buildingSMART: benefits of membership
buildingSMART is an international organisation concerned with the dynamic and seamless exchange of information all along the supply chain in design, construction, engineering and facilities management. Its goal is to produce better buildings that the community values, that meet real needs, that have a reduced impact on the environment, and take less time and money to build and to use.
With representation in North America, Europe, the Far East (including China) and Australasia, the membership brings together architects, engineers, constructors and specialist suppliers, along with software vendors and progressive construction clients. At the outset, the work concentrated in defining exactly how building information was best exchanged. In practice, this meant understanding industry needs and defining the standards or protocols to be used as a framework for data exchange, creating the Industry Foundation Classes (or IFCs).
Leading experts from around the world have helped to define and develop the standards, leading to ISO recognition. There is no doubt that building performance and predictability of outcomes are greatly improved by adopting Building Information Models (BIM) and sharing this rich data with the open protocol IFC.
BuildingSMART’s emphasis now is to demonstrate to businesses the efficiency benefits that true interoperability can deliver and to help in implementation. The rich rewards for those businesses that accept the challenge are there for the taking.