Bentley Architecture Achieves IFC2x3 Certification

Business Wire,  April 30, 2007  

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Provides Collaboration Among Architects, Engineers, Contractors, Building Owners and Operators, and Regulatory Agencies Through Single Shared Building Information Model

LOS ANGELES -- Bentley Systems, Incorporated today announced that Bentley Architecture, an advanced Building Information Modeling (BIM) application for architectural design and construction documentation, has successfully passed certification for the coordination view of IFC2x3. Implemented on the common technology platform for Bentley's building applications, the IFC2x3 translator is also available in Bentley Structural, Bentley Building Mechanical Systems, and Bentley Building Electrical Systems.

Commenting on the certification, Volker Thein, Bentley's product director for Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), said, "The IFC data model is one of the keys to facilitating collaboration among project teams and interoperability among software systems. We at Bentley are proud to have achieved IFC2x3 certification and are fully committed to this standard's ongoing development. It aligns perfectly with Bentley's mission to provide BIM solutions that let architects, engineers, contractors, and owners build as one."

Developed by the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI), IFC is a global industry standard for sharing design, construction, and facility management data in a vendor-neutral format across BIM applications that support it. By capturing both geometry and properties of intelligent building objects and their relationships, the IFC data model facilitates interoperability among disparate applications, including design applications such as Bentley Architecture, analysis applications, compliance checking software, and so on. As a result, architects and engineers, contractors, building owners and operators, and regulatory agencies can access, modify, and coordinate design and construction information in a single shared model and data repository.

The combination of IFC and information-rich Building Information Models helps overcome the inefficiencies of a distributed and fragmented building industry. At the same time, it enables fundamental process improvements that provide all stakeholders with tremendous benefits, including faster project delivery, less waste, and greater productivity.

In addition to supporting IFC, Bentley's comprehensive portfolio of fully integrated products and solutions provides other capabilities that facilitate the sharing of information and interoperability among BIM, CAD, and analysis applications, such as:

* The ProjectWise scalable collaboration system for connecting people and information across the distributed enterprise

* DGN/DWG compatibility

* 3D PDF and Google Earth[TM] support

* Import/export tools for general-purpose industry standards such as STEP, STL, IGES, DXF, and SKP (SketchUp)

* Import/export tools for many dedicated industry standards such as CIS/2 and SDNF

* Seamless integration with Bentley's STAAD and RAM structural analysis products

* Direct integration with many structural analysis applications, such as GT STRUDL, ROBOT, MIDAS/GENw, and SFRAME

* Direct integration with CAMDUCT duct fabrication solutions

* Integration with power analysis applications - EDSA (US NEC/ANSI/IEEE), AMTECH ProDesign (BS 7671), elcoPower (DIN/VDE)

* Integration with lighting analysis solutions - Lumen Designer, DIALux, Relux

For further information, visit www.bentley.com/buildinginteroperability.

About Bentley

Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world's infrastructure. The company's comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial verticals spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With revenues now surpassing $400 million annually, and more than 2400 colleagues globally, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms and major owner-operators, and was named the world's No. 2 provider of GIS/geospatial software solutions in a recent Daratech research study.

To receive Bentley press releases as they are issued, visit www.bentley.com/bentleywire. For more information, visit www.bentley.com. To view a copy of Bentley's April 2007 Annual Report online, go to www.bentley.com/April2007annualreport.

Bentley, the "B" logo, Bentley Architecture, Bentley Structural, Bentley Building Mechanical Systems, Bentley Building Electrical Systems, ProjectWise, RAM, and STAAD are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries. Google Earth is a trademark of Google Inc. All other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

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