Knowledge modelling of emerging technologies for sustainable building development

In the quest for improved performance of buildings and mitigation of climate change, governments are encouraging the use of innovative sustainable building technologies. Consequently, there is now a large amount of information and knowledge on sustainable building technologies over the web. However, internet searches often overwhelm practitioners with millions of pages that they browse to identify suitable innovations to use on their projects. It has been widely acknowledged that the solution to this problem is the use of a machine-understandable language with rich semantics - the semantic web technology. This research investigates the extent to which semantic web technologies can be exploited to represent knowledge about sustainable building technologies, and to facilitate system decision-making in recommending appropriate choices for use in different situations. To achieve this aim, an exploratory study on sustainable building and semantic web technologies was conducted. This led to the use of two most popular knowledge engineering methodologies - the CommonKADS and "Ontology Development 101" in modelling knowledge about sustainable building technology and PV -system domains. A prototype system - Photo Voltaic Technology ONtology System (PV -TONS) - that employed sustainable building technology and PV -system domain knowledge models was developed and validated with a case study. While the sustainable building technology ontology and PV -TONS can both be used as generic knowledge models, PV -TONS is extended to include applications for the design and selection of PV -systems and components. Although its focus was on PV -systems, the application of semantic web technologies can be extended to cover other areas of sustainable building technologies. The major challenges encountered in this study are two-fold. First, many semantic web technologies are still under development and very unstable, thus hindering their full exploitation. Second, the lack of learning resources in this field steepen the learning curve and is a potential set-back in using semantic web technologies

Research-Informed Teaching for Assessing BIM Courses during COVID-19 and Beyond

Purpose - In the COVID-19 era, where blended learning is gaining popularity, research-informed teaching could be one of the alternatives or options to assess students' progress in Higher Education institutions. In the past, educators have assessed students' research skills gained from research-informed teaching through coursework components or assignments. However, whether the assignments can be converted into peer-reviewed output acceptable in a reputable journal or conference has hardly been investigated. This study explores how research-informed teaching has been rolled out in undergraduate/postgraduate BIM related modules/programmes in the School of the Built Environment, Oxford Brookes University and which has culminated in high quality published outputs. Design/methodology/approach - The method used is purely qualitative in-depth interviews, where students who have published were tracked and invited to share their experiences. In total, nine former students of the 12 invited, participated in the interviews. Inductive content analysis, a suitable qualitative data analysis technique was used in analysing the feedback from the interviews. Findings - The main finding is that research-informed teaching can be done in a technical and complex BIM discipline and students' coursework components or assignments can further be converted into published outputs.  Research limitations/implications - The main limitation of this study was that the sample was small. That notwithstanding, it has provided valuable insights into the understanding of student's ability to undertake research while studying and experiences of how educators can deliver research-informed teaching to students in Higher Education institutions.  ​​​​​​​Originality/value - The study adds to the existing body of literature about undergraduate and postgraduate research-informed teaching and goes further to provide strong evidence through published outputs thereby confirming that students at both levels can indeed conduct and publish peer-reviewed research articles while undertaking their studies

A review of information modelling systems in the built environment

The built environment can be described to constitute the surrounding and existing elements created by humans. The systems for modelling information related to the built environment are numerous. Their development are based on varying assumptions and tailored to the various domains in which they are deployed. The functions of these systems are sometimes similar or overlap and they tend to end up with similar acronyms thereby creating confusion to stakeholders in the built environment. As such, stakeholders also find it difficult to choose systems best suited for their needs among the numerous existing ones. A comprehensive record of systems in the built environment with clear definitions of their functions and areas of overlap is therefore necessary to straighten up such confusion and provide requisite understanding among stakeholders. A literature review of information modelling systems in the built environment is therefore proposed. The review examines systems in key sectors of the built environment such the Architectural, Engineering, Construction, Geography and Urban Planning. We conclude that stakeholders should give strong consideration to interoperability needs along the supply chain in which they work while deciding on the choice of information modelling systems to procure

Multi-criteria decision making optimisation framework for positive energy blocks for cities

The Positive Energy Block (PEBlock) is a new paradigm towards low-carbon cities. However, there is a paucity of literature about methods and tools to develop PEBlocks in practice. This study proposes a multi-criteria decision making optimisation framework for PEBlocks for cities. It explores PEBlock scenarios based on adaptable criteria and actions applied to a block composed of three school buildings, where only one acts as a positive node of the future energy network. Findings point out the flexibility of PEBlock scenarios; firstly, selecting a list of 21 potential positive energy scenarios among 300 possible combinations concerning the block analysed, secondly, individuating the optimal solution and finally, comparing it with others based on the weight assigned to the criteria. This study contributes to understanding the emerging properties concerning PEBlocks, discussing their features and stressing main peculiarities compared to other models (e.g., positive energy districts). It also emphasises the PEBlock as a feasible and reliable energy infrastructure to support new urban organisations (e.g., self-organised energy communities), drawing future developments and implications. Limitations associated with this study are also stressed in the conclusion

Rethinking abandoned buildings as positive energy buildings in a former industrial site in Italy

The transition from nearly zero-emission building (NZEB) to positive energy building (PEB) models is a new trend, justified by the need to increase the efforts to address the climate change targets and the ambition for a clean energy transition in the construction sector. In line with this scenario, this study assumes that PEB may be applied to meet climate change targets and promote new approaches to urban regeneration plans. It focuses on the functional and energy regeneration of abandoned buildings, considering that many abandoned European buildings are often located in a strategic part of the city. Therefore, the research question is as follows: to what extent can abandoned buildings be converted into a PEB? What would be the meaning of this new association? In order to answer this question, this study developed a procedure to transform an abandoned building into a PEB, implemented through a case study of a former Italian industrial site. Findings pointed out the variables impacting PEB configuration and were used to support a discussion, stressing how rethinking abandoned buildings as PEB may drive new trends to synchronise the socio-technical evolution of energy infrastructure and urban regeneration plans

Rethinking abandoned buildings as positive energy buildings in a former industrial site in Italy

The transition from nearly zero-emission building (NZEB) to positive energy building (PEB) models is a new trend, justified by the need to increase the efforts to address the climate change targets and the ambition for a clean energy transition in the construction sector. In line with this scenario, this study assumes that PEB may be applied to meet climate change targets and promote new approaches to urban regeneration plans. It focuses on the functional and energy regeneration of abandoned buildings, considering that many abandoned European buildings are often located in a strategic part of the city. Therefore, the research question is as follows: to what extent can abandoned buildings be converted into a PEB? What would be the meaning of this new association? In order to answer this question, this study developed a procedure to transform an abandoned building into a PEB, implemented through a case study of a former Italian industrial site. Findings pointed out the variables impacting PEB configuration and were used to support a discussion, stressing how rethinking abandoned buildings as PEB may drive new trends to synchronise the socio-technical evolution of energy infrastructure and urban regeneration plans

BIM adoption and implementation: Focusing on SMEs

Purpose. To reach its full potential, Building Information Modelling (BIM) should be implemented throughout the supply chain. This study explores BIM implementation and adoption among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the UK Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector. The paper addresses two key issues; the slow rate and lack of homogeneity of BIM adoption in the SME sector. Design/methodology/approach. The study employs qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate BIM uptake and test for correlations between organisational features and BIM aspects. The sample includes data from SMEs, based in the South East of England, analysed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings. The results show that, although SMEs have some understanding of BIM related concepts, their familiarity with existing BIM software support systems is particularly low. Limited financial capacity is identified as the main barrier to BIM adoption while knowledge exchange initiatives as the most useful measure in facilitating further implementation. The variations of SMEs in the adoption and implementation of BIM are mostly affected by company size, professional discipline and offered services. The paper also demonstrates that a one-size-fits-all approach to BIM implementation in the AEC sector has limited potential. Originality/value. The heterogeneity of SMEs in the AEC sector has been considered to a very limited extent. This paper considers the nature, characteristics and core business areas of SMEs as factors affecting BIM adoption and implementation

The integration of lessons learned knowledge in Building Information Modelling (BIM)

Lessons learned systems are vital means for integrating construction knowledge into the various phases of the construction project life cycle. Many such systems are tailored towards the owner organisation’s specific needs and workflows to overcome challenges with information collection, documentation and retrieval. Previous works have relied on the development of conventional local and network/cloud-based database management systems to store and retrieve lessons gathered on projects. These lessons learned systems operate independently and have not been developed to take full advantage of the benefits of integration with emerging building information modelling (BIM) technology. As such construction professionals are faced with the shortcomings of the lack in efficient and speedy retrieval of context-focused information on lessons learned for appropriate utilization in projects. To tackle this challenge, we propose the integration of lesson learned knowledge management in BIM in addition to existing 2D-8D modelling of project information. The integration was implemented through the embedding of non –structured query system, NoSQL (MongoDB), in a BIM enabled environment to host lessons learned information linked to model items and 4D modelling project tasks of the digitised model. This is beyond existing conventional text-based queries and is novel. The system is implemented in .NET Frameworks and interfaced with a project management BIM tool, Navisworks Manage. The demonstration with a test case of a federated model from a pre-design school project suggests that lessons learned systems can become an integral part of BIM environments and contribute to enhancing knowledge reuse in projects

Towards an intelligent ontology construction cost estimation system: Using BIM and new rules of measurement techniques

Construction cost estimation is one of the most important aspects of construction project design. For generations, the process of cost estimating has been manual, time-consuming and error-prone. This has partly led to most cost estimates to be unclear and riddled with inaccuracies that at times lead to over- or underestimation of construction cost. The development of standard set of measurement rules that are understandable by all those involved in a construction project, have not totally solved the challenges. Emerging Building Information Modelling (BIM) technologies can exploit standard measurement methods to automate cost estimation process and improve accuracies. This requires standard measurement methods to be structured in ontological and machine readable format; so that BIM software packages can easily read them. Most standard measurement methods are still text-based in textbooks and require manual editing into tables or Spreadsheet during cost estimation. The aim of this study is to explore the development of an ontology based on New Rules of Measurement (NRM) commonly used in the UK for cost estimation. The methodology adopted is Methontology, one of the most widely used ontology engineering methodologies. The challenges in this exploratory study are also reported and recommendations for future studies proposed

Integration of environmental data in BIM tool & linked building data

Environmental assessment is a critical need to ensure building sustainability. In order to enhance the sustainability of building, involved actors should be able to access and share not only information about the building but also data about products and especially their environmental assessment. Among several approaches that have been proposed to achieve that, semantic web technologies stand out from the crowd by their capabilities to share data and enhance interoperability in between the most heterogeneous systems. This paper presents the implementation of a method in which semantic web technologies and particularly Linked Data have been combined with Building Information Modelling (BIM) tools to foster building sustainability by introducing products with their environmental assessment in building data during the modelling phase. Based on Linked Building Data (LBD) vocabularies and environmental data, several ontologies have been generated in order to make both of them available as Resource Description Framework (RDF) graphs. A database access plugin has been developed and installed in a BIM tool. In that way, the LBD generated from the BIM tool contains, for each product a reference to its environmental assessment which is contained in a triplestore