If you work with Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) files and want an easy way to access and analyze the metadata, there’s a great article you should check out. “How to extract data from IFC files” by Matthew Osment on Medium demonstrates how to use Power Query in Power BI to directly extract metadata from an IFC file. Matthew also provides the full Power M Query and an example PowerBI file on GitHub.
IFC files, an open standard file format, are widely used in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry for interoperability between various engineering tools and is also a common format ingested into digital twin platforms. Ensuring that your IFC files contain accurate metadata is important not only for conveying the correct information to project stakeholders during collaboration but also for providing valuable insights for analysis and decision-making. It is also critical for the handover process to the building owner and operator, enabling efficient facility management and maintenance.
The article walks you through the process of using Power Query, a powerful data transformation and preparation tool built into Power BI. With just a few clicks, you can open an IFC file directly in Power BI and see the metadata. The author provides step-by-step instructions and screenshots to guide you through the process.
Once you have the metadata in Power BI, you can easily explore and visualise it using the various built-in features. You can create charts, tables, and dashboards to gain insights and share them with others.
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