F.H. Abanda

Trends in built environment semantic Web applications: Where are we today?

Abstract The built environment sector impacts significantly on communities. At the same time, it is the sector with the highest cost and environmental saving potentials provided effective strategies are implemented. The emerging Semantic Web promises new opportunities for efficient management of information and knowledge about various domains. While other domains, particularly bioinformatics have fully embraced the Semantic Web, knowledge about how the same has been applied to the built environment is sketchy. This study investigates the development and trend of Semantic Web applications in the built environment. Understanding the different applications of the Semantic Web is essential for evaluation, improvement and opening of new research. A review of over 120 refereed articles on built environment Semantic Web applications has been conducted. A classification of the different Semantic Web applications in relation to their year of application is presented to highlight the trend. Two major findings have emerged. Firstly, despite limited research about easy-to-use applications, progress is being made from often too-common ontological concepts to more innovative concepts such as Linked Data. Secondly, a shift from traditional construction applications to Semantic Web sustainable construction applications is gradually emerging. To conclude, research challenges, potential future development and research directions have been discussed.

A critical analysis of Building Information Modelling systems used in construction projects

Construction life cycle project needs to be understood for BIM to be easily integrated.Interoperability is crucial for the uptake of BIM in the construction industry.Supply chain members need to collaborate on projects to deliver BIM compliant projects.There is a need for vendors/manufacturers to adopt a common language in publishing information about BIM software. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is now a global digital technology which is widely believed to have the potential to revolutionise the construction industry. This has been mainly a result of worldwide government initiatives promoting BIM uptake to improve efficiency and quality in delivering construction projects. This push has been accompanied by the release of a tremendous amount of BIM software systems which are now available in the market. Although this can be seen as a positive development, one cannot ignore how it has overwhelmed many professionals who cannot easily distinguish between the uses of these software systems. Previous studies about different BIM systems have generally been limited in scope focusing predominantly on operational issues. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive and critical appraisal of a wide range of BIM software systems currently being used in managing construction project information. To achieve this, five main methods are adopted. These include a systematic review of the literature, a structured questionnaire survey, action learning, focus group discussions and email surveys. It has to be noted that, although it is impossible to examine the totality of BIM systems, the study adopts a holistic approach looking at most of the major BIM system categories and 122 application examples which are common in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry.

PV-TONS: A photovoltaic technology ontology system for the design of PV-systems

The impacts of climate change, the increasing demand for energy and the diminishing fossil fuel resources have resulted in the development and use of a large number of renewable energy technologies in building development. These technologies are generating a huge amount of information which often overwhelms interested users and thus makes it difficult for them to make informed choices about their applications. The emergence of Semantic Web technologies, the next generation of Web technologies, promises to considerably improve representation, sharing and re-use of information to support decision-making. This article investigates how the emerging Semantic Web enabling technologies can be used to both represent information and knowledge about renewable energy technologies, and facilitate system decision-making in recommending appropriate choices for use in different situations. Based on a review of literature, a prototype Semantic Web system known as the photovoltaic technology ontology system (PV-TONS) for managing knowledge about PV-systems is developed to demonstrate some Semantic Web capabilities. PV-TONS includes Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) that provides a reasoning mechanism to facilitate system decision support. To validate PV-TONS, a green building that uses PV-systems to generate its energy was employed as a case study.

Experience modeling with graphs encoded knowledge for construction industry

Knowledge management for continuous improvement in construction engineering projects.Conceptual modeling for knowledge sharing on good practices and top lessons learned.Domain ontology helps acquire work-related vocabulary and specify useful experience.Knowledge exploitation as an instrument of problem solving and preventive actions.Conceptual Graphs encoded knowledge for visual representation and formal reasoning. The Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry is becoming increasingly knowledge intensive. Knowledge management has been hailed as an enabler for tapping this knowledge to improve efficiency in the AEC industry. In this study, the main concepts and benefits of knowledge management, relationships between knowledge management and continuous improvement have been examined. Furthermore, emphasis has been laid on knowledge management through experience feedback processes which constitute valuable assets for the AEC industry. This is done through the employment of ontologies and graph-based reasoning operations in eliciting and visualizing knowledge concepts in the AEC domain. The proposed approach which consists of two main aspects provides the opportunity to examine the conceptual and ontological knowledge models with associated reasoning. In the first, the concepts of knowledge management, their significance and application in the AEC field are discussed. The second deals with a methodological framework for the modeling and reasoning in the domain ontology. To facilitate automation, an ontology graph-based editor, Conceptual Graphs User Interface (CoGui) was used to model knowledge and encoded reasoning in the knowledge base. CoGui encodes knowledge as conceptual graphs and reasoning as graph operations that can be visualized in a logically precise way, based on domain ontologies. It emerged that CoGui could be very useful in acquiring information that can be used in collaboration with others to continuously improve information sharing and re-use. A French AEC company located in the Southwest region was employed as a case study in illustrating knowledge modeling through the experience feedback process. For each phase of experience feedback, actions that were implemented in the company are discussed.

Building Information Modelling in Cameroon: Overcoming Existing Challenges

BIM has recently gained ground in developed countries. However, the use of BIM in developing countries including Cameroon is not well-known. In this study, BIM implementation in Cameroon is explored. The research methods used are a pilot study, electronic email surveys and in-depth phone interviews. Altogether, 179 professionals having at least a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering from the National Advanced School of Engineering Yaounde I-Cameroon, a leading engineering institution in Francophone Africa, were sampled. Forty six provided feedback yielding a response rate of 25.7%. It emerged that some BIM software are already being used in Cameroon. However, major barriers hindering BIM uptake are high license fee and lack of huge projects that can pay off the cost of investment in BIM. Perhaps, partly because the respondents were highly skilled, it emerged that the lack of expertise was/is not a major problem to use BIM in projects. Although this study is limited to Cameroon, many recommendations could be relevant to other African countries.

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

AbstractLessons learned systems are vital means for integrating construction knowledge into the various phases of the construction project life cycle. Many such systems are tailored toward the owne...

A state-of-the-art review of built environment information modelling (BeIM)

Abstract Elements that constitute the built environment are vast and so are the independent systems developed to model its various aspects. Many of these systems have been developed under various assumptions and approaches to execute functions that are distinct, complementary or sometimes similar. Furthermore, these systems are ever increasing in number and often assume similar nomenclatures and acronyms, thereby exacerbating the challenges of understanding their peculiar functions, definitions and differences. The current societal demand to improve sustainability performance through collaboration as well as whole-system and through-life thinking is driving the need to integrate independent systems associated with different aspects and scales of the built environment to deliver smart solutions and services that improve the well-being of citizens. The contemporary object-oriented digitization of real-world elements appears to provide a leeway for amalgamating the modelling systems of various domains in the built environment which we termed as built environment information modelling (BeIM). These domains include architecture, engineering, construction as well as urban planning and design. Applications such as building information modelling, geographic information systems and 3D city modelling systems are now being integrated for city modelling purposes. The various works directed at integrating these systems are examined, revealing that current research efforts on integration fall into three categories: (1) data/file conversion systems, (2) semantic mapping systems and (3) the hybrid of both. The review outcome suggests that good knowledge of these domains and how their respective systems operate is vital to pursuing holistic systems integration in the built environment.