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Building information modeling (BIM) has been widely accepted in the industry and extensively used in supporting many construction tasks. In the government sector, the USDOT Federal Highway ...

One main gap in the automation of construction quantity takeoff (QTO) is the lack of a systematic method to address building information models (BIMs) created from different BIM authoring t...

As an open and commonly employed file format in building information modeling (BIM), industry foundation classes (IFC) have been supported by most BIM software platforms. However, IFC files...

In Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) building information modeling (BIM), the objectified concept of a space boundary (SB) provides a means to define building space geometries with surface ...

Structural health monitoring data has not been fully leveraged to support asset management due to a lack of effective integration with other datasets. A Building Information Modelling (BIM) approach is presented to leverage structural monitoring data in a dynamic manner. The approach allows for the automatic generation of parametric BIM models of structural monitoring systems that include time-series sensor data; and it enables data-driven and dynamic visualisation in an interactive 3D environment. The approach supports dynamic visualisation of key structural performance parameters, allows for the seamless updating and long-term management of data, and facilitates data exchange by generating Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) compliant models. A newly-constructed bridge near Stafford, UK, with an integrated fibre-optic sensor based monitoring system was used to test the capabilities of the developed approach. The case study demonstrated how the developed approach facilitates more intuitive data interpretation, provides a user-friendly interface to communicate with various stakeholders, allows for the identification of malfunctioning sensors thus contributing to the assessment of monitoring system durability, and forms the basis for a powerful data-driven asset management tool. In addition, this project highlights the potential benefits of investing in the development of data-driven and dynamic BIM environments.

Most previous industry foundation classes (IFCs) servers were developed based on relational databases (RDBs), and many studies reported performance problems. This study developed the object...

The current application of building information modeling (BIM) in the construction industry is generally focused on using the complete building information model during the life cycle of the project. With more information being added to the model, the size of the model file and the difficulty to manipulate the model increase. However, different use scenarios may only require access to certain specific information stored in the model. In contrast with the ample research of ontology applications in construction knowledge management, research of ontology in construction modeling has been limited. Hence, the purpose of this study is to use ontology in the extraction of a partial building information model from the original complete model. The building information models covered in this study are in the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) format, which is a widely supported open BIM standard. An ontology TBox is developed according to the existing IFC schema specifications. For each specific IFC model, a...

This paper proposes an algorithm for extracting a partial model from an Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) instance model without an IFC schema or a complete IFC model view definition (MVD). The methods developed in previous studies require either an IFC schema or MVD and software applications, such as an IFC model server or a building information modeling (BIM) authoring tool, to extract a partial IFC instance model. The algorithm proposed in this paper generates a partial model by recursively extracting IFC data instances in referential relations directly from an IFC instance model file, and it relies solely on the internal data structure of an IFC instance model, without an IFC schema or a MVD. The algorithm extracts physical and nonphysical data instances relevant to the user’s selection of building elements by recursively iterating through data instances based on the rules specified in the algorithm. A set of required building elements is not defined on the spot; rather, a set of building elem...

There is an urgent need in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries for new programs and methods of producing reliable energy simulations using building information modeling (BIM) technology. Current methods and programs for running energy simulations are not very timely, are difficult to understand, and lack high interoperability between BIM and energy simulation software. It is necessary to improve on these drawbacks as design decisions are often made without the aid of energy modeling leading to the design and construction of nonoptimized buildings with respect to energy efficiency. The goal of this research project is to develop a new methodology to produce energy estimates from a BIM model expeditiously and to improve interoperability between the simulation engine and BIM software. In the proposed methodology, the extracted information from a BIM model is compiled into an input file and run in a popular energy simulation program on an hourly basis for a desired period. The case applied in this paper showed that the application of this methodology can be used to quickly provide energy simulations from BIM models. With the aid of an easy-to-run and easily understood energy simulation methodology, designers will be able to make more energy conscious decisions during the design phase and as changes in design requirements arise. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CP.1943-5487.0000215. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers. CE Database subject headings: Building information models; Simulation; Energy efficiency. Author keywords: Building information modeling; Energy simulation; Industry Foundation Classes extensible markup language (ifcXML); Interoperability; DOE-2; Energy simulation input (INP) file.

Interoperability of the heterogeneous applications used in the domain of construction management can be best achieved by using generalized and standardized representations of the needed product data together with the data from product catalog, thereby enabling faster and better management and decision-making in terms of cost efficient building element selection. However, even though various solution approaches have been proposed in the last years, a general approach based on an acknowledged building information model standard is still missing. In this paper, a new product catalog structure complying with the data schema of the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) standard is presented. It allows for coherent integration of product and cost information, helping to achieve the interoperability of the involved actors and tools in collaborative project environments. The essence of the developed interoperability approach is in the consistent definition of a new IFC View for product catalogues that pulls t...

Parametric modeling is a well-established methodology in the field of mechanical engineering. It allows the creation of flexible geometric models using parameters for dimensions and makes it possible to define numeric relationships between these parameters by means of mathematical formulas and define geometric-topological constraints between geometric entities. The result is a flexible geometric model which can be steered through the manipulation of its primary parameters. In contrast to explicit geometric models with fixed dimensions, a parametric model can capture the design intent and represent domain knowledge. The use of parametric modeling techniques is particularly beneficial for designing bridges. This is due to the fact that the geometric design of bridges is mainly determined by external constraints resulting from the size and the layout of both the overlying and the undercrossing carriageway. This reduces the effort required for reworking when changes are made, while simultaneously providing a high degree of reusability for the model in other, similar projects, resulting in significantly increased efficiency in the bridge design process. Due to the strong fragmentation of the AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) industry, the data exchange between the different participants in a construction project is of crucial importance. The use of neutral, open data formats has proved to be the most suitable approach to realize this data exchange. However, currently existing neutral data formats do not allow for an exchange of parametric geometry. To overcome these technical limitations, this paper introduces an extension to the IFC-Bridge format, thus providing a means of interchanging parametric bridge models. This article describes in detail the necessary entities introduced to define parameters and capture dimensional and geometric constraints. The suitability of the developed extensions is proved by presenting the successful transfer of parametric bridge models between two parametric design systems as well as from a design system to a structural analysis system.

Transforming a building information model to an engineering analytical model is tedious and time consuming. With the current state of interoperability, after importing the building information model, the designer makes extensive modifications to prepare the model for analysis. This issue could be addressed by automating the model transformation process. In this paper, an automated interpretation mechanism referred to as interpreted information exchange (IIE) is presented and compared with the conventional direct information exchange (DIE). Moreover, a methodology is proposed for design and standardization of this type of information exchange to facilitate its implementation. Subsequently, application of IIE for engineering analyses is illustrated by explaining and validating a case study platform developed for interpreting the structural analytical model from the architectural model. Furthermore, based on the experience gained as a result of developing this tool, the considerations that need to be...

Building information modeling (BIM) refers to the continuous use of semantically rich three-dimensional (3D) building models throughout the entire lifecycle of a facility. BIM data models capture the geometry as well as the semantics of buildings and its constituent parts in an object-oriented manner. They have been developed to achieve high-quality data exchange between software applications, reduce data loss, and increase interoperability. Across the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, the open-data model industry foundation classes (IFC) has become a well-accepted standard. The main contribution of this paper is the introduction of a procedural language called the IFC procedural language (IFCPL) that can be easily embedded into an IFC-based building information model. This enables software developers to exchange procedural programs between different software applications in a platform-independent way using a neutral data format. IFCPL programs describe algorithms that op...

The primary aim of this research is to define smart construction objects (SCOs), the fundamental building blocks of future construction. SCOs are construction resources (e.g., machinery, device, and materials) that are made smart by augmenting them with technologies conferring autonomy, awareness, and the ability to interact with their vicinity. This smartness can enable better decision making in construction. Understanding of SCOs, however, is still in its infancy. Informed by theories on ubiquitous computing and general smart objects, this paper first defines the panoramic and interconnected properties that differentiate SCOs from conventional construction objects. Second, representative scenarios of the use of SCOs are given to illustrate the new workflow with enhanced smartness in the future. Next, using prefabrication construction as an example, this paper further elaborates SCOs using Industry Foundation Classes Extensible Markup Language and exploring their software/hardware representations...

Recently, several papers reported problems in data exchange using industry foundation classes (IFC). However, most comparisons were made based on a visual check, a manual count, and observation of properties that were selectively chosen. This study proposes a set of metrics for quantifying the similarities and differences between IFC files. The proposed metrics include the similarity rate, the matching rate, the globally unique identifier (GUID) preservation rate, the missing rate, and the addition rate. A long-term goal of this study is to develop a set of metrics for quantifying the information exchange rate between two IFC files. Automated identification of modified information versus newly generated information is an unsolved challenge. The proposed metrics were used in analyzing 88 IFC files generated from different systems to demonstrate the potential use of the proposed metrics.

The building industry uses numerous engineering standards, building codes, specifications, and regulations (henceforth, all are referred to as “regulations” for the purposes of brevity), and a diverse set of industry vocabularies to describe, assess, and deliver constructed facilities. These building regulations are available as hardcopy and searchable digital documents. Some building design software applications (e.g., building-energy analysis and fire-egress assessment) are available that include computer-interpretable representations of the logic and rules from relevant building regulations. As part of the expanding use of building information modeling and new types of software applications, building and regulatory stakeholders and their software suppliers are recognizing the value of combining building models with rule sets for multidomain analyses, optimization, and assessing regulatory compliance. The availability of validated representations of building regulations for use by model-checking applications will streamline and shorten the building process, reduce inefficiencies and errors in the process, and enable new capabilities for optimizing designs and for automating the regulations-compliance assessment process. There has been a significant amount of research on this topic, and some of these results have been published in this journal during the past three decades. There are now a number of very important initiatives [e.g., by Associated General Contractors of America (AGC); American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC); American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); Fiatech: Industry Consortium to Advance Innovation (ICAI); International Code Council (ICC); National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS); and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)] to develop standardized representational approaches for building regulations so that they can be applied and checked automatically against building information models and standardized data-exchange representations, such as the Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs). Numerous fields of engineering, particularly those that rely on interdisciplinary collaboration, are adopting vocabulary-management and ontologydevelopment software tools as part of the process of transitioning to computer-interpretable standards for engineering. Buildingsystems engineering, sustainable manufacturing (Lechevalier et al. 2013), and biomedical engineering are using these semantic tools to develop the needed infrastructure for a new generation of computer-interpretable engineering standards. With this editorial, we provide recommendations for broadening the support and coordination of these initiatives, which are needed and timely, and present a set of issues derived from research and prototyping that is related to development and industry deployment of formal computable representations of building regulations. We hope that these recommendations and deployment challenges will be taken up, either in the short-term or over the long-term, by everyone involved in the digitization of building regulations and the building industry, as we move to using building regulations as computer-interpretable resources for model-based engineering in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry.

The adoption of building information modeling (BIM) in construction has led to greater integration of architecture, engineering, construction/facility management (AEC/FM) stakeholders at the project design stage; the result being the incorporation of new complex tasks into construction applications. However, conventional two-dimensional (2D) and nonsemantic three-dimensional (3D) models cannot handle the topological analysis of 3D objects that is required by BIM, especially with regard to building elements. This article describes a new schema, termed the graph data model (GDM) that can be used to employ semantic information, to extract, analyze, and present the topological relationships among 3D objects in 3D space, and to perform topological queries faster. This GDM uses weighted graph principles for simplicity and incorporates an industry foundation classes (IFC)-based algorithm for automatic deduction of topological relationships. A prototype of GDM is implemented in a C# platform and verified ...

The construction industry has invested considerable effort into integration of project information in the last decade. One such effort is the definition of Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs) to facilitate data sharing across applications through a shared project model. In order to achieve the integration objectives, the industry software vendors need to commit to the implementation of IFC in their products. IFC is defined in EXPRESS, which is a platform-independent, object-flavored, data modeling language. The EXPRESS-based models must be translated into some programming language model for specific implementation. To achieve this, developers need to evaluate and select a suitable model and programming language for their implementation. Developers therefore need to understand both EXPRESS and a host of programming languages. This initial knowledge requirement may hinder the take-off or adoption of IFC-based implementation. This paper describes a software solution that reduces this initial knowledge requirement considerably by providing a .NET class library translation and an implementation view of the IFC model, based on the EXPRESS definitions. Complemented by the online documentation provided with the IFC definitions, the software provides a hierarchical view of the IFC-based programming objects with drill-down facility for developers to capture and appreciate the information requirement for specific objects.