SAN FRANCISCO, July 1, 2015 — (PRNewswire) —

BIM and VDC experts from construction, designer and owners companies across North America, including Balfour Beatty, Sutter Health, McCarthy Building Companies, AECOM, VEGA Architecture, the California High-Speed Rail Authority and many more will converge in San Francisco on August 26-27 for the BIM Integration Congress.

With the global BIM market set to grow at a CAGR of 17.4% over the period 2013-2018, BIM has rapidly become a mainstream tool for designers and contractors. As for owners, they are gradually realizing that the deliverables provided help to dramatically cut down the lifecycle costs of asset management. So overall, the adoption of BIM is turning into a no-brainer for all stakeholders.

However, while designers, contractors and owners feel increasingly confident using BIM software and related technologies, one major challenge still remains: tightly integrating BIM in the workflow of multi-office teams.

Matt Zwetzig, Director of Virtual Design Construction at VEGA Architecture recently pinpointed that "Many people associate the term BIM with a 3D model, which it is on the surface. But, like an iceberg, the vast majority of it is data or information. Leveraging the information BIM contains is where real success stories begin to take form."

In other words, the real power of BIM lies in its ability to reduce design changes, eradicate duplication of work and enable data-led layout, estimating and facility management. But to leverage this force, stakeholders need to learn how to utilize BIM to collaborate more efficiently with other project stakeholders.

When done properly, projects using BIM become tightly integrated, resulting in project deliveries that are more cost- and time-effective while drastically cutting long-term maintenance costs of assets. This component has been especially emphasized by James Pease, Senior Project Manager, Facility & Property Services at Sutter Health. In recent project development, James has indeed "seen a significant decrease in the amount of RFIs, Design Change Orders, and schedule delays due to the ability to coordinate systems prior to their installation in the field."

The need for a more integrated and collaborative approach will be at the heart of the upcoming BIM Integration Congress. This critical industry conversation has been specifically designed as a discussion platform, bringing together BIM and VDC experts who will share insights into leading-edge initiatives that will enable owners, facility managers, designers and contractors to maximize the benefits of utilizing BIM.

For the past 4 years, American Business Conferences have hosted summits across a multitude of industries, providing unique discussion and networking platforms that stimulate knowledge and idea exchange that result in leading-edge initiatives and forward-looking strategies.

For more information about the BIM Integration Congress, please visit our website http://www.bim-integration-congress.com or contact us on Email Contact or + 1-800-721-3915

SOURCE American Business Conferences