buildingSMART/IFC - The Future of Construction Interoperability

Data Design System supports, and has been closelyinvolved in the development of the buildingSMART program and the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), which is a vendor neutral data exchange format specifically for the construction industry.

"buildingSMART is the dynamic and seamless exchange of accurate, useful information on the built environment among all members of the building community throughout the lifecycle of a facility. buildingSMART is simply a smarter process for managing the project lifecycle."

The IFC format is being developed by the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI), which is draws its membership from the construction industry, software vendors, government bodies and computermodelling specialists.

The IAI's vision of buildingSMART for the construction industry resonates around the sharing of information between project team members and across the software applications that they commonly use for design, construction, procurement, maintenance and operations. Data interoperability is a key enabler to achieving the goal of a buildingSMART process. That is why the IAI has funded technical research to develop the semantic description of a single building model (Industry Foundation Classes) and to establish a common basis for data sharing. The quality and contribution of this work is reflected in its adoption as an ISO standard.

Reduce Costs and Improve Design Quality

IFC is fast becoming the de-facto standard for rich data exchange between construction design disciplines, and improved flow of information through to facilities managementoperations. With DDS Building Services Partner you are able to participate in model based design, collaborating with other disciplines using IFC file based teamworking, or by using an advanced IFC model server environment. IFC based collaborative design is the smart way to design buildings, and is being used on many projects worldwideto improve interoperability, reduce costs and improve design quality.
Free IFC Viewer
We have developed an IFC file viewer which allows you to open and view IFC models created by applications such as DDS Building Services Partner. This tool is availablefor download here, and its is free!

Which Applications Support IFC?

The following applications support the import and export of IFC model data, and have been certified by the IAI. If your project partners are using any of these applications, you will be able to collaborate intelligently with them using DDS Building Services Partner.

• Architecture
  • DDS-CAD House Partner
  • Graphisoft ArchiCAD
  • Autodesk Architectural Desktop
  • Bentley Architecture
  • Nemetschek Allplan
  • Autodesk Revit (Export only)

• Structural
  • Tekla Structures

• HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical
  • DDS-CAD Building Services
  • DDS-CAD Electrical
  • DDS-CAD HVAC

• Energy Analysis
  • Olaf Granlund Riuska
  • EnergyPlus

• IFC Model Server Databases
  • EPM Technology Express Data Manager
  • Eurostep ModelServer for IFC

• IFC Model Checkers
  • Solibri Model Checker

• IFC Model Viewers
  • DDS-CAD Viewer
  • NavisWorks (certification pending)
  • TNO Building and Construction Research IFC Engine
  • Octaga 3D Viewer
  • Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe IFCViewer