Delivering COBie data - Focus on curtain walls and building envelopes

ECPPM 2016
07/09 to 09/09 | Limassol, Cyprus
11th European Conference on Product and Process Modelling
eWork and eBusiness in Architecture, Engineering and Construction
Delivering COBie data
focus on curtain wall and building envelopes
Jan Karlshøj
Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Paolo Borin, Michele Carradori, Michele Scotton, Carlo Zanchetta
University of Padova, Padova, Italy

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ECPPM 2016
Delivering COBie data - focus on curtain wall and building envelopes
J.Karlshøj, P. Borin, M. Carradori, M. Scotton, C. Zanchetta
Index
Subject of the research
State of the art
Getting COBie
IDM development
Conclusions
Future developments
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BIM
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Facility
ManagerINFORMATION
EXCHANGE
Project lifecycle

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Facility
Manager
information exchange:
MODEL VIEW DEFINITION
(MVD)
IFC BIM model
(ISO16739:2013)
=
COBie
Construction (to) Operations Building
information exchange
curtain
walls
*Project lifecycle

Production of
hundred of papers
and files difficult to be
used by Facility
Managers.
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ECPPM 2016
State of the art
Nowadays, the delivery of handover information
is still based on paper documents and PDF files.
RESULTS
Information often
available months
or years after
occupancy.
Time wasted
in recreating
information already
specified during
the project.
Manual inclusion
of information
in maintenance
management
software.
=
we need something else!

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ECPPM 2016
State of the art
COBie
aims to be a unique container able
to collect those pieces of
information needed for FM,
across the different project stages
can be delivered in
electronic format (.ifc,
.ifcxml, .xml)
standard, open and reusable
data structure, based on
the IFC schema.
it is a MVD since it represents
a subset of the entire IFC data
set.

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ECPPM 2016
State of the art
COBie’s data structure

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ECPPM 2016
State of the art
Two different behaviours can be internationally recognized:
all the equipments that need preventive maintenance plan, have consumable parts and require
management and regular inspections, are supposed to be included in COBie.
(as stated by Bill East, original developer of COBie)
COBie’s content:
U.S.A.
NBIMS-US v.3 - Chapter 2.4
July 2013, National BIM Standard
U.K.
BS 1192-4:2014
Sep. 2014, British Standard Institute
........................
……………………..
IfcCurtainWall
IfcPlate
IfcMember
……………………..
……………………..
IFC entities
exclusion list
COBie for all
(in UK COBie is
mandatory for all
central procured project
since April 2016)

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ECPPM 2016
State of the art
This research focused
on the UK scenario, since:
• the UK Goverment’s initiatives could become a
framework for the European States which
do not yet submit a BIM policy;
• the importance of the UK construction
business in Europe, especially regarding
private housing and commercial, where curtain
walls are commonly used;
Moreover, curtain walls are products that typically
require to be maintained during the project life-
cycle:
it could be useful to
check COBie against passive products!

How to obtain COBie?
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ECPPM 2016
Getting COBie
Curtain wall
BIM model
Create with
Autodesk Revit 2014
COBie
.xml
- The data format for
COBie required by the
UK Government
- It is just a mapping of the
COBie MVD: the
information content is the
same.
direct exportation
through an internal plug-in
indirect exportation
via IFC + external app.
1
2

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ECPPM 2016
Getting COBie
Curtain wall
BIM model
unitized
curtain walling system
=
Pre-assembled curtain cells,
composed by sub-elements,
which are installed on site.
stick
curtain walling system
=
All the elements are installed on site.
Curtain panels
(IfcPlate)
Curtain mullions
(IfcMember)
Curtain cell
sub-elements
Curtain cell
(IfcPlate)
Curtain system
(IfcCurtainWall)=
Curtain system
(IfcCurtainWall)

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ECPPM 2016
Getting COBie
Curtain wall
BIM model
COBie
.xml
direct exportation
COBie Extension for Revit
1
2
Non-collaborative procedure based on COBie .xml:
there could be several issue in aligning information
produced by the different stakeholders.
Automatic exportation of all the information included in the model,
relating to Contact, Facility, Floor, Space, Zone, Type,
Component, System, Attribute and Coordinate worksheets.

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ECPPM 2016
Getting COBie
Curtain wall
BIM model
COBie
.xml
direct exportation
exporting the model
in IFC format
1
2
It is not possible to choose
COBie as MVD in Revit
while exporting in IFC format;
the Extended FM handover View
was used, but it is not approved by
buildingSMART International,
therefore not stable.
transforming the IFC model
in COBie .xml
Issues in the definition of mullions
(naming and Type association),
because of the IFC Exporter of
Revit.
Results:
Cobie Toolkit, BimService.
Chanche to modify the exclusion list
introduced by the US COBie spec.
No results:
BIMserver, BimService (old version).
No chanche to modify the exclusion list
introduced by the US COBie
specification.

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ECPPM 2016
Getting COBie
COBie
.xml
direct exportation
1
2
Spare Resource Job Document
Revit, as a design software, is not able to handle information
that are typically exchanged during the construction phase.
Impact Connection Assembly Issue Coordinate System
Type
√
Component
√
Attribute
√
What is modeled as a family type in Revit, is also exported as
a Type in COBie. All the attributes included in the model can be
associated to the relevant COBie cell.
Optional content (BS 1192-4)Content expected not exactly defined Project-specific indications required
Same results!
Results evaluated considering the specific stakeholder and product
on which this research focused (and the related COBie worksheets).
:

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ECPPM 2016
IDM development
Industry Foundation Classes
IFC:
establishes the language
Model View Definition
MVD:
selects words and syntax constructions for a certain purpose
Information Delivery Manual
IDM:
defines how the speech occurs
Objective:
define a standardized methodology
for existing or new processes, in
order to assist the different
stakeholders in their tasks
=

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ECPPM 2016
IDM development
IDMs based on the approach described by Mondrup, Treldal, Karlshøj, Vestergaard (2014):
it is possible to define IDM packages that specify the information exchanges that
occur at a specific life-cycle stage involving specific actors of the process
A B
A
Cobie-related life-cycle stages, taken
from the BIM task Group (UK)
B
Actors’ roles taken from the British
regulation BS1192:2007
IDM 1
COBie Data Drop 3 - Specialist Designer
IDM 2
COBie Data Drop 4 - Subcontractor
Re-definition of the existing COBie IDM
(NBIMS-US v.3) in consideration of:
- BS 1192-4 and Uniclass;

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ECPPM 2016
IDM development
IDM components:
Business
Use Case
Process
Map
Exchange
Requirements
Exchange
Requirement
Models
Textual description of the
analyzed process
Graphic translation of
the Business Use Case
Description of the information
to be exchanged (who, when
and what)
technical specification of
the Exchange Requirement
(needed to develop a MVD)
Out of the boundaries
of this research
The COBie Responsibility Matrix
(projects.buildingsmartalliance.org) allows to link:
COBie Exchange Requirements  COBie .xml cells

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ECPPM 2016
IDM development
Main problem: what should be considered manageable assets?
premise:
curtain wall
complexity
Ontological complexity
of the considered product
• Design information, at various stages
• Construction information
• Operation & Maintenance information
• Manufacturing-based information
Huge variability of elements
if dimensions are considered
The entire curtain wall can be seen
• as unique object;
• as an assembly composed by several subsystems (cells);
• as an association of single elements.
E.g. in buildings like skyscrapers the hundreds of panels that
constitutes the facade could seem the same panel repeated for
hundreds of times, but they often differs for dimensions.
Different sources
of information
Interferences with
other disciplines components
Typical electrical and mechanical systems

COBie Assembly
specifies the elements Type
included in a cell Type
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ECPPM 2016
IDM development
Main problem: what should be considered manageable assets?
• No project-specific indications
• No stable practice on COBie
• Curtain wall complexity
 chosen criteria:
Every element:
• which needs specific maintenance operations
• for which replacement parts are provided
• that requires to be specified by additional
documents
• that requires to be specifically described by
those properties expected by the Type
worksheet (e.g. warranty information)
Every curtain wall cell*
is described by a specific
COBie Type
(regardless dimensions)
is exported as a
COBie
Component
*In the general case where
curtain walls are not subdivided
in cells, each element must be
exported as a Component too.

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ECPPM 2016
IDM development
Result: Exchange Requirement example
The ERs used by the COBie
specification included in
NBIMS-US v.3 were used.
Sub-ERs related to the COBie
worksheets were defined.
The specific IFC entity which
compiles a precise COBie cell
(taken from the COBie MVD).
Information to be exchanged is
defined in relation to the COBie
columns.

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ECPPM 2016
Conclusions
impossibility to reach the actual objective:
exchange of the entire set of information
needed for Facility Management
The best solution if the
purpose is just deliver COBie
data in .xml format, in order
to fulfil a contractual
requirement:
- Easy to use;
- No additional application
needed: all happens within
the Revit environment
Considered scenario:

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ECPPM 2016
Conclusions
Hopeful scenario:
using IFC is the only way to
enable interoperability
between the different actors
A MVD for Facility Management which
clearly defines the content of the exchange
and standardizes data flow (also for curtain
walls) is strongly needed.

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ECPPM 2016
Future developments
Consideration on how BIM tools translate in IFC format
the complex relations that charachterize curtain walls.
Application of the developed IDMs to different case studies,
in order to verify the validity of the proposal.
A
B

ECPPM 2016
11th European Conference on Product and Process Modelling
eWork and eBusiness in Architecture, Engineering and Construction
Jan Karlshøj
Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Paolo Borin, Michele Carradori, Michele Scotton, Carlo Zanchetta
University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Thank you for attention

Delivering COBie data - Focus on curtain walls and building envelopes

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