USA system , we can touch that leak in the model and it will identify where the upstream isolation valve is , i . e ., how we can turn it off immediately . It will also tell us the downstream areas that will be impacted by loss of water , and it ’ ll give us all the information on the system itself – pipe size , flow , materials - all the things we need to know to repair it .

“ One particular case which really opened my eyes up to the possibilities of the system was an incident in the middle of the night where we had a leak somewhere within a 7-story firerated encased structural steel column chase and the engineers couldn ’ t identify and isolate where the water was coming from ,” reflects Mace .

“ They called both the Chief Engineer

Chris Shirar and myself , and for the first time ever , instead of going to look at reams of 2D paper plan sets , we ran for the electronic model and asked building engineers to turn off the necessary systems one at a time as we worked our way through the model . We had it diagnosed , isolated and repaired by the next morning when , in the past , that kind of a leak could ’ ve taken two or three days to completely diagnose , isolate , contain and repair , costing us valuable patient care hours as well as revenue . This system is going to save us huge amounts of time and I think that ’ s the most critical added value .”

Through this scrupulous BIM4FM model , UCSF Health can explore every individual asset in the building ,

– Bruce Mace , Director of Facilities Management

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