Contractors building one of the largest and tallest pediatric research hospitals, hemmed in on a tiny site in Chicago, say they are several months ahead of schedule in part due to the owner�s requirement that designers and contractors collaborate using building information modeling, a digital tool that helps prevent errors. However, the use of BIM apparently still has some growing up to do. For the 1.25-million-sq-ft hospital that stands 457 ft tall on just 1.8 acres, the building team not only is tackling the challenges of urban, vertical hospital construction, it also is conducting research to determine if the time and cost of modeling the hospital, down to its mechanical hangers, is adding value to the project.
Armed with laser scanners and their resulting �point cloud� diagrams, construction managers are beginning to compare BIMs to what was built. Early results of the reality check are in, even as the fast-tracked project is just 50% complete.