Entrant details
Role or Job Title on the Project
CCO
Employer
Future Insight
Zwolle, the Netherlands
Employer Role
Technology or Software Development Company
Are you or your employer a member of buildingSMART?
No
Submission details
Submitting Party Company Name
Future Insight
Submitting Party Company Location
Zwolle, the Netherlands
Submitting Party Role on Project
Contractor
Submitting Party Company Website
Full Project Name
Proof of Concept BIM based permit check Estonia
Project Location (Country)
Estonia
Project Objectives
Introducing a Building Information Model (BIM)-based process for building permits in Estonia which:
- Checks both building and usage permit
- Is webbased
- With an easy interface
- Rule based & (preferably) algorithm based checking
- Using Open standards (IFC, BCF)
- Works based on the Estonian BIM standard
openBIM Achievements
To improve productivity within the building sector a working prototype of an online automated permit checking service fully based on open standards (IFC/BCF) was created for Estonia. It has been proven that it is already possible to automatically check a lot of requirements using these open standards.
By involving stakeholders from both the government as from the building industry a lot of support for the approach has been built.
Based on the experiences from the prototype a tender has been setup to create a fully functional service to implement wihin the Estonian eConstruction platform.
openBIM used
IFC 2x3, IFC4
openBIM or open standards used other than those listed above
CityGML for 3D City models
Software used
OpenSource BIM Server,
Open Source BIM surfer,
Open Source Voxel server
Strategic Alignment
By using the available openBIM standards, it turned out to be possible to quickly develop a working prototype that already fits in well with the daily business of both the government and the building industry.
There is considerable added value for both the building industry and government, which creates a lot of support for the solution.
Highlights
- Based on standard IFC and BCF
- Minimal additional requirements for the IFC designs
- Using an algorithm based checking approach needs less requirements and makes the checks less error prone.
- By using open standards and webbased open (source) components are very flexibele and scalable solution has been created
Project Website
Project Address
It is not a construction project but a national infrastructure.
The address of the client, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia is:
Suur-Ameerika 1, Tallinn 10122, Estonia
Project Type
Mixed-Use
Size of Project
Because it is not a construction project but a prototype of a national infrastructure, there is only the project budget.
This was € 94,500 and was made available to Estonia through the SRSS program of the European Union.
Detailed description of the project
In this project the goal was to setup a BIM based model checking Proof of Concept for the Estonian government. To make sure the best technical approach for such a solution was taken, earlier experiences from comparable initiatives from other countries were researched and taken into account. Besides a working Proof of Concept, a user experience design of how such a solution could look like in the Building Registry had to be delivered as well. Both these deliverables aim to visualize the vision of the e-construction platform and to show that it is actually feasible.
In Estonia BIM is an integral part of the e-construction strategy to create more efficient public services and to provide open access to public data related to the built environment. This project is a first step in this strategy and will help implement BIM in organisations and increase efficiency of public services related to construction. On the long run the project will increase the use of BIM and construction digitisation in Estonia, which ultimately will lead to the reduction of building lifecycle costs. Also the efficiency and quality of public services related to the building lifecycle will improve.
The first step in the project was to research five comparable initiatives from other countries, and to investigate the state of BIM in Estonia . The most important lesson that was learned was that a distinction has to be made between Rule based and Algorithm based model checking. Rule based is the more traditional way of checking which was used by most projects, but is very error prone and dependent on the quality of BIM models supplied. The Algorithm based checking approach is newer and is a reaction to issues arisen from the Rule based approach. It is less depending on high quality BIM models and depends on more complex algorithms. Therefore the advice was given to develop as much as possible on top of the algorithm based checking approach. This improves the productivity of the industry and the quality of the checking result.
For the research of the state of BIM in Estonia an online survey and interviews with key stakeholders were executed. The results show that the BIM maturity is Estonia is quite high and there is a good base for an automated model checking solution. At the same time feedback was given that such an initiative could count on a warm welcome. The only fear stakeholders addressed was that a possible list of additional requirements would be set up which they should meet. This is known as a typical consequence using a Rule based checking approach. The Algorithm based approach aligns perfectly with industry needs to lower the bespoke requirements to the BIM dataset..
The Proof of Concept was built in a full web based environment using open source components, making it really scalable and easily accessible. Through this web interface IFC models can be uploaded after which they are automatically stored in a database and visualised. Nine example checks are automatically run and the results are shown in the interface. Mostly Algorithm based checks have been setup for the Proof of Concept, but some Rule based checks were configured as well, in order to show the difference and illustrate the consequences. In the final checking solution for each new check, a consideration must be made as to how this can be set up as reliably, simply and flexibly as possible.
Finally the user experience designs were made to show how such a BIM based model checking solution could be integrated within the Estonian Building Registry using mockups. This way it is easy to explain to both the permit applicant (eg. architects, project developers) and permit issuers how such a solution could ease their job. During the stakeholder meetings which were organized during the project, we learned that this worked very well. Stakeholders understood the opportunities of the solution very well and were very enthusiastic.
Detailed description of openBIM on the project
The entire proof of concept is built according to international open (BIM) standards.
The architecture is setup using open (source) tools and frameworks. The Proof of Concept is based on the use of open standards like IFC, CityGML and BCF, but also visualisation standards like WebGL 2. On the request of Estonia, the React javascript framework is used. Everything is based on open buildingSMART and W3C guidelines and standards.
When an IFC dataset is checked in through the graphical user interface (using BIM Surfer) , it will be sent to a BIM server instance. After check-in, the geometry is calculated by the IfcOpenShell plugin running inside BIMserver. Results of that are being stored in the BIM server database. The next step is that the geometry is sent to the Voxel server for voxelization and further analyses. Results of the analyses are stored as ‘extended data’ in BIMserver. Finally the data is streamed back to the GUI for visualisation. 3D information is streamed in binary format to visualise in BIM Surfer. Text data is shown using the React framework which is also used for the implementation of the new Building registry system.
Safety barriers and evacuation routes are checks that use a voxelized representation of the IFC model. "Voxels" are uniform three-dimensional blocks of space that are calculated from the building element geometries. The advantage of using voxels is that new calculations can be made which are less dependent on information which is already in the 3D model, decreasing the dependency of the quality of the IFC models. Also they make it possible to execute new kind of checks which are not possible using the traditional rule based checking approach like the safety barrier and evacuation route check.
A number of components have already been anticipated in the design, which have not yet been implemented due to the limited scope. (green frame)
For example, it has already been taken into account that the results of the checks can be returned in BCF, so that applicants can easily process them in their own BIM tool.
Also it has been taken into account to be able to show a simplified derivative of the BIM models in the 3D Digital Twin of Estonia based on CityGML.
Benefits from using openBIM
A major advantage of using openBIM standards has been that we have been able to (re) use many existing standards and components. This allowed us to develop a scalable and flexible solution quickly and within a limited budget.
For example, we were able to reuse parts developed by TNO for other projects, which accelerated development.
In addition, it is of course necessary for a government to have a software independent service for which IFC is the perfect solution.
Finally, there are also many international developments such as standard material libraries, the exchange of issues via BCF, the development of information delivery specifications (IDS), the openCDE API and the connection with the 3D Digital Twin via CityGML. Using the openBIM standards makes it possible to connect to these developments quickly and with little effort.
"We were able to innovate using openBIM."
We are proud that we have been able to develop a real working prototype fully based on openBIM standards at a country level.
The use of a low-threshold, fully web-based approach based on a fast openBIM database and a very simple user interface have shown that the BIM service has added value for a very wide audience.
The use of the algorithm based check approach has proven that reliable checks can be performed with limited requirements on the BIM models. This gives room for a growth model, where a limited set of checks and associated requirements can be started, after which the checks and associated requirements can be expanded step by step.
"We were able to identify where we need openBIM to develop further."
There are certainly also development points that emerged from the project, such as:
- To get a better grip on the quality of the delivered BIM models, it is important that an online service is created where users can quickly check whether their designs meet the information delivery specifications (IDS).
- It should be better specified how regulations can be made available machine-readable in a sustainable and structured way.
- It is very important that the BIM's geo-location is structurally available and properly added in order to actually execute a lot of checks.
- In order to be able to test the design in its environment, it is crucial that the spatial regulations are made available in 3D in a Digital Twin.
BIM Uses were defined on the project
I agree to be contacted about the project BIM uses outside of this awards program.
Stakeholders
Future Insight, Zwolle, the Netherlands,
https://futureinsight.nl, Contractor, Rick Klooster
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communication, Talinn, Estonia, Client, Jaan Saar
