FM Smart: Information Technology for the Facility Life Cycle

Why: This article explains that Building information modeling (BIM) as a technology for facility management is more about infor­mation-management processes and data, and less about the technology. Information about facilities is a tangible asset that must be managed with as much discipline as a physical asset. This mindset should extend to commissioning the information asset as rigorously as commissioning the physical asset. Prop­erly structured and embedded into leading business strategies, facility life-cycle information has economic value, offering a return on investment for the life of a facility.

What: To progress the vision of a better approach--structured information assets, combined with lean processes, for leveraging information across the full facility life cycle--to its next phase, the National Insti­tute of Building Sciences buildingSMART alliance (bSa) cre­ated the FM Smart Project initiative. While other industry play­ers need to participate, the responsibility for achieving the FM Smart vision must be led by the owner and facility manager. Currently, consensus on the business and technology requirements for an information and system architecture to manage the life cycle of facilities does not exist. It's a necessity, as are:

Workflows to facilitate the exchange of that information
Use cases to drive the requirements and identify exchange processes
Standards to manage the exchange.

How: The FM Smart Project was established to evolve these resources. The article offers information on how to get involved in the project.