Multidisciplinary team activity using BIM and interoperability. A PhD course Experience at Politecnico di Torino

Building Information Modeling (BIM) provides a framework for collaboration, a multi-disciplinary environment that brings together all the parties of the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industries (AEC). The aim of this experience (an interdisciplinary PhD course based on the BIM methodology used in the Smart Energy Efficient Middleware for Public Spaces – SEEMPubS – FP7 project) was to investigate the team work sharing and the use of interoperability between software, to test the opportunities offered by BIM process applied at existing buildings at the campus of Politecnico di Torino. Two architectural parametric models were realized (one concerning a new building –Classroom I– and one concerning a historical building recently renovated –ISBM offices–) and imported into software for energetic and management analysis using different formats like IFC and gbXML. Several lessons have been learned from these processes in order to optimize the quantity of data that pass from one software to the other ones both for type of data and for format of exchange. This indicates that actually, there is a possibility to better the BIM process, but a support from software houses is required based on the real use of common standard.