The term “Building Information Modeling” (BIM) was coined by the American architect P. Bernstein and was implemented for the first time in 1987 as a highly avant-garde technique for that decade. According to the National BIM Standards Committee (NBIMS), the Building Information Modeling is a complete and sound 3D representation of an infrastructure that presents all of its physical, technical and functional components. Starting from the most basic structures, it provides every existing piece of information from the moment an idea for a building is conceived till it has completed its life cycle and is ready for demolition. Therefore, it becomes obvious that BIM constitutes an extremely powerful tool in the hands of every engineer, architect and manufacturer as it literally places the foundation for qualitative infrastructures.
The two-year “ΒΙΜclay – Improve Technification and LCA qualification of workers in ceramic sector with the support of BIM applications” project was inspired by the arisen need to train and educate professionals of the sector on this innovative tool. More specifically, the project aims to the enhancement of the technical knowledge related to the Building Information Modeling and to the Life Cycle Analysis of a building, product or process. For this reason, an interactive platform will be created which will include courses and tools (e.g. flashcards) on the placement techniques of clay products and on their life cycle. Complementary to these, there will be an online BIM innovative tool that the users will be able to test and use as practice in order to familiarize themselves with this technology.
The leading partner of the project is APICER, the Portuguese Association for Ceramic and Domestic Glass Industry. Also, apart from the Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (iED), the consortium consists of partners from Portugal and Spain. The kick-off meeting was successfully hosted by iED and carried out on 24th October 2017 in Larissa, while the second one will take place in April 2018 in Portugal.
