The Reality of Using VR for Health Care Construction

The continued advancement and affordability of virtual reality (VR) and its close cousins, augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR), continue to directly influence and, in some ways, redefine the means and methods of project delivery.

The ability to simulate a three-dimensional environment in detail can greatly enhance the planning, design and conceptualization phases of building, particularly on complex projects such as health care facilities.

Health care projects typically have long development life cycles, sometimes a decade or more, and a wide range of end user needs. Here are five ways that VR technology can benefit health care construction.
 

1. Client Visualization

Early in the planning and design process, VR allows all the end users to “step” into the project and provide real-time feedback in the early design phase to ensure a facility is equipped for their specific needs. For instance, my team at McCarthy Building Companies deployed VR on the UC Davis Health California Tower project in Sacramento. When completed in 2030, the tower project will include a 14-story hospital tower and five-story pavilion — around 1 million total square feet. Using VR for this project allows administrators, doctors, nurses and other staff to virtually walk through their respective spaces and provide real-time feedback. 
 

2. Plans & Permits

The permitting process for health care projects is typically long and tedious. We’re finding that VR is an effective way to minimize that effort. On the UC Davis Health California Tower project, we used VR through building information models (BIM) to support detailed coordination of building systems and components to ensure the design can be constructed as planned before submitting permits.
 

3. Optimized Operations

On a project as large as the UC Davis Health California Tower, there are hundreds of potential system orientations that need to be resolved to optimize the work environment for the hospital staff. We are using VR and 3D modeling to better integrate mechanical systems, evaluate dimensional challenges and conflicts in patient rooms, optimize medical equipment movement, and help with planning nurse station orientation and bathroom models. 
 

4. Detailed Coordination

Those same virtual capabilities that support coordination with stakeholders and end users are also essential to resolving conflicts across various trades. By hosting a shared platform for all model authoring, the team is managing at the appropriate level of detail to resolve potential issues in the digital environment. Doing so also supports prefabrication of systems, and shared prefabrication assemblies, that will make the construction of this facility down the road much more efficient.

5. Construction Support

VR is not just a design tool; it’s also ideal for the construction environment. We see great opportunities to use VR to train staff on safe work procedures before starting construction and to simulate emergency response plans and procedures. It’s also a great tool for visualizing and resolving issues that arise during construction in near-real-time. 
 

Realizing the ROI

While it’s easy to see the planning benefits of VR, I’m often asked about the return on investment (ROI) of the technology. Many of the benefits are intangible, but we have seen reduced requests for information (RFIs) and change orders during construction from issues identified virtually early. Maintaining permit approval time frames from coordinated permit documents is also a big advantage.

Like any other technology, the successful implementation and application of VR for coordination requires a well-defined execution plan and process. Case in point, for the UC Davis Health California Tower project, we wrote a 60-page BIM execution plan outlining the VR process three years in advance. That plan has allowed us to introduce a coordination workflow down to the component/conduit level with great success.
 

Long-Term Advantages

We are exploring other uses for VR beyond coordination, such as for client engagement, marketing or remote quality reviews during construction. We are continuing to enhance coordination capabilities by bringing more partners and subcontractors into collaborative virtual environments. Our clients could also leverage VR for facility management after project completion to train staff, do walk-throughs, plan maintenance and more.

VR isn’t for every project. But as these solutions become increasingly affordable and more user-friendly, we expect to implement the technology in more projects across different markets where this level of detailed visualization can truly enhance all aspects of a project, from design to completion.