The year 2020 challenges the whole world in all sectors of activity, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.
Healthcare workers are overwhelmed and spend many hours caring for the sick population. In this context, it is essential to rely on the construction and development of health systems but also to be able to ensure good medical equipment.
BIM and the trades adding value to the construction sector are essential in a health environment like the one we are currently experiencing. They are useful in reducing costs, speeding up the building construction process, and delivering higher quality projects through collaboration and real-time visualization. This makes it easier for architects to communicate with trades such as structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing to shorten design times and increase results.
Healthcare staff can visualize in a digital environment the structure and arrangement of facilities in hospitals using advanced technologies. All patient protection systems, accessibility to medical devices and staff organization are issues that can be considered upstream of construction.
The concept of BIM information promotes coordination between design, construction and medical staff by connecting data and centralizing it on collaborative platforms that help prepare for medical operations.
The requirements of health standards are measurable and influence building design and layout of medical facilities. The added value of technology is being able to anticipate constraints and establish a project that respects them. Global healthcare spending continues to grow by 5% until 2023 and the need to build sustainable and efficient facilities is critical to avoid future incidents.
The current health context as well as the lockdown period have changed the working methods of AEC companies. As travel was reduced and physical contact was not recommended or even forbidden, communication and collaboration between on-site workers and office staff had to be improved. Web collaborative platforms such as ATIS.cloud play an essential role in ensuring the balance and stability of the sector. The stakeholders of a construction or renovation project are invited to work together by organizing virtual reality meetings, for example. They can evolve around point clouds or 3D models by sharing information in real time concerning their project and by distributing the tasks to be carried out to optimize the progress of the work.
This health era is an opportunity to develop more solutions to the problems that have slowed down development in different industries. The aim is to optimize the use of the technological tools which are provided to companies in order to expand the ranges of possibilities and to take advantage of the advanced functionalities to develop.
