The Federal Association of the German Heating Industry (BDH) has an international offering of digital product data for Building Information Modeling (BIM) based on VDI 3805 and ISO 16757 and is multilingual (English, French, Italian and Russian) under www.bim4hvac.com put online. Thanks to this international orientation, the digital manufacturer data is also available for specific markets or countries.
The product catalog stored in the application includes data from 15 product groups (manufacturer-specific digital product data from heat generators, burners, storage tanks, radiators, surface heating systems, heat pumps, solar thermal systems, and home ventilation devices, as well as ventilation flaps, RLT silencers, flaps, screens, and volume flow controllers, pipes, ducts and fittings in 2D and 3D) with well over 1 million articles.
This allows users to efficiently carry out planning and calculation work. In some software programs, automated access to the manufacturer's data is possible via the web service offered in order to facilitate external data access.
Web application
Relaunch made the application more user-friendly and expanded its functionality The relaunch also made the application more user-friendly and expanded its functionality. Various filter options have now been set up to search for the appropriate manufacturer data and to export this to one's own application software in the desired format. In addition, an extended display of technical data for a product is integrated. A new BIM CAD app has been developed for easy downloading of CAD data in all common formats.
18 heating technology manufacturers are now participating in the project. There are also a number of advantages for them. Current digital product data in the event of innovations or updates can be made quickly accessible to users.
Thanks to the central data entry, the manufacturer is represented in every software with little effort. A CAD format, from which all common formats are generated, reduces the data maintenance effort. Association membership is not a prerequisite for participating as a manufacturer in the application. In addition to the heating industry, 20 software manufacturers currently support the portal.
VDI 3805 guarantees topicality and transparency
Not only in mechanical engineering, keyword Industry 4.0, also in buildings, but digitization also enables the optimization of entire value chains. In building construction and civil engineering projects, the BIM working method allows the entire life cycle of a building to be considered via digitization - from development through construction and use to maintenance and recycling.
With the help of digital data in the VDI 3805 format, the TGA trades involved can be coordinated within a BIM model, planning security increased and critical points checked more quickly (e.g., collision check). In addition, the BIM model can be extended to facility management, where work and costs can be minimized.
Adopt the VDI standard
With a view to the international pioneering role of VDI 3805, the associations BTGA, BWP; B.KWK, HKI, ZVSHK, VDMA, and BDH are working together to convert this set of rules into the international standard ISO 16757.
Ultimately, these sets of rules help to integrate the standardized digital product data into international BIM models. Since VDI 3805 is a standard that has been tried and tested in practice, the BDH calls on the federal and state governments to adopt it as the state of the art when introducing BIM.
