The INNOVance BIM library approach

The construction sector is nowadays affected by a great evolution concerning the information management along the building life cycle. Great efforts have been devoted by International, European and national working groups for addressing BIM-related issues and for overcoming barriers that can possibly arise within BIM-based processes. In the Italian context, a national research project, namely INNOVance, has been carried out, proposing solutions for managing information concerning construction works. A classification system, an information structure, a database and BIM objects have been developed for products and objects adopted in construction works, for spaces characterising buildings and for actors involved along the whole building process. The presented paper describes the main objectives and results of the project, focusing on the approach adopted for the development of a BIM library. Requirements of objects classified and standardised through the INNOVance BIM library approach have been defined starting from an analysis of the state of the art. Particularly, a literature review of BIM guidelines and existing product libraries has been carried out, providing a reliable picture of the actual situation concerning the standardisation of information and highlighting main innovations of the proposed approach. Furthermore, a collaboration has been established with different stakeholders (as product manufacturers and construction companies) for analysing current practises and identifying information requirements for satisfying their needs related to information collection and transmission. The proposed approach for the development of the BIM library takes advantages of a consistent information structure. Among the main benefits, the developed solution is software-independent, it is not only design-orientated and it collects information related to different systems (e.g., spatial system, technological system, environmental system, and process).