Building Information Modeling is more than an expensive software package.

Known throughout the architectural, engineering and construction industries as BIM, it is a philosophy, process and technology rolled into one.

BIM involves creating a 3-D model of a building or structure and loading it with information, from where the sun hits the building to what types of materials are used to where duct work and equipment goes.

“Essentially, BIM is a database, and the interface is a model,” says Birgitta Foster, BIM advocate at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. She works with Sandia’s design partners to put BIM into action.

Ideally, BIM brings together the owner, architect and contractor into a team that shepherds the building from design through creation.

Seeing the industry moving in the direction of BIM, New Mexico businesses are getting on board.

A 2009 report from McGraw-Hill Construction found that 50 percent of the North American construction industry is using BIM.

BIM is an easy equation for contractors, who say it saves them money by troubleshooting a building and catching problems before it is constructed. But while BIM solves many issues, it also raises some thorny ones. BIM users are hashing out early problems with interoperability among different software packages and concerns about the sharing of data.

“We’re creating a three-dimensional representation of a building before we even build it. We see all the issues that may be involved with the construction of it,” says Project Estimator Andrew Graham, a BIM specialist with commercial construction company Jaynes Corp. in Albuquerque.

Other industries have been using 3-D design to create mass-produced products for years. But buildings have been designed using 2-D programs such as AutoCAD, which replicate the experience of drawing designs on paper.

“We finally have the prototype in the construction industry that we have been needing and wanting for decades, if not centuries,” says Scott Heatly, principal structural engineer with Chavez-Grieves Consulting Engineers in Albuquerque.

Architects can break the 2-D barrier by using BIM design software.

“It’s kind of a revolutionary approach. When we started with CAD, it was still drawing. This is an entirely different way to put things together,” says Stephen Smith, architect and IT manager with Van H. Gilbert Architect PC in Albuquerque. “Make a change in one place, and that change is reflected through all the rest of the drawings. A lot of human error can potentially be reduced.”

BIM represents a substantial investment in software, time, training and hardware for New Mexico companies. It costs roughly $30,000 per seat to get an employee versed in BIM.

“Our costs are higher than with the previous AutoCAD or drawing by hand, but we are better able to analyze the building. That is our goal,” Smith says.

Most of the employees at Van H. Gilbert are trained in-house in BIM.

“The reality is that it is more expensive and more time-consuming. We hope in the future that we will master this and get back our cost. I think we’re getting closer,” principal Van H. Gilbert says.

Despite the tremendous investment, Gilbert has not raised fees to reflect the software’s costs. He sees embracing BIM as a necessary move to keep the firm competitive.

Construction trade group Associated General Contractors - New Mexico Building Branch offers a BIM 101 curriculum that was developed by the national AGC group, and talks and discussions on the finer points of BIM.

“This information has been developed by AGC America by contractors for contractors. We bring the educational offerings here and augment the material with local people so they can take that material and talk New Mexico,” says Margo Maher, education and safety director with the AGC New Mexico Building Branch.