BE Magazine - Volume 4, Issue 4 - (Page 7)

Sam A. Bacharach Open Geospatial Consortium S oftware experts are rapidly weaving together a diverse set of technologies, including spatial technologies, to solve a problem that costs the construction industry tens of billions of dollars each year in the United States alone. But market progress is slowed by the inability to easily share building and construction information, primarily due to entrenched legacy systems, business inertia, and, until recently, the lack of standards. Many ﬁelds have been making strides in worker productivity over the years. Nonfarm workers, according to the National Institute of Building Sciences, for example, are on average becoming more productive each year. However, those productivity gains are not accruing in the construction industry. Although other industries are adopting more efﬁcient business models and processes that are enabled largely by information technology, the AEC industry lags behind. Reports from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)—“Cost Analysis of Inadequate Interoperability in the U.S. Capital Facilities Industry”—and the Construction Users Roundtable—“Construction Users Roundtable Report on Collaboration, Integrated Information, and the Project Lifecycle in Building Design, Construction, and Operation”—highlight 30 percent waste in building projects. That, according to the NIST study, amounts to about $15.8 billion annually in the U.S. capital facilities industry. Where BIM comes in Many stakeholders are convinced that using building information modeling (BIM) is a key component of the productivity solution for AEC, along with policies that promote data sharing and standards. BIM is a shared knowledge resource containing many kinds of information about a building, such as site plan, CAD drawings, connections to subsurface infrastructure, building system and component speciﬁcations, tenant information, and building evacuation plans. The U.S. National BIM Standard is a product of the National BIM Standard Project Committee of the Facility Information Council of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) and the buildingSMART Initiative of the International Alliance for Interoperability, which also is a NIBS council. The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is providing these groups with geospatial knowledge and support for CAD-geospatial3D integration. BIM relies on interoperability among a range of information technologies to enable efﬁciencies: fewer delays, mistakes, and misunderstandings; fewer meetings and phone calls; and fewer physical deliveries of information media. BIM provides a reliable basis for decisions during the facility’s entire lifecycle. Different stakeholders at different phases of the lifecycle of a facility insert, extract, update, or modify information in the model to increase productivity in a variety of tasks. Linking multiple kinds of building data and software services available from online servers, client software can be constructed that provides extraordinary interactive capabilities. These might include, for example, clicking on a ﬂoor level of a building to see who the tenants are, rendering a view of the urban landscape from a particular window of a building, or determining which company installed a ﬁber-optic cable. Companies and agencies with billions of dollars invested in capital projects are driving the BIM effort. But improved quality, greater efﬁciencies, and higher proﬁt are not the only drivers. Three-dimensional city models provide a framework for integrating building models within the context of their overall environment. Broad-scale city models are becoming more common through a convergence of improved methods for developing them, for structuring and exchange and for delivering, visualizing, and analyzing city models. The development of city models and the infrastructure for managing and using them will be accelerated by widely accepted consensus-based standards. Standard data models for buildings and urban environments will encourage investments in data as well as the development of interoperable tools for developing, serving, and using these models. Technologies for emergency management In December 2006, OGC invited key emergency and disaster managers to a meeting in Jersey City, New Jersey, to demonstrate the results of a seven-month interoperability test bed known as OGC Web Services 4 (OWS4). Participants showed how BIM standards can play an important role in emergency services and disaster management. The relevant converging technologies are: s Mapping and measuring technologies, which translate the real world into digital abstractions of the real world: terrestrial surveying, GIS, remote sensing, sensor fusion, geodesy and aerial and closerange photogrammetry, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR). s Design technologies, which help humans develop abstractions and translate them into real-world objects: architectural, civil engineering, and mechanical CAD (2D, 3D, and 4D). Related to these are simulators, games, and 3D virtual worlds. s Computer technologies, including the Internet and Web, machine vision, databases, and computer graphics. s BIM The challenge is daunting. The different technology and application domains have different vocabularies, geometries, computing paradigms, data formats, data schemas, scales, and fundamental world views. They also have different requirements for accuracy, verisimilitude (realism), and animation performance. But Web technologies, notably XML, are well suited for developing systems that enable different kinds of data to be merged under human control or software control. Google proves the concept through its combination of maps and Earth images in Google Maps and also its combination of SketchUp 3D modeling and other 3D models with imagery in Google Earth™. Market realities The transition toward greater productivity follows this path: hardcopy drawings — > digital drawings (ﬁles) — Web services. > But the transition takes time. Users need to reach a certain conﬁdence level before they Volume 4, Issue 4 | BE MAGAZINE 7

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of BE Magazine - Volume 4, Issue 4

BE Magazine - Volume 4, issue 4 Contents The Drive To Innovate News BE Newsletter Highlights Converging on the Market Bytes and Bricks Generative Components Building Courting Success Remodeling an Icon Structural Integration Building News From Bentley Civil Greenfield Airport Takes Flight Good Neighbors Collaborative Innovation Civil News From Bentley Advertisers Index Geospatial Ring of Fiber Revolutionizing Integrity Management Port City Transformation In Conversation With Greg Bentley Geospatial News From Bentley Plant Single-Source Service Committed to Cleaner Air Expediting Expansion Plant News From Bentley Strength in Numbers The Art of Visualization A Winning Legacy Zero Change Culture: Further Definition A Remarkable Collaboration With a Forward-Thinking Community

BE Magazine - Volume 4, Issue 4

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