IFC 2.0 Add-On Available for ArchiCAD

Functionality of IFC 2.0

The second commercial release of the IFC protocol, version 2.0 greatly extends the functionality of the protocol. IFC cover a diverse range of information within building construction and the model does not distinguish who should be exchanging that information or at what point in a project the information is being exchanged.

Software applications are more usually concerned with specific requirements and should not have to implement or use every class that is contained within the IFC model. Therefore, subsets of the model are defined that, when isolated from the complete IFC model, still act as a coherent model. These subsets are called views.

Views are used to support the many different data needs of the architect, structural engineer, HVAC engineer, or cost estimator, for example.

Four focused processes are supported:

Architectural design >> Quantities take off / cost estimating
HVAC system design >> Quantities take off / cost estimating
Architectural design >> Thermal load calculations / HVAC system design
Client brief / space layout >> Architectural design

See BLIS for a detailed description of the view definitions and objects included.

Certification of ArchiCAD IFC 2.0 Add-On

ArchiCAD was certified by the IAI on 23 May 2001 to be compliant with the IFC 2.0 standards. The testing process confirmed that files generated in ArchiCAD could be understood by the other applications, and vice versa, and that the same objects were generated.

IFC 2.0 Release

Standard features:

Selective filtering of ArchiCAD elements for export
Optional BREPs export of ArchiCAD elements door, window and object.
Optional export of extended properties
Optional reloading of an original IFC file (allows a user to update modified entities in an existing file)

New features for 2.0

Selection and editing of IFC 2.0 property sets (which provides for richer data to be included with objects in the IFC file)