The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) recently teamed up with buildingSMARTalliance, buildingSMARTNorway, and the International Code Council (ICC) to present the first ever International Framework for Dictionaries (IFD) Library/Information Delivery Manual (IDM)/Industry Foundation Class (IFC) Workshop in North America. The workshop took place April 6 to 8, just outside Washington, D.C. Construction Specifications Canada (CSC) representatives attended and made presentations at the workshop.

As its name suggests, the workshop provided a comprehensive overview of buildingSMART core technologies—IFC, IFD Library, and IDM/Model View Definition (MVD). The conference drew nearly 50 participants, including representatives from government agencies and codes and standards organizations, as well as application developers, standards developers, information technologists, and information publishers.

“This meeting brought together technologists and practitioners working to create standards that will make it easier to share object-oriented information across different applications, an essential step to supporting the widespread use of building information modelling,” said buildingSMARTalliance executive director Deke Smith.

Experts addressed buildingSMART-related topics and the development and implementation of the latest open standard-based technologies for the design and construction industry. CSI technical director Roger Grant, the workshop's moderator, described the event as an “opportunity to both advance development and share knowledge with potential implementers.”

During the workshop, the IFD Library was presented in depth and demonstrated live for the first time in North America. The IFD Library for buildingSMART will be an open, shared, international terminology library supporting object-oriented information exchange. It is being developed under the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI) buildingSMART banner. CSI is developing a Terminology Library and Dictionary for North America as part of this initiative, thanks in part to a grant from the National Center for Energy Management and Building Technology (NCEMBT). CSC representatives are also on this committee.

The IFD Library provides much needed flexibility for an IFC-based building information model (BIM), enabling it to link to various databases with project- and product-specific data. IFD Library allows a model to perform advanced analysis, simulation, and design checks at a very early phase.

Recent developments in the processes for defining and structuring exchanges—IDM/MVD—represented another key focus of the workshop. Experts from Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States addressed their latest work and discussed ongoing efforts. Structured exchanges allow computer applications to share information—such as structural steel design or energy analysis—accurately and openly to achieve interoperability. This ability improves the efficiency of BIM systems.

To illustrate the technologies in action and the benefits of implementation, a wide range of projects currently underway were presented and discussed.

The workshop concluded with a look at the opportunities and challenges associated with changing industry practices and using improved technology and open standards to achieve much needed efficiencies. Key action items included:
• building on interest in BIM to expand communications to the industry and attract support for projects and implementations of standards;
• leveraging and optimizing work by buildingSMART chapters and standards development in North America and Europe;
• expanding the knowledge base on the core buildingSMART technologies and their application; and
• using the benefits of model-based information to support the need for improved sustainability of the built environment.