IfcLab EGNATON Education Workshop 2025

Our ticket shop is now open:

Frankfurt/Main, December 1/2, 2025

Content

This workshop is a compressed 2-day fundamentals crash course to get to know IFC and the native IFC editor BonsaiBIM better. It covers the most important concepts of IFC. The second day will be used to introduce the IFC native authoring tool BonsaiBIM. BonsaiBIM is a free and open source software (FOSS) and will therefore not cause any additional cost.

It is important to understand how IFC works and interacts with real project data and information models. The learning curve will be enhanced by deep and active exercise learning. A persistent Common Data Environment (CDE) will be provided and will make additional information available to the participants.

Breaks will be planned according to the suitability of the participants.

 

The number of participants will be restricted to 10 people to guarantee optimal learning and support efficiency!

 

CAUTION: Participants will need to use a 3-button mouse with scroll wheel!

3-Button-Mouse

Day 0

Day 0 - Preparatory homework

  • Get acquainted with the workshop CDE
  • Download, install and test the BonsaiBIM FOSS
  • Solve operating system issues
  • Locate documentation in the web
  • ISO 16739 - IFC 4.3.2.0
  • Contact tutor in case of difficulty

   

Day 1

Day 1 - Session 1.1 - Information models and EXPRESS

  • Principles and rules of information modelling
  • Modelling entities, types  and attributes
  • ISO 10303 part 11 and part 21
  • Class inheritance - ABSTRACT and INVERSE
  • Exercises: Exchange information

Day 1 - Session 1.2 - EXPRESS-G

  • Session 1.2 - EXPRESS-G
  • Inheritance and the INVERSE attribute
  • Objectified relationships versus regular class attributes
  • SET [...] OF
  • Constraints
  • Exercises: EXPRESS-G for the wall

Day 1 - Session 1.3 - IFC INVERSE attributes

  • INVERSE attributes in ISO 10303-11
  • Cardinality
  • INVERSE attributes in IfcObjectDefinition
  • Exercises: INVERSE attributes, read the documentation better, IfcWindows and IfcProduct

Day 1 - Session 1.4 - IfcRelationships

  • Data schema layer structure
  • IfcRoot and its subclasses
  • IfcProduct and IfcElement
  • Beyond the “type of”-relation
  • The IfcRelationship concept, IfcRelAssigns
  • Exercises: IfcElement and IfcRelationship

Day 1 - Session 1.5 - Travelling the schema

  • Attributes, INVERSE attributes
  • Concepts to explore - (de)composition, spatial structure, typification, Boundaries, assignments
  • Exercises: Travelling IFC, Change attribute values, Object Typing

Day 2

Day 2 - Session 2.1 - BonsaiBIM BIM workspace

  • Blender
  • Outliner, 3D-Viewport, Properties Editor
  • Exercises: Using Blender or Bonsai?

Day 2 - Session 2.2 - BonsaiBIM - scene panel

  • Understanding the panels
  • Creating python panel
  • Exercises:  Travel thru the panels

Day 2 - Session 2.3 - BonsaiBIM - creating projects

  • IFC Version, libraries
  • Clean up and defaults
  • Exercises: create, save and load a project

Day 2 - Session 2.4 - BonsaiBIM - creating objects

  • Meshes, classes and attributes
  • Snap, grids and keyboard
  • Exercises: create a typed object

Day 2 - Session 2.5 - BonsaiBIM - composing a door

  • IfcOpening, IfcDoor, IfcRelationship
  • Exercises: check the STEP

Day 2 - Session 2.6 - The future roadmap

  • Graph approach

  

EGNATON strives for sustainable answers to emergent changes