READING LIST

The COBie standard achieved in several “firsts” in the use of open standard building information. COBie was the first standard to define objectively testable quality control standards that allow automated format verification by software companies and content validation by project teams. COBie was the first standard to address specific requirements for non-geometric building information. COBie was the first standard to document and model each lifecycle process where building equipment information is created, updated, and applied to predict of potential reduction in direct and overhead costs resulting from its adoption on projects and portfolios. COBie has been the only IFC-based non-geometric standard that conformed to International Alliance for Interoperability and buildingSMART alliance technical standards for Information Delivery Manuals and Model View Definitions. Aside from geometric coordination, which has now been largely integrated directly into design software, COBie is the most widely used open standard for the delivery of building information in use today.

For those who may not be familiar with the COBie project this appendix provides a reading list demonstrating these claims. Where possible URL’s for the document of record is provided (as of 22-Jun-20).

COBie Standards and Guidance

2007. COBie Technical Report defining process-based information transactions for building equipment handover during design and construction.

2008. Publication of Facility Management Property Sets used by the Facility Management office where COBie use was piloted, “Installation Technology Transfer Program: COBie IFC Model View”. Not available by URL.

2009. Publication COBie 2.26 as the Basic FM Handover IFC 2.3 MVD, published by buildingSMART international.

2011. Publication of COBie 2.0 on the buildingSMART international IDM Confluence Repository. Site no longer active.

2012. Publication of COBie 2.26 in in National BIM Standard - United States®, Version 2.0.

2012. Draft COBie Guide, a commentary to the NBIMS-US v2 standard.

2012. Draft COBie Guide Specification, to be used for local adoption.

2012. Publication of the COBie 2.4 MVD, IFC4 (backward compatible with IFC 2.3).

2014. COBie required by reference to NBIMS-US V3, Chapter 4.2/Annex A in British Standard 1192.

2015. Publication of COBie 2.4 as Chapter 4.2 in National BIM Standard - United States®, Version 3.0.

2015. Publication of IFC mapping to COBie spreadsheet physical file format, NBIMS-US, V3, Chapter 4.2, Annex A.

2015. Publication of NIEM compliant XML transactional schema (COBieLite), NBIMS-US, V3, Chapter 4.2, Annex B.

2017. US General Services Administrate requires COBie deliverables in PBS-100.

2021. Introduction to COBie: Foundation Knowledge https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/john-ford-and-shawn-okeeffe-and-e-william-east/introduction-to-cobie-foundation-knowledge-workbook-edition/paperback/product-enp444.html

2021. COBie Lessons Learned Report https://app.box.com/s/jlfikytagf3kv020j69cbz3yivmt4kyx

2021. FM Handover - Equipment Maintenance Project https://www.buildingsmart.org/standards/rooms/building/fm-handover/

Test Files

2008. Duplex Apartment Test Files. First-generation test models used for software company demonstrations. (Nov-2020 update, being moved to BSI GitHub repository.)

2010. Office and Medical Clinic COBie Test Files: Second-generation models used for software company demonstration of COBie design and construction import and export. (Nov-2020 update, being moved to BSI GitHub repository.)

2015. Dormitory Test Models and Files: Life-Cycle demonstration of COBie deliverables recognized at bSi 2019 Award Ceremony.

Open Source Test Software

2016. To extract COBie and verify data in overloaded Coordination MVD SPFF Files. COBie Plug-in for BIMserver.org.

2020. To verify COBie data in COBie spreadsheet physical file format. COBie QC Reporter. (Note: version 2.0 adds user interface and validation using client/regional configuration files.)

Testing Results

2008-2014. Index of 13 public “COBie Challenge” software testing events conducted by the US Construction Engineering Research Laboratory through the National Institute of Building Sciences. (Note: URL links no longer maintained).

2015-Present. Compilation of commercial test results by designer in private practice based on the Dormitory Test Models and Files using commercially available software. Results published as “how to guides.” (Note: behind paywall).

Documented Extensions

During the development of COBie, it was realized that many different types of property sets might be collected related to building rooms and equipment. The reports below identify some of these efforts.

2008. Properties reflecting the needs of facility management offices captured during COBie pilot testing. “Pilot Test of the Construction Operations Building information Exchange (COBie) Format for Army Installations,” Report not available by URL.

2012. Properties used for the prediction of energy and water resource use during building operations. “Life-Cycle Model of Mission-Ready and Sustainable Facilities: Planning Space Resource Utilization.”

2012. Evaluation of product property requirements. “Common Object Library Description.” Information contained here supported the Specifier's Properties information exchange project.

2012. Sustainable building product data extensions. “Sustainability Product Properties in Building Information Models.”

2013. Properties needed for (partial) automated production of sustainability scorecard. “Data Sharing for Sustainable Assessments: Using Functional Databases for Interoperating Multiple Building Information Structures.”

2013. Predictive model of impact of COBie-enabled project life cycle. “Assessment of Life Cycle information exchanges (LCie): Understanding the value-added benefit of a COBie process.” The resulting COBie Calculator predicts the project-specific and portfolio-wide COBie business case.