[BLDG-SIM] Interoperability Software Demonstrations

Michael J. Witte mjwitte at gard.com
Fri Feb 2 07:57:28 PST 2001


---- Forwarded Message ----

Date sent:      	Thu, 01 Feb 2001 14:53:36 -0800
From:           	Vladimir Bazjanac <v_bazjanac at lbl.gov>
Organization:   	Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Send reply to:  	v_bazjanac at lbl.gov

How to Make Your CAD Data Do Five Times as Much Work at No Extra Cost

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in cooperation with Southern
California Edison (in an event in Santa Monica) and Pacific Gas and
Electric (in an event in San Francisco), will demonstrate the exchange
of architectural and engineering information among various software
applications using IAI's IFC R2.0.  This is a "reality breakthrough;"
after almost six years of developing interoperable standards, the
Alliance is pleased to show that commercial software developers are
delivering products incorporating IAI's IFC standards that will
dramatically change the way professional designers, building owners and
managers, and a host of other AEC+FM professionals will work in the
future.  Commercial vendors such as Timberline Software Corporation,
Microsoft Corporation, and others, will exchange CAD drawings, cost
estimating information, engineering data for energy analysis, and more
at both events.  The attached file provides more background and detail
about what will be shown at the events.

The event in Santa Monica will take place at the Southern California
Edison's Customer Technology Application Center (CTAC), 1721 22nd St.,
Santa Monica, CA 90404, phone (626) 812-7537 or (800) 336-2822, on
Tuesday, February 20 9:00-noon.  The event in San Francisco will take
place the next day (Wednesday, February 21) at the Pacific Gas &
Electric's Pacific Energy Center (PEC), 851 Howard Street, San
Francisco, California 94103, phone (415) 973-7268, also 9:00-noon. 
Please announce these events to your staff.  Those planning to attend
either event should register at the IAI NA web site:

http://www.iai-na.org.





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<title>Workshop on Software Interoperability in the Building Industry</title>
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<p class=MsoTitle style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:31.5pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:4.5pt'>See a First Public
Demonstration of New Interoperable Software for the Building Industry,</p>

<p class=MsoTitle style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:31.5pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:4.5pt'>or</p>

<p class=MsoTitle style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:31.5pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:4.5pt'>?How to Make Your
CAD Data Do Five Times as Much Work at No Extra Cost?</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:.25in'>It takes time and money to
develop a set of architectural and engineering drawings that define a building,
regardless of the size of the building or the sophistication of the CAD
software used.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">? </span><ins
cite="mailto:Richard%20See" datetime="2001-01-15T13:17">In most projects, this
information </ins><span class=msoDel><del>The information </del></span>must be <span
class=msoDel><del>often </del></span><ins cite="mailto:Richard%20See"
datetime="2001-01-15T13:18">manually </ins>transcribed for use in other
professional software,<ins cite="mailto:Richard%20See"
datetime="2001-01-15T13:18"> for work</ins> such as HVAC calculations and
design<span class=msoDel><del> applications</del></span>, cost estimating<ins
cite="mailto:Richard%20See" datetime="2001-01-15T13:19">,</ins> <span
class=msoDel><del>programs or </del></span>building energy performance
simulation, and energy code compliance checking.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes">? </span>This is <span class=msoDel><del>yet another</del></span><ins
cite="mailto:Richard%20See" datetime="2001-01-15T13:20">a</ins> manual and
tedious process that requires resources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">?
</span>If errors are made in the process, error detection and correction can be
just as resource consuming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">? </span>Any changes
to the design also require corresponding changes in <ins
cite="mailto:Richard%20See" datetime="2001-01-15T13:25">the transcri</ins>ption<ins
cite="mailto:Richard%20See" datetime="2001-01-15T13:25"> for </ins><span
class=msoDel><del>input to relevant professional software</del></span><ins
cite="mailto:Richard%20See" datetime="2001-01-15T13:26">these other
applications</ins>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">? </span>Anybody who has
ever <span class=msoDel><del>had to </del></span>prepare<ins
cite="mailto:Richard%20See" datetime="2001-01-15T13:26">d</ins> documentation
for compliance with energy codes or generate<ins cite="mailto:Richard%20See"
datetime="2001-01-15T13:26">d</ins> a detailed cost estimate can testify to how
time consuming, error prone and frustrating it is to read information from
drawings or specifications and manually reenter the same information in the
form required by the specific software application. It has been estimated that
each data element in a building design is independently recreated seven times
in the course of the design process.</p>

<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:.25in'>There is now a better solution
to this problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">? </span>It lies in the concept
of ?software interoperability:? the ability to share <span class=msoDel><del
cite="mailto:Richard%20See" datetime="2001-01-15T13:27">and seamlessly exchange
</del></span>the same information among software applications that perform
different industry tasks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">? </span>In other
words, the solution is to generate the information <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>once</i> and then automatically (or with minimal intervention) import
it into any other application that may need it<ins cite="mailto:Richard%20See"
datetime="2001-01-15T13:27">.</ins> The concept is an old one but it requires
that all software developers agree to some framework that can be shared between
tools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">? </span>That framework is called
Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) and has been under development for over 5
years by a non-profit organization known as the International Alliance for
Interoperability (IAI).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">? </span>Architects and
engineers have heard very little about this because it has taken time for software
developers to incorporate this new approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">?
</span>But that is about to change, and you are invited to see a preview of how
this change will improve the practice in your office in years to come.</p>

<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:.25in'>A group of well known software
developers for the building industry formed the Building Lifecycle
Interoperable Software (BLIS) project and has developed commercial grade
software that can seamlessly exchange IFC-based data developed in CAD
applications for use in cost estimating, thermal analysis, mechanical design,
construction planning and other industry processes. The BLIS group (Fig. 1)
includes industry software leaders such as Microsoft, Graphisoft and
Timberline.</p>

<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:.25in'>It is now possible to take a
standard two-dimensional CAD drawing (floor plan), define the third dimension,
objectify it (i.e., define its content as ?objects?) and save it in the
interoperable format.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">? </span>Or, one can
define the building in three dimensions using object oriented CAD software and
save it directly in the interoperable format.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">?
</span>Software that performs quantity take-off can then use the saved
information and generate lists of quantities for use by cost estimating
applications.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">? </span>Or, the saved information
can be used to automatically check prescriptive compliance with energy
codes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">? </span>Or, the saved information can be
seamlessly imported into EnergyPlus (a ?new generation? simulation tool) for
the simulation of the building?s energy performance.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes">? </span>The latter can save as much as 80% of effort and resources currently
needed to prepare the building description for such an energy performance
simulation.</p>

<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:.25in;mso-list:none;mso-list-ins:"Richard See" 20010115T1335'><span
class=msoDel><del cite="mailto:Richard%20See" datetime="2001-01-15T13:36"><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]></del></span><span
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<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:.25in'><span class=msoDel><del
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<p class=MsoBodyText><span class=msoDel><del cite="mailto:Richard%20See"
datetime="2001-01-15T13:36"><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]></del></span><span
class=msoDel><del cite="mailto:Richard%20See" datetime="2001-01-15T13:36"><o:p></o:p></del></span></p>

<p class=MsoBodyText align=center style='text-align:center'>Fig. 1 ? BLIS
Software Environment: Participating Software Development Organizations and
Types of Software</p>

<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:.25in'>Some BLIS tools are already on
the market and others are now in their last <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>beta</i>
version and will appear on the market in the Spring 2001. BLIS partners are
looking for opportunities for deployment of their software in real life design
and construction projects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">? </span>They will
provide free current software and software support to pilot projects willing to
use the software and report on the experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">?
</span>This workshop will demonstrate the interoperable use of specific CAD,
cost estimating, energy performance simulation, and code checking software from
Microsoft<span class=msoDel><del cite="mailto:Richard%20See"
datetime="2001-01-15T13:44">/Visio</del></span>, Graphisoft, Timberline, PNNL
and LBNL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">? </span>It will also provide an
opportunity to ask hard questions and obtain in-depth answers.</p>

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