BIM Standard May Boost Sharing
Developers of the first open consensus standard for the exchange of building information models hope to grease the wheels of collaboration.
The non-proprietary National Building Information Model Standard-United States Version 2, or NBIMS-US V2, sets forward ways to promote interoperability between BIMs of different vendors and offers practice guidelines for users.
"Ideally, we want the standard embedded in the software so the user doesn't have to worry about it," said Deke Smith at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2012 National Convention and Design Exposition, held on May 17-19 in Washington, D.C.
Smith, who unveiled the new standard at the AIA convention, is executive director of the buildingSMART alliance, which is developing the standard. The alliance is part of the Washington, D.C.-based National Institute of Building Sciences.
Beta testers applaud the standard. "In the past, most standards have been relegated to monstrous volumes of paper or a very large pdf file," said Stephen J. Holzer, a consultant in web-based homebuilding for eM8s, Ann Arbor, Mich. "With Version 2, we have a navigable structure that allows stakeholders at most levels or disciplines the ability to discern topics that apply directly to them through any web browser."
The goal of NBIMS-US V2 is to provide a means of organizing and classifying electronic object data associated with a facility, from its cradle to its grave. The standard is intended to foster streamlined communication among owners, designers, material suppliers, constructors, facility managers and all stakeholders associated with the built environment.
A section for software developer-vendors offers reference standards developed by other allied standards organizations as well as exchange standards written and balloted by the NBIMS-US V2 project committee. For users, the standard contains "practice documents" to help them build BIMs for a facility.
Vendors are going to have to change their software to get true interoperability so that users can get the true advantages of BIM, said Smith, who predicts the coming of a whole new generation of software. He added that the major vendors are supporting the standard to varying degrees.
The alliance is continuing to work with more associations to develop new content. "We are just scratching the surface," Smith said, inviting all parties to send comments on Version 2 to dsmith@nibs.org.
Era of Guidance
The NBIMS-US V2 is not the only document designed to improve practice that was released or explained at the convention, which drew 18,600 registrants. Help designing energy misers is available in the form of the recently completed 50% Series of the Advanced Energy Design Guides (AEDGs), published by ASHRAE, in collaboration with the AIA, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America and the U.S. Green Building Council.
AEDGs, funded by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, offer tools and recommendations for practical products and off-the-shelf technologies to aid in achieving a 50% energy savings compared to buildings that meet the minimum requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004. The series includes a guide for hospitals, office buildings up to 100,000 sq ft, K-12 schools and medium to big "box" stores. The volumes are available for free download at ">www.ashrae.org/standards-research--technology/advanced-energy-design-guides.
The 50% Series goes beyond the original 30% Series, which was a cookbook for achieving 30% energy savings compared to buildings that meet the minimum requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-1999.
"It was going to be difficult to achieve 50% without delving into other parts of the building," beyond heating and cooling systems and lighting, said Daniel H. Nall, senior vice president and director of sustainability for WSP Flack+Kurtz, New York City, and a member of the AEDGs committee. To achieve 50% savings, an integrated design process is needed, he added.
Designers need to consider the building's form, orientation, internal layout, the reflectance of interior finishes, exterior shading devices and electric-plug loads, he said.
As a result, the 50% Series offers both prescriptive and integrated design approaches because every building may not be able to comply with the prescriptive path, said Nall.
At the convention, the AIA released the AIA Guide to the ">International Green Construction Code. The 76-page document gives a summary of the development of energy codes and standards. It also offers guidance on the likely impacts on design and practice of the IgCC, if it is adopted by jurisdictions. It further provides a chapter-by-chapter summary of the International Code Council's IgCC, which is the first national green model code.
Described as an “overlay” code, the IgCC, when adopted by jurisdictions, would add green provisions on top of existing codes, such as the International Building Code (IBC), International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and the other “I-Codes.”
"The IgCC is not news for those active in energy conservation," said Mary Ann Lazarus, the firm-wide director for sustainable design at HOK, St. Louis, and co-chairwoman of the AIA IgCC task force. "It is news that it may be codified."
The guide is intended for those who are not expert in energy modeling, added Norman Strong, a partner at the Miller Hull Partnership, Seattle, and Lazarus's co-chairman. At this point in time, the guide is available free to only AIA members. The AIA has not yet decided whether it will be offered to non-members.
More AIA IgCC guidance is on the way for commissioning and energy modeling. To date, only Maryland has adopted the model code, which was released in late March. However, Maryland is making compliance voluntary, not mandatory. In New Jersey, there is already opposition to its adoption among government entities.
Apparently, there is also some opposition to the model code among architects. At a convention session on the guide, almost all of the 100 or so attendees indicated, by a show of hands, that they are concerned about the impact of a mandatory IgCC on practice.
