An Ontology-driven Approach for Integrating Heterogeneous Data Sources to Enhance Urban Biodiversity and Sustainable Building Design

Abstract

Urban biodiversity is essential for sustainable cities, as it helps address the challenges of environmental degradation, ecosystem loss, species decline, and increased vulnerability to climate hazards, which negatively affect humanhealth and well-being. ECOLOPES (ECOlogical building enveloPES) aims to develop a design approach for multi-species as stakeholders to achieve regenerative urban ecosystems. Integrating the diverse data required for stakeholders and beyond—spanning life sciences, geography, and architecture—and utilizing it for design presents a significant challenge. This paper introduces an innovative ontology-driven approach that integrates diverse data sources, enabling ecologists and architects to design sites and buildings that foster urban biodiversity. The proposed ontology, developed in collaboration with domain experts and adhering to Semantic Web best practices, serves as a mediator between life sciences data (e.g., species distribution and habitats) and geometric information (e.g., maps, voxel models of building structures). This integration enables the adaptation of site, buildings and geometries respectively to create habitats that attract and support urban wildlife, contributing to ecological sustainability. The paper illustrates the practical utility of the ontology through a case study, highlighting its role in guiding building designs that promote species attractiveness and urban biodiversity.