Archi.ru:
Building Information Modeling, known as BIM, has recently become an integral part of an architect's work. In Russia, the participants in the construction industry are faced with the task of completely switching over to a facility lifecycle management system by introducing BIM technologies. More and more often we hear about OPEN BIM. It is promoted internationally, in particular by the organizations that you represent, namely: buildingSMART, Nemetschek Group development companies, GRAPHISOFT. Could you tell us what OPEN BIM is and why is it needed?
Rob Roef: In order to explain what OPEN BIM is, you must first understand what BIM is. With the development of high-tech production of building materials and the complication of construction technologies, the increase in requirements for buildings, it became necessary to move to new design standards that allow for the rapid exchange of information between different specialists involved in the process of creating buildings. That is, BIM is the answer to the challenges of the time and necessity. It is a digital representation (digital model) of the physical and functional characteristics of an object and contains various types of information such as 2D drawings, lists, texts, 3D images, animation, and elements of time (4D) and value (5D), and etc. BIM does not only work during design, it will serve as a solid foundation for any decision made during the design life cycle.
It's no secret that the design process involves various specialists working with different tools and programs. An important part of the process is data exchange, and therefore, interoperability between programs is important: when data is transferred without loss from one specialist to another.
OPEN BIM is a logical way to interact with each other. Open formats make it possible to transfer information regardless of what kind of software specialists use. That is, OPEN BIM allows you to work together. Today, there are five open formats developed by buildingSMART (including IFC) that allow information to be transferred without restrictions, and these tools are constantly being improved.
As far as I understand, many software vendors are interested in OPEN BIM implementation …
Actually, the buildingSMART organization, which is engaged in the implementation and promotion of open formats, includes the largest vendors and international companies - among them AUTODESK, ARUP, Nemetschek Group (the concern includes GRAPHISOFT), Lafarge Holcim and others. As you can see, the list of participants speaks for itself - such major infrastructure companies as French railways SNCF, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Italian railways RFI, which are part of buildingSMART, are interested in the development of an open format. And this is no coincidence, since for infrastructure projects the life cycle of a building and technologies that must be incorporated into the project, and then operated and controlled - for example, automated systems, are important. All members of the organization invest in the development of new technologies and the development of open formats. In a speech at the recent buildingSMART conference, a spokesman for Schiphol, Amsterdam Airport, spoke of the need for an open approach to building management.
The organization has a technical standards development department that improves open formats, and GRAPHISOFT, as one of the most active developers of IFC, is involved in this work. Now we are in the process of certifying the ISO of the IFC4 format, a more advanced information exchange tool.
How were you yourself involved in the development of OPEN BIM?
I am a civil engineer and started working in the early 1990s with Autocad. At the same time I was engaged in software development. Then I changed the company and used different software in the new location. I have worked with both ARCHICAD and Tekla. Even then, I thought about how to exchange data without losing information. At the same time, in the 1990s, the IFC format appeared, and I realized that it was the future. Information must be communicated, and OPEN BIM is the ability to transmit information, it can erase boundaries and make processes in the construction industry more transparent.
For me, there is no difference between OPEN BIM and BIM. I believe that OPEN BIM is the only logical path for the development of information modeling (BIM) in general. It is impossible to design a building using just one program. And even bundled proposals are not able to solve all the problems during design. We want to build faster, cheaper, and make buildings more environmentally friendly. BIM is necessary for everyone: a customer to optimize costs and further operation, an architect - to cooperate with subcontractors. And OPEN BIM is a solution that allows you to work in programs convenient for you, transferring relevant information.
Since you started working, a lot has changed. What is the current situation in the Netherlands with OPEN BIM?
In the Netherlands, there is tremendous support for open information modeling from various organizations. Public projects must be developed using BIM, but in private practice, BIM is used quite widely and is supported by the Dutch union of architects Bundes BNA in Amsterdam. Our country is sensitive to the environment. Today, when the issue of ecology of construction is on the agenda, there is an understanding that prefabricated construction is the most adequate response to the challenge of the time. And the production of the elements in the workshop, from which the house will be assembled on site, must be ultra-precise. Therefore, the architect must have a connection with production, in which case the need for BIM is obvious.
We have wonderful experience working on various projects. I will give an example from recent design and construction practice. The Amsterdam bureau Mulleners and Mulleners has developed the concept of the Buyten cottage community in the small town of Amersfurt: each of the 55 houses in it has its own design, "sharpened" by the customer. And it became a real challenge. The design documentation was carried out by the MAD Modeling and Design bureau. Partners were selected early in the design phase. In total, 18 companies participated in the process - each of which worked in various programs such as ARCHICAD, Solibri, BIMx, Revit, Tekla, Allplan.
They also used the IFC format for transferring data and linking models and the BCF format for documenting workflows. Prefabricated structures, pipes, windows - everything was made according to individual drawings and assembled in the shortest possible time. According to the architects, the workflow has evolved not only into data exchange, it was a process of mutual learning, very useful for acquiring new skills.
“In the future, BIM will become a natural method of collaboration and I think the term BIM as such will disappear.” - Paul Rudnat, Van Omme & De Groot, cottage community developer.
Video about OPEN BIM in the design of a cottage village in Amersfurt:
You are also promoting open formats internationally. What are the successes in this area?
First, I should note that I was impressed by the Russian projects that were presented at the last industry forum "Innovation Day". In particular, the work of TPO "Pride". The company creates complex objects based on OPEN BIM principles, such as
Gymnastics Center. In Europe, such large-scale projects do not often happen, but this is a matter of scale in principle: more people live in Moscow than in the whole of Holland, and our architects are more specialized - someone makes the concept, and someone does the working documentation. The more complex the object, the more the need for BIM increases.
Of the recent high-profile projects, I would like to mention the project of the Italian company Minnucci Associati - the central station in Naples. This project won an international competition hosted by buildingSMART in the Open Technology Operations and Maintenance category.
The Italian bureau has been using ARCHICAD since the beginning of its transition from paper to digital design, since 1999. Based on OPEN BIM technology, as part of a station expansion project in Naples, the architects created a "twin model" - a three-dimensional model that includes all 5 buildings of the station and the surrounding areas. The total area of the project is 400 thousand square meters. The virtual model was built on the basis of laser scanning of existing buildings and the point cloud from the model took a total of more than 380 gigabytes. Then the architects designed the equipment that allows maintaining and planning the management of the entire complex - this is more than 12,500 maintenance objects, information about which is stored in this model and is associated with process control through the use of BIM procedures and methodologies. This is a big breakthrough for Italy. And an excellent example of the level of complexity projects executed using the IFC format can be.
Judging by such complex projects, each bureau must have its own BIM manager in order to collect information …
This is not entirely true. Or rather, not at all. Collecting an information model is not as difficult as it might seem. An architect envisions a building from the very beginning - how it should look and work, and BIM is just a tool that allows you to make the creation and design processes more transparent and clear.
The truth is, the role of the architect is changing. Highly specialized specialists appear, for example, in parametric design. An architect needs to acquire new knowledge and skills in order to be more competitive. It is not necessary to have a BIM manager in the company to work with open formats. A fairly short description of how to do this has been developed for designers. We call it the “IFC Bible”. It has been translated into various languages. If you follow the simple steps of this data transfer instructions, an architect who has the necessary knowledge and is deeply immersed in the capabilities of the program can also perform the functions of a BIM manager.
In the Netherlands, a professional can find it simply by visiting the BIMLoket website, which promotes BIM adoption in the Dutch construction sector and highlights the use of open BIM standards. Today my colleagues are working on translating this manual into Russian, and, as Russian projects created using open formats show, the process of their development in your country is in full swing. There is no need to be afraid of BIM design, the future belongs to it, and OPEN BIM is the only way and way for BIM.
