BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors (repost)

Discover BIM: A better way to build better buildings
Building Information Modeling (BIM) offers a novel approach to design, construction, and facility management in which a digital representation of the building process is used to facilitate the exchange and interoperability of information in digital format. BIM is beginning to change the way buildings look, the way they function, and the ways in which they are designed and built.

The BIM Handbook, Second Edition provides an in-depth understanding of BIM technologies, the business and organizational issues associated with its implementation, and the profound advantages that effective use of BIM can provide to all members of a project team. Updates to this edition include:

Completely updated material covering the current practice and technology in this fast-moving field

Expanded coverage of lean construction and its use of BIM, with special focus on Integrated Project Delivery throughout the book

New insight on the ways BIM facilitates sustainable building

New information on interoperability schemas and collaboration tools

Six new case studies

Painting a colorful and thorough picture of the state of the art in building information modeling, the BIM Handbook, Second Edition guides readers to successful implementations, helping them to avoid needless frustration and costs and take full advantage of this paradigm-shifting approach to construct better buildings that consume fewer materials and require less time, labor, and capital resources.

"The BIM Handbook is an extensively researched and meticulously written book, showing evidence of years of work rather than something that has been quickly put together in the course of a few months. It brings together most of the current information about BIM, its history, as well as its potential future in one convenient place, and can serve as a handy reference book on BIM for anyone who is involved in the design, construction, and operation of buildings and needs to know about the technologies that support it. The need for such a book is indisputable, and it is terrific that Chuck Eastman and his team were able to step up to the plate and make it happen. Thanks to their efforts, anyone in the AEC industry looking for a deeper understanding of BIM now knows exactly where to look for it."
—AECbytes book review, August 28, 2008