B2 - Chapter 3 "Interoperability" - Andrew Maita

 Reading:

C. M.        Eastman, “Chapter 3: Interoperability,” in BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers, and Contractors, 2nd ed., Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011, pp. 99-150.

Interoperability is defined by Eastman as “the ability to exchange data between applications, which smoothes workflows and sometimes facilitates their automation.” Throughout the construction and design process, there are multiple applications that require the same parameters or data to run and complete their task. Through interoperability, these applications can exchange data between themselves, which can improve the time put into the work greatly. In many architecture and engineering firms, most employees must be diligent while making various changes and updates to BIM files to make sure that they are saving the right copy, not overriding things, etc. Failure to make sure everything is saved properly can result in the firm losing work, which costs time and money to redo. Through interoperability, these changes can be automatically updated and managed even though multiple people may be working on the document at once.  I have seen this specific example applied in AutoCAD, where all the .dmg files were put into a firm server and could be updated and worked on by multiple people.

Interoperability is not always implemented or used efficiently. For example, students taking AE design classes or senior design will have to design a building from the ground up and do various analyses on it. To run an HVAC analysis on their building, students can use eQuest to model the building at set a variety of parameters. At the moment, there is no way for a student to automatically upload say a Revit or AutoCAD file into eQuest to get an exact analysis of the building that they designed. Instead, they would have to go into eQuest and re-enter all dimensions and details about their building. Interoperability has traditionally used file-based exchange systems like DXF and IGES to transfer files between different applications. If the applications that are trying to be used cannot utilize these file formats, interoperability may not be able to be implemented.

In this day and age, interoperability can be a key component to any system. Interoperability can enable the design and construction process to be sped up greatly because it lets many of the applications work with one another to take out more of the repetitive work. 

Comments:
Carlos H: As other students have mentioned, I think the addition of a video to your post really helped to hammer the point you were trying to explain home. I agree with you point about the most important stage of the building being the BIM planning. The more efficiently the initial BIM plans are in the early stages, the more money, time, and effort will be saved in the long run.

Allison A: I like the way you added a real life experience to your write up because it helps to show how what you were writing about had an application that many of us may have experienced. I agree with you that BIM applications for owners and managers are great tools to be used to help improve the construction process greatly.

Mariano A: I found your writing on the debate between 3D and 2D BIM models to be really interesting. I think that 2D drawings will always be needed due to the fact that models in plan view may be easier to read and understand since they are not 3D. I do think that rendering in 3D bring a lot to the table for showing an accurate model of what you are producing.