A Different Approach to Using IFCs for Interoperability

A little over a year ago, AECbytes published a feature article," TheIFC Building Model: A Look Under the Hood," that was intended to demystify theIFC building model for the average AEC practitioner by providing a broad overview of the model without delving too deeply into its technicalities. This month, we revisit theIFC building model from a utilization perspective. Jim Forester and Ian Howell of Newforma, a company focused on developing products that facilitate information sharing in the building industry, argue that the true value of theIFC model does not lie in its ability to facilitate exchange of graphical data between the different applications being used by architects, engineers, construction companies, and owners/operators (AECO). Instead, its real value is in capturing and communicating non-graphical properties—that is, the semantics of a building model (elements, assemblies, relationships, and processes)—which have been developed by the IAI in collaboration with industry firms and organizations over the course of many years and which are now globally agreed upon. These semantics add true intelligence to the graphical representations of commercial CAD and BIM applications, and accommodate many more AECO processes. Read about the different approach to usingIFCs that they advocate in this month's Viewpoint contribution.

Look out also for the review of the new release of Adobe Photoshop CS2, which introduces several new features that should make architectural imaging easier, including Vanishing Point, Image Warp, Spot Healing, Lens Correction, and Smart Objects. Photoshop continues to be the undisputed leader for any kind of professional image editing and compositing, including that in architectural field.

Thank you
Lachmi Khemlani

Editorials > April 2005