David Biggs, Thomas Cuneio and Mark Swanson
David Biggs, Principal, Biggs Consulting Engineering, 26F Congress St #305, Saratoga Springs, NY, 12866, USA, biggsconsulting@att.net
Thomas Cuneio, President, 3DiQ Inc., 18336 Edison Ave, Chesterfield, MO, 63005, USA, tom@3diqinc.com
Mark Swanson, North Central Regional Director, International Masonry Institute, 312 Central Ave SE Minneapolis, MN 55414, USA, mswanson@imiweb.org
ABSTRACT
In 2011, the masonry industry in the United States and representatives in Canada united to create the Building Information Modeling for Masonry Initiative (BIM-M). BIM-M set out to identify
barriers to and develop strategies for the full implementation of masonry materials and systems into BIM software for the design and construction industries. The mission chosen was to unify the masonry industry through the development and implementation of BIM for masonry software to facilitate smoother workflows and collaboration across all disciplines from owners, designers,
manufacturers, masons, contractors, and construction managers. One major success of the BIM-M Initiative has been the establishment of a masonry-specific BIM software, Masonry iQ. This software was developed by a third-party vendor to meet the requests of the BIM-M Initiative for masonry functionality to serve the industry’s design and construction needs. While BIM-M was initially intended to improve design and construction workflows and efficiency, we are now recognizing the opportunities for improving environmental and working conditions from using BIM software with masonry projects. This paper will discuss how programs like Masonry iQ improve sustainability and reduce material waste, noise, and dust at the manufacturing and construction sites; lessen the demands on our infrastructure and transportation systems; and overall mitigate the effects of construction activities on our environment.
KEYWORDS: BIM-M, building information modeling, environmental, masonry, Masonry iQ, sustainability
