We all know intuitively that construction is an important industry to global economic health – and organizations, including the World Economic Forum, have recently heralded the need for change in the industry to unlock the potential to serve the needs of a world urbanizing at the rate of 200,000 people per day.

In June 2016, the esteemed global consultancy McKinsey & Company (McKinsey) released a construction-specific report, “Imagining construction’s digital future.”  McKinsey offered five big, disruptive ideas to modernize the construction industry, noting that much is deployable today.

Of the honorable technology mentions composing McKinsey’s list of five, “Next-generation 5-D building information modeling” raised our collective eyebrows at Autodesk and RIB Software AG.

Why? Well, McKinsey’s finding wasn’t a grand revelation to either RIB or Autodesk because this technology has been a focus of Autodesk and RIB Software AG for quite some time.  Read on to learn how we are helping to bring McKinsey’s big idea to life.

Autodesk and RIB Software AG are pleased to announce a new joint-effort to deliver the best of the best in the next-generation 5-D building information modeling – a collaborative effort expected to offer the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industries an integrated, interoperable 5D building information modeling solution.  Together, our goal is to provide a joint solution which we believe will help to reduce project risk while increasing industry profitability and productivity in an accessible and affordable way.

We are bringing the future of building things to life – today, by combining real-time 3D construction modeling (spatial) with schedule (4D) and project cost-estimating information (5D).  A 5D solution provides all of the necessary design from Autodesk’s Revit software, schedule and cost information in a single environment to become a single source of truth for construction project teams.

The agreement will enable construction firms, project owners and stakeholders across the building, civil infrastructure, and industrial sectors to more confidently understand the critical business drivers of a project and predict outcomes through the entire project lifecycle. As the McKinsey team notes, “the visual and intuitive nature of 5D BIM gives contractors a better chance to identify risks earlier and thus to make better decisions. For example, project planners can visualize and estimate the impact of a proposed change in design on project costs and schedule.”

“Working with RIB creates an extraordinary opportunity for the construction industry to visualize all aspects of a project in a single 5D environment in a highly integrated offering,” said Amar Hanspal, senior vice president, Autodesk.  “Together we will work to deliver a 5D model enabling project stakeholders to put all their individual cards on the table to make more informed business decisions. This will result in reduced project risk and increased productivity for the construction industry. This is BIM at its very best.”

Under this agreement, RIB will invest in an international iTWO 5D BIM research, development and support team. Autodesk will provide support for the integration of the Revit BIM technology into iTWO.  The iTWO BIM 5D user interface and 3D functions will reach a high level of integration with Autodesk’s building information modeling technology.  The new solution will lead to real-time integration of cost and time into the design process by iTWO users, and creates a simple means for integrating Autodesk Revit model workflows into iTWO construction processes.

“Autodesk is a global BIM and AEC industry leader and our chosen development partner for iTWO 5D to reach the best integration with Autodesk Revit and other Autodesk products,” said Thomas Wolf, RIB CEO. “We believe there is a great potential for our users to benefit from the work we are doing with new iTWO 5D technology because of the valuable information it brings.  We are confident this new partnership in the 5D integration will increase efficiencies and greatly reduce risk and waste for all.”

As McKinsey notes, “large projects across asset classes typically take 20 percent longer to finish than scheduled and are up to 80 percent over budget.” The need for improvement in the construction industry is critical. The construction industry has grown numb to these metrics because they are used so often, but those figures are real – and they are expensive. 

These numbers serve as a constant motivator to Autodesk, RIB Software, and our many partners to keep leaning-forward to advance technologies that will erase these black marks of inefficiency, low productivity and waste.

Today’s announcement is a significant step in a more productive, risk-reduced future for the construction industry.