The project of the HPAC and electricity sector organisations surveyed the product information needs of designers and developers to enable manufacturers to make the necessary information available to the whole industry within a few days.

What kind of problem is the project trying to solve?

The HPAC and electricity sector widely uses network services (Sähkönumerot.fi and LVI-info), which contain the product information of almost 400,000 products. However, product information cannot at the moment be used in data modelling because the information has not been made technically compatible and aligned with the needs of designers, contractors and developers and with the applications they use.

The digitalisation of the HPAC and electricity sector is already advanced in the transfer of information between manufacturers/importers and wholesalers. However, the data is lost at the level of contracting and planning and must be partly collected again manually to be entered into product models in a digital form.

Objective: "Vision 2025: Manufacturer's information available to everyone within a couple of days"

The aim of the project is to recognise the most essential product information required by designers and developers to simplify, facilitate and speed up their work and to create the preconditions for a direct transfer of the required product information from the existing product data services to design systems, documents and product models in the future.

According to the vision of the project, by 2025, the manufacturer will enter the information on its products only to the Sähkönumerot.fi or LVI-info service, after which the information will be transferred to the software and tools of all of the manufacturer's customers and their customers – wholesalers, contractors, designers, construction firms, property owners, maintenance staff, inspectors, etc. – within a couple of days to an extent and in a form that serves the users of the data as efficiently as possible.

What is done in this project?

In summer 2017, the Building Smart Finland cooperation forum published the bSF tate propertyset definition, which as a result of this project will be supplemented with specifications of the product information and technical properties needed by designers and developers. The specifications will be provided according to the Talotekniikkastandardi 2017 building automation standard and the ETIM standard.

Who benefits?

The experiment is based on the need to ensure the flexible transfer of essential product information between manufacturers, importers and wholesalers in the HVAC and electricity sector and designers, contractors and developers. Currently, product information is mainly transferred only between manufacturers, importers and wholesalers.

What were the outcomes of the experiment?

As a result of the experiment, the basic product information and the key technical data required by designers, contractors and developers have been identified for the most important product groups.  This SURA data is already available in the product information of products in the Sähkönumerot.fi and LVI-info services. A further aim is to create the prerequisites for enabling the transfer of the SURA data directly from the existing product information services to design systems, design documents and product models already in the near future.

Coordination of the databases of the HVAC and electricity sector to meet designers' and developers' needs
Duration: 10 October 2017-28 February 2018
Project participants: HVAC and electricity sector organisations: STK-Tietopalvelut / Sähkönumerot.fi /Finnish Electrotechnical Trade Association (STK), LVI-Info / Finnish HVAC Technical Traders’ Association, the Electrical Contractors’ Association of Finland STUL, Sähkösuunnittelijat NSS and Rakli - the Finnish Association of Building Owners and Construction Clients, and the following organisations serving as experts: Gravicon, Granlund, Kymdata, Electrical Technology Ltd. Kari Sirén and United Engineers Ltd.

Contact information
Tarja Hailikari, Managing Director, Finnish Electrotechnical Trade Association (STK)
Email tarja.hailikari(at)stkliitto.fi
Tel. +358 40 735 8673