For almost two years, the Specialised Working Group BIM/VDC of Bouygues Energies & Services in Switzerland had only held virtual meetings via Teams. The first physical meeting since 2019 took place on the premises of Empa. Bouygues Energies & Services enjoys an enlightening, fruitful partnership with the research institution of the ETH Domain.
The Specialised Working Group BIM/VDC serves as a cross-departmental hub for the transfer of know-how and the development of competencies across all areas of Bouygues Energies & Services. Though its virtual meetings via Teams had been interesting and lively, all participants were happy to have an in-person meeting again. Simon Wismann, Head of the Specialised Working Group BIM/VDC, invited the members for a professional interchange in the "NEST": In this modular research and innovation building of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), new technologies, materials and systems are tested, developed and validated in collaboration with the industry and the public sector. Bouygues Energies & Services is involved and present in various so-called "units" (building modules) within the context of a development partnership.
The programme for the day provided for several workshops on the topic of BIM as well as guided tours of various research units on the premises. In the workshops, the participants examined the advantages of diverse BIM applications such as the BIM management software Dalux, which is already used by Bouygues Energies & Services in France, by Losinger Marazzi and by Bouygues Energies & Services in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The solution comprises various modules and enables the filing and sharing of documents, the creation and assignment of user-defined tasks and orders and the display and linking of 2D plans and 3D models. A feature shared by all presented software solutions is the ability to enable seamless, punctual and budget-compliant roll-out of building projects and to cover the entire life cycle of buildings, from the planning to the construction to the maintenance. Another workshop zoomed in on the initial measurement with laser technology and the measurement of buildings with the help of an autonomous 3D laser scanner. Both methods aim at reducing the time input, thereby achieving substantial cost savings.
Besides the informative BIM workshops, the participants were able to visit various demonstrators in order to get a glimpse of the current state of research. In the NEST unit sprint, Empa and partners such as Bouygues Energies & Services defined the goal of setting up flexible office facilities within a short time, largely using recycled material. Moreover, Bouygues Energies & Services participated in the lightweight construction unit HiLo with heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and sanitary system and assembly planning on the basis of BIM and the prefabrication of pipes (see yES report). The two projects provided an opportunity for the demonstration of the multitec capabilities and the quality of the interregional cooperation.
In the demonstrator "Move", Empa focuses on the development of renewable fuels, such as carbon-neutral hydrogen for fuel cells. By way of solar-powered electrolysis, distilled water is split into oxygen and hydrogen. The hydrogen that is gained in this way is compressed, chilled and offered as fuel in an adjacent petrol station. The switchboards of the trend-setting unit were produced by Bouygues Energies & Services Prozessautomation AG, which had already been involved in the development and implementation of power-to-gas plants for the real economy.
For the Specialised Working Group BIM, the eventful, informative day ended with Simon Wismann's concluding words. Once again, the occasion demonstrated how valuable the exchange of expertise and experience is – not only internally, but also externally, e.g. with partners. For Bouygues Energies & Services, the NEST serves as a "living lab for testing the application of tools and methods and as an exclusive customer platform that offers various opportunities for high-end networking with other players.
