Utilizing BIM in a design-build competition program

Abstract

This paper highlights the hands-on participation of university students from the Pittsburg State University School of Construction towards delivering creative solutions to solving the housing problem for people displaced by various natural and man-made disasters through the design-build "Transitional Disaster Shelter Design Competition" as hosted by John Brown University and sponsored by World Vision in 2014 and Samaritan's Purse in 2015. Construction management, engineering and architecture student teams are invited to design and construct a rapidly deployable transitional disaster shelter for use by aid organizations in response to disasters. The top ten teams are selected from the submitted entries and permitted to construct prototype shelters for testing and presentation at John Brown University. This study presents the participation of students involved though traditional phases of design and construction within a design-build methodology along with the development of business case analysis studies for mass production. The application and utilization of various BIM design, analysis and construction software packages are reviewed in their use throughout the project. The paper also reviews the curriculum for which the project was integrated and how concepts from the shelter are used in curriculum lessons learned and suggestions for future competitions are given.