There are a lot of data on the internet from manufacturers. For the Building design system, it would be very nice to use real measurements of the manufacturers. For example, there is a data group of Victaulic implemented in Bentley Open Plant.
https://www.victaulic.com/resource-software/
I don't know how it works in Open Plant but this data could or should be implemented in Bentley OpenBuildings. Maybe this is another way of work in Bentley OpenBuildings, but the data information should be the same I think, maybe another way of built in the data, but I think this can be used. So users don't have to create themself. Because this is the "I" of BIM.
| How frequently will feature be used? | Several times a day |
| How much time will you save? | A lot of time, so I can create the BOM in split minute. |
| Other Industry | Warehouses, Sprinkler systems, Big factory's |
All, we are currently reviewing the Victaulic data in OpenPlant and plan to integrate them in the OpenBuildings Designer.
Hi Andy, thank you for this valuable idea. We will investigate if it is possible to make use of the OpenPlant items in OpenBuildings Designer. We will update you if we have further information.
When it comes to current capabilities, the "place pipe" and "place duct" tools already have a useful database connection, see also this idea I-207: https://openbuildings.ideas.aha.io/ideas/OBD-I-207
If you are speaking of non-linear elements (MEP Fixtures, Doors/Windows, ...) then I agree that there is a lot of room for improvement.
In Belgium, there is a company called Thorbiq who are making this kind of databases. The specific database for MEP components is called TechBIM (they also have MatBIM for walls/floors/...): https://bim.techbim.be/
I think this database is exactly what you would need. On the one hand, there are "Generic" components that can be parametrically altered to suit the needs of the project (or manufacturer). On the other hand, there are a lot of manufacturers who provide their content in that database. That way it is 100% accurate. The big benefit of this system is that it allows to easily switch between generic content and manufacturer-specific content because it uses the same parametric components.
Currently, TechBIM / MatBIM only have a direct connection with Revit. This means RFA components can be downloaded or can be directly loaded into a Revit project. From what I hear they are working on a similar link with ArchiCAD. As far as I know, no plans to connect with OBD just yet. But maybe they would be interested to do just that if enough people are interested ...