Autodesk and Esri Bring BIM and GIS Together

At a technical session held at the Virtual Esri User Conference 2021, in July, entitled “GIS + BIM for AEC Project Delivery & Operations,” expert presenters Steven Santovasi, Erika Boccian, Rafael Lucero and Anthony Renteria provided a look at the value of BIM and GIS for project delivery as well as for other aspects of AEC, such as schedule data, asset lifecycle management and the features of the upcoming ArcGIS GeoBIM.

ArcGIS GeoBIM

A new product coming out in the fall, GeoBIM, will be a combo of GIS and BIM, that can point at a feature in a 2D or 3D scene and automatically bring up the document. This dynamic relationship can be the platform for creating a new class of apps, bringing the AEC community to the GIS community and vice versa. This product will dynamically link ArcGIS features to documents in Autodesk.

I have been covering both GIS and AEC for many years now, and this combination product is a very exciting development for both those worlds.

The presenters also covered an overview of Revit/Civil 3D, IFC opening the door to BIM data exchange, and expanding the value of BIM and GIS with schedule data.

The presentation touched on the following observations:

BIM and AEC in ArcGIS:

• Integrating design and geospatial is becoming the standard throughout the AEC industry the perception that BIM and CAD data are separate silos from GIS is diminishing.
• It is becoming increasingly easier to integrate BIM models into ArcGIS Pro and share the design across project teams.
• The evolution of integrating design and operation workflows into spatial context and the advancing capabilities for ArcGIS help make ArcGIS the prime solution for AEC firms and Owner/Operators to better manage projects and infrastructure.
• The ease of sharing content, connecting field and sensor data, analyzing and predicting operational trends is solidifying ArcGIS as the future of AEC Project Delivery and Operations Management.

Asset Lifecycle Management can also be transformed with ArcGIS through BIM and GIS integration.

• AEC professionals leverage GIS information to provide the context and constraints for planning, permitting, design and construction.
• Owner/Operators use GIS information to plan and manage asset portfolios and use information from BIM to represent the built environment.
• BIM and GIS together offer the opportunity to transform project delivery and the operation of infrastructure, systems and cities leading to better outcomes and more efficient operation.

ArcGIS is used to manage AEC Project Delivery and Smart assets. GIS maps and dashboards give project teams the power of real-time and data-driven visualization.

In an overview of Autodesk’s Civil 3D and Revit in ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Pro integration to Civil 3D is a direct read of Autodesk Civil 3D .dwg files in ArcGIS Pro, 2D and 3D, and Object Properties as Attributes.

ArcGIS Pro’s integration with Revit is a direct read of 3D features in Autodesk’s Revit .rvt files in ArcGIS Pro. Revit categories as feature class names by construction disciplines. Object families and types are attributes.

Tools and workflows for Revit include georeferencing support for Revit, BIM to file Geodatabase, Building Filter and Creating Building Scene Layer.

Now there is direct integration of IFC BIM format in ArcGIS Pro.

Overview of IFC integration:

• buildingSmart International – Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) is an open international standard that is used to create an exchange version of a BIM model for sharing and is not typically used for editing. It is often compared to a PDF or a Word document.
• This gives the opportunity for end users to contextually review IFC file content from different disciplines and different source applications.
• Can be viewed in context with GIS and spatial and design data for location, compliance, clashes and other issues.
• IFC is heavily adopted internationally and in some areas is more common than Revit.
• There is support for import and export of IFC within Autodesk Revit and most BIM software application.
• Beginning in ArcGIS Pro release 2.8 Esri will support IFC 2×3 and 4x for Buildings.

IFC Integration:

• IFC fits seamlessly into the same ArcGIS Pro workflows as Revit.
• Directly reads IFC in ArcGIS Pro.
• Same ArcGIS Pro Workflows to convert IFC to BSL and GDB.
• IFC files can also be accessed through the ArcGIS Pro’s BIM Cloud Connection to Autodesk BIM360 or the Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC).
• The ArcGIS Pro IFC roadmap will embrace the inclusion of additional emerging standards for infrastructure types as they become adopted.

You can also use IFC and Revit files in GIS workflows with OGC 13S.

Expanding BIM and GIS in Project Schedule Data

Integration Benefits:

Visualizing scheduling data in a geospatial context allows stakeholders to more clearly understand project progress.

Project schedules are often very detailed and complex and stakeholders are often only interested in high level information.

• Which projects/activities are on/behind schedule
• Over budget
• Highest risk

Automated integration of GIS and scheduling data will open new doors to project and workforce management.

Integration with Oracle P6

Oracle P6 Integration

Oracle P6 makes possible visualizing complex project scheduling data geospatially.

3D Visualization and Analysis advances 3D GIS into immersive experiences, BIM integration, voxels, 3D web editing and interactive analysis. One can now integrate 3D BIM models from Autodesk into their visualization.

ArcGIS GeoBIM is said to be the next generation of BIM and GIS integration and seeks to connect levels of information across a portfolio of projects.

BIM in ArcGIS for AEC and Operations

• Integrating BIM and geospatial data is becoming the rule, not the exception.
• BIM in ArcGIS Pro is increasingly easier with direct read capabilities, analysis, sharing across projects and assets teams.
• Evolution of integrations make ArcGIS a giant “toolbox” to better manage projects and infrastructure.
• Extending content through web services provides simplified stakeholder access.

Tags: 3D, 3D cities, AEC, architects, architecture, Autodesk, Autodesk Revit, BIM, building, building design, building information modeling, CAD, collaboration, construction, digital twin, engineering, facilities management, infrastructure, reality capture, Revit, visualization

Categories: 2D, 3D, 3D printing, AEC, Autodesk, BIM, building information modeling, buildingSMART, civil information modeling, collaboration, construction, construction project management, engineering, file sharing, geospatial, GIS, IES, IFC, infrastructure, integrated project delivery, project management, reality capture, simulation, site planning, sustainable design, visualization

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