Take a look at this link for more COBie information.


Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) | Whole Building Design Guide

All of the COBIe schedules can be downloaded for free, from the GSA. Then, its just a matter of inputting the data correctly. Some people are doing it in third party apps, but you can do it right in the Revit schedules, which we keep in our template. Then, its a simple set of Report exports (txt) and data imports in to the actual COBIe compliant spreadsheet.

Dive, thanks for the link. I have read the article in full and it was very informative. Twice, thank you too for your contribution.

The link Dive provided contained a lot of breadcrumb links in which I dove in further looking for more information, and Twice, I took your info regarding GSA and did extensive searching in the GSA.gov website but came up short regarding the free COBie schedules. I have found from the information you two provided is that basically as long as you're building the Revit model with accurate information, then the COBie data will follow suit parallel to the cumulative addition of information. What I'm getting at is that I'm at a loss about one simple thing: how do I take the IFC exported data and view it in a spreadsheet-type software?

I'm not sure if an Excel template is used, or some free third party app, or what? In the link that Dive had given me, I stumbled upon this link and under the COBie Compliant Software header, it gives me a description of software methods, but no list of usable software. Is there a direct step by step process explaining (1) best practices in exporting the COBie IfcXML data, and (2) definitive software app to import and review the data? That last question is the million dollar question that has my co-workers and I at a complete loss, as we're coming up empty handed with anything we've researched.

Thanks again in advance.

Aaron, DON'T do it inside revit!
That's an overloading of data that revit does not have the tools to manage or the ability control.
Databases are the way to go for this. And spreadsheets don't even come close to cope with so much information.

I disagree wholeheartedly, because im not *managing* it in Revit. Im *inputting* it in revit, since the product data comes from the model anyway. We export it as a series of txt files, and data link that in to the database (database or spreadsheet, depending on what the requirements are from the people requiring it) that we want to read it in.

It is certainly not an overloading of data, lol. We have it in a bunch of huge models, with a ton of mdoeled detail, and there are no issues.

Try this link.

http://www.cfm.va.gov/til/bim/BIMGui...loads/oemf.xls

Oops, link for VA projects. Good example or what they look for.

Ideate Inc. has BIMLink which makes it easier to push and pull data from Excel to Revit.

Revit schedules are not the more flexible way to input, as compared to a spreadsheet.
And the biggest limitation I find in revit is the inexistence of a checkbox to show everything (types), not only those from elements inserted in the model.

We dont have to agree on where to input the data. But it certainly isnt cause any issues with the models, and the COBIe stuff isnt even the more complicated of the data stuff we have embedded.

Thank you very much, Brian. I will look into this. Funny thing is that this project is for the VA.