Metro CUP - 3-D Coordination

Case Studies

Ahead of Schedule and at a Lower Cost: 3-D Coordination for a Hospital

Opportunity
Construction of Metro Health’s new 497,000 square foot hospital was underway in Wyoming, MI in the spring of 2005. To continue construction through winter, the hospital’s utilities needed to be running by November, a challenging deadline considering utilities were being installed in a new, separate central utility plant.

Solution
Commonly in construction, engineer’s drawings are sent to the construction site where workers start building. Andy J. Egan Co., in collaboration with the engineers and other contractors, started with 3-D coordination, a step in the Building Information Modeling (BIM) process. Our 3-D coordination team streamlined the engineer’s drawings to organize the central utility plant before erection of the building began. Instead of seeing the complex building in lines, as many engineers draw it, it was brought to life in 3-D.

Using a 3-D model, we determined how to fit all the equipment—boilers, chillers, piping and more—into the building. Working with the other contractors, we could find and avoid conflicts—like a pipe that would have intersected with a steel beam—on a computer screen instead of in the field when corrections are more costly.

We also used our final pipe layout to determine what we could fabricate and pre-assemble in our fabrication shop. Keeping workers in the shop—a controlled environment—and off the jobsite got work done quicker and safer. And once the fabricated parts arrived on site, they quickly fit together like an erector set.

Outcome
Metro Health Hospital’s central utility plant was completed ahead of schedule at a lower cost than anticipated. Although 3-D coordination adds up-front costs, the method:

Saved time through collaboration, faster decision making and accurate as-built documentation.
Saved money by reducing change orders, material waste and construction time. There was only one change order, and it was requested by the owner, not a result of a conflict.
Made the jobsite safer because of reduced clutter.

Check out the entire hospital and some of its “green” features at Metro Health “Green Thinking.”