Why openBIM?

Technical Solutions Lead, BIM Track

I heard many great things about openBIM, but was always under the impression that it was not for me. I knew Revit; I was comfortable with Revit. I even had a secret weapon should someone send me a ‘nonRevit’ file…Navisworks! What more could I need?

But my current job immersed me in the world of Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs) and BIM Collaboration Format (BCFs), and in the end openBIM found me.

Before we jump into the why of openBIM, let’s be clear on the what according to buildingSMART International:

‘openBIM extends the benefits of BIM (Building Information Modeling) by improving the accessibility, usability, management and sustainability of digital data in the built asset industry. At its core, openBIM is a collaborative process that is vendor-neutral. openBIM processes can be defined as sharable project information that supports seamless collaboration for all project participants. openBIM facilitates interoperability to benefit projects and assets throughout their lifecycle.’ platform or product used to create, read, or modify them. This helps to ensure that the data within the model is still available and useful in the future as we change platforms, allowing us to always access our models.

openBIM: Always Accessible!

Now that we know the what, the why doesn’t seem so out of reach, does it? Knowing that there is a way to help extend the longevity of your model data from early design, to construction, and even on into the operation of the building’s life cycle, it seems like a no-brainer! This is to say nothing of the improvements in workflow that openBIM can lead to as it expands interoperability on projects. Your chosen team of architects, engineers and contractors can work better together in their software tools of choice, all with less data loss and need for rework!

Of course nothing is free; neither the fuel you got when you filled up your tank, nor openBIM itself! For openBIM to work, people need to understand it and use it on their projects. This creates a virtuous cycle, where the more they use it the more it’s understood; the more it’s understood, the more it’s used… you can see where we are going with this. To achieve this critical mass of understanding and use, we need to learn about the components of openBIM and how to put them to work: Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs) and BIM Collaboration Format (BCFs).

All We Have to Fear is the Fear of Change

My own journey of understanding BCF and IFC has highlighted the roles they play in interoperability and collaboration. However, for full transparency (which is a big part of openBIM) many of the struggles of this journey are less about the formats, and more about fear of change. So while most journeys will start with IFC and BCF as their focus, openBIM is about more than these two components; it’s really about standards and the work of buildingSMART International. Any journey can appear daunting, but openBIM is an industry-changer, and we’re living through changing moment together! Are you intrigued to know more about openBIM? Then let’s talk!

Have a Gas!

Imagine you’re on a journey, driving your car when suddenly your gas light comes on. Naturally you pull into the nearest service station to get some more fuel.

It doesn’t matter if you are driving a Ford, a BMW, or a Ferrari, nor does it matter whether you have a diesel or gasoline engine: you can fill up with what is available at this station. In fact this humble gas station is keeping up with the times, so it even offers a couple charging stations for electric cars!

In this analogy the gas station is openBIM. The gas station cares about supplying energy that makes its client’s cars run, just as openBIM provides the data in our Building Information Models, regardless of the