gbXML Addresses Interoperability Challenge, Supports Green Design |
|
By Lauren Browne, ConnectPress Editor
Interoperability seems to be one of those unsolvable issues. While tools can be used to alleviate some of the headaches of interoperability, so long as software continues to evolve, interoperability will still be an issue. As Bentley’s Huw Roberts, global marketing director, Building, once said, “it’s like trying to build a bridge between two boats that are constantly moving at different rates in the same direction.”
Another facet to the interoperability challenge centers around the uptake of green building and the analysis associated with the movement. From tools like Autodesk’s Ecotect Analysis and Green Building Studio to Bentley’s Hevacomp, or from the Department of Energy’s DOE-2 to Integrated Environmental Solutions’ (IES) VE-Gaia, green building analysis is shaping the way intelligent buildings are designed. With the gamut of green building analysis tools, it is important to support this shift in design with a neutral file format or a schema that makes importing and exporting design files in and out of analysis tools and design software like Revit or MicroStation easier.
 Buildings like the Plus-Energy House, a larger version of the winner of the 2007 Solar Decathlon, require energy analysis at the earliest stages of design.
This is where schema and neutral file formats like gbXML enter the picture. (gbXML is considered an open schema because it hasn’t applied to be an ISO standard.) gbXML stores the complex information that is in Revit and MicroStation models that is necessary for analysis and transfers it to the analysis tool. This complex information includes aspects related to the behavior of a building: not only the geometry of the building like doors, windows and walls, but aspects like the lighting of the building, how many people will occupy the building, and what types of mechanical and electrical equipment there is. “Because the behavior of a building is so complex with so many different activities and systems that effect energy usage, it’s only appropriate that you have a schema dedicated solely to storing that information,” said Stephen Roth, president of gbXML.
An interesting aspect that has been transforming the AEC space is the process of building information modeling (BIM), which encourages design intent communication by sharing design information early on in the process. With software like Revit and MicroStation enabling this more cohesive design process, it has facilitated more detailed models. In turn, this has “forced schemas to evolve because the information-rich models need to have this information exported into these analysis tools,” said Roth. Since BIM enables architects to design buildings that are more energy efficient, gbXML is a great schema to allow information-rich BIM models to be analyzed in green building analysis tools. While an IFC model could also be used to bridge BIM models to analysis tools, Roth describes IFCs as being more wide-ranging in terms of describing elements of a building but not laser focused on the information required for building analysis like gbXML is.
|
|
| 1 - 2 - All - Next Page |
|
| Published 2010-07-26 00:00:00 |
|
|
