BIM-GIS Integration through Open Tools

The implementation of effective workflows based on a fully open BIM-GIS (Building Information Modelling Geographic Information Systems) integration is still an unsolved topic. This is mainly due to the lack of freely available BIM authoring tools, as well as to still unfixed interoperability issues between software. In this context, this paper proposes a new methodology to effectively integrate BIM and GIS without using commercial tools and proprietary formats. The proposed workflow is enabled by the use of the add-on “BlenderBIM” for the free software “Blender”, which allows to manage IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) models by updating non geometric information through “.csv” files. Moreover, “.csv” files are also assumed as the main information exchange vehicle between BIM and GIS. The method is finally validated through an illustrative case study.