The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/0969-9988.htm

ECAM
25,10 Project-based pedagogy in
interdisciplinary building design
adopting BIM
1376 Ruoyu Jin
Department of Built Environment, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK
Received 9 July 2017
Revised 2 October 2017 Tong Yang
Accepted 18 October 2017
Department of Design Engineering and Mathematics,
Middlesex University, London, UK
Poorang Piroozfar
Department of Built Environment, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK
Byung-Gyoo Kang
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China
Dariusz Wanatowski
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Craig Matthew Hancock
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China, and
Llewellyn Tang
Department of Architecture and Built Environment,
University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a pedagogical practice in the project-based assessment of
architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) students’ interdisciplinary building design work adopting
BIM. This pedagogical practice emphasizes the impacts of BIM, as the digital collaboration platform, on the
cross-disciplinary teamwork design through information sharing. This study also focuses on collecting
students’ perceptions of building information modeling (BIM) effects in integrated project design. Challenges
in BIM adoption from AEC students’ perspective were identified and discussed, and could spark further
research needs.
Design/methodology/approach – Based on a thorough review of previous pedagogical practices of
applying BIM in multiple AEC disciplines, this study adopted a case study of the Solar Decathlon (SD)
residential building design as the group project for AEC students to deliver the design work and construction
planning. In total 13 different teams within the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, each group
consisting of final year undergraduate students with backgrounds in architecture, civil engineering, and
architectural environmental engineering, worked to deliver the detailed design of the solar-powered
residential house meeting pre-specified project objectives in terms of architectural esthetics, structural
integrity, energy efficiency, prefabrication construction techniques and other issues such as budget and
scheduling. Each team presented the cross-disciplinary design plan with cost estimate and construction
scheduling together within group reports. This pedagogical study collected students’ reflective thinking on
how BIM affected their design work, and compared their feedback on BIM to that from AEC industry
professionals in previous studies.
Findings – The case study of the SD building project showed the capacity of BIM in enabling
interdisciplinary collaboration through information exchange and in enhancing communication across
different AEC fields. More sustainable design options were considered in the early architectural design stages
through the cross-disciplinary cooperation between architecture and building services engineering. BIM
Engineering, Construction and motivated AEC student teams to have a more comprehensive design and construction plan by considering
Architectural Management
Vol. 25 No. 10, 2018 multiple criteria including energy efficiency, budget, and construction activities. Students’ reflections
pp. 1376-1397 indicated both positive effects of BIM (e.g. facilitating information sharing) as well as challenges for further
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0969-9988
BIM implementation, for example, such as some architecture students’ resistance to BIM, and the lack of
DOI 10.1108/ECAM-07-2017-0119 existing family types in the BIM library, etc.
Research limitations/implications – Some limitations of the current BIM pedagogy were identified Project-based
through the student group work. For example, students revealed the problem of interoperability between BIM
(i.e. Autodesk Revit) and building energy simulation tools. To further integrate the university education and pedagogy
AEC industry practice, future BIM pedagogical work could recruit professionals and project stakeholders in
the adopted case studies, for the purpose of providing professional advice on improving the constructability
of the BIM-based design from student work.
Practical implications – To further integrate the university education and AEC industry practice, future
BIM pedagogical work could recruit professionals and project stakeholders in the adopted case study, for the
purpose of providing professional advice in improving the constructability of the BIM-based design from 1377
student work.
Originality/value – This work provides insights into the information technology applied in the AEC
interdisciplinary pedagogy. Students gained the experience of a project-based collaboration and were
equipped with BIM capabilities for future employment within the AEC job market. The integrated design
approach was embedded throughout the team project process. Overall, this BIM pedagogical practice
emphasized the link between academic activities and real-world industrial practice. The pedagogical
experience gained in this BIM course could be expanded to future BIM education and research in other themes
such as interoperability of building information exchange among different digital tools.
Keywords Integration, Simulation, Information and communication technology (ICT),
Building information modelling, Design management, Constructions education
Paper type Technical paper

1. Introduction
Building information modeling (BIM), as the emerging digital technology in the global
architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) market, is gaining wider application in
industrial practice. The popularity of BIM as an integral concept in the AEC industry has
motivated its necessary inclusion within relevant education (Ghosh et al., 2015). BIM
movements and multiple BIM-related areas (e.g. sustainability) have resulted in a higher
demand on competent BIM professionals and college graduates with BIM skills ( Jäväjä and
Salin, 2014). Educational institutions play a significant role in providing the industry with
BIM-equipped graduates (Tang et al., 2015). However, there are still insufficient institutional
education resources to train and educate AEC students to meet industry needs in countries
like China, where the industry demand for BIM professionals is growing.
BIM education is not simply changing the pedagogical tool from 2D computer-aided
design (i.e. CAD) to 3D visualization (Tang et al., 2015), but the way of collaboration
among project team members through information management and teamwork (Sacks and
Pikas, 2013). Recent trends of AEC movements, including prefabrication in construction
and energy efficient “green” building, are gaining momentum along with BIM in some
developing economies’ AEC markets (e.g. China). These state-of-the-art practices
are interlinked. For example, BIM digital libraries could be established to incorporate the
information of various building prefabricated members (e.g. precast concrete walls), and
BIM could be used to support the building energy performance analysis through data
sharing. Nevertheless, communication, coordination and collaboration, as keys for BIM
implementation, have not been fully integrated into existing BIM training or education
through project-based or experimental learning approach.
Previous relevant pedagogical practices mostly adopted BIM in single disciplines, such
as architecture in the studies of Mathews (2013) and Solnosky and Parfitt (2015), structural
engineering in the study of Nawari (2015), and construction engineering in the studies of
Kim (2011) and Ghosh et al. (2015). So far there has been limited pedagogical practice in
recruiting all the aforementioned disciplines by exploring BIM’s capacity in enhancing
interdisciplinary project design and construction planning through information sharing and
management. This BIM pedagogical study aims to: implement the project-based approach to
adopt BIM as the digital platform to enhance the multidisciplinary project teamwork for
final year undergraduate AEC students; incorporate the real-world scenario (i.e. off-site
construction elements and solar energy) into the project team design; apply multiple criteria
ECAM in the student project work including architectural design, structural analysis, technology,
25,10 cost estimate, and construction planning; and gain insights from the feedback and reflective
thinking of AEC students on BIM’s impacts on cross-disciplinary team project. The overall
goal of this BIM pedagogical work is to provide students’ with not only BIM operational
skills, but also the initial BIM-based collaboration experience which could help their future
professional career in the AEC industry.
1378
2. Literature review
2.1 Application of information and communication technology (ICT) in AEC fields
2.1.1 ICT movement in AEC industry. Barriers and constraints of ICT implementation in
the construction industry identified by Peansupap and Walker (2006) have been overcome
and advanced towards BIM adoption in terms of technology, cultural and behavioral
change management worldwide (Benjaoran and Bhokha, 2009; Khosrowshahi and Arayici
2012; Jensen and Jóhannesson, 2013; Ding et al., 2015; Rogers et al., 2015). Gajendran and
Brewer (2007) emphasized the influence of ICT integration on the change of cultural
environment. Through a BIM experience survey in Australia (2007–2010) and Finland
(2012–2014), Singh and Holmström (2015) established the congruence between Maslow’s
motivational theory of needs and Roger’s theory of technology adoption and innovation
diffusion. Individuals and organizations have distinct aspects of adoption and
innovation-related needs for being career champions and industry leaders to meet
market demands and maintain competitive advantage.
2.1.2 Benefits of BIM adoption. BIM enables digital forensic tracking of high quality
information to support business outcomes through true collaborative effort amongst all
stakeholders such as clients, designers, contractors, building occupiers and managers
(Yang, 2017). BIM collaborative processes will significantly improve the efficiency of design,
construction and operation, and provide a platform for continuous upskilling for all (Strong
and Burrows, 2017). Focusing on commercial construction, Farnsworth et al. (2015) surveyed
executive, mid-management, and BIM practitioner level employees on application,
advantages, and methods associated with the use of BIM in the sector. Top advantages
of using BIM were identified as communication, scheduling, coordination, visualization and
clash detection. Efficiency with regards to time, resources, materials, and reduced
construction costs were also acknowledged. Companies reported a positive impact on
profitability, construction time, and marketing. The 4D and 5D capabilities of BIM in
simulations for resources, time, safety, space, risk, construction layout and buildability
analyses have been used with the outcomes of reduced cycle times, reduced request for
information, reduced wastes and increased safety in some work tasks (Aziz and Tezel, 2016).
2.1.3 BIM applications in building design and construction. BIM can also be linked to
building sustainability. Wong and Kuan (2014) noted that BIM-based sustainability analysis
was regarded as a potentially useful vehicle for helping project stakeholders to capture
complete design and project information. The latest review of sustainability by Chong et al.
(2017) highlighted the demands of new BIM tools for assessing sustainability criteria,
improved interoperability among BIM software package and energy simulation tools.
Further impacts of BIM on various AEC practices can be found in further studies.
For example, Bråthen and Moum (2016) facilitated the use of “BIM-kiosks” for construction
site workers to obtain a better understanding of the design material, navigate to get
information about specific details or problem in the 3D model and efficiently handle complex
elements. Amuda-Yusuf and Mohamed (2015) created a building service standard method of
measurement framework for managing the cost of building services by quantity
surveyors/cost consultants. Li et al. (2015) developed a 4D automated simulation tool based
on simulation by using a game engine for construction resource planning, which was
different from traditional construction planning that relies upon the critical path method Project-based
and bar charts embedded with visualization and timing issues. These multiple studies pedagogy
indicated that BIM could play a role within different AEC fields. There could be further
work to adopt BIM to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration across AEC fields.

2.2 BIM education in AEC disciplines

ICT has been establishing its role in the AEC education. For example, by viewing the real 1379
environment augmented with computer-generated information layers, students in the
construction management field have significantly improved perception of reality through
the combination of their ability to understand the complexity of construction products and
associated jobsite processes (Shanbari et al., 2016). Nevertheless, it still remains a question
as to how the perceived BIM benefits and their applications within AEC practices can be
incorporated in BIM education. For example, how AEC students would experience the
challenges and the needs in addressing the information exchange issue when adopting BIM
in building energy simulation? How students would experience the BIM impact on design
management? How students would learn to embrace holistic design through BIM processes
instead of traditional “silo” approach? And how collaborative working process can be better
embedded when teaching BIM not only as a tool but also a platform and an environment
where such collaboration is facilitated?
2.2.1 BIM pedagogical cases. Earlier studies have showcased BIM-based education in
AEC fields. Zhao et al. (2015) shared their investigation on training students’ collaborative
construction skills through BIM-integrated learning environments in the “Integrated
Construction Studio”. The ICS environment is designed to simulate the real-world working
conditions of the preconstruction phase of a project. Students would obtain employer’s new
expectations of soft skills, while simulating self-directed or team-based learning, mentoring,
and collaboration. A mixture of students from four specific courses at difference levels
(sophomore, junior, senior, and graduate levels) all participated in the integrated studio
study. Similar BIM education programs can be found in the cases of Clevenger et al. (2012)
and Ghosh et al. (2015). Review of existing literature indicates a lack of a focused
pedagogical approach to link BIM education to BIM industry practice by addressing the
state-of-the-art BIM implementation and challenges.
2.2.2 Rational of BIM interdisciplinary pedagogy. Based on a review of BIM curriculums
and surveys from industry, Lee and Hollar (2013) concluded that a collaborative learning
environment through purposeful integration of BIM would be best suited for future industry
needs. However, there have been limited pedagogical case studies (e.g. Udeaja and Aziz,
2015) to showcase how BIM, as a digital platform, could enhance interdisciplinary group
work for students among different AEC disciplines. PAS 1192-2 published by The British
Standards Institution (2013) emphasized the need of information exchange among multiple
AEC subjects. There is an urgent need to update the BIM pedagogy to train students in the
real-world scenarios addressing challenges stressed in PAS 1192-2 such as building
information exchange and interoperability. Using BIM-based interdisciplinary pedagogy
could bridge the gap between academic course delivery and industry practice based on the
consistent digital design approach and construction standards.

3. Research methods
This pedagogical research design consists of steps guided by Creswell (2014) as described in
Table I.
Details on the research design are described in the following sections, including students’
academic background, group project information, assessment approach of team design,
pedagogical strategies.
ECAM Steps Strategy
25,10
Preliminary Literature review of previous case studies in BIM pedagogy
considerations Case study approach adopting the 2018 Solar Decathlon (SD) project aiming to
incorporate the state-of-the-art practices within the AEC industries (e.g. prefabrication
construction, renewable energy facilities, and human well-being) to the BIM-based
group project
1380 Theories including Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) and Chickering and Gamson (1987)’s
principles for good practice in undergraduate education
Purpose statement The research focuses on the BIM pedagogical practice aiming to enhance the building
project design by bridging multiple AEC disciplines
Research hypotheses AEC students could gain the experience through project-based learning on how BIM
impacts their design
The BIM pedagogy could link education to industry practice by comparing students’
perceptions towards BIM impact in project delivery to that of AEC professionals
Methods AEC student teams will be asked to perform the group design and construction
planning for the residential building by meeting pre-described project specifications
Table I. The deliverables of students’ group design included their design documents,
Research design steps presentations reflecting their experience on how BIM affects their group design, as
of BIM pedagogy well as benefits and challenges in BIM practice

3.1 Students’ academic background

In the Autumn 2016, 72 final year undergraduate students from the Faculty of Science and
Engineering at University of Nottingham Ningbo China enrolled on the BIM and Management
course. These AEC students came from three major disciplines, namely, architecture,
architectural environmental engineering (AEE), and civil engineering (CE). They were divided
into 12 groups, each group consisting of students from the three different disciplines. Another
group consisting of graduate students in the Geospatial Engineering with BIM master program
also formed an extra design team to deliver the project design. It was known that the majority
of students had little previous BIM academic or professional experience. Before they formed
groups to perform the BIM-based group design, all AEC students within this BIM course were
provided with four-week intensive teaching focusing on BIM software skills using Autodesk
Revit and Navisworks. During these four weeks, each student was provided with three-hour
BIM laboratory training every week. Regardless of students’ own discipline, they were exposed
to the design or construction planning work that was not from their own field. For example,
architecture students were learning the reinforced concrete structural visualization in Revit
Structure Template, and CE students were also made aware of how building services systems
(e.g. air-conditioning and heating) were designed and integrated within the building.

3.2 Group project background

The Solar Decathlon (SD) project was adopted in the project brief aiming to enhance the
AEC students’ interdisciplinary collaboration through a real-life holistic design approach.
The project brief was prepared and released to student groups, with the main objective of
focusing on adopting BIM tools to enhance the multi-disciplinary design by achieving the
visualized building model incorporating architectural, structural, and building services
elements and by associating the design proposal with construction scheduling, cost, and
building sustainability. As part of the SD project requirements, solar photovoltaic (PV )
panels had to be installed as a source of renewable energy. The information of all building
elements (e.g. modular construction members and PV panels) were required to be saved in
the BIM-based design. Therefore, students were motivated to acquire the building product
information by investigating the local AEC market and contacting relevant suppliers or
manufacturers. The detailed project brief can be summarized in Table II.
Project site Within the 25 m × 25 m pre-defined boundary line
Project-based
All site components on the project site must stay within the 8.4-meter-high solar envelope, pedagogy
with the first story set least 0.3 meter above grade
The house components within the defined boundary line should not restrict a neighbor’s
right to the sun
Architecture One story
Architectural merits to embrace the residential architecture feature for senior citizens
Building floor area between 120 m2 and 200 m2 1381
Structure The concrete foundation will be adopted in this project. The foundation type, size, and
location to be designed by each team
Structurally sound with visualized design approach and analysis
Resistant to natural disaster (e.g. typhoon) based on the local climate condition
Building Renewable energy facilities to be considered (e.g. solar panel, and/or wind turbines)
services The overall balance to be met between building energy consumption and the renewable
energy supplied
Construction Prefabricated members for on-site assembly
Construction site assess to be evaluated given the site layout
Site assembly to be completed within 12 working days from the start of site construction Table II.
Others Costing Summary of Solar
Procurement of appropriate building materials and prefabrication members considering the Decathlon project
transportation cost and local availability in China requirements

As summarized in Table II, this SD project had specific requirements for adopting renewable
energy technologies and off-site construction. Students were guided on utilizing BIM as a
digital platform to perform the team design, and linking BIM into building energy simulation.

3.3 Assessment of BIM-based team project design

The workflow of the team design is presented in Figure 1, which illustrates the four key
major stages of the project.
In the conceptual design stage, each team was guided to explore possible architectural
schemes/ideas/concepts with effort not only from architecture members, but also AEE students
in considering building energy efficiency and CE students in off-site construction techniques.
Building models created in BIM
Analysis of different designs

Optimized design proposal

Energy efficiency study

Integrated design and

construction
Feasibility study

Team presentation
Desig

Project report
Re ect b
pro
vie rie

n brie
j
wo f
f

Data gathering Responses to Integration Final delivery

Figure 1.
and conceptual SD project and overview and
Key stages with
design requirements in BIM presentation
deliverables in the
BIM-based student
team project
ECAM The micro-climate analysis of the project site was also required. Available local suppliers or
25,10 manufacturers of building materials and prefabricated elements (e.g. precast wall panel or
timber framing) were to be searched by student teams. Informal team discussions were
encouraged led by each group’s project manager at this initial stage. Following the conceptual
design stage was the schematic design, where student teams were guided to generate their
detailed responses to project requirements in BIM. According to AIA California Council (2007),
1382 BIM could be adopted to evaluate different design options and to test “what-if” scenarios in the
integrated project delivery system. Students were guided and motivated to explore the optimal
project design plan at this stage by considering multiple criteria, including building energy
simulation and project costs. BIM was also required to generate the model combining
architectural, structural, and building services systems. At the later stage of integration and
overview, the optimized design was to be identified considering multiple criteria, including
architectural merits, local availability of building components/materials, energy simulation
results, and construction cost estimate. At this stage, clash detection was required to be
completed and the detailed design work should be free from any clashes among building
elements. Finally, the group design was presented both verbally in a presentation and by
means of a written report, both of which contributed to a summative assessment of the project
and contributed to final grades of students.

3.4 Pedagogical strategies

Several teaching strategies were applied to deliver this project-based BIM course. Figure 2
lists the five main teaching strategies to nurture AEC students’ active learning and
critical thinking.

Problem-based Project-based
Simulation
learning learning

Informal group
Peer assessment
work

Strategies

Seven principles
for practice Active Bloom’s
Reflect Guide
(Chickering and Learning Taxonomy (1956)
Gamson, 1987)

Develop

Figure 2. Critical
Teaching strategies in Thinking
the BIM-based student
team project
Some of the teaching strategies and theories adopted from other educators (e.g. Bloom et al., Project-based
1956; Chickering and Gamson, 1987) are described below: pedagogy
• BIM enables simulation-related activities within the building design and construction
stages. In this team project, energy simulation was required to determine the
optimized energy efficiency design. The 4D scheduling was also encouraged to
display the assembly of prefabricated construction members on site.
• Peer assessment and informal group work were incorporated in the project design 1383
process. Peer-assessment could stimulate students to become independent learners
(Falchikov, 2005). Informal group work would enhance student collaborative work as
learning should be collaboration-based (Dolmans et al., 2005).
• The principles for good practice in undergraduate education proposed by Chickering
and Gamson (1987) were reflected in the BIM pedagogy, including encouraging active
learning, giving prompt feedback to students during different design stages of SD
project, encouraging contacts between students and faculty, as well as developing
reciprocity and cooperation among students.
• Bloom’s Taxonomy Theory defined six hierarchy levels of cognitive domain
(i.e. knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation).
Students enrolled on this BIM course had all been equipped with subject-specific
skills and knowledge through their own field of core curriculums. For example, CE
students had learned and practiced building structural design, take-off estimate, and
construction scheduling; architecture students had been trained, through studio
work, in architectural design; and AEE students had been trained through their first
three years’ undergraduate study in building services design and environmental
sustainability. This project-based collaborative work was designed to apply their
own fields of knowledge to contribute to the team design adopting BIM as the
communication platform through information sharing.
Finally, students’ critical thinking was reviewed in the group project report. The critical
thinking could cover topics such as their understanding of how BIM impacted the project
delivery process compared to the traditional design approach, and existing problems in
applying BIM. The researchers also viewed students’ digital models, clash detection results, and
group presentation contents to check the consistency between their reflections and their project
design deliverables. For example, when a group claimed that BIM improved design quality with
clash detections, their clash detection reports would be checked by the researchers to verify the
detailed spatial clashes identified and how they were resolved. Similarly, when a group
described lack of family (e.g. solar PV panel) in BIM library as one challenge in using BIM, the
researchers would check the building model to pinpoint how the lack of family was acted upon
addressed. Only these consistent reflections from student group work would be considered
reliable and adopted for analysis of students’ perceptions towards BIM at later stages.

4. Results
By the end of the autumn semester in 2016, 12 undergraduate student teams and one
graduate team presented their team design proposals. Figure 3 showcases an example of
one student group’s workflow.
According to the given group work procedure described in Figure 3, the team design
started from a comprehensive understanding of the project requirements summarized in
Table I, to finally provide the design deliverables including architectural rendering, cost
estimate, construction scheduling, and integrated digital models. The key of the BIM group
design based pedagogy was AEC students’ interdisciplinary collaboration adopting BIM as
a digital platform.
ECAM Building
performance
Building
materials
25,10 analysis

Analysis of
site and end- Interdisciplinary
Start
user design in BIM

Are team
members from different
1384 disciplines satisfied with the
Yes
Building model
integration
Clash Detection
current design
Structural Architectural option?
soundness aesthetics
Satisfactory
Not

No

Cost estimate

Energy
simulation
Reflect on Clash Detection Clash Detection
project brief
Construction
scheduling
Satisfactory

Figure 3. Building model in both

single disciplines and
An example of integrated approach
workflow in the BIM-
based team design
End

4.1 BIM-driven interdisciplinary collaboration

Following the given topographic information of the project site and analysis of end-user
needs, the design team applied multiple criteria into the early design stage. For example,
AEE students would be involved in the conceptual design stage working with architecture
students to provide strategies for potential energy savings. These strategies provided by
student teams included building orientation and building envelope, which were also
mentioned by Kriegel and Nies (2008) to emphasize how BIM could aid in sustainable
design. It was also mentioned that the early design and preconstruction stages are the most
critical phases for decision making in sustainability (Azhar, 2010). Figure 4 shows an
example of how one team integrated the passive design and renewable energy facilities in
the early design stage.
As showcased in Figure 4, an early stage input of AEE subjects was enabled in this
integrated design approach, for instance, determining the building orientation, or the roof
shape for energy efficiency purposes. Certain BIM tools (i.e. Autodesk Revit) and building
simulation tools (e.g. Ecotect) could be linked to explore more sustainable architectural
solutions. As the teamwork moved to schematic and detailed design stages, design
responses to the multiple criteria (e.g. cost estimate and energy performance) would become
more accurate. Figure 5 illustrates one example of how one of these student teams
coordinated multiple BIM or BIM-extended software tools across the whole design process.
The group work shown in Figure 5 started the conceptual design involving Autodesk
Revit, which was further linked to multiple tools in solar panel integration, structural
analysis, quantity take-off, clash detection, and architectural rendering. It is worth noticing
that students were not restricted to any specific software tools in the design process, except
that Revit and Navisworks were adopted as the tools in the earlier BIM workshop training.
Informal group meetings were scheduled periodically to allow prompt feedback from
faculty to students as illustrated in Figure 2. Generally, student teams were motivated in a
BIM-driven collaborative environment while contributing to the project design with their
own field of knowledge. The team design of the 13 groups is summarized based on their
team presentations and corresponding project reports in the following subcategories.
 (a) (b) Project-based
pedagogy

1385

(c) (d)

Notes: (a) Determining the building orientation; (b) cross-ventilation; (c) 2D plan linked to 3D
visualization; (d) integration of solar panels. All the figures or images generated in this figure are Figure 4.
adopted from students’ original work in this BIM course without modification, with the purpose Interdisciplinary
collaboration in the
of demonstrating students’ interdisciplinary practice within BIM. The same rule applies to early design stage
Figures 5–15, except Figure 10 which is the researcher’s work

4.2 Architectural design

As indicated by some previous studies in both pedagogical and professional work
(e.g. Thomsen, 2010; Jin et al., 2016), architects’ traditional role in project design would be
affected by BIM adoption due to the multi-disciplinary involvements. The influence of
AEE and CE subjects in architecture could be seen in all 13 groups’ work, for example, the
input of CE students to define the structural grid system in the architectural form within
the BIM platform, and the adjustment of roof angle to accommodate solar panels ensuring
the structural soundness in the early design stage. One group stated that the initial design
underwent several rounds of discussion between architecture and structural engineering
students to meet the specific structural requirements while maintaining architectural
merits using Revit as the communication tool. Figure 6 show examples of technical
collaborations across different disciplines.
Various technical inputs of AEE or CE subjects into architectural models could be
found in the team group design, for example, the adjustments of roof height and angle to
accommodate building service facilities, window sizes and locations to enable cross
ventilation, and integration of renewable energy technologies, etc. Teams widely
ECAM Redesign
25,10
Build 3D Model
Early
Design

1386
Model Simulation

Calculate
Structure Stability
Cost
Evaluation

Clash
Figure 5. Detection
Architecture
One example of team and Structure
design with multiple Model Videos
BIM-based tools

Figure 6.
Spacing for
air conditioning
and piping

reflected on how BIM functioned as the communication tool enhancing interdisciplinary

collaboration. A few architecture students from multiple teams perceived BIM as a
coordination method rather than a design solution in their project reports.

4.3 Structural engineering

Besides coordinating with architecture team members in the early design stages, structural
engineering students were mainly responsible for performing the structural calculation and
analysis adopting certain software packages (e.g. Oasys GSA). Revit was utilized to achieve the
visualization of the structural form and to be integrated to the architectural and building services
model for further clash detection analysis. The interdisciplinary collaboration could also be found
in the structural analysis. One of these collaboration examples can be found in Figure 7.
Figure 7 shows an example of architectural input in the structural design. The architecture
student on that team suggested to relocate the originally designed steel columns and bracings
to outdoor spaces in order to enhance the living experience by allowing residents to view the
aesthetics of steel members. The architectural design suggestion was adopted by CE students
in this case within the BIM platform.

4.4 Building services engineering

AEE students in each team were responsible for integrating the building services facilities
and sustainable technologies into the SD house design including the solar panels. Groups’
building services design work typically covered the micro-climate analysis of the project site
in Northern China, daylighting analysis, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) system Project-based
design applying clash detection, and energy simulation. Figure 8 displayed typical examples pedagogy
of spatial clashes identified in the plumbing design.
Teams were encouraged to contact local suppliers of all building service equipment to
integrate the product parameters into their digital models and designs. Figure 9 shows an
example of one team’s work of integrating solar panels into the building design.
Building energy consumption was estimated by conducting energy simulations. Before 1387
the simulation, typically within teams, AEE students would discuss with CE members on
adjusting the building fabrics information (e.g. external wall thickness and U-Values) to
meet certain design standards such as CIBSE Guide A (2016). Some AEE students stated
that this process was time-consuming as they had different goals in the design. For example,

(a) (b)

Figure 7.
Interdisciplinary
collaboration in the
structural design
Notes: (a) Structural model; (b) integrated model

(a) (b)

Figure 8.
Spatial conflict
detected in
Notes: (a) Clash between pipes and structural column; (b) conflict between pipes MEP design
and structural beam

(a) (b) (c)

Building Attached Photovoltaic (BAPV)
Design area 120 m2 of roof S
Panel type Polycrystalline panel
Figure 9.
Orientation Tilt: 40 degree/Azimuth: 0 degree An example of
integrating the
Component 60 Panels and 3 Inverters solar panel into the
building model
Notes: (a) Polycrystal line panels; (b) some product parameters; (c) integrating building model
ECAM AEE students targeted on building energy efficiency but CE members focused more on
25,10 structural integrity, material costs and construction effectiveness.
Although students were not restricted in choosing building energy simulation methods or
software applications, they were aware of linking BIM-based tools (i.e. Revit) to energy
simulation. Some building information, such as geometrical data and building fabrics, could be
transported from BIM into energy simulation tools (e.g. IES-VE) to save time in rebuilding
1388 models for energy performance analysis. Data could be output from Revit to other energy
simulation tools in certain format, such as gbXML. In this schematic design stage, some teams
adjusted the building design details by comparing different design options in order to achieve the
energy consumption optimization. BIM would allow them to compare the energy performance of
different design options, for example, constructing curtain wall at façades, adjusting cooling and
heating schedules, and night-time ventilation according to the local climate, etc.
Generally, teams designed the solar panel parameters (e.g. roof areas, tilting angles and
number of solar modules) based on the building demand from simulation. The details of each
team’s renewable energy generation and the annual energy demand are presented in Figure 10.
Figure 10 shows that the majority of teams designed the solar panels to meet or even exceed
the building energy demand. The ratio of annual renewable energy supply to building energy
consumption ranged from 69 to 144 percent, with the average value of 107 percent. The
building energy demand simulated by different teams also varied significantly, ranging from
10.34 to 35.47 MWh/year, with an average simulated value of 22.0 MWh/year and the standard
deviation of 6.3 MWh/year. Different design options or parameters could generate significantly
varied energy consumption results. Four out of 12 teams also provided the payback period
analysis of SD house, with the payback of their designed solar panels ranging from 6 to
20 years. Their views on the investment effectiveness of solar panels also varied according to
the return on investment analysis. It could be inferred that the evaluation on the cost
effectiveness of solar panels is design-related and highly dependent on the product chosen.

4.5 Prefabrication construction

As prefabrication was the construction method required to deliver this SD project, each
team was guided to choose their own building structural materials based on their
investigation within China’s construction industry. Teams also had to consider the local

40

35
Annual Energy (MWh)

30

25

20 Building energy
demand
15 Renewable energy
generated
10

5
Figure 10.
Different teams’ 0
A B C D E F G H I J K L
simulation results
of building Student Team
energy demand Note: Only 12 teams’ simulation results are available and presented
and renewable
energy generation in this figure, the other team consisting of graduate students did not
provide the results
availability and transportation cost of prefabricated members. Among these 13 teams, six of Project-based
them chose a steel frame; three teams designed a timber frame structure, and two teams pedagogy
chose precast concrete construction. The remaining two teams chose a mixed structural
system, namely steel framing with timber roofing and flooring, and a recycled steel
container with steel framing. Figure 11 displays the visualization of the mixed structures.
Although two out of the 13 teams chose a mixed structural system, both of them
implemented steel as the main structure. It could be found that the steel-based materials and 1389
structure were the dominating option to satisfy the prefabrication construction needs of this
SD project. Teams all provided a rationale for their selections. For example, those teams who
selected the steel frame stated that steel is high in strength, fitting the fast construction needs,
and is recyclable, etc. The team that proposed to use a steel container in Figure 11 explained
that the locally available supplier could prepare the building services facilities (e.g. electrical
wiring) in the containers when they are being manufactured in factory, and the floors/walls
are integrated in the container therefore achieving time saving during on-site construction.
Teams were strongly encouraged to incorporate scheduling into the site-assembly for
prefabricated construction members on-site. Typically teams used Work Breakdown
Structure (WBS) in a Gantt Chart and 4D BIM to simulate construction activities on site.
Figure 12 and Figure 13 show an example of traditional scheduling approach and 4D BIM
assisted simulation, respectively.

4.6 Cost estimate

As part of the assessment criteria, each team was required to provide the take-off estimate
spreadsheet from the digital model created in BIM. Figure 14 shows one example of the cost
break-down within the MEP systems.
The family and types as well as quantities of each building element listed in Figure 14
came from the take-off information automatically generated in Revit model. The unit price
came from either published sources in China or local suppliers. It is also worth noticing that
although students were only taught with the basic Material Take-off function in Revit, some
student teams demonstrated their self-motivation to edit the existing formulas or format in
the default set-up of quantity take-off within Revit according to their own project needs.
Figure 15 displays the examples of students’ work in handling Revit functions in the process
of generating a material take-off sheet.
With the assistance of BIM, further cost estimate codes (e.g. Spon’s Architectures’
and Builders’ Price Book, 2015) could be applied to obtain the cost information as shown by
Jin et al. (2016).

(a) (b)

Figure 11.
Two mixed structural
systems in SD team
design
Notes: (a) Steel framing with timber roofing; (b) steel container with steel frame
ECAM Construction Process
25,10 3.2.3 Decoration
3.2.2 Inspection
3.2.1 Set lighting
3.1.4 Set plumbing
3.1.3 Install solar panel
3.1.2 HVAC equipment
3.1.1 Roof
1390 2.2.3 Hang wallpaper
2.2.2 Ceiling
2.2.1 Paint walls
2.1.8 Wall construction
2.1.7 Install slab
2.1.6 Set joist
2.1.5 Build connection
2.1.4 Set steel beams
2.1.3 Back-fill consolidation
2.1.2 Set steel columns
Figure 12. 2.1.1 Material preparation
A demonstration 1.3 Set precast foundation
of 12-day on-site 1.2 Ground Compaction
construction 1.1 Foundation excavation
scheduling 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Duration Float

01 Linking a Schedule to Tmeliner

02 Designing Sets that Map to Schedule Tasks

Figure 13. 03 Attaching Sets to Tasks

A description of the
procedure to simulate
4D scheduling from
microsoft project to
autodesk navisworks 04 Running the simulation

4.7 Reflection
As indicated in Figure 2, this BIM course was developed to motivate students’ active
learning and to nurture their critical thinking focusing on how BIM affected their team
design and management in this SD case study project. Students were guided to share their
BIM usage experience through this SD project. Based on the qualitative analysis of the 13
teams’ project deliverables, i.e. reflective reports, building digital models and drawings,
clash detection results, and group presentation contents, both positive and negative
perceptions that teams held towards how the adoption of BIM impacted their teamwork
were categorized and counted as shown in Table III.
Table III indicates the number of teams that provided the given perception towards BIM
impacts on their team project. The most frequently perceived positive effect of BIM within
the team project was the improved collaboration and communication. As teams reflected,
BIM worked as a platform for cross-disciplinary communication starting from the
 Multi-Category MEP Equipment Schedule Project-based
Family and Type Category Count
Unit Cost Total Cost pedagogy
(¥) (¥)
Solar Panel 17,820.00

Mechanical
M_Solar Panel: 750 × 1,500 mm 66 270 17,820.00
Equipment
1391
Plumbing Equipments 6,898.84
Hand Washing Sink Plumbing 2 560 1,120.00
Fixtures

Mechanical
Febricated Water Supply Tank - Equipment 1 650 650.00
Standard

Plumbing
Shower - 965 × 965 mm 2 658 1,316.00
Fixtures
M_Water Closet - Flush Tank - Plumbing
2 499 998.00
Private = 2.1 Lpf Fixtures
Figure 14.
Pipe A captured example
M_Bend - PVC - Sch 40 - DWV 59 0.26 15.34
Fittings of take-off spreadsheet
Note: Only part of cost items were displayed in this figure to show the in Excel according to
the quantity generated
example of the budget sheet, some other items (e.g. electrical facilities from Autodesk Revit
and structural members) are not captured in this figure

(a) (b)

Figure 15.
Students’ work on
editing existing
quantity take-off
functions in
autodesk revit
Notes: (a) Adding formula; (b) changing format

conceptual design to the later clash detection. There were more motivations for
collaborations among the major disciplines (i.e. architecture, structural engineering, building
services engineering, and construction management) in the BIM-driven environment,
through information sharing and coordination within the digital building models. The
second most frequently recognized BIM impact on teamwork was the improved design
quality with clash detection. Teams were able to modify their models by correcting
detections automatically identified within the BIM system. One of the fundamental
ECAM Number Number
25,10 Positive perceptions of teams Negative perceptions of teams

Improved collaboration and communication 12 Lack of family elements in existing

BIM library 3
Improved design quality with clash detection 9 Demands on training and software skills 2
Enhanced details from visualization 5 Architects being restricted by other
1392 disciplines 2
Improved sustainability in building design 3 Interoperability problem among different
BIM-related tools 2
Table III.
Reflections of student Faster design process 3
teams on BIM Consistency and efficiency of generating
adoption in SD project quantity take-off 1
design Notes: N ¼ 13. Totally 13 student teams provided their perceptions on how BIM affected the team project

BIM features, 3D visualization, was also frequently listed by teams as one major impact on
project design. Besides these three major positive effects of BIM, a few teams also had
positive perceptions of the effects of using BIM in building sustainability and design
delivery. AEE students in this project were responsible for integrating solar panels into the
building service facilities and analyzing the building energy demand. BIM, up to a certain
level, assisted the building performance analysis through data sharing (e.g. building
geometric information). The interdisciplinary design approach, as stated by several teams,
enhanced the design efficiency.
Some negative comments on BIM effects were also provided. One main barrier for
adopting BIM during this project work was the lack of families in the exiting BIM library.
Students had to perform extra work to build the family (e.g. solar panel) within the existing
library. A few groups demanded more software skill trainings before working on this SD
project. Teams also discussed the interoperability issue when linking BIM into building
energy simulation, specifically in the information loss when sharing the data among
different software applications. Besides these comments regarding technical factors, the
factor within design management was also concerned by student teams when adopting
BIM. Some architecture students stated that their design was restricted by both AEE and
CE disciplines. For example, in one group work, the AEE students declined the architecture
teammates’ proposal of applying larger-sized glazing for a better view, as it would result in
more heat loss in the winter. On another team, one architectural student claimed that the
worst part of BIM was that the architectural design was interfered with by team members
from other disciplines.

5. Findings and discussion

This pedagogical practice adopted the project-based approach to bring the interdisciplinary
teamwork approach to AEC students. The results were summarized from students’ project
work and their reflection on how BIM functioned and influenced their teamwork of the SD
project. AEC students’ work was presented based on multiple disciplines’ contributions,
namely architectural design, structural engineering, building services engineering,
prefabrication construction, sustainability, as well as take-off estimate and scheduling.
These various disciplinary works were inter-linked using BIM as the communication tool.
Teams were highly encouraged to provide their creative design to meet multiple project
criteria (e.g. selection of prefabricated elements). Student teams’ perception might vary
towards certain design criteria. For example, one team claimed that it was worthwhile
investing in solar panel, while the other team held opposite views. Students were trained on
BIM skills and interdisciplinary teamwork capacity in this SD project through an
experiential learning approach. For instance, some teams compared a few design options in Project-based
earlier design stages to decide the most efficient option through simulation. Some other pedagogy
teams applied the 4D scheduling to simulate the construction activities. Major findings of
this pedagogical research can be described as students’ perceptions towards BIM’s positive
impacts on project design, challenges encountered. Further investigations can be conducted
to identify similarities and differences between students and AEC professionals in terms of
these perceptions. 1393
This BIM pedagogical practice also aimed to collect insights from AEC students’
perceptions of BIM effects in the building project design and management. The SD project,
deemed as a small-sized building project, was selected as the case study. It has been
previously demonstrated by Sebastian et al. (2009) in industrial practice that BIM could be
applied in small-scale housing sector and enhance the interdisciplinary design and
engineering. The consistent perceptions regarding BIM impacts on project design between
AEC students in this pedagogical study and industry practices from a few previous case
studies including Sebastian et al. (2009) and Sebastian (2010) are summarized below:
• the 3D visualization assisted to enhance coordination and communication;
• facilitating information sharing and exchange across disciplines;
• integrated multidisciplinary design among architecture, structural engineering,
energy analysis, cost estimate, and planning;
• selection and optimization of design options against the project requirements;
• BIM linked with cost estimate;
• a 3D model integrating the prefabrication solution;
• accommodation of building service facilities within the 3D building model;
• several techniques to achieve data sharing among multiple BIM-related software
tools; and
• early discovery of design errors through clash detection.
This BIM pedagogical practice also identified certain issues or challenges which could spark
future research needs or raise industry concerns, including:
• interoperability issue when sharing the building information between the building
digital model and building energy simulation;
• architects’ resistance to BIM due to their potential loss of leadership in the design
process as their architectural decisions might be disapproved by other disciplines;
• lack of family types in the existing BIM library, leading to the extra work by
converting the existing local suppliers’ building product information (e.g. solar
panels) into the BIM library;
• insufficient BIM software skill training to deliver project design applying digital
technologies; and
• drawbacks within existing software tools, for example, some of these spatial conflicts
detected might not necessarily need any modification (e.g. installation of electrical
wiring within internal partition walls).
Some of these students’ feedback on challenges encountered in the BIM-based project design
was also highly consistent with the views from AEC industrial practice. As identified by
multiple other sources (e.g. Porwal and Hewage, 2013; Jin et al., 2017) from the AEC industry
perspective, interoperability remained one major barrier for wider application of BIM in
ECAM enhancing multidisciplinary collaboration. The architecture students’ resistance to BIM was
25,10 also consistent with the architects in the study of Thomsen (2010) who stated that BIM
limited the design choices and added extra requirements to architects. It could be inferred
that through the project-based experiential learning approach, AEC students could gain
consistent perceptions as industry professionals do on how BIM could influence their team
design. This BIM pedagogical practice not only served as the software skill training,
1394 teamwork capacity, but also the real-world scenario for students to gain their initial
experience in BIM interdisciplinary project work. Students developed their critical thinking
on BIM through their reflective feedback, which in return, provided insightful suggestions
on how to embrace more effectively different aspects of AEC practices (e.g. off-site
construction and green building) into interdisciplinary BIM pedagogy.

6. Conclusions
To fill the gap of limited BIM-based interdisciplinary teaching and learning at institutional
level, this BIM pedagogical work was developed to recruit students from multiple AEC
disciplines to deliver a solar-powered residential house within the real-world scenario. BIM
was adopted as the digital platform for cross-disciplinary communication, coordination, and
collaboration. Prefabrication and renewable energy technologies were incorporated in this
residential project as part of the BIM-driven cross-disciplinary cooperation among
architectural, structural, building services, and construction engineering work. It was found
that AEC students were generally motivated in the teamwork approach assisted by
BIM-enabled visualization and information sharing. With the experiential learning
procedure, students were able to provide their perceptions and feedback which were highly
consistent to that of AEC professionals from other studies regarding BIM influences on
project design and management. Generally, BIM was found to have positive effects in terms
of enhancing team communication, improving design through clash detection, assisting
sustainable design, and providing visualization. Challenges in BIM adoption were also
identified consistently to what had been found from the industry’s standpoint, such as the
lack of interoperability among BIM-related tools, insufficient BIM library database for
design needs, and the challenges to the traditional role of architects, etc.
The AEC students in this BIM course gained not only software skills but more importantly,
the interdisciplinary collaboration experience needed before they enter the industry. The
properly designed BIM pedagogy could provide AEC students with state-of-the-art skills and
help, further at some point, saving some resources of their future employers on employees’
BIM skill training. The limitations identified from this pedagogical practice could be linked to
research needs, such as the interoperability issue. Future BIM pedagogy could involve AEC
industrial professionals to assess student teams’ feasibility in design or construction planning
by providing more constructive feedback. More project-based case studies could be provided
from the industry to continue applying the real-world scenario in the pedagogy, which in
return provides design proposals to project stakeholders for their appraisal.

References
AIA California Council (2007), “Integrated project delivery: a guide”, AIA California Council, pp. 20-30.
Amuda-Yusuf, G. and Mohamed, S.F. (2015), “Essential features of a building services standard
method of measurement in Malaysia”, Engineering, Construction and Architectural
Management, Vol. 22 No. 6, pp. 749-770.
Azhar, S. (2010), “BIM for sustainable design: results of an industry survey”, Journal of Building
Information Modeling, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 27-28.
Aziz, Z. and Tezel, A. (2016), “Lean and BIM – a synergistic relationship”, UK Construction Excellence,
No. 1, p. 40.
Benjaoran, V. and Bhokha, S. (2009), “Enhancing visualization of 4D CAD model compared to Project-based
conventional methods”, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 16 No. 4, pedagogy
pp. 392-408.
Bloom, B., Englehart, M.F.E., Hill, W. and Krathwohl, D. (1956), “Taxonomy of educational objectives:
the classification of educational goals”, Handbook I: Cognitive domain, David McKay Company,
New York, NY.
Bråthen, K. and Moum, A. (2016), “Bridging the gap: bringing BIM to construction workers”, 1395
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 23 No. 6, pp. 751-764.
Chickering, A.W. and Gamson, Z.F. (1987), “Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate
education”, American Association for Higher Education & Accreditation Bulletin, Vol. 39 No. 7,
pp. 3-7, available at: www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/sevenprinciples1987.htm (accessed
December 18, 2016).
Chong, H., Lee, C. and Wang, X. (2017), “A mixed review of the adoption of building information
modelling (BIM) for sustainability”, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 142 No. Part 4,
pp. 4114-4126.
CIBSE (2016), “GVA/15 CIBSE guide A: environmental design 2015”, The Chartered Institution of
Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), ISBN 9781906846541.
Clevenger, C., Glick, S. and Puerto, C.L.D.P. (2012), “Interoperable learning leveraging building
information modeling (BIM) in construction education”, International Journal of Construction
Education and Research, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 101-118.
Creswell, J.W. (2014), Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches,
Sage publications.
Ding, Z., Zuo, J., Wu, J. and Wang, J.Y. (2015), “Key factors for the BIM adoption by architects: a China
study”, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 22 No. 6, pp. 732-748.
Dolmans, D.H., De Grave, W., Wolfhagen, I.H. and Van Der Vleuten, C.P. (2005), “Problem-based
learning: future challenges for educational practice and research”, Medical education, Vol. 39
No. 7, pp. 732-741.
Falchikov, N. (2005), Improving Assessment Through Student Involvement: Practical Solutions for
Aiding Learning in Higher and Further Education, Routledge & Falmer, London.
Farnsworth, C.B., Beveridge, S., Miller, K.S. and Christofferson, J.P. (2015), “Application, advantages,
and methods associated with using BIM in commercial construction”, International Journal of
Construction Education and Research, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 218-236.
Gajendran, T. and Brewer, G. (2007), “Integration of information and communication technology:
influence of the cultural environment”, Engineering, Construction and Architectural
Management, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 532-549.
Ghosh, A., Parrish, K. and Chasey, A.D. (2015), “Implementing a vertically integrated BIM curriculum
in an undergraduate construction management program”, International Journal of Construction
Education and Research, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 121-139.
Jäväjä, S.S.P. and Salin, J. (2014), “BIM education: implementing and reviewing ‘opebim’ – BIM for
teachers. Computing in Civil and Building Engineering”, ©ASCE 2014, pp. 2151-2158.
Jensen, P.A. and Jóhannesson, E.I. (2013), “Building information modelling in Denmark and Iceland”,
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 99-110.
Jin, R., Hancock, C.M., Tang, L., Chen, C., Wanatowski, D. and Yang, L. (2017), “Empirical study of BIM
implementation-based perceptions among Chinese practitioners”, Journal of Management in
Engineering, Vol. 33 No. 5, 04017025.
Jin, R., Tang, L., Hancock, C.M. and Allan, L. (2016), “BIM-based multidisciplinary building design
practice-a case study”, 7th International Conference on Energy and Environment of Residential
Buildings, Brisbane, November 20–24.
Khosrowshahi, F. and Arayici, Y. (2012), “Roadmap for implementation of BIM in the UK construction
industry”, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 19 No. 6, pp. 610-635.
ECAM Kim, J. (2011), “Use of BIM for effective visualization teaching approach in construction education”,
25,10 Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, Vol. 138 No. 3, pp. 214-223.
Kriegel, E. and Nies, B. (2008), Green BIM: Successful Sustainable Design with Building Information
Modeling, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ.
Lee, N. and Hollar, D.A. (2013), “Probing BIM education in construction engineering and
management programs using industry perceptions”, 49th ASC Annual International
1396 Conference Proceedings, San Luis Obispo, CA.
Li, H., Chan, G., Skitmore, M. and Huang, T. (2015), “A 4D automatic simulation tool for construction
resource planning: a case study”, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management,
Vol. 22 No. 5, pp. 536-550.
Mathews, M. (2013), “BIM collaboration in student architectural technologist learning”, Journal of
Engineering, Design and Technology, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 190-206.
Nawari, N.O. (2015), “The role of BIM in teaching structural design.” Structures Congress,
pp. 2622-2631.
Peansupap, V. and Walker, D.H.T. (2006), “Information communication technology (ICT)
implementation constraints: a construction industry perspective”, Engineering, Construction
and Architectural Management, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 364-379.
Porwal, A. and Hewage, K.N. (2013), “Building information modeling (BIM) partnering framework for
public construction projects”, Automation in Construction, Vol. 31, pp. 204-214.
Rogers, J., Chong, H. and Preece, C. (2015), “Adoption of building information modelling technology
(BIM): perspectives from Malaysian engineering consulting services firms”, Engineering,
Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 424-445.
Sacks, R. and Pikas, E. (2013), “Building information modeling education for construction engineering
and management. I: industry requirements, state of the art, and gap analysis”, Journal of
Construction Engineering and Management, Vol. 139 No. 11, p. 04013016.
Sebastian, R. (2010), “Changing roles of the clients, architects and contractors through BIM”,
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 176-187.
Sebastian, R., Haak, W. and Vos, E. (2009), “BIM application for integrated design and engineering in
small-scale housing development: a pilot project in the Netherlands”, International Symposium
CIB-W096 Future Trends in Architectural Management, pp. 2-3.
Shanbari, H., Blinn, N. and Issa, R.R.A. (2016), “Using augmented reality video in enhancing masonry
and roof component comprehension for construction management students”, Engineering,
Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 23 No. 6, pp. 765-781.
Singh, V. and Holmström, J. (2015), “Needs and technology adoption: observation from BIM
experience”, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 22 No. 2,
pp. 128-150.
Solnosky, R.L. and Parfitt, M.K. (2015), “A curriculum approach to deploying BIM in architectural
engineering”, AEI, pp. 651-662.
Spon’s Architectures’ and Builders’ Price Book (2015), Edited by AECOM, 140th ed., CRC Press, Taylor
& Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL.
Strong, D. and Burrows, V. (2017), A Whole-System Approach to High-Performance Green Buildings,
Artech House, Norwood, MA, p. 281.
Tang, L., Jin, R. and Fang, K. (2015), “Launching the innovative BIM module for the architecture and
built environment programme in China”, Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Design,
Construction and Operations, Vol. 149, WIT Transactions on The Built Environment,
WIT Press, pp. 145-156.
The British Standards Institution (2013), “Specification for information management for the capital/
delivery phase of construction projects using building information modelling”, PAS 1192-2,
Incorporating Corringendum No. 1, BSI Standards Limited.
Thomsen, A. (2010), “The role and influence of the Architect in industrialized building”, Second cycle, Project-based
A2E. Alnarp: SLU, Landscape Management, Design, and Construction. pedagogy
Udeaja, C. and Aziz, Z. (2015), “A case study of fostering multidisciplinary in built environment using
BIM”, in Raidén, A.B. and Aboagye-Nimo, E. (Eds), Procs 31st Annual ARCOM Conference,
Association of Researchers in Construction Management, Lincoln, pp. 701-710.
Wong, J.K. and Kuan, K. (2014), “Implementing ‘BEAM Plus’ for BIM-based sustainability analysis”,
Automation in Construction, Vol. 44, pp. 163-175.
1397
Yang, T. (2017), “A whole-system approach to high-performance green buildings”, Intelligent Buildings
International, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 177-178.
Zhao, D., McCoy, A.P., Bulbul, T., Fiori, C. and Nikkhoo, P. (2015), “Building collaborative construction
skills through BIM-integrated learning environment”, International Journal of Construction
Education and Research, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 97-120.

Further reading
Jin, R., Tang, L. and Fang, K. (2015), “Investigation of the current stage of BIM application in China’s
AEC industries”, WIT Transactions on the Built Environment, Vol. 149, pp. 493-503.

Corresponding author
Ruoyu Jin can be contacted at: [email protected]

For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website:
www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm
Or contact us for further details: [email protected]
Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without permission.