van den Berg, M; Voordijk, H and Adriaanse, A (2021) BIM uses for deconstruction: An activity-theoretical perspective on reorganising end-of-life practices. Construction Management and Economics, 39(4), pp. 323-339. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
Despite that Building Information Modelling (BIM) is often praised as a whole life-cycle methodology, possibilities for deconstruction are consistently overlooked. This study demonstrates what those possibilities may be. Previous studies showed that: deconstruction practices pose several site-based challenges; BIM implementations may help practitioners to address such challenges; and activity theory offers a framework to understand BIM implementations. We aimed to explore how deconstruction practices can be reorganised with BIM by applying an activity-theoretical perspective to a rather unique case-study. The selected case concerned the deconstruction of a nursing home so that many of its elements could be reused to construct a school. During this project, we implemented BIM in three essential activities: analysing existing conditions, labelling of reusable elements and planning deconstruction. The implementations resolved initial problems related with the use of traditional drawings, schedules and instructions. They nevertheless also triggered several additional problems that we attempted to address in successive steps. The organisation of the activities so evolved, which culminated in the formation of three new BIM uses for deconstruction: “3D existing conditions analysis,” “reusable elements labelling” and “4D deconstruction simulation”. These concepts complement existing BIM use taxonomies and can be appropriated in future deconstruction projects.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | activity theory; building information modelling; circular economy; deconstruction; practice; reuse; site management |
| Index terms: | drawing, circular economy, building information modelling, practitioner, implementation, taxonomies, site management, nursing home, methodology, activity theory |
| Subjects: | information systems, construction operations, practitioner, theoretical framing, research methods, sustainable design, contractual arrangements, knowledge organization and systems, technical documentation, construction type |
| Topics: | Design Practice, Information Management, Procurement, Digital Applications, Research Practice, Construction Technology, Site Management, Roles and Professions, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here