuss the asset registries that Jacob helps owners create. These registries include shop drawings, warranties, and owner’s manuals. He explains to owners that using BIM will smooth the process of creating the “digital twin” they need.
Jacob explains how he dove deep into the facility-management realm, joining IFMA and doing everything he could to understand this world. He quickly learned that the best way to make building models usable for owners was to make it as intuitive as possible. Toward this goal, his company developed the Voyager digital twin platform.
We address the pace of BIM’s acceptance in the industry, including the effect of the COVID pandemic. Jacob explains that many companies had no idea how many anterooms they had and how these rooms played into the efficient, creative use of their facilities. This situation made it glaringly clear that digital models could be incredibly helpful.
Jacob connects digital plans to risk mitigation, using asbestos-removal as an example of something that could have been handled much more effectively if digital models had been universally available.
Tyler asks Jacob to predict some changes he expects to see in the next few years. Jacob said that owners are beginning to dictate which digital platforms general contractors should use on their projects.
Jacob shares some tactfully phrased thoughts about how inefficiently architects’ 2D drawings operate in a world of VDC and BIM. His teams have helped owners and contractors address this inefficiency.
Tyler asks Jacob to estimate the file sizes of average Tekla models. His estimate of 200-300MB is right on. These files are not that large. There’s room for more helpful detail.
Eddie explains that he’s noticed a decrease in recent years of the need for him to explain what it means when he says he works in BIM. We discuss how this is a promising indicator of the value owners are finally placing on thoughtful design and component integration.
We ask Jacob to discuss tensions that arise with design-assist. He says that the boundaries between contributing parties are still pretty fluid, with some people more willing than others to be flexible in defining scope.
Jacob’s Megaphone Message:
BIM has more value than we understand right now. We’ve seen other industries take data and do something big. There’s so much more that can be done within our industry. It’s just a matter of finding the right people at the beginning of a project to be your partners.
Find Jacob Online: LinkedIN - ViaTechnik
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