Hi @wattlewin welcome, I saw Passive House, I'm in Aotearoa NZ where our local Green Building council has a Homestar standard that incorporates passive house thermal envelope tools. It would great to hear what tech/automation you use in this area
Hi @wattlewin welcome, I saw Passive House, I'm in Aotearoa NZ where our local Green Building council has a Homestar standard that incorporates passive house thermal envelope tools. It would great to hear what tech/automation you use in this area
Hi @Nigel. Aside from the tools iPHA/APHA publishes, namely DesignPH and PHPP, I'm looking into either rolling my own tools, working with and contributing back to those @Moult mentioned above, or integrating a mix of commercial products with IFC or Speckle.systems. Integrations would depend on the licensing model of the open-source tools. I am also aiming to work with panelisation factories on automating the design for manufacture journey - I have discussed the idea with at least 5 in Australia and open to more.
Hi All,
I'm not good at saying hello, but let's try. My name is Julian and my background is in architecture, but at the same time I'm heavily influenced by new technologies (bim and revit included). I'm one of those annoying people who are easily learning new software. Because of that, contrary to most people, I love working in revit and I'm good at it (for example look here ).
So why open-source community?
I prefer to compete with people based on the skills and merit, and not based on what they have.
I love free software - I was organizing free blender classes back at university for free for my fellow students.
I was tired of wasting my time showing people how to jump through hoops to do something easy in revit (like combined parameters which were finally introduced in revit 2021). Because of that in last year I've got myself involved more and more into programming (python, C++, JS). And I keep asking myself if I want to optimse/patch someones else program.
I started playing with IFC.js - and I see plenty of possibilities.
@J_W
Nice, you could try making a IFC snowflake with python and blender. ;-)
New member. Hello !
First I want to thank you for your great AddOn !
It is so great to have an IFC Importer into Blender. Arch Viz here.
For me it works great and there aren't that many 3D Apps that offer IFC Import.
Blender with BlenderBIM is also just a great IFC Viewer.
(fast, capable of large files, ...)
For the last 1-2 years I had great problem installing BlenderBIM.
Not really installation - but activation. On all my macOS, Windows and Linux
I am mainly on Apple ARM, M1 Mac Mini 16 GB, Ventura Public Beta.
I always it is just missing Apple ARM support.
But finally, when I read the help about how to upgrade and potential problems
that I have rests of dead /wrong BlenderBIM Folders in my Blender Settings
directories. After deleting everything BIM and IFC installation AND activation
now works like a charm on all OSs.
(Coming from CAD : Microstation, Vectorworks, Bricscad,
3D : 3DSMax, Modo Cinema4D, ....)
I am a bit doing hard switching to Blender since 2-3 years already but still follow
(Pablo and) Blender's Development with excitement.
A working and fascinating BlenderBIM AddOn is the final motivation to make
me look deeper into and testing Blender again.
So here I am to stay ....
Welcome @J_W and @zoomer !
@J_W sounds like you'd be the perfect fit for a poweruser transitioning into a developer! There's a growing number of toys out there in the FOSS AEC space, so super keen to hear where you've found your spot :)
@zoomer happy to hear it all worked out! Indeed Apple M1 support was a relatively recent addition due to a lack of funding. In fact, we still didn't fundraise enough for the 70$ per month we need for Apple M1 support, so any small monthly amount will really help us get there and still have enough left over to reach other funding targets.
BTW,
Could be that BlenderBIM did not work on M1 Macs in the past.
But I was already in the situation where I could no more activate BlenderBIM
on old Intel Trash Can Mac for at least a year, later even on Windows 11.
Only on Linux.
And I only came to that solution to search for and delete old problematic
BlenderBIM rests in Blender Settings - after the last try on M1 Mac,
where I extended Blende Settings Window to full screen to be able to
read the failure notice. Where it something about :
"expecting M1 Apple environment but only found Apple Intel"
(On my M1 Mac with a M1 BlenderBIM installer !?)
Although I often googled or went into BlenderBIM docu, I would
never had come otherwise to the idea of such a solution by myself.
Thanks for warm welcome.
@Moult said:
@J_W sounds like you'd be the perfect fit for a poweruser transitioning into a developer! There's a growing number of toys out there in the FOSS AEC space, so super keen to hear where you've found your spot :)
There are too many things to learn on my list and frankly speaking I don't know where I will end up - It might be a problem in the future but right now I enjoy the ride!
I'm always happy to get involve in something cool ;)
Hi!
I am Matthias. I focus on generating architectural data sets for machine learning applications. We already published a large dataset recently. Essentially, we could export our floorplans as IFC too (we use IFC OpenShell, the Autodesk online viewer and Solibri to check our data), but at the moment we decided for well-known text (WKT) as you can see.
ATM we discuss open source and licensing a lot (AGPL vs MIT, CC-BY, ...) hence I am joining now the community to learn more about you folks ;) you can also learn more about my previous research here: https://scholar.google.ch/citations?user=vKAmn_wAAAAJ&hl=en
Hello everyone,
I think I haven't introduced myself besides having been here a short while.
I'm Lloyd, and I'm an Architect working in South Africa
For years I attempted with all my might to get my colleagues to move away from Autocad and start using BIM / Revit, etc
When I saw what Freecad could do (especially after it added hatching) and BlenderBim, I was a convert.
When I started lurking on this forum I was a candidate in early 2020. I think(?) I have been using BlenderBim since.
Last year I passed my board exam and in preparation I decided to use Open source tools professionally and I joined the forum.
Since I am fairly good with Blender I've spent part of this year learning Blenderbim and integrating it into my workflow.
This month I just submitted my first council submission using drawings made completely with Blender and BlenderBim. (& Inkscape )
I've also just started a youtube channel with tutorials for the basics in blenderbim, I learn best with video, I know others do too, excuse the SEO motivated naming hahah:
Welcome @standfest ! It's great to see more building datasets out there! The more we publish and share the more we'd expect higher quality BIM data, transparency of the built environment, and can help standardise workflows and systems.
@Ace it's an absolute pleasure and congratulations and passing the exam! I am thrilled to hear you've made a council submission with open source tools! This is a rare occurrence and something I hope we can change by continuing to develop free software!
Your channel is amazing, I have learned so much from watching it (the idea to switch to plan representations upon entering a plan view is so obvious in hindsight!) and I've subscribed and can't wait to watch more (and build more every time I see things that impede your workflow!).
Hi all, I'm John, I recently stumbled on an article "Why Revit is Shit" by Dion Moult and it spoke to me on a spiritual level! I looked into it further and found this community which I am excited to participate in and contribute to.
My training is in Robotics and embedded systems but for the last couple years I've been in charge of integrating digital inspections at a construction company. Autodesk and Leica software and subscriptions are the worst and I have been looking for alternatives for myself and my company!
Hi, my name is Torbjørn and I work as an educator at the Building Engineering and Construction program at a vocational college in Norway Fagskolen Oslo. My prior work experience is within the field of HVAC, and I have a vocational degree in HVAC engineering.
I would like to expand my knowledge about the general applications of the IFC-standard (to which I've been mostly ignorant), and specifically the use of opensource tools for IFC-authoring and Energy Modelling. If I could contribute in some small way to the OSArch community too, that would be great. I have rudimentary compentencies in 3D CAD work, that is, I've dabbled a little in Rhino and Revit, but mainly used Sketchup/Layout. I've been an hobbyist programmer for years, using Python. Lately, I have been exploring IfcOpenshell using its Python bindings.
Hello, I'm Louis.
Originally trained as an electrical engineering, but now working as a researcher in BIM for the Belgian Building Research Institute (recently changed names to Buildwise). I've been using BlenderBIM to enrich IFC's. The content on here already helped me a lot so I guess I'd make an introduction as well. My main job is to encourage the use of (open) standards e.g. ISO 19650 and IFC in the industry. My only contribution so far is pointing out issues on github for BlenderBIM so far, but I hope to help in another way soon e.g. writing some documentation.
Kind regards,
Louis
Hi everyone,
I have been working in an engineering office based in Paris as a BIM manager / BIM coordinator for a few years now. We do mostly MEP modeling and we use Revit on a daily basis.
Alongside with my job, I develop some plug-ins for Revit to make my work and my coworkers work easier. In fact, I publish some of them on the Autodesk AppStore. I really do enjoy programming and automating stuff :)
Actually, I am writing here because I would like to hear your opinion on something:
I think that Revit is a terrible software, and could be so much better if Autodesk wanted to. It is out of date, updates for basic improvements take forever, and IFC managing is so bad.
That’s why I started to want to work on a new, modern BIM modeling software, that would be IFC native.
So I found out about BlenderBIM and your community, and that is truly amazing. I have no doubt that the future of BIM is here.
With BlenderBIM, you allow core IFC managing and editing, that is an enormous step forward. However I think we lack a more user friendly interface, and a lot of functionalities, especially for MEP design. I feel quite impatient, and I would love to contribute to build an operational modeling environment for MEP engineers.
The ideal solution for me would be to build upon BlenderBIM and add whatever is needed to transform it into a MEP modeling software that could eventually replace Revit.
The thing is, I may be able to get some funding to work on this project with a small team. I want to get involved full time, and not just at night or weekends after my regular work hours.
Consequently, I don’t see how this project could still be open source because it would imply to pay salaries, and have a return on investment.
So I have to ask you a question:
Would it be ok legally to build upon BlenderBIM , which is open-source, for a commercial software, not open-source ?
And most of all, even if it was legal, would it be unfair to you ? (to those who work open-source on BlenderBIM)
Or maybe you know some business models that could work for open-source softwares ?
I would love to hear your opinions on this!
Have a wonderful day :)
Welcome @ceegar !
We should talk. Let's set a meeting together on this topic (pm or email me).
It is legally allowed to build a proprietary software using ifcopenshell (see LGPL license) but not on top of Blender or BlenderBIM Addon (see GPL license, all Blender addons must be GPL).
Blender currently receive near 171k € monthly from donations.
Yes it is possible to have sustainable economic model and osarch community is working on it.
Hallo an alle!. My name is Pit. I am glad to join this community. The posts and differents contents in this site have helped me to better understand how ifc works and the real posibilities it opens when it is trully understood.
I have a background in architecture and engneering at first developing projects 'on the battle field' many hours of sketching in autocad and Revit and later as manager/coordinator for bim projects.
I am writing you from CH. My actual role has to do with information management in sanitary facilities so understanding ifc is a must to shape the struture of the information and to build applications on top of that. I hope iI can contribute with comments and a bit of code if necessary (.py) as I am a user of blenderbim and ifcopenshell libraries.
Liebe Grusse! Meilleurs salutations! Salutacions! Kind regards to all!
Hello! My name is Raphael and I'm from a city called Santos in Brazil. I have a degree in Architecture and Urbanism and have been working with interiors. Recently, I have been studing BIM/IFC and programming inspired by this community to develop a webapp to present and document interior projects.
I would like to share with you what I've been doing. This is still a work in progress, but it's already getting shape. I'm sorry that everything is in portuguese, but I hope you understand.
You can access the app from here:
And see the code here:
This was modeled with Blender and BlenderBIM and the data to feed the webapp was genereted with a Python script using Ifcopenshell. The webapp was created with React and React three fiber.
Hope you enjoy this as much as I have been enjoying to work whit all those amazing free and open source software! Thanks a lot!
Hi everyone, I'm Stephen, I work for the Irish Green Building Council, primarily looking at how we can measure and decarbonise our building stock through retrofit and careful design of newbuild. Really interested in BIM possibilities for making an architect's job easier with this in mind...
Welcome @ceegar! It would be great to have you onboard! Open source development is not mutually exclusive with funding. We have been hiring part time development work for the past couple of releases and are scaling that up slowly towards full time. You can see our funding and expenses here: https://opencollective.com/opensourcebim
@raphaelperez hey there! Your webapp seems down right now, it would be great if you could get it running again :)
@StephenBarrett welcome! Perhaps better integrations between OpenLCA and BIM models, more accurate quantity take off, and standardised datasets (i.e. through BOLTS) for the carbon heavy hitters (e.g. standard steel profiles, concrete mixes) would be great to get involved with!
Hi @StephenBarrett In my work we have a close working relationship with the NZ Green Building Council. I work in Government social housing kaingaora.govt.nz where our new homes are delivered to an NZGBC 'Homestar' rating. I would like to know more about the Irish experience as it relates to housing. Glad to hear you're on board
@Moult said:
@StephenBarrett welcome! Perhaps better integrations between OpenLCA and BIM models, more accurate quantity take off, and standardised datasets (i.e. through BOLTS) for the carbon heavy hitters (e.g. standard steel profiles, concrete mixes) would be great to get involved with!
Hi @Moult; LCA at the building level is in some ways very simple - a summing of the environmental impacts of the components of the building (standard EN15978) - but when trying to do this before you know who is supplying the components it can be tricky - you need generic data to begin with (like cost estimating before you know your suppliers). I would be interested to know of anyone thinks there is potential in integrating data pulled from the API at https://www.eco-platform.org/epd-data.html into a model? Specifically the A1 to A3 data as this is usually the largest contributor to embodied carbon and other stages in the lifecycle can be handled through national assumptions (this is something I am working on).
Hi @Nigel ...we run a certification scheme for housing https://homeperformanceindex.ie/ that we have recently relaunched to make it more in line with the EU Level(s) framework on sustainability https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/circular-economy/levels_en . Level(s) is supposed to underpin all EU building legislation going forward, as well as investment evaluation - its a big area and I think Europe is only beginning to realise its significance...
@StephenBarrett can you elaborate on what would be involved in this?
I would be interested to know of anyone thinks there is potential in integrating data pulled from the API at https://www.eco-platform.org/epd-data.html into a model?
Hi @Moult , sorry I did not see your reply until today. Yes, I note in IFC there are properties that could hold environmental indicator impacts data, which is what the eco-platform holds from EPDs in a digitalised form. If they could be pulled into a model early on then it should be possible to estimate the Whole Life Carbon figure of a building. In the private sector Tally and OneclickLCA both do this with Revit (https://choosetally.com/ , https://www.oneclicklca.com/ , https://www.buildingtransparency.org/tally/tallycat/ free version of Tally but still requires Revit. )
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