Why adopt the IFC data schema and open data?
nima incorporates the UK and Ireland chapter of buildingSMART International, and bSUKI has just published a new report intended to help organisations understand the value of the IFC data schema and open data.
The report – The Business Value of Adopting openData via Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) [PDF] – highlights the opportunities from the perspective of five different stakeholder groups:
- property developers
- construction companies
- design consultants
- product manufacturers, and
- government regulatory bodies
The report was written by bSUKI chair (and nima ambassador) Casey Rutland, with inputs from nima vice chair Emma Hooper of RLB Digital, information management standards authority Nick Nisbet, Evolve Consultancy’s Nigel Davies, and Mohammad Shana’a from Morta.
Addressing poor data interoperability
The report highlights that many of the AECO sector’s key challenges (cost inefficiencies, project delays, inconsistent quality, data fragmentation and software lock-in, etc) stem from poor data interoperability. Inconsistent, proprietary formats limit the ability of stakeholders to collaborate, compare, automate, or analyse information across tools, teams, or time.
The report says Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), maintained by buildingSMART International and formalised as ISO 16739-1, provide a transformative solution:
“IFC is an open, vendor-neutral data schema designed specifically for the built environment. It allows stakeholders – from designers and contractors to regulators and asset owners – to create, share and reuse rich data consistently, reliably, and securely. It gives us the ability to derive value through insight from connecting data in a consistent manner.”
- for developers, open data and IFC adoption reduces risk, improves ESG standing and maximises asset value
- for contractors, it improves productivity, coordination and payment certainty
- for design consultants, it enables quality, creativity and data-driven insight
- for product manufacturers, it ensures specification retention, market access and digital continuity, and
- for government regulatory bodies, it supports smarter, faster and more transparent approvals.
bSUKI’s report concludes with an implementation roadmap and examples of return on investment. Quantifiable examples will be provided through specific studies in the upcoming ‘openBIM Business Value’ project coordinated by buildingSMART International.
