FIATECH’s AEX Project released its XML Schemas for Capital Facilities Equipment on July 26. The data framework specifies a cataloging plan for a vast sweep of information about facility equipment, including engineering, procurement, installation and performance data. Two samples are populated with detail on rotary pumps and shell and tube heat exchangers.

Use of the tool by software developers and equipment vendors could automate the flow of digital information across software systems. The developers say it could improve efficiency in design, procurement, construction and facilities management.

Austin, Texas-based FIATECH is an industry consortium seeking technologies to improve competitiveness. The AEX project falls within FIATECH’s "Capital Projects Technology Roadmap." The map identifies pressing industry challenges and guides research, development and deployment of technologies to address them. "We’re trying to put a set of tools on the table to solve problems," says Ric Jackson, director. FIATECH seeks to lead by example by forming groups "to identify a problem, fix it, and then move on to the next one," he says.

"XML schemas are one way to achieve interoperability," Jackson adds. "People want access to information, to gather it once, keep it and make it available to those who need it."

More than 25 companies and groups are involved in the AEX project. Sponsors are Bechtel, Citadon, DuPont Engineering, ePlantData, Impress, Intergraph, S&B Engineering, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST also is sponsoring a federally financed study that seeks to estimate what the lack of interoperability costs the construction industry each year. That report is expected out soon.

The free AEX product and documentation is available at www.fiatech.org.