Hello BIMfans,
As you know, I am currently using the Asset Information Model I produced during this blog to manage my home.  So far my information model has been used to support day-to-day operation, minor works such as getting my gutters and fascia replaced, as well as product registration and replacement, in line with my  Model Purposes and Data Requirements.  But has it been worth it?  Well, let’s try and work it out (don’t worry, I’ll do the sums).

Well, first thing’s first, how much did my information model cost? Well, because I did it myself, there isn’t really a figure I can apply.  However, as it has taken a while to produce, instead, I decided to use a different form of currency; minutes instead of pounds (after all, time is money!).

Quite often when talking about the blog I am asked “How long did it take to model all that!?”, and while it has taken over a year to produce, it was done in my spare time, with a lot of trial and error.  If I lost all of this information (please, please, NEVER let this happen!) I believe I could reproduce everything within four working days (1800 minutes).  This aligns with a New Zealand case study that took three days to model and write-up social houses.  So the real question is:

How long will it take for my information model to save me 1800 minutes?

My plan has always been for my information model to be useful, so I am confident that there is a return on investment; I just need to work out how long it is.  When I wrote my Model Purposes and Data Requirements, I decided that I would use my information model for the registration, operation, maintenance, repair, and replacements.  So let’s see how it has helped in those areas.

Registration

While trying to write this post, I discovered that I have registered a surprising number of components.  Excluding loose furniture, I have registered 104 (yes, 104) manageable components and assessed their condition.

Traditionally to keep track of the condition of these components, frequent property condition surveys would have been needed.  While I can find examples from several housing associations who undertake annual condition surveys, I have decided to instead follow Cardiff Council‘s own Asset Management Plan; using their conservative 2-3 year programme.  Having done surveying in a past life, I’m confident that to survey and capture all the relevant COBie information for these 104 components would take a day and a half (average of 6 minutes per component), whereas updating my information model would only take me half a day.

This results in a saving of 450 minutes every 2.5 years, or an annual saving of 180 minutes. (This alone would provide a return on investment within 10 years)

Operation, Maintenance, and Repair

Working for BRE, I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear that I want to reduce my home’s carbon footprint.  A goal of mine is to improve my home’s EPC score from a D (65) to a B (86).  To do so, I am going to need some tradesmen every now again (but never again from Rated People, grrrrr).

My information model has been great for solving operational problems.  For example, when I had my gutters and fascia replaced, the quoting tradesmen raised an issue.  I live in a thin terrace house, with no external access to the garden.  After quoting for the work, they each wanted to re-visit and check whether their six metre scaffold pipes could get through the house.  I didn’t want to book another half-day off work, so I instead used my information model to demonstrate that it was possible.

 

Once I proved this, I was happy to accept accountability that the scaffold would fit, and saved myself from having to book a half-day off work.

If I assume I’d get tradesmen in every two years, this results in a saving of 225 minutes every two years or an annual saving of 112 minutes. (This alone would provide a return on investment within 17 years)

Replacement

As I’ve mentioned, I have 104 manageable components, each of which will ultimately fail and need to be replaced (What Asset Managers would call a ‘trigger-related event’).  So I have done some research and calculated my components’ service lives.  For example, my two extract fans, have a pitiful service life of 10 years, while my internal doors have an impressive 100+ years.  Whenever I need to replace any of these components, I will be saving time.

Picture this scenario, while I am out shopping I suddenly receive a call.  My wife has rung to say that on her way out she noticed a bulb had blown in the living room, and asked if I could buy a new one on my way home.  There is just one problem, I cannot remember whether my living room pendant takes an Edison (E27) or a screw fix (E14) bulb.  So I have two options:

• Option 1:  I drive home (30 minutes), grab a chair and check the bulb (2 minutes, working from height), drive to B&Q (30 minutes, other hardware stores are available), buy the new bulb (5 minutes), drive home (30 minutes), and then install the new bulb (2 minutes, working from height) for a total of 99 minutes.
• Option 2: I check my information model on my phone and confirm the bulb type (2 minutes), buy the new bulb (5 minutes), drive home via B&Q (30 minutes, other hardware stores are available), and then install the new bulb (2 minutes, working from height) for a total of 39 minutes.

So by referring to my information model each time I replace a component and purchasing replacement on my way home, I am saving myself 60 minutes and halving the amount of time I am working from height.  While an hour might seem excessive, this is quite conservative compared to the case study on the BIM Task Group Website from Manchester City Council, where the Bulb Replacement Case Study reports a saving of 8 hours (480 minutes) per replacement.

Based on available service life figures I found online, I produced this table which groups components by their IFC type, and shows an annual saving of 205 minutes. (This alone would provide a return on investment in under 9 years).

Results

Having looked at my various Model Purposes, I have come up with the following annual return on investment thanks to the efficiencies I have gained through using my information model.

Registration = 180 minutes
Operation = 112 minutes
Replacement = 205 minutes
Total = 497 minutes

Which, when compared to a production time of 1800 minutes, gives a return on investment in 3.62 years.

And there we have it, by using conservative figures a reasonable return on investment could be calculated.  When you consider that this excludes all loose furniture, and does not factor in any accidental damage, my information model will have saved more time than that it took to produce in little over three and a half years; Fantastic!

Note:  If you have any comments regarding other efficiencies I could factor in, or the figures I have used to calculate my ROI, then please let me know either on Twitter, or by commenting below.