Building information models, display media, and team performance: An exploratory study

The use of Building Information Models (BIM) has been increasing in the building architecture, engineering, construction and operation (AECO) sector during recent years. BIM use is being encouraged by several large building facility owners, including Senate Properties in Finland and the General Services Administration in the USA. One of the main reasons cited for the encouragement of BIM use is expected improvements in the design and construction process through sharing of information. However, some communications theories suggest that the form of the information itself is not the only factor to be considered in process improvements. Rather, the media and the tasks being performed also need to be taken into consideration. Apropos, an exploratory study was undertaken using a combination of research methods to determine the existence of a relationship amongst these areas as they appl-y to AECO. The research revealed that accompanying the planned implementation of BIM were some growth and change in the use of media. The fact that the media was important to utilizing BIM was agreed upon. However, most of the implementation was not planned strategically but was dealt with on an ad hoc basis. To determine potential implications, a quasi-experiment was performed to identify measurable differences in the impact of media. Then, a focus group was used to identify underlying factors which come into play in making decisions about media usage and how it relates to BIM. This study was undertaken as a collaborative project between VTT and The Pennsylvania State University.