• Becoming an energy hostage. Although more prevalent in Europe, building designers should now begin communicating with owners and the public about this issue. Energy prices will start to rise due to limited resources, leaving us at the mercy of others who have them and impacting the lifestyles to which we have become accustomed.
• Workforce retention. As we now face an increasingly digital global workforce, work is not limited to your geographic location but is driven by knowledge, experience, and marketable skillsets.
• Training. Software changes monthly, and training new and old users to be productive is critical. Driving silo design processes using BIM 360 modular pay-for-package software is a viable solution. Europe has had an issue with Autodesk and tends to look for more open-source solutions. However, they realize that Autodesk is the “big kid on the block,” so they must have operational knowledge of the software.
• Government building standards and BIM regulations were more prevalent in Europe.
• Controlling owner and public perceptions and expectations of intelligent buildings was top of mind. Europe uses a government trickledown effect to change the main sectors of the BIM process. The exception was that contractors drive more innovation and change than the design firms on construction projects with the owners.
• Implementing a change in design firms’ contract documentation to be more inclusive but manage risk. Government design-build is more common and a significant part of construction in Europe, as they discussed the subject yesterday. Civil and Public transportation and subsidized research grants enrollment process for software and project process innovation was a common topic. Academic research partnerships with design firms to attract and retain young talented employees.
• Embedded in every discussion was Carbon neutrality by 2050. Will it happen at our current rate? No, useless governments step in with the standardization process.
• CoBie facilities management on-site – time of day asset tracking conversations discussed the cost of educating the owners vs. the benefit of multi-use building design. Concentrated in more heavily populated areas of Europe to control building energy costs for the owners.
• Looking at Project Data as a whole and not just your part of the design process. Looking to have a Data scientist on staff was a common theme. Look at all the project data that influence the project. Use this data not only to design a better project. But also remove the project type inefficiency on a project. So, you streamline the process to others on the next project and grow as a firm.

The overarching theme of the 2022 BIM Coordinators Summit was, by far, the copy-paste culture. We have developed this approach to stay competitive in our daily work environments. Unfortunately, this culture limits us from moving forward and bringing everyone into the future. Can culture changes happen at your firm to stay competitive? Software is a tool you develop and train people to use daily. But changing a 40-year-old mindset will be an essential task. The early adopters of change will bring more profits to your firm moving forward as owners look to be on the winning team.