Sustainable Design of Buildings using Semantic BIM and Semantic Web Services

In response to the growing concerns about climate change and the environment, sustainable design of buildings is increasingly demanded by building owners and users. However, fast evaluation of various design options and identification of the optimized design requires application of design analysis tools such as energy modeling, daylight simulations, and natural ventilation analysis software. Energy analysis requires access to distributed sources of information such as building element material properties provided by designers, mechanical equipment information provided by equipment manufacturers, weather data provided by weather reporting agencies, and energy cost data from energy providers. Gathering energy related information from different sources and inputting the information to an energy analysis application is a time consuming process. This causes delays and increases the time for comparing different design alternatives. This paper discusses how Semantic Web technology can facilitate information collection from several sources for energy analysis. Semantic Web enables sharing, accessing, and combining information over the Internet in a machine process-able format. This would free building designers to concentrate on building design optimization rather than spending time on data preparation and manual entry into energy analysis applications

A Shared Ontology Approach to Semantic Representation of BIM Data

Architecture, engineering, construction and facility management (AEC-FM) projects involve a large number of participants that must exchange information and combine their knowledge for successful completion of a project. Currently, most of the AEC-FM domains store their information about a project in text documents or use XML, relational, or object-oriented formats that make information integration difficult. The AEC-FM industry is not taking advantage of the full potential of the Semantic Web for streamlining sharing, connecting, and combining information from different domains. The Semantic Web is designed to solve the information integration problem by creating a web of structured and connected data that can be processed by machines. It allows combining information from different sources with different underlying schemas distributed over the Internet. In the Semantic Web, all data instances and data schema are stored in a graph data store, which makes it easy to merge data from different sources. This paper presents a shared ontology approach to semantic representation of building information. The semantic representation of building information facilitates finding and integrating building information distributed in several knowledge bases. A case study demonstrates the development of a semantic based building design knowledge base

Integrating Distributed Sources of Information for Construction Cost Estimating using Semantic Web and Semantic Web Service technologies

A construction project requires collaboration of several organizations such as owner, designer, contractor, and material supplier organizations. These organizations need to exchange information to enhance their teamwork. Understanding the information received from other organizations requires specialized human resources. Construction cost estimating is one of the processes that requires information from several sources including a building information model (BIM) created by designers, estimating assembly and work item information maintained by contractors, and construction material cost data provided by material suppliers. Currently, it is not easy to integrate the information necessary for cost estimating over the Internet. This paper discusses a new approach to construction cost estimating that uses Semantic Web technology. Semantic Web technology provides an infrastructure and a data modeling format that enables accessing, combining, and sharing information over the Internet in a machine processable format. The estimating approach presented in this paper relies on BIM, estimating knowledge, and construction material cost data expressed in a web ontology language. The approach presented in this paper makes the various sources of estimating data accessible as Simple Protocol and Resource Description Framework Query Language (SPARQL) endpoints or Semantic Web Services. We present an estimating application that integrates distributed information provided by project designers, contractors, and material suppliers for preparing cost estimates. The purpose of this paper is not to fully automate the estimating process but to streamline it by reducing human involvement in repetitive cost estimating activities

Integrating BIM and Project Schedule Information Using Semantic Web Technology

A construction project requires collaboration of a large number of individuals working in different organizations to deliver the project on time and within the budget. Architecture, engineering, and construction industry spends time and money to solve the information sharing and interoperability issues between different domains. With the advent of building information modeling, a 3D CAD model of a project is used as a shared knowledge resource during the design, construction, and facility management phases of a project’s life cycle. Currently, 4D models are created by combining CAD and schedule information. A 4D model is useful for detecting potential construction conflicts during the project planning and design and a valuable tool during construction. However, creating 4D models requires a great amount of human involvement. An approach that facilitates integrating BIM and schedule information can improve efficiency and is highly desirable. This paper presents a new approach to information modeling using the Semantic Web technology. The Semantic Web provides an infrastructure and a data modeling format that allows computers to access and combine information distributed over the Internet. The paper discusses: (1) ontologies that the authors have developed for BIM and project schedule information; (2) how ontologies are used for creating project knowledge bases in RDF/OWL format; and (3) how project knowledge bases can facilitate machine processing of project information and semantic interoperability among project knowledge bases. The Semantic Web approach allows information to be saved once at the provider source and be used by authorized users as needed. This means BIM information is created and maintained by designers and project schedule is created and maintained by schedulers on their respective servers. This would allow the latest BIM and project schedule information to be accessed over the Internet and combined for various purposes

Dynamic Modeling of Slab Formwork during Concrete Placement

The static and dynamic loads applied to hand‐set slab formworks during the pouring of a concrete slab are investigated. The spatial distribution and time history of the concrete‐placement loads and the resulting formwork response depend on the equipment used for placing the concrete. The impact loads associated with the crane‐and‐bucket method of concrete placement are investigated. A number of factors affect the magnitude of the concrete load when emptying a bucket. These factors include the height of fall, concrete slump, bucket‐discharge rate, and the dynamic properties of the slab formwork. A single‐degree‐of‐freedom, variable mass, dynamic model is developed for calculating the concrete‐placement loads by taking into consideration the above‐mentioned factors. The concrete‐flow rate from a bucket is modeled as a lognormal white‐noise random process. To verify the validity of the developed model, several lab experiments were performed using a 2.4m×2.4m(8ft×8ft) formwork deck. The lab\u27s overhead crane was used to lift the concrete‐filled buckets to various heights above the deck before discharging the concrete. Pressure and displacement transducers were attached to the formwork deck for measuring the load intensity and deck displacements