buildingSMART, formerly the International Alliance for
Interoperability
Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader de ...
(IAI), is an international organisation which aims to improve the exchange of information between software applications used in the
construction
Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...
industry. It has developed
Industry Foundation Classes
The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) is a CAD data exchange data schema intended for description of architectural, building and construction industry data (ABCII). The IFC file format is based on ISO 10303-21 standard and definitions of ABCII are ...
(IFCs) as a neutral and open specification for
Building Information Models (BIM) as well as
Information Delivery Specification (IDS).
History
The IAI started in 1994
[Bazjanac, V. and Crawley, D.B. (1997) ''The implementation of Industry Foundation Classes in simulation tools for the building industry'' - http://www.inive.org/members_area/medias/pdf/Inive/IBPSA/UFSC585.pdf (accessed: 6 February 2012)] as an industry consortium of 12 US companies invited by
Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation that provides software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquarte ...
to advise on developing a set of C++ classes to support integrated application development.
The other founding members were
AT&T
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
; Archibus;
Carrier Corporation
Carrier Global Corporation is an American multinational heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, and fire and security equipment corporation based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Carrier was founded in 1915 as an indep ...
;
Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK);
Honeywell
Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building automation, industrial automa ...
;
Jaros, Baum & Bolles (JB&B);
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory;
Primavera Systems; Softdesk;
Timberline Software Corp; and Tishman Research Corp (part of
Tishman Realty & Construction).
The new technology was first demonstrated in June 1995 in Atlanta at A/E/C SYSTEMS '95.
[A/E/C Industry Alliance for Interoperability Links Building Industry Professions AT&T, Carrier Corp., Honeywell, Inc. and HOK Among Founding Members. 17 April 1995. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/A%2FE%2FC+Industry+Alliance+for+Interoperability+Links+Building+Industry...-a016817760 (accessed: 6 February 2012]
archived
This Industry Alliance for Interoperability opened membership to all interested parties in September 1995 and in May 1996 was renamed the International Alliance for Interoperability
[ as Autodesk users insisted that the IFCs should be non-proprietary and urged development of the IFC standard. The first version of IFC was published in June 1996 at which point 26 companies, including Autodesk, ]Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...
, Nemetschek and IEZ, committed to making their software IFC-compliant.[ The IAI was reconstituted as a not-for-profit industry-led organisation, promoting the Industry Foundation Class (IFC) as a neutral product model supporting the building lifecycle.][Eastman, Charles M., and Eastman, Chuck (2008) ''BIM handbook: a guide to building information modeling for owners, managers, designers, engineers, and contractors'' John Wiley & Sons, pp.72-73.]
In 2005, partly because its members felt the IAI name was too long and complex for people to understand, it was renamed buildingSMART.
Activities
BuildingSMART says it develops and maintains international standards for openBIM, combining:
*buildingSMART Processes - information delivery manuals
* buildingSMART Data Dictionary (bsDD)
*buildingSMART Data model - the organisation manages the software-neutral Industry Foundation Classes
The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) is a CAD data exchange data schema intended for description of architectural, building and construction industry data (ABCII). The IFC file format is based on ISO 10303-21 standard and definitions of ABCII are ...
(IFC) data model
buildingSMART also maintains the BIM Collaboration Format (BCF), a structured file format used for issue tracking in relation to building information models.
Chapters
BuildingSMART has several chapters around the world.
* Australasia
* Austria
* Benelux
* Canada
* China
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Hong Kong
* Italy
* India
* Japan
* Korea
* Malaysia
* Nordic
* North America
* Norway
* Poland
External links
*
References
{{Authority control
Industrial computing
1994 establishments in Germany
Building information modeling