All respondents working in offices with 50 or more employees confirmed the use of building information modelling software in some capacity, including data sharing among project collaborators and stakeholders, according to the findings of the AIA's 2020 Firm Survey Report. This indicates a significant increase in the use of building information modelling software since 2005. The rising use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been matched by a surge in interest in OpenBIM, which is a concept in which universal standards and benchmarks exist, and file formats permit interoperability with any programme that is compatible with BIM. At this time, there are no national BIM standards that are either legislated or commonly adopted across the country. Instead, BIM methodologies are random and vary according on the requirements of the enterprise, the public agency, or the customer.
OpenBIM's goal is to establish uniform standards, such as the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), the BuildingSmart Data Dictionary (bSDD), and the BIM Collaboration Format (BCF), in order to cut down on the amount of time architects and designers have to spend making sure their BIM models comply with OpenBIM standards. Closed BIM is at the opposite end of the spectrum from Open BIM. In this model, members of a project team and external collaborators exchange files via a proprietary standard.
It is common practise for studios to operate halfway between OpenBIM and Closed BIM. This means that not all of the project's BIM data is available in a granular manner; yet, this may be the intended result. When just part of a building's information model is shared, it might lead to misunderstandings, such as when one part of the structure is ready for consultants to examine its design but other parts are not.
BuildingSmart International, a non-profit organisation, has been working toward the development of global BIM standards for some years. BIM Standard Prospects In November of 2016, the United States branch of the Building Standards Institute (BSI) was re-established with the purpose of developing open standards for interoperable digital data on national building and infrastructure projects and encouraging their adoption. The software company Autodesk, whose offerings include Revit, recently made the announcement that it has become a member of BSI's strategic advisory board. The influence of Autodesk, which might contribute to an increase in the adoption of future OpenBIM standards.
The National Institute of Building Sciences BIM Council is another group that is pushing OpenBIM. This council made an announcement in December on the future steps for its United States National BIM Standard (NBIMS-US). The current edition, Version 3, was last updated in 2015, and it is not possible to implement it as a comprehensive standard. Instead, it is a compilation of content chapters covering a variety of BIM-related categories, such as the definition of standard information exchanges and practise standards to support the implementation of BIM.
An open data schema, also known as a structure, is included in NBIMS-US Version 3, and it is called the Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie). Its purpose is to facilitate the transmission of information from project participants to project owners. COBie establishes what data attributes are required in building asset descriptions in BIM documents; for instance, a pump would be expected to have data on its manufacturer, model, serial number, and flow rate. COBie also establishes what data attributes are required in building asset descriptions in BIM documents.
Other components of NBIMS-US, such as the BIM Project Execution Planning Template, are becoming an increasingly common requirement among public and private building owners. These building owners include the Army Corps of Engineers and the General Services Administration.
OpenBIM Benefits The current lack of software interoperability forces some stakeholders to work in tools that are not ideal for their needs in order to allow for greater collaboration. OpenBIM standards can also improve the design workflow because of this. OpenBIM standards can also improve the design workflow. However, project owners will profit the most from OpenBIM since their BIM data will be saved and utilised in an open file format. This open file format does not require upgrading and does not depend on a single software vendor in order to access the data. It is prepared for the future.
Sharing a file in Revit may appear to be less secure than transmitting a file in the IFC format, which is an OpenBIM standard. OpenBIM also provides advantages in terms of security. Because of this, native files are often distributed among members of a collaborative group in accordance with the BIM execution plan for the project.
Data Sharing In order for members of a team to successfully share project data and drawings with one another, they will need to overcome a number of technological hurdles, such as a lack of standards. But the biggest challenge lies at the core of our industry, which is that designers are frequently hesitant to provide information about a project or are unsure of when they should do so. Is it a priority for all fields to work together and engage in interdisciplinary dialogue?
Using OpenBIM might be beneficial both during the design phase and the delivery phase of the project. There are some concerns regarding the respect for intellectual property in the process of sharing data using any open BIM collaboration method, as well as the understanding of work-in-progress submissions versus formal-deliverables submissions; however, these concerns can be addressed using a standard contractual agreement. For instance, it is essential for all parties to determine the appropriate immediate and downstream uses for model data, as well as ownership of BIM model element libraries, particularly a company's pre-existing intellectual property. Furthermore, it is essential to define proper immediate and downstream uses for model data.
OpenBIM in Practice? : Randy Deutsch, FAIA, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, states in his book Think Like an Architect (RIBA Publishing, 2020) that some "architects are gregarious, independent thinkers, and they don't like to obey rules." Deutsch is a supporter of OpenBIM; however, he believes that the required uniformity of software-agnostic BIM standards may be a cause for concern. He also believes that it is reasonable to expect that the standards will be implemented regardless of the location of the project or firm, the type of the project, or the size of the project. He claims that the majority of designers would rather continue working in the same manner in which they have always worked. It's possible that they believe adhering to laws, or in this case, universal BIM standards, would make them go more slowly.
In point of fact, in order for OpenBIM to be successful, architects will need to overcome more than simple technical obstacles. Not only will they need to be willing to learn and apply the new standards in a consistent manner, but they will also need to be willing to collaborate in a manner that is truly open.
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