
Broadcom BIM image. All images: JE Dunn
Laboratories and advanced manufacturing facilities give scientists, research organizations, and technologists a distinct advantage and an ability to achieve exceptional results. However, to design and build those spaces, architects, planners and contractors must translate the client’s vision into the built form. Technical thought leadership must be merged with design excellence and engaged clients in every step of the process to produce facilities with the end users’ goals in mind.
A client-focused approach to research facility programming, design and project delivery promotes a collaborative relationship. All that’s missing from that relationship are the technical tools and advanced resources to let a researcher experience the finished project before it’s even been fully designed.
Precision enables innovation
At Georgia Institute of Technology, JE Dunn has been contracted to build out an ISO 7 cleanroom in the existing Marcus Nanotechnology Building. The lab is approximately 3,500 sf and will house two GMP labs and a GLP lab, and will serve as a research center that will develop processes and techniques for ensuring the consistent, low-cost, large-scale manufacturing of high-quality living cells used in cell-based therapies.
The single most important part of designing, and then building a cleanroom space is a fully collaborative, well-orchestrated preconstruction effort. It was important to Georgia Institute of Technology that the preconstruction effort center around a highly collaborative process where the design team would work hand-in-hand with the contractor for four months; all the while providing weekly updates to the scope and the estimate.
The secret to making this happen was the usage of a software developed by JE Dunn Construction, Microsoft and Autodesk. The software is called Lens, and features four modules: Search, Aim, Focus and View. Lens Search scours a comprehensive historic cost database to use a budgetary frame of reference for initial project cost estimating. Lens Aim creates detailed, evolving cost estimates from concept to completion using a proprietary estimating platform. Lens Focus takes the building information modeling data and creates a 3-D virtual model with instant visualization of all building elements’ costs; the budget directly links to the model.
Essentially that means one could say, “What would the cost change be if we changed all these bricks to stone?” and both the model and cost change almost instantly to reflect that design decision and related cost implications. Lens View tracks project progress in a secure, cloud-based dashboard with access to the Revit model in a viewer window that anyone, even those without Revit software, can view — even on a mobile device.
The Lens Aim module was utilized throughout the process to make sure the team had a comprehensive and detailed estimate prior to trade partner pricing. The Lens Focus module, which extracts quantities from the weekly Revit model from the design team, would update the estimate quickly and give rapid pricing feedback to the entire team. This effort kept the project team informed and working together to deliver a final design that fits the end users’ goals.
This collaborative effort will continue during construction with utilization of BIM 360 Glue for mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) coordination. BIM 360 Glue software helps facilitate design reviews in a three-dimensional environment. All stakeholders can review the design in 3-D instead of just flat paper drawings, so the collaboration and visualization is much greater. With complex MEP planning and installation, this level of collaboration is critical to reduce and detect potential clashes and allow for prefabrication of many MEP components.
BIM coordination of this level also provides a jumping off point for virtual and augmented reality as the spaces go from imagined to actual. The use of AR/VR lets clients experience the space before the design is complete, which allows them to make changes to the space before all equipment and materials are ordered. Catching these changes earlier allows for greater flexibility and less change in an advanced stage of the project. Virtual reality can be used in any type of cleanroom environment — it’s not something reserved only for laboratory spaces. It has been used with great success in advanced manufacturing facilities, surgical rooms, and even recently at a crime lab.
“At the Douglas County Crime Lab in Colorado, we used virtual reality (VR) during design review meetings to review the end-users’ actual space/lab goals before the design was completely baked. They loved being able to walk through their space virtually enough that they’ve asked us to come back and do it again at 100 percent CDs for a final review of their spaces,” said Lina Stinnett, regional VDC director.
Digital tools are great, but we still swing hammers
Clearly the design and building process of the cleanroom space is important to the client and end-user above anyone else. But to successfully put the construction work in place, everyone must be on the same page about the details and extreme care that goes into building this space. That means everyone from carpenters to electricians, and everyone in between, must be working off the same set of coordinated construction documents and building information modeling.
Through the Dunn Dashboard, a cloud-based document sharing platform that houses Lens and many other software integration points (such as Revit), BIM drawings completed by the team are shared with trade partners, allowing them to complete the detailing and fabrication drawings within a single, unified design model. The result is increased efficiency, lower cost, higher quality, and more project controls for consistency.
This “draw once” approach has recently resulted in a major cost savings for Broadcom Limited. Traditionally, a design team hands off its work to the construction team and subcontractors in flat paper sets, which are used to create the 3-D models — and all partners would be creating and modifying their own models, thereby duplicating a lot of work and creating major version control issues. Due to early procurement of key trade partners, architects, and engineers, programmatic design information was shared to all necessary partners. Key components of the project were able to be modeled well before construction started. What was modeled in 3-D became consistent 2-D sheets of drawings and saved four months just on the initial design phase. This collaborative approach allowed for significantly shortened design and coordination durations, as well as provided a jumpstart to off-site pre-fabrication. The approach equated to schedule savings equal to 25 percent of the overall project timeline. Broadcom Limited faced the challenge of adding a 208,000 sf annex to an existing semi-conductors manufacturing facility — without disrupting its round-the-clock production schedule.
Kevin Brettmann is the Director of Science and Technology for JE Dunn Construction. He has been a speaker and moderator at the I2SL (International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories) Annual Conferences and a speaker at TRADELINE and Laboratory Design Conferences. Kevin is the founding president of the Colorado chapter of I2SL, treasurer of the Arizona chapter of I2SL and member of the national Executive Advisory Council of I2SL.