Next-generation tools that will help designers and decision-makers in conducting life-cycle carbon assessments will benefit from the collaboration announced today between the BCIS (The Building Cost Information Service of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and the consortium that is developing iCIM – the interoperable Carbon Information Model.
BCIS will issue its cost data using the interoperable IFC format, which was developed by buildingSMART. The consortium behind iCIM, which includes Faithful & Gould, RIBAE, BSRIA, Autodesk, AEC3 and the University of Northumbria, will work with BCIS to share technology and data, and – most importantly – to share their experience of using interoperability.
The consortium partnerswill make their datasets and classification available to each other and work towards the alignment of their datasets in terms of classification, object and attribute naming. The buildingSMART IFC standard will be the primary means of communication of carbon and cost information. Datasets conforming to the new model can then be licensed for implementation.
Andrew Thompson, International Development and Data Director at BCIS, commented: “The next generation of cost and environmental assessment tools will need the best possible data, and this will ensure that independent BCIS data is at the centre.”
Nick Nisbet, AEC3, who is leading the development of iCIM, added: “We know that sharing structured data will be critical if the professions are to deliver on cost, value and carbon. Our users will have access to BCIS data, along with the University of Bath ICE data and others, from day one.”
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