Facility Composer (Trademark) and PACES (Trademark) Integration: Development of an XML Interface Based on Industry Foundation Classes

Abstract : The Architectural Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry has made substantial effort over the past several years to create a standard facility modeling format that better enables their different software applications to work together. This emerging standard, known as the Industry Foundation Class (IFC), is being developed by the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI) and can be found in recent releases of commercial AEC software. With the evolution of this facility modeling standard, it is becoming possible to capture criteria and requirements during planning and design, and to reuse these data during the life cycle of the facility. The Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory is currently developing a set of facility architectural programming tools, called Facility Composer[TradeMark] (FC). FC supports the capture and tracking of facility criteria and requirements during planning charrettes, which are key to capturing the stakeholders requirements in the early phases of project development. As the facility program, criteria, and requirements are chosen, these tools populate the IFC object model. This model can then be used for downstream analyses such as cost, sustainability, and physical security. As the model matures, it can be used for the facility's life cycle.