Powerfully Simple

Next week we’re off to the windy city for IFMA’s Facility Fusion 2012, being held April 11-13. This is IFMA’s third annual Facility Fusion Conference & Expo, a fusion of FM-centric education, best practices, solutions and leadership training. This year’s program will focus on “Leading the Future of FM.”

I will be speaking at Educational Session 2.08, “BIM for Lifecycle: An Important Book Being Published by the IFMA Foundation” - on Wednesday, April 11, at 1-2:30PM.

This session will provide a preview of the upcoming book that the IFMA Foundation is publishing on BIM for facility managers.  Although the use of BIM for architecture, design and construction is reasonably well understood, the use of BIM for facility management is in its infancy.  This upcoming book examines companies and organizations that have been the pioneers in using BIM in the operation stage of the building life cycle, analyzing the aspects of practice that have worked, those that did not, and next steps for technology and the profession. The session will also discuss new standards supporting BIM, including COBie and Omniclass.

I will also be speaking at Educational Session 3.08, “How Do We Get From BIM to CAFM? The Process & Today’s Tools” - on Wednesday, April 11, at 2:45-4PM.

This session will discuss the role of technology developing rapidly for integrating information in BIM with facility management software programs including IWMS and maintenance management.  The panel for this session will discuss the current approaches being taken, the successes and pitfalls of each, and where technology is going.  The panel will also discuss the role of standards, including the National BIM standard-United States™.  Finally the session will cover the issue of standard practice and new ways for architects, engineers, contractors and facility managers to collaborate using BIM.

FM:Systems will be at booth 308 showcasing Lifecycle BIM solutions for facility managers. If you’re at the show, stop by and see us!