BIM for Wood Buildings: An Introductory Guide

The Building Information Modelling (BIM) Guide for Wood Buildings was developed with support from BIMOne and Associated Engineering. The guide was commissioned by Forestry Innovation Investment and is promoted by Building Transformations (formerly CANBIM).

The purpose of this guide is to introduce BIM to building owners, design and construction professionals and suppliers who work in the world of wood buildings. It offers an easy-to-understand starting point for the adoption of BIM practices and illustrates the value that BIM can add in terms of improved efficiency, reliability and sustainability.

Wood is a popular and widely utilized construction material that plays an important role in addressing climate change due to its ability to store carbon. Wood lends itself to off-site construction techniques—for example, modern prefabricated light-frame units, mass timber and hybrid systems—which can be factory-produced to high levels of accuracy for speedy, reliable installation on-site. Today, advanced, highly engineered wood systems have the potential to disrupt the building industry.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a digital form of construction delivery and facility management that fosters collaboration and information exchange across the entire project team, over a building’s entire service life. For wood projects, BIM enables architects, engineers and builders to unlock the advantages of off-site construction, leveraging the benefits of emerging timber technologies to deliver cost-effective, low-carbon buildings.

Download

The free Guide can be downloaded from Building Transformations' website here.

Listen

Listen to co-author Scott Chatterton from BIMOne talk about BIM in the world of wood buildings. Today, engineered wood systems have the potential to transform the building industry as wood lends itself to off-site construction techniques—for example, modern prefabricated light-frame units, mass timber and hybrid systems—which can be factory-produced to high levels of accuracy for speedy, reliable installation on-site while benefiting from integrating technology into the construction workflow.