Planon becomes 'first to unveil new BIM standard for data exchange'

25 March 2013

A new data exchange format will, it is said, provide global international workplace management systems with valuable data for building maintenance, space management, sustainability initiatives and more

Planon announced it has finalised the first known implementation of COBieLite, in collaboration with the US Army (Corps of Engineers) and the buildingSMART alliance.

COBieLite is a new exchange standard that uses XML based file formats. It is now an alternative to the existing COBie spreadsheet standard, to make the automated information exchange between Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems and integrated workplace management systems (IWMS) much faster and easier.

The ability to exchange data between BIM models and IWMS systems is important because it allows for significant cost savings on building lifecycle costs. BIM systems provide valuable data to IWMS systems for many different lifecycle management issues like maintenance management, refurbishment projects, space management, and sustainability management.

Erik Jaspers, Chief Technology Officer at Planon, said: “With COBieLite, we are well on our way to creating a powerful BIM information exchange standard that will deliver vital information to IWMS solutions across the globe. As such, we are looking forward to sharing and extending more details of this new standard and expect to see significant uptake of the COBieLite standard once it has been published.” Planon announced its implementation for COBieLite at the 2013 NFMT conference, being the first IWMS vendor to support it.

In addition to its work on COBieLite, Planon has also just passed the COBie challenge.

Erik Jaspers added: “Our success with supporting the development of the COBieLite standard proves our position as a leading global provider of IWMS solutions. We believe it’s vital to demonstrate our skills and expertise by taking part in challenges like these, and are very pleased with the COBie accreditation that this project has given us. We would like to thank Bill East, Angela Lewis and Chris Bogen for working so closely with us to establish COBieLite. ”