[recording] buildingSMART USA Webinar Series: Creating openBIM® and open GIS for Infrastructure and Cities

Joined by 20 countries, representing 5 continents, members from Strategic Building Innovation’s BIM Supporters Group and HDR shared a proof-of-concept for making openBIM and open GIS data shareable and scalable on a city scale. Dodge Data & Analytics shared findings about the use of GIS data in digital workflows for the AEC industry. The speakers also made the case for how openBIM and open GIS can become synergistic to the recent open-standards initiatives in the horizontal sector of the United States.

Q&A

Q1 | Can you share the link to the report, please?
A: Dodge Data & Analytics: The Business Value of GIS for Design and Construction

Q2 | How does the prototype deal with the fact that most of the BIM models have been modelled as a true representation of the object (1:1); however the map and CityGML data is distorted per-se? The consistency of dimensions can be (and probably also is) way off.
A: We would need a bit more information on what is meant by “distortion” here, but based on our experience, we were able to automatically place BIM data at a correct location and with 1:1 scale as long as the geolocation information was correctly created with BIM data modeled to scale, using a consistent coordinate system.

Q3 | Can you please share examples of users such as the city, or developers who use this platform?
A: The projects introduced during the webinar were from the Netherlands, Estonia, and Hong Kong. The webinar also showcased an example created with sample maps and BIMs from the US.

Q4 | Could you please describe the benefit of BIM updated model checking by the public and small project owners?
A: Government agencies in the Scandinavian countries like Norway and Finland are standardizing a BIM-based and digital way of checking. Statsbygg of Norway is utilizing MVD, which buildingSMART has standardized, for requirement checks. On the Estonia project introduced during the webinar, the automated checking process helped the agency to reduce variance in evaluation, prevent subjective assessment, and enhance productivity (even during the Covid pandemic).
As someone mentioned through the chat window during the webinar, the public or private owners of the projects need to set a good balanced LODs for BIM data – both for permit checking and a city platform.

Q5 | Separately from exporting and importing in open standard format or conversions, have web APIs / web services such as those used by OGC been explored for BIM? For example, is there an API for the Rotterdam model?
A: All the 3D layers in the Rotterdam example are available as 3D services and 3D tiles. A user can also export geometric data based on an area selection. The IFC database can be accessed through API. SDK is also available for developing IFC related modules.