BIM for Renovation and Retrofitting

th
16 ASEP INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION

Sonny G. Andalis

President, PICE Singapore Chapter

Abstract: Renovation of existing facilities has been on the rise due the need to suit changing requirements by owners, high
cost of constructing new facilities, limited availability of land; and adding value to increase investment & valuation in the
open market. Renovation can be a costly and inconvenient business that need careful consideration whether the expense and
disruption is justified.

With the introduction of Building Information Modeling (BIM) that is radically changing the way architects and engineers
produce their drawings and how information is handled using a central 3D model breaking away from traditional 2D computer
aided drafting. The popularity of 3D laser scanners borrowed from meteorology and traditional surveying has provided hyper
accurate 3D models of existing building for commercial and historical building renovations.

Keywords: Building Information Modeling (BIM); Renovation; Retrofitting, Addition and Alterations; Point Clouds;
Geographical Information System (GIS); Laser Imaging, Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), High Definition Survey (HDS)

representative of the external surface of an object or an

entire building.
1 3D LASER SCANNERS

1.1 Hardware Manufacturers

BIM is moving the construction industry from vector

line drafting to object based modeling almost similar to
playing Lego which substantially improves
productivity in both drawing production generated
from physical models and synchronization to structural
analytical models.

In parallel, Geographical Information System (GIS) is

merging cartography, statistical analysis and database
technology to produce Digital Terrain Models (DTM) Fig. 1 LiDAR scanners
to complement the use of BIM for buildings. This
technology development has paved the way for the Point clouds are helping engineers and architects by
development of Smart Cities pioneered by IBM and quickly creating 3D models without manually
Scream point used for town planning and zoning. measuring on site.

Traditional surveying manufacturers like Reigl & Leica 1.2 Benefits of 3D Laser Scanners
has contributed to the advancement of GIS by a) Shorter project cycle time
producing LiDAR 3D scanners (Light Detection and
Ranging or Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging). b) Better quality projects
c) Less ambiguity
LiDAR are simply optical remote sensing technology
that can measure the distance to, or other properties of d) High level of detail
targets by illuminating the target with laser light and e) Improved safety during data capture
analyzing the backscattered light.
f) Unobtrusive data capture
LiDAR produces point clouds database which are set g) Point clouds conveniently used and reviewed by
of vertices in a three-dimensional coordinate system.
These vertices are usually defined by X, Y, and Z others
coordinates, and typically are intended to be h) Full panoramic and color

1 16th ASEP INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION | Prolonging the Life of Structures

ISBN: 0-12-440652-1. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
 i) Compatible with total station and GPS
Building external surfaces like facade, claddings,
j) X, Y, Z coordinates
canopies, columns, beams, walls, parapets, and ground
slab can be easily captured by laser scanners. With the
k) BIM & 2D CAD drawing production.
accuracy of survey points, point cloud data are being
used for settlement & tilting of historical and
conservation structures.
1.3 Known Limitations

a) File size is serious consideration with point cloud

data. A single 360 degrees survey occupies at least 100
megabyte of disk storage. For 10 survey points, that
easily translates to 1 gigabyte of data. In addition,
scanners are mounted with high definition cameras to
capture site photos where every pixel is match to a
corresponding x,y, z coordinate.

b) Line of sight is another factor. Since light travels in

a straight line, laser scanners require to be move at few
designated points or corners to fully capture the
geometry of the building being investigated.
Fig. 3 Side view of shop houses showing settlement markers
c) Range of LiDAR scanners typically spans from 300
meters for Leica to 1.6 kilometers for Reigl. Hand held
scanners are used to scan detailed objects like ornate
1.5 Internal Point Clouds
doors and windows.

d) Object creation is a major issue for point cloud. To

convert point clouds to usable BIM models, a
technique called surface reconstruction is employed
where millions of dots are processed by mathematical
equations to detect the geometry it represents. Point
clouds engines like Leica's Cyclone, Alice Lab Studio
Clouds and Bentley Point Tools are known for.

1.4 External Point Clouds

Fig. 4 Interior survey of ornate arches and columns

LiDAR scanners are used to capture the interior of

buildings to show intricate details such as furniture,
cladding supports, air-conditioning ducts and diffusers,
mechanical ventilation, electrical cables & conduits,
fire protection systems, horizontal and vertical
transport systems like escalator, moving walkways and
elevators.

Fig. 2 Facade of a traditional shop house in Singapore

2 16th ASEP INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION | Prolonging the Life of Structures

ISBN: 0-12-440652-1. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
 2 INTEROPERABILITY: BIM MODELS TO
STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS & DESIGN

2.1 Revit Point Clouds & Autodesk Recap

Autodesk support of point clouds starting from Revit

and AutoCAD 2012 has increased productivity by
allowing Revit models to be based from actual site
coordinates. However users are required to employ
their own Autodesk Indexed Point Clouds .pcg format.
Raw files like .fls, .fws, .las, .ptg, .pts, .xyb, and .xyz
can be converted by using an indexing application.
Indexing time varies but is usually benchmark to about
22 minutes for a 7GB raw file.

Fig. 5 Drawings generated from point clouds data. The Revit 2012 SDK has introduced a Point Cloud
Indexer plugin to support additional 3rd party raw data
formats.

Fig. 8 Revit Point Cloud Tab

Fig. 6 Chinese Temple beam element

Fig. 9 Revit support LiDAR raw formats

Autodesk has recently launched ReCap to enhance its

point clouds capability by importing other file formats
and a new optimized point cloud engine. Revit 2013
engine supports about 2 billion points while ReCap
Fig. 7 Top View of scanned image of Chinese Temple beam supports 20 billion points, 10x improvements.

3 16th ASEP INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION | Prolonging the Life of Structures

ISBN: 0-12-440652-1. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
 2.3 3rd Party Point Cloud Engines

Leicas CloudWorx 1.0 is a Revit add-on plugin that act

a simple tool for viewing and working with slices of
point cloud data to speed up 3D modeling. Powerful
new modeling tools enable as-built piping models and
other3D constructions to be created from point cloud
data in the Revit environment.

Leicas Cyclone point cloud engine lets users to

manipulate large point cloud data sets faster using
fences and user defined cut planes. The plugin allows
for accurate placement of walls, floors, structural
members, doors, windows, mechanical equipment, etc.

Engineers can use CloudWorx for renovation projects

to visualize their design proposals inside the point
Fig. 10 Autodesk ReCap point cloud engine cloud that represents the actual existing site condition.

2.2 Bentley AECOsim Point Tools

Bentley acquisition of Point Tools last 2011 has

signified the importance of point clouds to generate 3D
models directly from survey data. AECOsim has
capitalize on this upgrade from the old Vortex engine to
produce accurate BIM models used in infrastructure
projects where accuracy is of high priority like
underground train stations & tunnels, sewer and water
supply systems, sea ports and container terminal
facilities.

Fig. 13 Leica CloudWorx Revit Plugin

2.4 Revit to Etabs Interoperability

Revit Structural BIM models can be easily transferred

Fig. 11 Bentley Point Tools Import Dialog Box to CSi Etabs using the CSiXRevit Link which converts
the physical models to analytical models almost
\ instantaneously.

This functionality eliminates the double entry of the

same geometry coordinates structural engineers has to
deal with currently in both drawing authoring tool like
Autocad and Microstation and structural analysis and
design software.

Fig. 12 Bentley Point Tools Supported File Formats

4 16th ASEP INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION | Prolonging the Life of Structures

ISBN: 0-12-440652-1. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

Fig. 14 Revit Physical Model vs Etabs Analytical Model
2.6 Extreme Loading for Structures (ELS)
Fig. 15 Revit to Etabs Workflow
2.5 AECOsim to StaadPro Interoperability
Bentley has upgraded their BIM authoring tool from
Triforma to Bentley Structural and finally to the current
AECOsim. Bentley has implemented ISM or Integrated
Structural Modeling file format to seamlessly transfer
information from modeling to structural analysis and
design
5 16th ASEP INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION | Prolonging the Life of Structures
ISBN: 0-12-440652-1. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
Fig. 16 Bentley ISM REvit add-on plugin
Fig. 17 Bentley ISM StaadPro Transfer Protocol
ELS is an advance nonlinear structural analysis
software designed to study the 3D behavior of
structures through both the continuum and discrete
stages of loading. This force includes static and
dynamic loads such as blast, seismic events, wind,
equipment, impact, progressive collapse.
Unlike many structural analysis software tools which
are based on the Finite Element Method (FEM), ELS
utilizes a non-linear solver based on the Applied
Element Method (AEM). AEM is able to detect
initiation of cracks, track their progression throughout
the structure, and simulate actual element separation,
collision and final collapse; estimation of failure loads
for reinforced concrete structures; reinforced concrete
structures under cyclic loading; buckling and post-
buckling behavior; nonlinear dynamic analysis of
structures subjected to severe earthquakes; fault-
rupture propagation; nonlinear behavior of brick