Projects

buildingSMART alliance programs are organized to produce information, guidelines and standards that smooth the adoption of interoperable building information modeling technologies. Within these programs work is accomplished through individual projects that define specific objectives, identify all stakeholders, present execution plans, and state deployment plans. Sets of projects are staged so that each project provides tangible results in twelve to eighteen month timeframes.

There are three types of projects accomplished within the buildingSMART alliance: informational projects, best-practice guideline projects, and information exchange (standardization) projects.

Informational Projects
Informational projects assist in providing a common understanding of the value of building information modeling technologies and allow the dissemination of this information. The Economic Issues, Quality of Life, and Education programs are most likely to execute "Informational Projects."
Best-Practice Projects
Best-Practice projects assist practitioners, professionals, and business leaders understand how best to employ building information modeling technologies. The Real Property, Business Process, Visualization, and Energy/Environmental programs will typically develop "Best-Practice Projects."
Information Exchange Projects (Standardization)
Information exchange projects produce contract clauses that specify the exchange of specific project information using open and interoperable formats. Any buildingSMART alliance program areas requiring the exchange of specific information exchanged at specific points during the project can complete develop information exchange projects.

How to Get Involved

Step 1 – Join the Alliance

If you have a problem that might be solved by interoperable information exchange, please join the buildingSMART alliance. Participation in projects is contingent upon you joining the Alliance. This helps ensure the projects are sustained and participants are committed to success. This will also allow you access to the members area of the web site and more details about the projects.

Step 2 – Find a Project

After joining the Alliance, find the project of most interest to you in the project list. You can find out more information about the projects of interest by contacting the point of contact listed on the project description.

Alliance projects are; in general, open to all appropriate stakeholders at some level. Many projects coordinated by the by the Alliance are sponsored by other organizations. The project point of contact can tell you if these projects have any additional membership requirements.

Step 3 – Find Your Level

There are three levels of participation available to you as a member of the Alliance: observer, reviewer, and participant. Observers will receive notification of published materials as they become available. Reviewers will have electronic access to non-published team documents. Active reviewers will often be asked to join the program or project as participants. Several times a year reviewers will be asked formally to evaluate a team's draft and working products. Many existing project committees are already populated and may be closed to additional participation. Participants actively help create and execute projects. Participants are required to contact the team Point of Contact for the project and be approved. Participants are required to join conference calls and occasionally have face-to-face meetings.

Step 4 – Start a Project

Alliance projects are completed by Project Teams. If what you need done does not have a project, please complete the Project Team Interest Form. Your initial request will be evaluated by the Alliance to ensure it meets our mission. It will be listed in a new projects section to help solicit participation. You may also be put in contact with others who have a similar interest. After the team has a plan to complete its work and has assembled a representative sample of the needed industry stakeholders, then a brief Project Team Planning Form is submitted. General information from this plan will be publically available on the Alliance website. If you already have such a team, please complete and submit the project team form for inclusion in the project list should it meet the Alliance mission. As the project develops, "Reviewers" will help your active participants to identify any issues that the team might not have originally considered.

Step 5 – Manage the Project

As your team begins its work, the Alliance will assist you by mapping your project into other projects being conducted by Alliance and Alliance partner organizations. Ensuring broad participation at the start of your project will assist your team to catch critical issues early in your efforts. People will sign up to be reviewers of the documents you produce based on some level of knowledge or interest area. The Alliance may also invite you to include individuals from related software companies or associations to help you pilot test the results of your efforts. As your team produces interim documents you will need reviewers representing appropriate industry groups to review of your products, such reviews will help your team identify any issues that should be resolved as early as possible. Calls for reviewers may be made should you not have enough reviewers or a broad enough spectrum of reviewers. You also need to post status on a regular basis to those observing will be kept informed of your progress as other project may be depending on your project.

Step 6 – Demonstrate Tangible Results

As you begin to conclude your project the Alliance may assist your team to document pilot tests on projects that use your work. Since all Alliance projects are aimed at decreasing wasted effort on our projects, the documentation will directly relate to the reduction in non-value added effort that have been realized on your pilot projects.

Step 7 – Submit the Team's Products

Once you have the procedures, software, and results showing how stakeholders can use your contracted exchange requirements to reduce the waste currently associated with lack of interoperability, you will have what you need to start using your results on all your projects.

Step 8 – Wider Implications

If you have solved a sufficiently large project, it is highly likely that much of your team's efforts will have wide value in the national and international communities. Some products, for example, may require extensions to the Industry Foundation Class or OmniClass normative standards. To interact with the full national and international communities, teams may also submit their team's products for consideration as National Building Information Model Standards or as International Alliance for Interoperability Model View Definition Projects.