Information Requirements for Managing Higher Education Facilities Using Building Information Modeling: Triangular Study of US and Korean Cases

This study analyzes in detail the information requirements for managing higher education facilities by building information modeling (BIM). This is achieved by conducting a job shadowing quarterly for a year, a document content analysis of facility management (FM) documents, expert interviews, and a comparative analysis of the FM information obtained from two universities each in the US and South Korea. The comparative analysis involves mapping the information requirements specified in different formats from the construction operations building information exchange (COBie) data format. The analysis reveals that although there are certain differences between the information required in the US and South Korea, most of the FM information requirements (83.4%, 136 items) can still be supported by COBie. The remainder of the unsupported information (16.6%, 27 items) is ignorable because it is associated with the information only acquirable during the FM phase and cannot be supported by the BIM handover or COBie. This finding increases the possibility of mandating COBie as data requirements for higher education facilities in extended regions.