Automating the Gap Between CAD Drawings Through Revit to a Geo-Enabled BIM

Long considered the biggest hurdle to a true enterprise geo-enabled BIM (Building Information Model), transitioning legacy CAD drawings to a geo-referenced BIM Model has always been a cost-prohibitive and substantial roadblock to true BIM acceptance across municipalities and governments.

As easy as it may be to mandate that new buildings and construction adhere to a modern BIM format such as Revit, evolving legacy architectural floor plans and drawings to an immersive, analytic-ready BIM environment remained an onerous task with no clear solution in sight.

Avineon, with the help of innovative technology, process expertise, and proprietary development has now automated the process of loading the foundational/architectural and MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing) elements of legacy CAD drawings into a geo-enabled BIM. With Avineon’s cutting-edge process to convert 2D CAD plans to 3D BIM at scale and subsequently migrate them into GIS, city planners can now quickly unlock the ROI (Return on Investment) of a truly geo-enabled BIM at LOD 300 (Level of Detail 300) in a cost-effective manner. Already deployed by governments and municipalities, the web-based applications developed by Avineon provide users a city-wide view of building information in a secure environment to analyze and make value-based decisions with digital 3D models and plans.

With Avineon’s automated CAD to BIM to geo-enabled BIM process, users can:

  • Ingest multiple CAD drawings with architectural elements including floor/room space details.
  • Automate the development of BIM models with architectural elements at LOD300.
  • Scale the relevant models as needed across a region.
  • Geo-enable the models over a landscape into a geodatabase.
  • Web-enable GeoBIM data, publish as service, and provide spatial/engineering analytical tools.

While the use of CAD technology has transformed the design and drafting of buildings, BIM equips users with intelligent data models that can be analyzed for future planning and various initiatives such as efficiency, energy savings, and focused statistics. Geo-enabled BIM integrates GIS to give users a view of a larger landscape, where buildings can be viewed and analyzed in a smart geo-enabled environment.

With all BIM and GIS information available now in one interface, stakeholders will be able to manage building projects along with other infrastructure data. They will be able to analyze and reuse the information in various ways with incorporated legacy buildings and an efficient new process to load new buildings to digital models through a modern template. Real-world value-producing applications of a geo-enabled BIM on the web include:

  • Streamlined building permitting process
  • Building code validations on legacy buildings
  • Built-up area/volume vs. open and green space
  • Micro and macro building material statistics
  • Energy demand calculations over an area or for a building (heating/cooling) and solar potential calculation
  • Floor space statistics (common areas, floor areas, layouts)
  • 5G coverage planning

Avineon’s revolutionary method of converting complicated CAD drawings to BIM and then integrating them with GIS is an industry trendsetter that lowers the cost barrier of creating a geo-enabled BIM, unlocking the value to cities and municipalities that has been elusive to date.

Reach out to Avineon to learn more about how our streamlined, automated process has moved clients to a geo-enabled BIM at a lesser cost and shorter timeline than traditional methods.