My keynote presentation at the 2015 Cita BIM Gathering in Dublin.

1. COLLABORATIVE ENGINEERING
WITH IFC
Léon van Berlo

2. LÉON VAN BERLO
I do BIM stuff
Carpenter  Architectural Engineer  “Researcher”
H-index: 9
@berlotti - leon.vanberlo@tno.nl
Open source BIM collective; BIMserver.org;
CloudBIM; BIM Quickscan®; BIM compass; BIM
Execution plan generator; BIM Quality Blocks;
geoBIM.org; bullshitbim.com; National BIM
Guidelines NL; Board member Stumico

3. NETHERLANDS ORGANISATION FOR
APPLIED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH TNO
Helmond
Eindhoven
Rijswijk
Delft
Leiden
The Hague
Zeist
Utrecht
Groningen
Soesterberg

4. INTERNATIONAL
OFFICES / AGENCIES
Offices
Agencies

5. THE POWER OF TNO
FROM IDEA TO INNOVATION

6. TNO IN NUMBERS
Number of employees (effective average)
Consolidated turnover
3.276
€ 564 million

7. INDEPENDENT OBJECTIVE KNOWLEDGE ORGANISATION
READ: “I HAVE NOTHING TO SELL”

8. NERVOUS

9. NERVOUS

11. ?

12. HISTORY
BIM track record:
First reference of ‘BIM’ in publication (1992)
BIM Handbook in 1988 (!)
Worked on IFC since beginning
Involved on several levels at BuildingSMART
Developed multiple (data)standards and (process)tools
We know what doesn’t work. And why.
We know what does work. And how.

13. HOW ABOUT YOU?
Can you predict the future?
Are you ready for controversial statements?
Can you handle sarcasm?
How about IFC?

14. START WITH A BIT OF HISTORY

15. 1998 (?)
“SHARED DATA MODEL”
shared
data
model

16. COMMON MISCONCEPTION:
Shared data model is NOT equal to:
Shared data(base)
Shared BIM model instance
Shared data model comes from the need to share/distribute data in a
standardized way…. “let’s agree this is a door”
shared data model == creating agreements (interoperability)
IFC = an agreement about a lot of objects and properties

17. BIM DATA FLOW THROUGH STANDARDS:
REDUCING INTERFACES

18. YES, I’VE SEEN THE PICTURES…

20. SEEMS LOGIC, BRINGS STRUCTURE
IT’S ALMOST LIKE A RELIGION

22. 2008: BIMSERVER.ORG

23. 2009: 1ST RELEASE

24. 2010/11: NATIONAL BIMSERVER PILOT

25. 2012: REPORT

26. THE PILOT / RESEARCH
Research: compare ‘homogeneous’ software with ‘own choice’ software
Compare
Top Down enforcing software tools with
Bottom up free choice of tools

29. “THERE IS NO CENTRAL MODEL”
(IN A COLLABORATION PROJECT)

30. DENMARK 2006:

31. DENMARK 2008:

34. NL 2012:

35. NO ROUNDTRIP
(import/export in a chain of tools)

36. OBSERVATIONS:
“There is no loss of data using IFC”… It is all in the native software. The
question is what data you want to share (using IFC). What data do you need
to do your job? Then we look if that is in IFC (and in your tool after import)
Not a single IFC ‘loss of data’-issue occurred during the experiments.
In a homogeneous software environment, users felt that all team members
should have equal BIM software modeling expertise. When using the
concept of reference models, not all project team members collaborating in a
project need to have the same level of BIM expertise.

37. AND TO CLOSE UP….
The use of a reference model concept with IFC can lower the needed BIM
competences for a project partner to be able to collaborate in a way that is
sufficiently effective for the entire project team.
All respondents in this experiment were strongly convinced that choosing
project partners based on their competence of a specific software tool,
prior to their engineering competence, is never preferred

38. FOUND CONCLUSION:
WORKING (LIVE) IN A ‘CENTRAL’
MODELSERVER HAS MORE
DOWNSIDES THAN ADVANTAGES.
(OWNERSHIP OF OBJECTS, LEGAL ASPECTS,
BIM MANAGER, CHANGE REQUESTS, ETC...)

39. “CENTRALIZING COLLABORATION
STIMULATES WRONG BEHAVIOUR”

40. THE REAL QUESTIONS ARE:
WHAT DO I NEED TO DO MY JOB?
WHAT DO OTHERS NEED FROM ME TO DO THEIRS?

41. EVERYONE BRINGS THEIR
CRAFTSMANSHIP AND EXPERTISE
TO ACTUALLY COLLABORATE

42. HOW ABOUT ALL THESE “CLOUD BIM”
PLATFORMS?

45. “Open API”
“Platform”
“Extendable”

46. ISLAND!

49. Listoffeaturesontheleft Comparison of ‘islands’

50. THE SITUATION
“integration is nót about sitting on the same island”
You can only use the features of your island
No crossing over to the other island for that one cool feature they have!
No integration of features between islands!
Won’t go into detail now. Please visit bimbots.org

52. THE BUSINESS
Automating tasks
Individual applications; not dependence on a ‘platform’
Can be closed source / ask money for specific features
Can be more than one per topic (competition)
Is centralized for the bot provider (big data analyses)
This:
Creates a new market for niche appliations (you don’t have to choose an
island anymore; combine features)
Takes advantage of the fragmented nature of the industry
Open approach instead of getting everyone on one island

54. DATA DRIVEN INDUSTRY
Many many (!) more data
From many different sources
Even ‘shared data model’ will be impossible in the near future
IFC is ‘one’ of the many dataformats

56. AMSTERDAM ARENA
“Data driven operations”
“Living BIM”
Integrating information about traffic information, weather reports, seating
availability, parking gate, beer taps, heating and cooling, automatic doors, fire
system, temperature, waiting lines, video cameras (!), etc...
“Fully” up and running in 2018

57. ANOTHER EXAMPLE: PROCESS MINING

60. ELASSTIC PROJECT

63. THE BUSINESS
Automating tasks
Individual applications; not dependence on a ‘platform’
Can be closed source / ask money for specific features
Can be more than one per topic (competition)
Is centralized for the bot provider (big data analyses)
This:
Creates a new market for niche appliations (you don’t have to choose an
island anymore; combine features)
Takes advantage of the fragmented nature of the industry
Open approach instead of getting everyone on one island

68. HOW ABOUT BIMSERVER?

69. BIMSERVER TODAY:

73. AND MANY MANY OTHER EXAMPLES
(SEE THEM AT OPENSOURCEBIM.ORG

74. BACK TO COLLABORATION…..

75. STATE OF BIM COLLABORATION IN 2015
Working with ‘Reference model concept’ is the norm
Working with IFC is like sliced bread
IFC usage and understanding is on high level and rapidly growing
Making a BIM is not the goal – redundant data are welcome
Collaboration is seen as something else than just sharing data!

77. model
coordinate
conclude
communicate

78. model
coordinate
conclude
communicate

79. EXAMPLE: SEVERAL MODELING TOOLS
Several modelling tools used
All sharing parts of the model as IFC
Quality checks
Filtering objects to create a new view
For good coordination you still need to know who created what object
So even in a single database you still have separate models….

82. EXAMPLE: CONTRACTOR USING
SUPPLIER MODELS
Architectural and Construction model as a base
Suppliers deliver IFC models to replace original model parts

85. EXAMPLE:
COMPARE DESIGN / ENGINEERING
Contractor and lime stone supplier
Comparing models

89. EXAMPLE: 3 IFC EXPORTS FROM 1 MODEL
Because that is what collaboration is about!

90. IFC Coordination view
IFC 2nd order space boundaries
IFC explicit geometry

94. WHO’S TAKING NOTES?

95. NATIONAL BIM GUIDELINES
Written by the sector (“this is how we do it, and it works”)
Higher quality than most (any) mandates
Only extensively proven content (no experiments or innovations – “this works”)
Series of topics
Coming from the industry itself
All using same terminology
All aligned with each other

96. 2015 PUBLICATION (UPDATE)

98. RESULTS
Many unnecessary myths around about IFC (proven to work)
Top down policy makers are not on the same track
Standardized ‘BIM Execution plan’ is not possible
Educate top down policy thinkers / Look at current practice!
Increase priority on BIM education (myths)

99. BIM EXECUTION PLANS
DO NOT WORK
Top down approach!

100. THE REAL QUESTIONS ARE:
WHAT DO I NEED TO DO MY JOB ON THÍS PROJECT?
WHAT DO OTHERS NEED FROM ME TO DO THEIRS?
Bottom up thinking

101. 2014: BIM EXECUTION PLAN GENERATOR

104. BIM EXECUTION PLAN GENERATOR
Ask others about their preferred way of working
What data do you need to do your job? How do you want it?
What tools do you use? And what data structures?
We developed the BIM Quickscan® to help organisations in their BIM
journey: www.bimquickscan.nl – currently rebranded to
www.bimcompass.com
Also in development: www.bimqualityblocks.com to help client defining
their BIM norm / employers information requirements
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMM5MttMNV0

105. BIM EXECUTION PLAN GENERATOR
Ask others about their preferred way of working
What data do you need to do your job? How do you want it?
What tools do you use? And what data structures?
Protocol generator merges the answers to a concept protocol.
Team discusses the issues and transforms it to final protocol.
“Protocol generator is a team building machine”

107. COLLABORATION: FORGET ABOUT
THE BLACK BOX!

108. BEWARE OF QUEST FOR STRUCTURE AND
STANDARDISATION

109. HOW ABOUT IRELAND?
TOP DOWN DRIVEN, OR BOTTOM UP?
TALKING ABOUT IT, OR DOING IT?

110. “green representing the Gaelic tradition of Ireland, orange representing
the followers of William of Orange in Ireland, and white representing the
aspiration for peace between them”

112. PDF documents?
Today’s BIM profits
and gains

114. FLIP THE ICEBERG!
YOUR DISCUSSIONS DEFINE
WHAT IS ON TOP OF THE ICEBERG!

115. ASK YOURSELF:
HOW CAN WE GET THE SILENT
MAJORITY OF HIGH LEVEL BIM DATA
USERS TO LEAD THE WAY?

116. THANK YOU
FOR THINKING FOR YOURSELF

117. LEON.VANBERLO@TNO.NL