Technological advances have improved our professional and personal lives in many ways.

We are able to get more done, in less time, with more cost effectiveness and efficiencies. Technology is impacting the construction industry, as well, as a new report from McGraw-Hill Construction shows. In its latest SmartMarket Report, "The Business Value of BIM: Getting Building Information Modeling (BIM) to the Bottom Line," nearly half of respondents (49%) report that they are using BIM tools -- a 75 percent increase over the 28 percent BIM adoption rate measured in 2007.

“Those companies that are embracing BIM most aggressively are reaping real and measurable business benefits for their firms -- increased productivity, profitability and prestige," said Norbert W. Young, Jr., President, McGraw-Hill Construction. "As with the entire portfolio of McGraw-Hill Construction products and services, this report serves the industry's need for reliable and timely information. We are pleased to be able to provide this report with measurable statistics and meaningful analyses on the Business Value of BIM to the construction community, and trust that it will further enable experts and newcomers alike to grow their businesses."

BIM offers a new way of creating and leveraging digital models for the design, construction and operation of projects, and it is revolutionizing the way firms communicate, solve problems and achieve better outcomes. BIM is spreading quickly throughout the design and construction industry, and there is a growing interest both in quantifying that growth and in defining the business benefits of this new approach to project delivery.

“BIM leaders are quickly outdistancing their competition, and those who aren't preparing for this inevitable industry-wide transformation are going to struggle when the economy revitalizes," said Stephen Jones, Senior Director, McGraw-Hill Construction, and one of the authors of the Business Value of BIM Report. "More and more, owners are demanding the benefits of BIM on their projects. This is our future." Based on research with thousands of industry professionals, the 2009 Business Value of BIM Report shows that: -- The U.S. West Coast leads BIM adoption with a 56 percent rate, far ahead of the Northeast (38%). Canada closely resembles the North American average at 48 percent.

• Current BIM users of all skill levels expect to double their application of it on projects over the next two years.

• 42% of BIM users consider themselves experts or advanced – three times the amount in 2007.

• Those with higher BIM-skill levels report over twice the ROI of beginners.

• Users who formally measure the benefits of BIM see greater ROI.

• Experienced users are leveraging their BIM capabilities to win new work over their competitors, and rate this as among the greatest current benefits of BIM.

BIM remains a 'game changer,'" said Jay Bhatt, Senior Vice President, Autodesk Architecture, Engineering and Construction Solutions. "We are ecstatic that BIM adoption has increased so dramatically since last year. This is a true indication that BIM is being adopted by owners, architects, engineers and construction professionals throughout the industry. We expect BIM to continue to grow more prominent in the coming months and years." Technology is changing our world forever. The construction industry should be eager to help advance its business practices and it appears BIM is the first in what promises to be may ways to make this happen.

For a free download of the report, visit bim.construction.com.

Published: October 7, 2009

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Peter L. Mosca is president and founder of BAK Communications, Inc. He has over 22 years of communications and media consulting experience, serving a variety of nonprofit organizations, including the CCIM Institute and the REALTOR Association on all three levels – national, state and local. He is the Spokesperson Trainer for the CCIM's Jay Levine Academy and trains hundreds of residential REALTORS nationwide to be effective industry spokespeople. He is consistently ranked as "excellent" by about 90% of those who attend his presentations. While his principal consulting focuses are public speaking and media relations development and content delivery and management, Peter is also the host of the Voice America Network's weekly radio program, "Income Property Investment Talk," a one-hour program that brings the powerhouses of commercial and residential real estate to property investors every Wednesday at 11 a.m. EST. Peter is married 17 years to his wife Barbara. They have two children: Ashley, 15 and Kelli, 12. Hence, the name BAK Communications, Inc.