June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium a data standard for use with construction specifications Bill Brodt Facilities Engineering and Real Property Division, NASA COBIE

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 2 Problem - Building documentation is fragmented... Architects, Engineers and Construction Contractors each submit design plans, operating instructions and repair manuals in hardcopy which must be organized and maintained in order to support building operations, maintenance and renovation throughout the building’s life

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 3 … and more problems: Construction Operations & Maintenance submittals in unorganized, unusable format Data quickly lost Poor preventive maintenance More costly repairs Warranties not maintained or lost Result … Adverse impact on mission of the building occupant

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 4  In-depth to macro © International Centre for Facilities, Inc. 4

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 5 Additional increased costs include Plan Design Build Operate Use Relative Cost Cost of replacement parts ordering Down time due to missing system information Inappropriate utilization resulting in decreased performance or unneeded new construction Space underutilization resulting in over-building or higher energy costs Inability to optimize alternative facility use Inability to simulate contingency operations

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 6 Data entry cost precludes full use of maintenance management software!

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 7 People have tried … directly linking contractor and government systems which yields high costs and complexity. Legacy System A Legacy System B Legacy System E Legacy System C Legacy System D Future System ?

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 8 COBIE … uses an international recognized standard and data definitions requirements to allow write-once read when/where needed Legacy System A Legacy System B Legacy System E Legacy System C Legacy System D COBIE Future System ?

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 9 COBIE Construction Operations Building Information Exchange, e.g. warranties... Conception & Definition Phases Identify items from the specifications that will require warranty information Procurement & Execution Phases Collect information as items are ordered and delivered such as who is warranting, when the warranty starts, how long is the warranty period, what preventive maintenance is required to keep the warranty in force Utilization & Closure Phases Read the information collected directly into your CMMS software to ensure that the warranties are supported COBIE flows information through the phases of a facility - something that is critical to realize the total potential ROI

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 10 COBIE/BIM Foundation... National Research Council, International Alliance for Interoperability Industry, 1995 … National Institute of Building Sciences, 1997 … USACE ERDC, 1997… National Partnership for Reinventing Government, 1999  buildingSMART,

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 11 Product information to match with COBIE structure... Technical Data – - PDF format - link to URL - or XML database

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 12 How will we know it’s right? User transparent No cost to O&M office Costs less than current paper-based method Requirements are clearly identified Information can be captured as work is accomplished with option for real-time information exchange Acceptable to all tiers of contractors, suppliers, subs, etc. Simple update format for existing deliverables/contracts Framework to store information for later exchange/retrieval Cost of information exchange must be nil

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 13 * SpecsIntact * Unified Facilities Guide Specifications * ProjNet COBIE is buildingSMART using open standards based resources...

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 14 Unified Facilities Guide Specifications... Free to all. More than users. Outstanding “Sustainable” requirements.

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 15 UFGS & US Green Building Council Recommendations Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) based documents incorporate “best practices”. –Improve environmental and economic performance of commercial buildings and equipment –Use established and/or advanced industry principles, practices, materials and standards

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 16 UFGS Sustainability US Green Building Council collaborating organizations referenced within UFGS –Carpet and Rug Institute –Master Painters Institute –National Association of Corrosion Engineers –The Society For Protective Coating

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 17 UFGS (Continued) Reliability Centered Building and Equipment Acceptance (RCBEA) –Testing protocols –Quality Control –Life Cycle Monitoring (How long a piece of equipment lasts and Cost and maintenance frequency)

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 18 Publish to PDF and Word Built in Feature to Publish the Guide Specifications to PDF or Word Features:  Bookmark Sections  Ability to Combine Job into one PDF document

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 19 Export Submittal Register

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 20 Architectural Data Systems Begins SpecsIntact Integration

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 21 ProjNet 28,000 Users Design Review and Checking Systems (DrChecks) COBIE

June 2007Office of Federal Environmental Executive Symposium 22 Get started... –Join buildingSMART Alliance –Introduce buildingSMART and COBIE to your agency or firm and clients –Use buildingSMART open standards based tools For additional information: