Process digitalization and automation is an essential strategy in improving construction productivity. A Finnish fast-track standardization project is paving the way to automation by making open building information models (BIMs) machine-readable.<\/p>\n buildingSMART Finland<\/strong><\/a> is a collaboration forum that disseminates information on BIMs and helps its members implement BIMs. Standardization is at the core of buildingSMART Finland\u2019s mission. The organization initiated a project in April 2017 to augment the open IFC standard with property sets and attributes that will make design models truly machine-readable.<\/p>\n I had a chance to interview three representatives from buildingSMART Finland about the project.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have defined certain data exchange structures, but they are not enough when our goal is true machine-readability,\u201d says Tomi Henttinen<\/strong>, head of buildingSMART Finland and CTO of Gravicon<\/strong>. \u201cSo far, almost all classifications have been based on human interpretation.\u201d<\/p>\n IFC is the international standardized format for sharing BIMs between software applications. It\u2019s strong when it comes to transferring geometrical data, and it maintains certain intelligent features of the model\u2019s components. A system reading the IFC file can understand that a component is, for example, a door or a pipe.<\/p>\n The problem with today\u2019s application of IFC is that the attributes o\u00a0f the building components are not sufficiently standardized. A door can be a fire door or a simple office door, but there\u2019s no agreement on how that property should be presented in the model.<\/p>\n Every design software can have a proprietary way to present certain attributes. That\u2019s why a bills of quantities system, for example, cannot read IFC files and trust that the attributes are coded coherently, no matter where the files came from.<\/p>\n Tero J\u00e4rvinen<\/strong>\u00a0of Granlund<\/strong> is the chairman of buildingSMART Finland\u2019s MEP group. He claims, \u201cFunctioning MEP standardization does not exist in Finland in practice! An IFC model does not have a place, for example, for pressure drop\u00a0or air velocity\u00a0in ventilation ducts.\u201d<\/p>\n J\u00e4rvinen says current MEP design software programs manage the same information but write it into different places. When you transfer MEP models using open standards, you need human interpretation. \u201cUntil now, engineers have added the missing data manually into Excel sheets, for example. This is both unproductive and error-prone.\u201d<\/p>\n The goal of this standardization effort is a process in which software-independent, automated data exchanges between systems are possible. All the design and calculation software programs can read and write attribute data consistently.<\/p>\n Ari T\u00f6rr\u00f6nen<\/strong> of NCC<\/strong> heads the building clients group at buildingSMART Finland. He says, \u201cOur vision is machine-readability. It allows people to focus on adding value and automating routine tasks as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n The standardization project has received funding from Finland\u2019s governmental KIRA-digi program<\/a>. The \u20ac16M program\u2019s vision is an open, interoperable information management ecosystem for the built environment.<\/p>\n The current project started in April 2017. It involves members of the building construction groups from buildingSMART Finland, including architects, construction and MEP engineers, clients, contractors, and software developers. The focus of the first round is on BIM data, from design to construction.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the beginning, we did not consider the capabilities of the modeling tools too much; we concentrated on what kind of information needs to be transferred between a designer and a contractor,\u201d T\u00f6rr\u00f6nen says. \u201cSoftware developers will be involved in the next phase. They can tell us what can be achieved with current tools. Maybe everything is not realizable as such, but software developers also need challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n According to J\u00e4rvinen, MEP software firms have already provided valuable insights into technical issues, such as how to deal with measurement units. They warned about incorporating every possible piece of attribute data in the IFC files. \u201cIFC files are a good way to transfer models, but not all information needs to be included in the files. The model must include keys to other systems, such as product databases,\u201d says J\u00e4rvinen.<\/p>\n The draft of the new norms has circulated for comments, which are now under scrutiny. buildingSMART Finland will release the first version in the summer of this year. \u201cThis way, we can test and see benefits very quickly,\u201d T\u00f6rr\u00f6nen concludes.<\/p>\n The new norms will be a supplement to the Common BIM Requirements 2012<\/a>.\u00a0 When they are available, you can download them\u00a0at buildingsmart.fi<\/a>. The BIM attribute definitions will be available in English and will be freely available for use.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nOpen standards are good, but they don\u2019t go deep enough<\/h2>\n
![\"Tomi](\"https:\/\/aec-business.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Tomi-Henttinen-Gravicon.jpg\")
Tomi Henttinen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFrom human interpretation to automation<\/h2>\n
![\"Tero](\"https:\/\/aec-business.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Tero-Jarvinen-Granlund.jpg\")
Tero J\u00e4rvinen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOn the fast KIRA-digi track<\/h2>\n
![\"Ari](\"https:\/\/aec-business.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Ari-Torronen-NCC.jpg\")
Ari T\u00f6rr\u00f6nen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n