This assignment required students to read about BIM from the 2011 edition of the BIM Handbook found in the online library of Drexel University. Each group had a separate topic to explore. I will be reading and discussing about interoperability located in chapter 3 of the book.
In this instance, interoperability means the ability to exchange data between softwares almost seamlessly. This is going to be an important feature to have in softwares as we move forward because it will save time for design if different softwares that specialize in different aspects of building design can account for the other softwares usages.
My interpretation of the definition of interoperability would be something like the “effective communication between different accents within a language.” In this case, the language is BIM and the accents are softwares like Revit or SketchUp or eQuest. They are made by different companies and are used for different purposes but they can be used to simulate the performance of a building model. Sometimes it may be difficult to understand someone who is speaking the same language but in a different accent. Effective communication would be having users being able to move from one BIM software to another without losing any information along the way.
I may not have as much experience with BIM but a fellow student can explain the current state of BIM interoperability better. In Nick Maloney’s post, he explains that “during my co-op experience I have seen that REVIT’s family properties have become robust enough to take not only standard members but also custom trusses or girders and convert them into usable STAAD models, greatly improving efficiency in design” (Maloney 2019). What this tells me is that there is progress to increase interoperability between softwares. In this case, the structural design of a building can be modeled in Revit and STAAD and exchanged.
There are a few things that are promoting interoperability today. The National BIM Standard (BIMS) is establishing some standards for formatting data. Another effort is the Industry Foundation Class (IFC) which is a type of data organization method that “define[s] an extensible set of consistent data representations of building information for exchange between AEC software applications” (Eastman 2011). IFC may be used more frequently since it can exchange simple but adequate components of building data such as the properties of elements from groups. It may not be the complete package but it is useful for quick simulations. Even though the concept of interoperability seems like it is the way of the future, there are some obstacles that hinder interoperability.
In the post written by Christian Tait, there may be conflict between the companies or “it’s not in either company’s interest to make their products interoperable with their competitors” (Tait 2019). I agree that as we move forward, doing something as simple as exchanging data can be a problem if the capability exists but the business practice plays dirty. In the future, I think interoperability will be much more prevalent in softwares if the developers of the respective software were to work together from the start of coding, much like the integrated design of a building and sort out conflicts early on.
Source(s):
Eastman, Charles M. 2011. “Chapter 3: Interoperability.” BIM Handbook : A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors. Vol. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. http://ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=364239&site=ehost-live. 99-149.
Maloney, Nick. 2019. "B2 - Advantages And Challenges For Interoperability In BIM". Blog. AE-410/510 AY18-19 Student Work. https://ae-410-510-ay18-19.blogspot.com/2019/01/b2-advantages-and-challenges-for.html.
Tait, Christian. 2019. "B2 - BIM Interoperability". Blog. AE-410/510 AY18-19 Student Work. https://ae-410-510-ay18-19.blogspot.com/2019/01/b2-bim-interoperability.html.
Comments on colleagues’ posts:
Hailey Ihlow
I can see why even now, BIM isn’t fully adopted in the industry if there are specific methods for engineering design and code requirements. BIM is good for simulating building performance but is not a substitute for engineering calculations. We should not depend on computers to do the engineering if the engineer is the one who is liable if they don’t check it. It will be interesting to see if AI in the future will be able to have a human intuition as to whether something seems wrong even if the model has no conflicts.
Aaron Goldberg
I was also questioning why we can’t import files from one software to another if they attempt to do the same thing. Even opening an Excel spreadsheet in Google sheets will produce differences. It comes down to the coding and the way data is presented. My topic was interoperability, the ability to exchange BIM data between softwares. The problem is we can’t have identical product functionality in the coding or else there might be some copyright issues. But there are clear benefits to being able to have an in-house method of exchanging data like the way Kayleigh Houde described in her presentation during week 2.
Tyler Madden
I had always assumed that contractors weren’t up to the latest practices considering they have to work with construction workers who may not have had the best education. It would be worth spending time and money teaching and certifying contractors to be able to use BIM such as Revit to see what the final product would look like as they are constructing the building.
In this instance, interoperability means the ability to exchange data between softwares almost seamlessly. This is going to be an important feature to have in softwares as we move forward because it will save time for design if different softwares that specialize in different aspects of building design can account for the other softwares usages.
My interpretation of the definition of interoperability would be something like the “effective communication between different accents within a language.” In this case, the language is BIM and the accents are softwares like Revit or SketchUp or eQuest. They are made by different companies and are used for different purposes but they can be used to simulate the performance of a building model. Sometimes it may be difficult to understand someone who is speaking the same language but in a different accent. Effective communication would be having users being able to move from one BIM software to another without losing any information along the way.
I may not have as much experience with BIM but a fellow student can explain the current state of BIM interoperability better. In Nick Maloney’s post, he explains that “during my co-op experience I have seen that REVIT’s family properties have become robust enough to take not only standard members but also custom trusses or girders and convert them into usable STAAD models, greatly improving efficiency in design” (Maloney 2019). What this tells me is that there is progress to increase interoperability between softwares. In this case, the structural design of a building can be modeled in Revit and STAAD and exchanged.
There are a few things that are promoting interoperability today. The National BIM Standard (BIMS) is establishing some standards for formatting data. Another effort is the Industry Foundation Class (IFC) which is a type of data organization method that “define[s] an extensible set of consistent data representations of building information for exchange between AEC software applications” (Eastman 2011). IFC may be used more frequently since it can exchange simple but adequate components of building data such as the properties of elements from groups. It may not be the complete package but it is useful for quick simulations. Even though the concept of interoperability seems like it is the way of the future, there are some obstacles that hinder interoperability.
In the post written by Christian Tait, there may be conflict between the companies or “it’s not in either company’s interest to make their products interoperable with their competitors” (Tait 2019). I agree that as we move forward, doing something as simple as exchanging data can be a problem if the capability exists but the business practice plays dirty. In the future, I think interoperability will be much more prevalent in softwares if the developers of the respective software were to work together from the start of coding, much like the integrated design of a building and sort out conflicts early on.
Source(s):
Eastman, Charles M. 2011. “Chapter 3: Interoperability.” BIM Handbook : A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors. Vol. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. http://ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=364239&site=ehost-live. 99-149.
Maloney, Nick. 2019. "B2 - Advantages And Challenges For Interoperability In BIM". Blog. AE-410/510 AY18-19 Student Work. https://ae-410-510-ay18-19.blogspot.com/2019/01/b2-advantages-and-challenges-for.html.
Tait, Christian. 2019. "B2 - BIM Interoperability". Blog. AE-410/510 AY18-19 Student Work. https://ae-410-510-ay18-19.blogspot.com/2019/01/b2-bim-interoperability.html.
Comments on colleagues’ posts:
Hailey Ihlow
I can see why even now, BIM isn’t fully adopted in the industry if there are specific methods for engineering design and code requirements. BIM is good for simulating building performance but is not a substitute for engineering calculations. We should not depend on computers to do the engineering if the engineer is the one who is liable if they don’t check it. It will be interesting to see if AI in the future will be able to have a human intuition as to whether something seems wrong even if the model has no conflicts.
Aaron Goldberg
I was also questioning why we can’t import files from one software to another if they attempt to do the same thing. Even opening an Excel spreadsheet in Google sheets will produce differences. It comes down to the coding and the way data is presented. My topic was interoperability, the ability to exchange BIM data between softwares. The problem is we can’t have identical product functionality in the coding or else there might be some copyright issues. But there are clear benefits to being able to have an in-house method of exchanging data like the way Kayleigh Houde described in her presentation during week 2.
Tyler Madden
I had always assumed that contractors weren’t up to the latest practices considering they have to work with construction workers who may not have had the best education. It would be worth spending time and money teaching and certifying contractors to be able to use BIM such as Revit to see what the final product would look like as they are constructing the building.
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