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          2 min read

          SPie - Specifier's Properties Information Exchange

          Last week I attended the Ecobuild America conference held in Washington DC. As you might
          expect from the name, the conference focus is on sustainable design. However
          there is also a strong emphasis on BIM and specifications because of the
          influence of National Institute of Building Science (NIBS), buildingSMART
          alliance, and Specifications Consultants in Independent Practice (SCIP).

           The prominent specifications discussion centered on SPie, the Specifier's
          Properties Information Exchange. This is a product of a joint effort led by the
          Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and SCIP. The project was funded
          through a grant from the US Army Corps of Engineers. The goal of the project
          was to define the minimum property sets for building model objects with consistent
          defined materials, products, equipment, and assemblies.

           The project resulted in an extensive list of properties for over 400 specification
          sections. The properties represent the common applications, sustainability
          requirements, basic materials, and options that are required to specify
          products for construction projects. The hope is that manufacturers will use the
          property sets to organize their product data so the data can be transformed
          into an IFC (industry foundation class) file capable of being used by modeling
          software to describe the product as a BIM object.

           The property sets are available in an on-line searchable database. The searches can
          be completed by MasterFormat™ 2004 specification section number, UniFormat™
          assembly number, title, or property. The property sets for each specification
          section number offer a good list of the common choices that designers must make
          and that specifiers must incorporate into construction specifications.

           Good luck trying to find the Specifier's Properties Information Exchange on the NIBS
          Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) website. The page is not available from the
          navigation menu or site map. However, it is available on WBDG's site at http://www.wbdg.org/references/pg_spt.php,
          found through search engines using "specifiers property set" as the
          search term. Let's hope that NIBS corrects the website navigation menus and
          site map to show the links to the ProductGuide page.

           Here is an example of the property sets. This set is for flush wood doors specified in
          Section 081416. The properties listed are not the complete set needed to
          describe factors affecting wood door specifications. Veneer cut, veneer leaf
          matching, and door face matching can greatly affect material waste and
          consequently door cost. Additionally, the door core construction may be implied
          by fire resistance ratings and certified materials, but options are still
          available that will affect durability and cost. Not shown in the example values
          are two common values included for each property: "Other" and
          "Not Defined." These additional values are available choices when
          manufacturers complete the property sets for their products.

           

          Property

          Example
          Values

          Application

          ·
          Locations indicated

          ·
          Remodel and clean existing

          Code
          Performance

          ·
          Fire resistance rating per applicable code

          Face
          Materials

          ·
          Oak veneer

          ·
          Cherry veneer

          ·
          Maple veneer

          ·
          Birch veneer

          ·
          Plastic laminate

          ·
          As selected

          ·
          Match existing

          Finish
          Application

          ·
          Factory-finished

          ·
          Shop-primed and site-finished

          ·
          Site finished

          Frames

          ·
          Metal

          ·
          Wood

          Glazing

          ·
          Tempered safety glass, ASTM C 1048

          ·
          Insulating safety glazing, 16 CFR 1201

          Grade

          ·
          Custom, AWI

          ·
          Premium, AWI

          Manufacturers

          ·
          As selected

          Performance
          Level

          ·
          Standard Duty, WDMA I.S.1-A

          ·
          Heavy duty, WDMA I.S.1-A

          ·
          Extra heavy duty, WDMA I.S.1-A

          Sustainability

          ·
          Reclaimed and salvaged materials

          ·
          Low-emitting materials, composite woods and agrifiber products

          ·
          Certified materials

          Thickness

          ·
          1-3/8 inches (35 mm)

          ·
          1-3/4 inches (44 mm)

          Type

          ·
          Solid core

          ·
          Hollow core

          Warranty

          ·
          Manufacturer's warranty

          Wood
          Veneer Matching

          ·
          As selected

           As these property sets are used, I expect they will be refined as the manufacturers begin
          to identify the salient properties of each class of product. I believe the
          intent will be to avoid properties that are entirely proprietary due to the
          open nature of the buildingSMART alliance projects. Meanwhile, I applaud all
          the participants that contributed to creating the property sets. And I
          encourage manufacturers to begin developing their input for the property sets
          to generate the industry needed IFC files supporting BIM objects.