BIM4Housing: Striving for Greener, Safer Construction Models

Chaired by BIM veteran George Stevenson, along with director Richard Freer, BIM4Housing, the popular UK BIM initiative is here to disrupt the housing sector through innovative ways. This non-profit body focuses on the “information” element of BIM. Their vision is that stakeholders use Better Information Management to provide greener, safer, and easier-to-maintain residential places.

What is BIM 4 Housing? BIM 4 Housing is a BIM initiative Chaired by George Stevenson with Director Richard Freer in the UK. The initiative is fully nonprofit, and it’s focused on enhancing the informative part of BIM. BIM 4 Housing combines businesses and various people that want to use applied processes and technologies in order to solve problems. This is a great way to not only expand the industry, but enhance it and take it to the next level as well. The BIM 4 Housing initiative has also been offering assistance to the L&Q/DLUCH Golden Thread Initiative in order to help with building safety, while also making it easier to collect information.

Platform where ideas meet. More than 500 experts from across the industry have come together and formed Specialist Groups. The groups identify problems associated with their own discipline. These problems are then taken to Workstreams for analysis and for finding solutions.

According to George Stevenson, most people know what changes should be done to improve things, but they cannot do this effectively in their own “silo.” It is important to create an environment wherein experts come together and brainstorm ideas, which can then be challenged and developed into solutions.

BIM4Housing brings together experts working on ambitious housing projects. They form specialist groups and discuss issues and find solutions. This is a very useful thing to do because the construction sector needs to look into various aspects of a building and not just the model and layout. Fire hazards, movement safety, lighting guidance, hazards involved in construction, safety checklist, and many more issues form the basis of discussions among these specialists. The ultimate aim is to build a structure that is safe and eco-friendly. 

BIM4Housing is an organisation open to various industries involved in the construction, design, and management of housing projects which are affordable and private. 

The idea is to maximise the value added by Better Information Management. Having loads of information is good, but the information should be managed and used well to carry out the projects in an excellent manner. BIM4Housing strives to show stakeholders the best way to do this. 

This is a place where change-makers think, talk, and research, and sometimes argue. They discuss, cogitate, and postulate, and sometimes laugh a bit. So, if you are a stakeholder in the housing segment, BIM4Housing is a place where you can find like-minded people with ideas that promise to bring a revolutionary change in their disciplines.