BuildingInformationModeling(BIM)applicationframework:Theprocessofexpandingfrom3DtocomputablenDLieyunDinga,YingZhoua,b,⁎,BurcuAkincibaSchoolofCivilEngineering&Mechanics,HuazhongUniversityofScience&Technology,Wuhan430074,ChinabCivil&EnvironmentalEngineering,CarnegieMellonUniversity,Pittsburgh15213,USAabstractarticleinfoArticlehistory:Received20September2013Receivedinrevisedform19March2014Accepted14April2014Availableonline5May2014Keywords:BIM3DnDComputableModelingTheutilizationofBuildingInformationModeling(BIM)hasbeengrowingsignificantlyandtranslatingintothesupportofvarioustaskswithintheconstructionindustry.Inrelationtosuchagrowth,manyapproachesthatleveragedimensionsofinformationstoredinBIMmodelarebeingdeveloped.Throughthis,itispossibletoallowallstakeholderstoretrieveandgenerateinformationfromthesamemodel,enablingthemtoworkcohesively.Toidentifygapsofexistingworkandevaluatenewstudiesinthisarea,aBIMapplicationframeworkisdevelopedanddiscussedinthispaper.SuchaframeworkgivesanoverviewofBIMapplicationsintheconstructionindustry.Aliteraturereview,withinthisframework,hasbeenconductedandtheresultrevealsare-searchgapforBIMapplicationsintheprojectdomainsofquality,safetyandenvironmentalmanagement.Acom-putablemulti-dimensional(nD)modelisdifficulttoestablishintheseareasbecausewithcontinuouslychangingconditions,thedecisionmakingrulesforevaluatingwhetheranindividualcomponentisconsideredgoodquality,orwhetheraconstructionsiteissafe,alsovaryastheconstructionprogresses.Aprocessofexpandingfrom3DtocomputablenDmodels,specifically,apossiblewaytointegratesafety,qualityandcarbonemissionvariablesintoBIMduringtheconstructionphaseofaprojectisexplainedinthispaper.Asexamples,theprocess-esofutilizingnDmodelsonrealconstructionsitesaredescribed.Itisbelievedtobenefittheindustrybyprovid-ingacomputableBIMandenablingallprojectparticipantstoextractanyinformationrequiredfordecisionmaking.Finally,theframeworkisusedtoidentifyareastoextendBIMresearch.©2014ElsevierB.V.Allrightsreserved.1.IntroductionManyresearchershaveevaluatedtheeffectivenessofBuildingInfor-mationModeling(BIM)applicationswithindifferenteducationalorin-dustrialsettings[1].Inaddition,manypractitionershaveacknowledgedthepotentialbenefitsofthisnewtechnology,suchasSacksetal.[2],Chenetal.[3]andothers[4,5].Todate,BIMisacceptedasaprocessandcorrespondingtechnologytoimprovetheefficiencyandeffective-nessofdeliveringaprojectfrominceptiontooperation/maintenance[6].Inthelastdecade,BIMhasreceivedaconsiderableamountofatten-tionbyresearchers.AnumberofcasestudieshavebeenpublishedthatshowusefulBIMimplementationsonactualconstructionprojects.InTheBIMHandbook,10casestudieshavebeenthoroughlyexplained[7].Inaddition,HartmannandFischerproposedtouse3D/4Dmodelsfordesignreviewfromtheperspectiveofconstructability[8].RüppelandSchatzdesignedaBIM-basedgameforfireevacuationsimulations[9].ZhouandDingpresenteda4Dvisualizationtechnologyforsafetymanagement[10].CasestudiessuchasthesehaveservedasastartingpointforpractitionerstobetterunderstandhowBIMcanbeappliedontheirprojects.Fromapreviousresearchreview,itisseenthatutilizationofBIMintheconstructionindustrycanhelppractitionersbyimprovingvisualiza-tion,communicationandintegrationinconstructionoperations[11].However,somepractitionersstillhesitatetoadopttheseinnovativetools[12].SomesurveyshavebeenconductedtoevaluatetheextentandbenefitsofapplyingBIMintheconstructionindustryindifferentcountries[13–16].AccordingtothesurveyconductedbyYoung,archi-tectural/engineering/construction(A/E/C)participantsdidnotidentifymuchvalueinusingBIM[12].Therefore,aframeworkisneededtoun-derstandtheclustersofworkandlessfocusedareastopushthere-searchonandutilizationofBIMthroughoutthelife-cycleoffacilitiesformultiplestakeholders.Awell-roundedBIMapplicationframeworkmightgivethepractitionersabroaderviewoftheuseofBIMapplica-tionstosupportconstructionprojectmanagementandhelpthemtobetterunderstandthebenefitsofimplementingBIMontheirprojects.FormulatingacomprehensiveframeworkprovidesanopportunityfortheresearcherstoidentifyfutureBIMresearchandimplementationdirectionsanditwouldenableapplicationofthesesophisticatedtechnologiesinthewholelife-cycleofprojects[17,18].Thispaperoffersastartingpointforthedevelopmentofsuchaframework.ItAutomationinConstruction46(2014)82–93⁎Correspondingauthorat:HuazhongUniversityofScienceandTechnology,Wuhan430074,China;visitingscholaratCarnegieMellonUniversity,Pittsburgh15213,USA.E-mailaddresses:ying_zhou@mail.hust.edu.cn,yingzhou@andrew.cmu.edu(Y.Zhou).©2014ElsevierB.V.Allrightsreserved.ContentslistsavailableatScienceDirectAutomationinConstructionjournalhomepage: