B2 - Group B - Hatim Amiji

Interoperability simply means the  capability of a product or system to be interpreted by other products or systems without any limitations. In software, is the ability to pass data between applications, and for multiple applications to jointly contribute to the work at hand. It eliminates the need to manually copy data already generated in another application hence saves time/money and improves efficiency. Unlike geometry exchanges between applications, building model exchanges are much more complex this is because BIM represents multiple kinds of geometry, relations, attribute and properties for a specific building structure. The model created using BIM carries more information and detail than a standard CAD file. BIM's ability of producing more than just drawings creates different problems in exchange of data i.e. analysis tools such as structural, thermal, scheduling and procurement applications are translated differently. The Industry Foundation Class (IFC) is a data model intended to describe building and construction industry data, it is a neutral platform which allows open file format specification that is not controlled by a single or a group of software companies. This unified schema was developed to facilitate interoperability in architecture, engineering and construction industry based on official International Standard (ISO 16739:2013). IFC incorporates a wide range building design, engineering and production information which can be exchanged in this unified platform i.e. wide range of geometry of varying complexity, numerous relations between objects as well as different  properties of structural material and shapes. A BIM software allows engineers, architects and construction managers to communicate on the same platform, this eliminates problems resulting due to file sharing restrictions and thus increases efficiency. During my first co-op, part of my job was to survey hole patterns in fabricated steel girders and then use that data to detect eccentricities with actual hole locations in CAD drawings done using MicroStation. The data obtained from the surveying instrument was not compatible in MicroStation hence those data were manually plotted and compared with actual CAD drawing which was time consuming and unnecessary repetitive work. During my second co-op, I did a similar surveying job however this time a software called PC-DMIS was used to import data from the surveying equipment which was compatible with MicroStation hence saving time and money. Approximately $15.8 billion dollars is spent on interoperability costs on an annual basis, therefore platforms such IFC which allows open sharing of technical data reduces unnecessary additional cost of construction which arises from interoperability limitations.  

References:

Eastman, C. "Chapter 3: Interoperability." BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Engineers and Contractors.

http://www.ncoic.org/what-is-interoperability

http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/build04/PDF/b04022.pdf

B2 - Group B - Yasmina Shields

Eastman’s Chapter “Interoperability” (BIM Handbook) discusses the importance of the technological issues of interoperability that architects, contractors, engineers and fabricators will face, which has previously been a topic concerned mainly by computer/software engineers. Interoperability can be simply described as being the facilitation of data transfer or exchange between two different programs. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines it as “the ability to manage and communicate electronic product and project data between collaborating firms’ and within individual companies’ design, construction, maintenance, and business process systems,” (Aranda-Mena & Wakefield). As engineering students at Drexel, most of us have seen this on a simpler scale during the Evaluation and Presentation of Experimental Data course sequence, where we were required to pull data from an excel file and analyze it using Matlab. Interoperability within BIM is one of the major challenges in that field, as it is beginning to evolve into an interface for information exchanges among different parties involved on a single project—thus creating issues of proper data transfer.

Dr. Guillermo Aranda-Mena and Prof. Ron Wakefield’s journal article for RMIT University explores the concept of interoperability and if we can afford to ignore it. According to the NIST report that they cited, in the United States the cost of omitting interoperability is estimated at $15.8 billion.  Factors in this approximation of ignoring interoperability among software systems included CAD software, project programming, and scheduling tools.  One thing I found interesting was the question they bring up is who exactly should drive the progress of interoperability. Is it the client’s responsibility in order to reduce cost?  One of the main keys to production improvement in construction relies heavily on efficiently managing information, so the contractors and engineers both have incentives to work more efficiently as well.  

For interoperability to work, there is a need for standards to be set in place, such as having a common language for softwares/systems to communication with each other. Currently the Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs) and the Standard for the Exchange of Product model data (STEP-ISO) are in use in the property and construction sectors. Benefits of IFCs include automatic compilation of bills of material in a digital form (ultimately increasing savings by reducing time and errors), climate and energy simulation of all the spaces (also saves time, helps find better solutions for energy saving) and also results in fewer coordination errors.  

References:

• Aranda-Mena, Guillermo & Wakefield, Ron. “Interoperability of Building Information: Myth or Reality?” RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
• Eastman, C. "Chapter 3: Interoperability." BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Engineers and Contractors. 
• Steel, Jim; Drogemuller, Robin; Toth, Bianca. “Software and Systems Modeling.” (Feb 2012).

Comments:
Mark Lodato
William Whitesell

B2 - Group B - Interoperability - Mark Lodato

Interoperability is the manner in which different software programs, in this case BIM programs, communicate with one another. This is becoming incredibly important in today’s BIM landscape because there are multiple platforms that all perform a specific function in regards to a project different and distinct from other programs. There are BIM programs that can detail architecture, subsurface conditions, water conditions, weather patterns, etc. With a large construction project, all of this information needs to be available and with interoperability these BIM programs can talk to one another. The architecture BIM program needs to know what the subsurface conditions are for the foundation of the building. The subsurface condition BIM program needs to know the hydrologic conditions to determine the bearing capacity and strength of the soils, and so on.

There are the standard pitfalls when discussing interoperability and compatibility in general between software programs, especially when these programs are made by different companies. Different programs might be lacking essential functions that other programs have which would make the file unable to be transferred. The data of one program might be programmed or stored in a different manner that would cause incompatibility issues. As technology gets more advanced and portable computing devices become the norm (tablets, Microsoft Surfaces) these compatibility issues must be ironed out so files can be transferred to different programs and so files can be uploaded and downloaded to the cloud to allow for greater portability.

**Edit**

Comments:

1) http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b2-group-b-farnelli.html?showComment=1453235176576#c232311560124261483


2) http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b2-group-b-kai-waechter.html?showComment=1453236104184#c6377421048914008600

B2: Group B - Schroeder

BIM Handbook: Chapter 3  - Interoperability

According to Merriam-Webster, interoperability is defined as “the ability of a system to work with or use the parts or equipment of another system” [1].  In terms of BIM, it is the process of exporting/import data between applications that describe the same object. The National BIM Standard (NBIMS) is being undertaken to standardize the data required for particular exchanges [2].     

As described in Chapter 2 there are three types of BIM Applications: as tools, as platforms, and as environments. Using interoperability, you can address all three of these but on different levels by means of translation. Using BIM’s in-place tools, the user is informed of the results of the translation in case and of the copying needs to be checked for due diligence. Again, all this depends on the nature of the exchange format used.

2D CAD is one of the simplest exchanges and most common exchange format used and even then is there are different applications, specifically pairing design with monetary billing and breakdown of materials. During my time at PWD as a co-op, although there are paired programs to calculate these quantities, I had to calculate the engineering estimates by hand. When the design was initially submitted, the links to the quantities may have be working, but in most cases, when the design was modified, the program link between the two was not always updated properly. Once the schema and schema language are defined, the exchanges between programs can be classified in three ways: direct links, proprietary exchange format, or public product data model exchange format [2]. 

Going back to 2D vector formats, the common AEC Applications would be .DWG (AutoCAD) to .DGN (Microstation). At my most recent co-op in the private sector, I had a lot of work that involved converting between the two for various details and cross sections. Although a tedious process, overall it is effective in translating the same information into a different application format. Most times I ended up following the process that AutoDesk includes on their website forum [3]. To perfect this process, places like the IFC have come to fruition.

The IFC or Industry Foundation Class is a schema that was developed to define data format for a more consistent process and make data exchange easier. In the most current version (2010), there over 800 entities, 358 property sets, and 121 data types that can be easily used in any AEC application.  Trying to reflect the plethora of intricacies using in building information is no easy task, but I believe the IFC is off to a great start.

              

References:

[1] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/interoperability

[2] Eastman, Charles M. BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers, and Contractors. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2008. Web.

[3] https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-2010-2011-2012/convert-dwg-to-dgn/td-p/2622921


EDIT: Comments lefts of Kai's and Cathelene's orignal post

B2: Group B Farnelli

I am sure that we have all had experience with collaborative work on a project, and the complications which arise when cross-discipline work is required. BIM programs such as Revit have allowed companies to better coordinate their projects, but these programs still have quite a few limits. For example, often BIM models are used only for the coordination of geometry. Calculations are instead done in separate programs, with each division forming separate models in addition to the central model. Updates then often need to be done manually, which may lead to errors. An increases in beam size which is not notices in the structural department may not be immediately updated in the Revit model, for example, and this may lead to coordination problems when a mechanical engineer places a duct or piece of equipment where he or she believes there is space. While the capabilities of BIM to help coordinate projects are incredible, such problems do exist.
Chapter Two in Charles M Eastman's BIM Handbook covers interoperability, the ability of programs to work together. In the above example, the structural software was not able to update the BIM model itself, and users must check for changes and update models. This leads to the possibility of human error in translation. Eastman discusses the various methods for communicating between programs, including file types such as .dxf which can be read and produced from multiple programs, as I am sure at least a few of us have experienced. I personally have used this capability to form AutoCAD .dwg files from structural models in the past, but this is only a line model and does not directly transition into a BIM model.
The section which most held my interest in the chapter was the discussion beginning on page 114 about Industry Foundation Class (IFC). This representation of various parts in a BIM model is able to coordinate various properties and definitions of different parts of a model. For example, a wall is associated with various spaces it is adjacent to, as well as its materials, fire rating, purpose, etc. While each wall may have many properties, an engineer may be interested in only a few. The structural engineer may not care about the thermal transmittance, for example. The problem with interoperability is that programs used to perform analysis will also need to be selective about which properties to read. Geometry is likely important in all models, but many other properties should be left out of models which do not relate to them. Model View Definitions (MVD) are important as they determine what is exchanged and what is not. However, these are determined by trial and error and may not be standard. According to the handbook, there had been 23 efforts as of April 2010 to define MVDs, each for different purposes and programs. Other attempts to allow for interoperability include several XML transports such as OpenGIS and BCF (BIM Collaboration Format), as listed on page 133.
As the interoperability between programs increases, there may be a need to store further information in the BIM model. For example, perhaps it will be possible to notify the mechanical and structural team members if a beam and a duct are losing clearance space in the model before clash detection kicks in. However, as the amount of information being stored in the models increases there may be increased problems in the future with file compression and determining which specific programs need which specific attributes.

EDIT: Comments on Dianna Vogel's post and Bryan Cummings' post.

B2, Group B - Alex Palma

Chapter 3 of the BIM Handbook discusses interoperability, a key component in an efficient, more painless workflow¹. The chapter was dense in its’ technicality but discussed key practices for the cohesion of software and systems in building modeling. Many aspects of interoperability were brought up; my blog discusses a current BIM server application, XML files as a common language, and how each relate to interoperability within models and files. 

One topic discussed was the many BIM servers used in current practices. One of the mentioned servers was ProjectWise (Bentley ProjectWise Integration Server), which I used throughout my last co-op. ProjectWise used read-write transactions to manage and edit data at the file level. That is, files across the database can only be accessed for edits one at a time. Also incorporating ProjectWise Navigator for more seamless inclusion of the data’s native file format into the database, ProjectWise is an extremely robust program, having the ability to host thousands of files in countless formats. On the other hand, ProjectWise works at the file level, which means that data can only be managed in ProjectWise to this extent. Below this, at object or object instances, data must be accessed explicitly in its’ file, and written back to the server once edited. Alongside this, as files can only be accessed by one user at a time, this limits interoperability between users; a Cloud-like server hosting multiple users who can collaborate on files together at the same time would be ideal.

Chapter 3 of the reading also discussed, among many other file formats, XML files. XML files are used similarly to DXF files, which were also discussed; these formats allow for the export and import of data between various modeling programs. A program may not be able to access a CAD model's native DWG or DGN format, but can read the data if it is introduced as a DXF. This type of file usage is the key component of this entire chapter in my opinion, as moving data between programs and software is often a nightmare. XML files are used frequently in model development and production; for example, when many projects are started, surveys are taken to develop site information. This data can be exported as a LandXML, and imported into your preferred CAD program as contours and elevation information for the model. XML files are not limited to early-stage applications for projects either, as the handbook also discusses DWF and 3D PDF files as XML format. These formats allow for 3D visual mapping of the model.

Works Cited

1)      Eastman, Charles M. BIM Handbook : A Guide To Building Information Modeling For Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers And Contractors. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 17 Jan. 2016.

Comments
http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b2-dianna-vogel-interoperability.html#comment-form

To Dianna Vogel - Prior to reading both your post and the reading itself, I hadn't heard of IFC or Express. The inclusion of aspects like concrete reinforcement in properties in the model is huge, but there's a lot more that can be done here before the BIM end of the model is truly comprehensive. The handbooks read were from multiple years ago, so it would be interesting to see current stages and applications of these properties. My post was about the same chapter, but discussed a couple different topics about software and file applications, so I enjoyed reading this.

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b2-group-b-cummings.html#comment-form

To Bryan Cummings - The last paragraph was a nice expansion on current stages of software and model interoperability, and I completely agree with it. First, as you said, the technology is still in development, and the pieces that have been explored the most are simply those that have the most applications. It will take more time (and interest in BIM) to fill in the gaps, but I can't imagine more and more comprehensive uses of BIM are far behind. Secondly, the rift between the software designers and the engineers is apparent. It's much smaller than it once was, but new software often gets brought out before the engineering application can notice flaws or holes. Larger companies often have a software group tailor downloaded programs to their own needs, but this kind of development only creates ease of functionality for users; expansion of the base products is what helps push new applications of the software forward.

B2, Group B - Cummings

Interoperability can represent two things: the ability to exchange data between different applications, and the ability for multiple applications to contribute to a unified model.  The most common case of interoperability is from a comprehensive model to analysis software or a CAD drawing.  In this case, data exchange is one-way.  The analysis software can receive a model, but changes to the comprehensive model cannot be implemented via the software.  The second case might involve a structural engineer making changes to a structural model on their particular software, which would thereby change the architectural model on the architect’s software, for example.  In the early development of BIM software, it was quickly realized that a major problem is going to be uniform language from on platform to another.  Without it, data could either not be properly or not at all translated between applications, and errors would need to be manually fixed, minimizing the incentive of BIM.  

To solve this problem, internationally recognized standards are being developed for how the data in BIM models is to be structured.  Industrial Foundation Classes (IFC) is the most widely used convention, being internationally recognized and public.  This ensures interoperability between various competing platforms without requiring a monopoly.  Each model element (walls, floors, structure, electrical equipment, etc.) has embedded in it data specific to several domains (architecture, mechanical, structural, construction, etc.).  Depending on the domain in which the model is being worked in, such as a structural design software, changes can be made to the structure-specific properties of the element, and can be translated back into the comprehensive model.  The below image shows how data is stored in any given element, in this case a wall feature.

There is, still, quite an array of limitations on the issue of interoperability.  Current geometric capabilities meet almost all design and construction needs.  It can also exchange simple parametric relations between systems, such as walls and extruded shapes, but exchange of complex parametric rules and constraints cannot yet be fully translated.  This is simply because the development of parametric translators is still in its infancy.  Properties are stored in various elements in property sets (P-sets).  These define the performance and contextual properties via things such as weather and geologic data, and intrinsic properties including window glazing, R-values, mechanical properties, concrete reinforcing, etc.  However, tolerance and uncertainty is not covered in this data.  Also names of types of spaces are not yet standardized, which are needed for adhering to building codes and other types of analysis.  These limitations require special manual editing of properties.  Another limitation in the realm of metadata relates to manufacturing requirements.  The level of detail in shop drawings which require all the necessary information for concrete pours and steel fabrication are not yet all stored on comprehensive BIM models.  Specialized IFC software can be used to overcome this, such as Tekla Structures, which contain ever bolt, weld, plate, beam, etc., for steel structures.  

These limitations and why they exist are important to understand for both the program developers and those involved in all disciplines of building design and construction.  Most limitations exist simply because the technology is still in development, and the capabilities thus far reflect the industry’s priorities.  While many in the design and construction industry may not want to get involved in software development, the software architects are not knowledgeable enough in the industry to know what functionalities are needed.  With better understanding of the software among designers, construction managers, fabricators, etc., will yield a better product to all disciplines through more functional interoperability.  


Comments:

Comment to Dianna Vogel: I liked the angle you approached this from.  You performed a good analysis of the architecture of IFC schema structure.  As members of the building industry we traditionally have no reason to be aware of Bezier surfaces and NURBS, which I looked into a bit after and during this reading.  As BIM becomes more elementary in our field, as with all technology (smartphones, for example), we tend to not notice what goes on behind the scenes.  That’s probably okay for operating a smartphone, but when designing a system as complex as a building, whose operation is responsible for the safety of the public, we should have a good understanding of the mechanics of our tools and their limitations.

Comment to Yasmina Shields: Fascinating article you cited on the cost of omitting interoperability.  I can see how most of the savings would travel through the structure of project management directly to the owners, but the architect’s and contractor’s savings are not insignificant compared to the owners.  So on paper the owner has the largest incentive to drive innovation in interoperability, but I wonder how able they are to be impactful in that position?  The designers and contractors are who interoperability directly affects, thus know what is needed in its development.  Working in construction on my last CoOp, better interoperability from Tekla could have made a lot of our work unnecessary.  This seems to raise a separate issue: that most in our industry don’t know or some don’t care about software, and the odds are most software architects don’t particularly care for the building industry.  I think the biggest challenge to the further development of interoperability may be the collaboration of those two traditionally separate industries, and less who the burden of driving progress falls under.