Synchronous Building Information Model-Based Collaboration in the Cloud: A Proposed Low Cost IT Platform and a Case Study

Building Information Modeling (BIM) technologies and processes enable different implementation levels or use stages with varying degree of integration (e.g. file-based collaboration, model-based collaboration). While there is no general agreement on the terminology to denote such levels or use stages, file-based collaboration and model-based collaboration - often called also integrated BIM - are the two levels being investigated in both academic research and industry applications. In file-based collaboration, project participants from a supply chain produce federated BIM models that are merged together for specialized purposes (e.g. design coordination) only at specific project lifecycle phases. In model-based collaboration, all participants work on a synchronized central model that is integrated and can be shared among them at project phase. Model-based collaboration represents a significant paradigm shift in industry practices. In recent years, much of the research in both BIM technologies and processes has been focused on BIM file-based collaboration. This research proposes a low cost IT platform that enables BIM model-based collaboration and a real world case study. The proposed platform and benefits and the challenges from working in this environment are discussed in this paper.