The required reading from the handbook, Interoperability, introduces the two standards that the building industry has today for product data models. The first is the Industry Foundation Classes or IFC, which deals with the planning, designing, construction and management of a building. The other is the CIMSteel Integration Standard or CIS/2 (/2 for version 2), which covers the structural steel engineering and fabrication. There are instances, however, when the two separate data models have trouble communicating with each other. The industry is trying to develop new ways to enhance data exchange between the two. Both additional articles discuss this idea. 

The first additional article I read was called, AISCDevelops New Interoperability Strategy to Move Construction Industry Forward. The beginning of the article briefly discusses the benefits to having interoperability. This useful tool enables anyone to enter project information on the computer and it is available to every project team member instantly. This in turn saves the company money and time by cutting down on the paper trail of a project. The American Institute of Steel Construction or AISC, is trying to develop a strategy that will refine this process to try to iron out some of the bumps it now possesses. The new three step interoperability process will evaluate data exchanges, and incorporate structural steel information into Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). AISC has been advancing interoperability since 1988 when it adopted the CIMSteel Integration Standard (CIS/2) which was discussed in the required reading. The design and construction phases of a project also adopted a standard, the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). Even with this standard there have been major changes to the process of interoperability and there are still issues with the system. This new three-step process will take interoperability to the next level across the construction industry. The data exchanges that are available today will be integrated into the IFC and hopefully will cover all aspects of a buildings life cycle down to operation and maintenance. To raise the IFC to the level of the structural steel industry will take time as most dramatic changes do. The three step process is as follows: Short term: Ensure model data can be exchanged as needed by the structural steel industry, regardless of the nature of the exchange or format used. Medium term: Promote IFC and make the format more accessible and understood by working with buildingSMART, other trade organizations, academia and subject experts. Long term: Facilitate the development and implementation of IFC to satisfy the needs of the structural steel industry [Moor, Chirs]. The AISC acknowledges that exchange between two software programs won’t always be possible but that this is a step in the right direction to make more programs interchangeable for the building industry.

The second article I read was, DataExchange Standards in the AEC Industry. The article discusses how Autodesk is always trying to encourage data exchange standards for BIM for the the AEC or architecture, engineering and construction industry. Autodesk’s wide range of programs interacts with each other. They created their own file formats, DXF and DWF which are also compatible with other vendors programs. It is also possible to import to an Autodesk program from a number of other file formats through published Application Programming Interfaces or API’s. An example of this is that the CIMSteel Integration Standards (CIS/2) plug-ins are available for Autodesk’s Revit Structure software through published APIs. LandXML is an open, published XML files for civil engineering design and survey measurement that are supported by Autodesk and other vendors. DGW is Autodesk’s widely recognizable file format for AutoCAD while DGN is the file format for Bentley’s Microstation. The two companies entered into an agreement to share libraries to make it easier for the building industry to exchange these files back and forth. This cross-vender data exchange was to expand the interoperability between the AEC communities. Autodesk is a founding member of buildingSMART, the organization that created the IFC. The IFC export from Autodesk helps architects and engineers share their projects with other members involved in the building process.