Abstract: There are a lot of sensor data collected in the construction, operation and maintenance of
buildings, but these data only existed in the respective monitoring systems, leading to a situation of
“information island”, thus the sensor data cannot be effectively used. BIM (building information
model/modeling) technology can implement integrated management and application of sensor data
and engineering data. The IFC (industrial foundation classes) standard which is an international
standard for BIM storage, is still not sufficient for sensors and their data. In this paper, IFC-based
sensor information storage method and application process are presented. Specifically, the description
and association mechanism of sensor information in IFC are analyzed, followed by the extension of
IFC property set to achieve the storage of such information. Finally, the IFC-based application
process of sensor information is described. The proposed methods were applied to the HuaiFang
Water Reclamation Plant in Beijing for validation.

Key words: building information model/modeling, industrial foundation classes, sensor, monitoring;
information integration