When the topic turned to future directions for the BIM PG, the crowd got into the discussion. Some suggestions for future meetings were - BIM and Product Representation; use of elements (families) in Revit and OmniClass; Facility Management activity; more on all types of exchange standards and more practical application examples and case studies . At this Grant issued an appeal to the group to share their work in subsequent sessions, even a short presentation on how you and your firm are implementing BIM is welcome and sure to be appreciated by members.

Some discussion on the convergence of BIM and Sustainability followed with Kalin stating that the goal is to use tools like BIM to do a better job of making buildings more efficient. We have to said Kalin because we have just enjoyed the best 50 years on our planet and need to make sure that we can sustain our way of life into the future. Some in attendance felt that there were readily available tools for modeling and optimizing building systems available while others were not so sure. The Sustainability PG plans to explore the ways that BIM can currently be used to improve building energy efficiency and reduced carbon footprints in future sessions.

Weygant briefly shared his views on knowledge management and the changing role of the specifier in a BIM environment to highlight work that several members of the BIM PG are engaging in to begin to document implementation guidelines for BIM and CSI member practice areas. The group that is forming is interested in specifications and information management in design firms. Several members of the session volunteered to join Weygant, Grant and Greta Eckhart in the work. Watch for more on this effort in the coming year. If you are interested in getting involved, contact Grant at rgrant@csinet.org.

After the PG session came to an end, many in the group adjourned to a reception for Practice Group members hosted by exhibitor and MasterFormat Sponsor, ARCAT. The reception gave all PG members at CONSTRUCT a chance to get together and compare notes. ARCAT was interested in hosting the session to have a chance to talk with BIM and other PG members about their BIM product modeling services. CSI and the Practice Group leaders are grateful to ARCAT for hosting this session.