İzmir municipality housing and zoning code analysis and representation for compliance checking

20th International Workshop of the European Group for Intelligent Computing in Engineering, EG-ICE 2013; Vienna; Austria; 1 July 2013 through 3 July 2013Systems for code compliance checking of building projects require representation of building codes. Building codes are complex, and the development of computer implementable representations is challenging. As a case in point, this paper reports on experiences gained while modeling ̄zmir Municipality Housing and Zoning Code (IMHZcode). First, IMHZcode was analysed to understand the various types of information contained in it in order to develop a comprehensive building code model. The rules were classified according to their formalizability and self-containedness. Then, existing modeling approaches were evaluated to find the most convenient method that meets the needs for modeling IMHZcode. A key criterion used in this evaluation was ease of maintenance by non-programmers. The paper concludes with an illustrative example of the selected methodology's application within the context of IMHZcode

İzmir municipality housing and zoning code analysis and representation for compliance checking

20th International Workshop of the European Group for Intelligent Computing in Engineering, EG-ICE 2013; Vienna; Austria; 1 July 2013 through 3 July 2013Systems for code compliance checking of building projects require representation of building codes. Building codes are complex, and the development of computer implementable representations is challenging. As a case in point, this paper reports on experiences gained while modeling ̄zmir Municipality Housing and Zoning Code (IMHZcode). First, IMHZcode was analysed to understand the various types of information contained in it in order to develop a comprehensive building code model. The rules were classified according to their formalizability and self-containedness. Then, existing modeling approaches were evaluated to find the most convenient method that meets the needs for modeling IMHZcode. A key criterion used in this evaluation was ease of maintenance by non-programmers. The paper concludes with an illustrative example of the selected methodology's application within the context of IMHZcode

The Relationship Between Requirements Subjectivity and Semantics for Healthcare Design Support Systems

Subjectivity exists in requirements described in the healthcare regulatory framework. This is mainly due to the nature of regulatory requirements and the uniqueness of the design process. Past research identified that subjectivity in regulations is a key issue for automated code and rule checking. The aim of this paper is to discuss how requirements subjectivity could be addressed within building models through semantic enrichment, within the context of automated rule and code compliance checking. The paper presents preliminary findings of a research that follows the Design Science Research approach, framed within the UK healthcare design context. Findings suggest that part of the requirements subjectivity exists due to the implicit relationships between the elements of the healthcare built environment, which also include healthcare services. In order to enable automation, implicit relationships from the regulatory framework should be represented in building models – which could potentially be done through semantic enrichment. The paper discusses some complementarity between relationships identified in regulatory requirements and semantic enrichment operators. Moreover, findings indicate that incorporating semantic relationships in building models can be a promising way to deal with requirements subjectivity, rather than eliminating subjective expressions from regulations