Building information modeling and discrete event simulation: Towards an integrated framework

The development of a realistic Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model needs the complete specification of the interdependencies between activities and resources. Also, the maintenance of an existing DES model is challenging especially when changes in the logical relationships between activities, resource allocation and design need to be considered. The process of development and maintenance is time-consuming, error-prone and it restricts the application of DES within the construction industry. In this research, a Building Information Modeling (BIM) and DES framework is proposed to enable the implementation and integration of DES in the planning and follow-up of construction activities. The framework consists of: (1) A building information modeling process that exports material quantity take-offs, schedules and required resources to a relational database and (2) an intelligent simulation engine that automatically reads information from the database at the start of each simulation run. This implies that changes in the building information modeling process, such as design modification, different resource allocations and alternative construction methods can be explored without manually checking and re-formalizing the simulation model. A preliminary prototype has been developed by using the proposed BIM-DES framework. The initial results show that the proposed BIM-DES framework reinforces both elements by providing valuable additional information. BIM provides the product and process information to DES, facilitating the building and maintenance of the DES model; the DES model evaluates the construction performances and provides valuable feedback to the BIM process for decision support. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.