Towards seamless data integration through an open data model

Abstract

Various agents are involved in the different stages of the lifecycle of a building, from its planning to its operation, and they use different tools to carry out their tasks. With the help of Building Information Modelling (BIM), the working method for the networked planning, construction, and management of buildings and other structures can be facilitated through the use of software applications to digitally model, combine, record, and exchange relevant building data. In practice, this exchange usually only works well with a pre-established combination of tools as the digital information flow can be hindered if agents use external applications such as simulation tools. Typically, only documents are exchanged, or limited effort is made to move forward using digital exports. These can be, for example, based on the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) standard. Although IFC is an international standard, it can be customised and agents can then create “dialects” that various tools may interpret differently. As a result, any form of data integration must be manually checked and often has to be corrected and supplemented, which can lead to possible errors and redundancies. This is a time-consuming process. Ultimately, these tasks are carried out at the expense of critical design work, such as variant investigations and discussions to find the best possible solution. To tackle this challenge, we use the advantages of software development in Model-Driven Engineering (MDE). We provide an open metamodel where stakeholders can create their data structures as required based on generic parts, which are automatically compatible with the data structures of other experts that conform to the same metamodel. These data structures are machine-readable and can be used to integrate different tools. In addition, it is also possible to map standards in the same format so that validations and reference implementations are available in a machine-readable exchange form. In this work, we demonstrate the applicability of our approach in multiple use cases. The application areas encompass various simulations, geometry, and automation, while the project scale ranges from detailed single buildings to entire city districts.