Much of the data used by facility teams to run operations is created during design and construction of the facility. Current practice is to turn this information over to facility managers as paper or electronic documents. However, this format makes it difficult for the information to be populated into facility management software, such as CMMS, IWMS and CAFM.
Thus, much of the information that could be available to facility managers is unused, so it's harder to make effective, data-driven decisions. But when open information exchange standards like COBie are used, it is possible to import data from the design and construction process into facility management software.
More than a dozen facility management software tools have demonstrated they are capable of using the COBie standard, and another 13 software tools within the architecture, engineering and construction industry have demonstrated they are capable of proper use of the standard. As more tools adopt COBie, it is important that facility management, architecture, engineering, and construction teams have processes in place to effectively use the tools available.
A recent article in Building Operating Management magazine offers insights into the benefits of using the standard.
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