Benefits of BIM implementation in the French construction industry

Abstract

As for aeronautics or automobile industry, digital transition has been well underway in the building sector. These new technological and managerial developments have been entailed changes in the construction process. Building Information Modeling, or commonly called "BIM", is a new digital approach in the building sector that introduced new management materials, new concepts and ICT-based designs and communication. This new digital tool is moving away from traditional methods that lead to isolated and static understanding of building performance in terms of design, to processes and practices that contribute to sustainable patterns of living throughout the built environment. These ecological gains have yet to be proven as research has not been able to objectively demonstrate the actual costs and benefits of BIM. The goal of this study is to detect the impact of this new dynamic digital tool and its contribution to a better understanding of the implications of the building lifecycle and their ecological performance. Through a focus group discussion and interviews with BIM related participants from France, we discovered how digital approach improve institutional mechanisms to ensure building compliance in terms of sustainability. Therefore, we highlighted the importance of collaboration within BIM project teams in the construction phase improved by the ease of access to information and its interoperability. Our results provide quantitative and qualitative measures of the benefits of BIM related to cost savings and energy performance for better sustainable construction.