=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-3824/paper6
|storemode=property
|title=A Standard-Based Ontology Network for Information Requirements in Digital Construction Projects
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3824/paper6.pdf
|volume=Vol-3824
|authors=Martina Mellenthin Filardo,Liu Liu,Philipp Hagedorn,Sven Zentgraf,Jürgen Melzner,Markus König
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/ldac/FilardoLHZMK24
}}
==A Standard-Based Ontology Network for Information Requirements in Digital Construction Projects==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3824/paper6.pdf
A Standard-Based Ontology Network for Information
Requirements in Digital Construction Projects
Martina Mellenthin Filardo1,* , Liu Liu2 , Philipp Hagedorn2 , Sven Zentgraf2 ,
Jürgen Melzner1 and Markus König2
1
Construction Engineering and Management, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Marienstraße 7a, 99423, Weimar, Germany
2
Computing in Engineering, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany
Abstract
In digital construction projects, precise requirements are crucial for sharing relevant information and
producing project deliverables that adhere to standards and regulations within the architecture, en-
gineering, construction, and operation domain. These information requirements still often remain in
semi-structured textual documents and are hardly machine-readable to support the process of information
provision and validation. Therefore, in this paper, the relevant normative framework consisting of the
Level Of Information Need (LOIN), Data Templates (DT), and properties from building codes is analyzed,
and formal representations of corresponding ontologies are aligned to seamlessly use the standardized
framework in digital construction projects. The alignment is done according to best practices and
methodologies from the Semantic Web research domain. The resulting aligned ontology network is
demonstrated in a use case for checking fire safety regulations.
Keywords
Digital Construction Projects, Information Requirements, Ontology Network, Alignment, ISO 23386, ISO
23387, ISO 7817
1. Introduction
The seamless and trustworthy information exchange is a fundamental part of the Building
Information Modeling (BIM) method [1]. To achieve this information exchange, distinctly
defined requirements are vital not only for the information exchange, but also for the gen-
eration of compliant project deliverables within the architecture, engineering, construction,
and operation (AECO) industry [2]. An overview of techniques for defining information re-
quirements in digital construction projects is done by Tomczak et al. [2]. According to their
review, various approaches concur, such as the internationally standardized Information Deliv-
ery Manual (IDM) [3], the Information Delivery Specification (IDS) developed and promoted
by the non-profit organization buildingSMART International (bSI) [4], and the internationally
developing Level of Information Need (LOIN) [5]. The IDS and LOIN are currently under
LDAC 2024: 12th Linked Data in Architecture and Construction Workshop, June 13–14, 2024, Bochum, Germany
*
Corresponding author.
$ martina.mellenthin.filardo@uni-weimar.de (M. Mellenthin Filardo); liu.liu-m6r@ruhr-uni-bochum.de (L. Liu);
philipp.hagedorn-n6v@ruhr-uni-bochum.de (P. Hagedorn); sven.zentgraf@rub.de (S. Zentgraf);
juergen.melzner@uni-weimar.de (J. Melzner); koenig@inf.bi.rub.de (M. König)
0000-0001-7759-7579 (M. Mellenthin Filardo); 0000-0001-5907-7609 (L. Liu); 0000-0002-6249-243X (P. Hagedorn);
0000-0001-6058-7614 (S. Zentgraf); 0000-0002-6435-0283 (J. Melzner); 0000-0002-2729-7743 (M. König)
© 2024 Copyright for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
CEUR
ceur-ws.org
Workshop ISSN 1613-0073
Proceedings
77
development regarding their XML-based machine-readable schemas [4, 6]. However, machine-
readable information requirements are seldom defined in projects, which makes it hard to
provide information according to these requirements and for the appointing parties to verify
the delivered information according to these requirements.
Another obstacle within the AECO industry is the adoption of state-of-the-art approaches
due to contractual agreements and expectations, which may result in additional costs. Therefore,
standardized approaches are preferred. In this paper, the normative framework for information
requirements management and their machine-readable schemas are analyzed. As a solution
that is also provided by Tomczak et al. [2], Linked Data and ontologies are reviewed to achieve
formal semantic descriptions of the normative framework and the information requirements.
Parts of the standards are already available as either XML or ontological schemas that facilitate
automated information processing. The respective ontologies and schemas are presented in the
paper and are aligned to have a more seamless process of defining requirements, providing data
according to these requirements, and validating delivered data. Particularly, an ontology to
define and use LOINs is reviewed and integrated, a new ontology for representing data templates
is developed, and an ontology for maintaining properties from building codes is integrated and
altogether aligned to refer to the same terminology at the intersecting terms.
The result of this work is an aligned ontology network that is harmonized with current
standardization and is demonstrated in a case of building design coordination considering fire
safety. The aligned ontologies are provided as open-source deliverables.
2. Background
Given that standards are the foundation of the ontology alignment proposed in this paper, a
short outline of key aspects of the three central standards (ISO 7817, ISO 23387, and ISO 23386)
is provided. A general introduction to Linked Data and Semantic Web is given to align and
develop a new ontology for representing the data templates from ISO 23387, and the preliminary
works on ontological representations of the normative framework are discussed.
2.1. Normative Framework
As identified by Bolpagni et al. [7], standards related to BIM have two anchor standards: the
ISO 19650 series [8] and the ISO 12006 series [9]. The information delivery process is thoroughly
described in the ISO 19650 series, which lays the groundwork for the ISO 7817 series (currently
under development) [10], thus addressing the specification of the information requirements
using the LOIN approach.
The relations between the three main standards of this publication are depicted in Fig. 1. The
construction domain information classification is addressed, among others, by ISO 23386 [11] and
ISO 23387 [12]. ISO 23386 provides a methodology to describe, author, and maintain properties in
interconnected data dictionaries. ISO 23387 builds upon the methodology proposed in ISO 23386
and describes an approach for data templates for construction objects, with emphasis on the
reusability of templates. Both standards are harmonized with ISO 12006-3 [9]. ISO 7817 uses
the principles from ISO 23387 to describe needed information for object types [10].
78
ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO
19650 7817 23387 23386 12006
LOIN: Data Templates: Properties:
Specification of Information Structure for Construction Description of Properties in
Need for Construction Objects Objects Interconnected Data Dictionaries
Figure 1: Direct relations between relevant standards implemented in this research
2.1.1. Level of Information Need (LOIN)
The LOIN approach was first presented in ISO 19650-1, conceptualized in the European standard
EN 17412-1, and recently established as an international standard in ISO 7817 Part 1 [10]. An
XML-based schema is expected to be published in Part 3 of this standard series [10]. Within
the approach proposed by the ISO 7817 standard series, required information can be specified
for objects on all levels of a project, thus allowing a wide range of granularity and dissolving
the previous static levels approach (except for the Detail attribute within the Geometrical
Information, which will still allow defined levels). The approach followed by the current schema
development suggests that the LOIN specification schema will be agnostic, meaning that various
classifications and data models will be supported, e.g., IFC, but also others, such as LandXML.
The specified information needed for a required object within the LOIN approach is structured
in Geometrical Information, Alphanumerical Information, and Documentation. Lastly, a LOIN
has four Prerequisites (sending and receiving actors, milestones, and purpose). The ISO 7817-1
standard (and later, Parts 2 and 3 of this series) is interconnected with other standards within
the information delivery process as well as information classification standards. Especially
ISO 7817-3 establishes a schema specification for the LOIN, as shown in the current schema
version [6], referencing ISO 23387.
2.1.2. Data Templates (DT)
The standard ISO 23387, which is currently being updated, will establish an XML-based schema
for data templates to be used in the life cycle of built assets. In this context, a data template is a
subset of the model described in ISO 12006-3:2007 [9] that provides the concepts and relationships
required to describe information about building objects. The XML schema proposed in the
updated standard establishes relationships between properties and specializations of properties
to describe characteristics of construction objects. It establishes a base element called Library
Component that can associate this element with a Reference Document and an External Dictionary.
The Library Component serves as a base for the Data Template element, which in turn links a
Construction Object to a Set Of Properties or to a single Property [6, 12]. These data templates
intend to provide a standardized and reusable data structure for the description of construction
objects, enabling the free exchange of information within the construction industry regardless
of the life cycle of assets. Emphasis must be given to the fact that the barrier-free information
exchange must be supported by machine-interpretable information. Given the inherent property
of reusability that templates display, ground principles used by the DT schema, such as data
catalogs, originate in ISO 23386.
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2.1.3. Property Management in Data Dictionaries
In the AECO industry, data catalogs form a structure for the clear classification and differentia-
tion of objects and serve as a basis for the standardized exchange of information. The structuring
and linking of properties from these classifications can be carried out based on ISO 23386. The
ISO 23386 standard includes general instructions for describing, creating, and maintaining
features in interconnected data catalogs to ensure a quality-assured, seamless exchange of
information between the parties involved in BIM processes based on ISO 12006-3 [11, 9].
The aim of establishing this standard and the corresponding definitions and management rules
is to facilitate interoperability between data catalogs and BIM or other digital tools. The focus
is linking similar Properties in independent data catalogs to avoid ambiguities and duplicates. In
addition, the standard offers a further structuring level for Properties with the introduction of
Groups of Properties. Groups of Properties are organized in a tree structure (cf. Figure 2) in which
the Properties are passed on to the subordinate Groups of Properties [11].
Group Of Properties
Property
Figure 2: Example of Groups of Properties arranged in tree structure with attached properties
2.2. Technology
The Semantic Web extends the World Wide Web by incorporating standardized technologies
for structured, machine-readable data [13]. It uses ontologies to interpret resource metadata,
allowing both computers and humans to access resources in a contextual framework [13].
Linked Data (LD) within the Semantic Web emphasizes globally interconnected, openly acces-
sible data using URI and HTTP protocols. LD involves using IRIs, the Resource Description
Framework (RDF), as well as the SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language (SPARQL) to work
with instance data and query structured semantic data [13]. The combination of ontologies and
instance data in RDF graphs is known as knowledge graphs. In addition to XML-based specifica-
tions, as often proposed in the current standardization contexts, ontologies are a valid approach
for defining the logic of information requirements within a construction project [2, 14, 15].
Ontologies are structured machine-readable specifications that provide formal semantics for es-
tablishing a shared understanding of a particular domain [13]. As part of the Semantic Web, they
serve as frameworks for organizing and representing knowledge about a subject or domain [16].
Ontologies define terms, meanings, and relationships, forming a standardized vocabulary for
enhanced comprehension and interoperability [16]. The Web Ontology Language (OWL) is
a standardized language for representing and reasoning about knowledge in the Semantic
Web [13]. It enables the formal specification of relationships in an ontology and provides a
framework for expressing complex information in a machine-readable format [13].
80
2.3. Preliminary works
This section conveys the foundational concepts and existing methodologies relevant to this
study. First, an examination of the ontological representations of the LOIN standard is given.
Followed by an overview of the latest advancements in Data Templates. The chapter concludes
with a discussion on an ontology for Property Management in Data Dictionaries and other
relevant concepts facilitating the ISO 23386 standard.
2.3.1. Ontological representations of the LOIN standard
To enhance compatibility with the BIM method, requirement specifications must also be machine-
interpretable [17]. The LOIN approach, as described in ISO 7817-1, formerly published as
EN 17412-1, defines required information that should be delivered in the information exchange
processes. The LOIN development is ongoing in both industry standardization and academia.
Various approaches have been investigated for encoding the LOIN concept [5, 2]. Part 3 of
ISO 7817, currently under development, introduces an XML-based schema (XSD) for the LOIN
specification, which is harmonized with ISO 23387 and, therefore, uses data templates to specify
the alphanumerical information [6]. Based on ISO 7817-1, a LOIN ontology was developed for
defining a machine-readable Information Delivery Manual [18]. In this ontology, not only the
IDM and LOIN paradigms but also the IDS and Information Container for Linked Document
Delivery (ICDD) were considered. Given the introduction of the alignment with the ISO 23387
(data templates) in ISO 7817-3, this study addresses aligning the LOIN ontology with data
templates and property management in interconnected data dictionaries.
2.3.2. Machine-readable Data Templates (DT)
Given the novelty of the DT standard and the ongoing update and development of an XML-
based schema, few approaches regard it. Mellenthin Filardo et al. [17] successfully used the DT
mechanism proposed in ISO 23387 by partly implementing an automated import for the current
XML-based LOIN schema from ISO 7817-3 for integrated information requirement within an
established modeling environment. The DT mechanism was used to describe alphanumerical
information, e.g., specific properties and their values assigned to specific construction objects.
While different platforms and models exist to describe and share product data, current
systems must address vendor-specific constraints, as identified by Kebede et al. [19]. The
authors proposed an OWL-based ontology for handling lighting product data according to
CEN/TS 17623 [20]. This technical specification specializes in lighting and luminaires but still
regards the basis for the property definition set by ISO 23386. ISO 23387 was not used, given
that no actual Product Data Templates for luminaries were found, which can also be explained
by the novelty of the standard. Wagner et al. [21] developed an ontology for Linked Building
Product Data. The proposed ontology is defined as a generic ontology for (building) products,
including their interconnections, properties as well as assembly (geometry).
81
2.3.3. An ontology for Property Management in Data Dictionaries
Following the proposed data schema and management rules from the ISO standard 23386 (cf.
Section 2.1.3) the Interconnected data dictionary ontology (IDDO) was initially conducted to
transfer knowledge from text-based construction-related standards into a hierarchically struc-
tured tree of groups of properties and properties (cf. 2). The Groups of Properties and Properties
are linked with metadata and management information, ensuring a structured and organized
framework. Each property is defined by attributes and restrictions that can take various forms,
such as minimum and maximum values accompanied by their respective units, specific options
selected from predefined lists or arrays, and links to other properties. [15] In a follow-up step,
the structure of IDDO has been expanded to include terminology from the Data Catalog Vocab-
ulary (DCAT), which is a recommendation from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), to
enhance its compatibility with standard ontologies on the Semantic Web [22]. This extension
enriches the IDDO by integrating a structured methodology for dictionary creation and orga-
nization, streamlining data management and retrieval [15]. The assignment of properties to a
desired Feature of Interest (FOI) like a bot:Building or a dice:Equipment can be realized
using the OPM property state pattern introduced by Rasmussen et al. [23].
Despite the usage within the IDDO, the data schema proposed in the ISO 23386 standard is
used in other research works. Alani et al. [24] leveraged the data schema to transform product
data templates into an ontological format, with the results being utilized in asset management
software. The buildingSmart Data Dictionary (bSDD) also provides functions for managing
properties from classifications and offers since 2021 the possibility to provide the recorded data
in a format compliant with ISO 23386 [25].
3. Methodology
The methodology followed in this paper consists of two steps: first, harmonizing the ontologies
with the international standards framework, and second, aligning the ontologies according to
ontology engineering principles [26] to make them a usable aligned network for managing
the information requirements in digital construction projects. To that end, the necessary
harmonization of the existing ontologies with the standards is addressed, followed by the design
and implementation of a new ontology and necessary modifications in the existing ontologies
to achieve the desired alignment between the ontologies. Finally, a demonstration is provided
to establish the validity of the proposed standard-compatible and aligned ontology network.
Considering that the current version of the XML schema developed for ISO 7817-3 uses
mechanisms from the schema for ISO 23387, which in turn relies heavily on ISO 23386, it
becomes clear that harmonization is necessary. Given the availability of previously developed
ontologies for ISO 7817-1 by Liu et al. [18] and ISO 23386 by Zentgraf et al. [15], a third ontology
for DT is developed and presented in this article. This new ontology builds a link between
all three ontology domains, thus enabling compatibility between the normative information
specification and delivery processes and the linked data approach [14]. To achieve an aligned
ontology network, the standards and current versions of XML schemas [6] were analyzed for
overlaps, discrepancies, naming issues, and references. Regarding ISO 7817, it was mainly
identified that an extension to address the Construction Object element was necessary since
82
it is a central element within the design of the 7817-3 schema and, therefore, part of the link
between ISO 7817-3 and ISO 23387. Further, the content of the Alphanumerical Information
element needed to be adjusted to accommodate the link to the new data template ontology
explained in Section 4.
In the domain of ISO 23386, it was crucial to identify the interconnected elements within the
developed ISO 23386 ontology and the ISO 23387 schema. Special care must be taken to identify
the corresponding elements and put them in the correct relation. These regarded mainly the
elements (1) Property and (2) External Dictionary Reference, which are central elements in both
domains. The complete alignment is described in Section 4. Subsequently, the classes, subclasses,
and relationships were implemented to mirror the aligned ontology network, thereby creating
an updated, standard-compliant LOIN ontology and an updated ISOProps ontology, formerly
IDDO, compatible with the new DT ontology.
The ontology alignment is supported by visualizing ontology vocabulary in standardized
notations as provided in the ontology design template defined by Donkers [27] and the best
practices for ontology visualization provided by Poveda-Villalón et al. [16].
The development of the DT ontology is based on concepts and principles for creating templates
from ISO 23387 and the associated XML data schema, which is currently under development [6,
12]. Similar to the creation of software products, requirements are also defined when creating
ontologies, which ensure that the developed ontologies meet the set requirements and can be
used in the intended use case. To formalize these requirements, requirements specifications are
often created during the development of ontologies [28, 26]. In this case, the requirements for
the ontology development are directly derived from the XML schema of the standard and are
considered with high accuracy to create a compliant ontology.
In addition to technical accuracy, an ontology’s applicability is also crucial. Ensuring usability
can be achieved by adhering to the FAIR principles for data sharing, which refer to Findability,
Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability [16]. These principles are designed to ensure that
data and metadata are managed to facilitate their easy discovery, access, integration, and reuse
by both humans and machines. By aligning the development and structuring of ontologies with
the FAIR principles, it is possible to enhance their practical utility and ensure that they serve their
intended purposes effectively in various contexts [16]. An evaluation of the FAIR requirements
for the ontology network is provided in the GitHub appendix of this paper. The requirements
analysis needed for the DT ontology was carried out following the LOT methodology [26].
4. Results
Following the methodology as described in Section 3, the new Data Template (DT) ontology
was created, which refers to both the LOIN and the ISOProps ontologies.
4.1. Data Templates Ontology
Given that the ontology is based on an XML schema, the nature of a root element was emulated,
even though it is not a necessity for ontologies, as shown in Figure 3.
This pseudo-root element, dt:LibraryComponent, has relations to a dt:Reference-
Document and to a dt:ExternalDictionaryReference. The latter is equivalent to
83
LOIN Data Template Property Dictionary
ISO 7817 ISO 23387 ISO 23386
dt:hasExternalDictionaryProperty
dt:hasExternalDictionary
dt:ExternalDictionaryReference isoprops:ExternalDictionaryReference
dt:hasExternalDictionaryProperty
dt:hasExternalDictionary
dt:LibraryComponent
loin:hasObjectType dt:hasReferenceDocument
loin:SpecificationPerObjectType dt:ConstructionObject dt:ReferenceDocument
loin:hasDataTemplate
loin:AlphanumericalInformation dt:DataTemplate dt:PhysicalQuantity
qudt:QuantityKind
dt:Unit dt:SetOfProprties
qudt:Unit
dt:hasSetOfProperties
dt:hasSetOfProperties
dt:hasProperty
dt:hasProperty
dt:Property isoprops:Property
dt:hasPredefinedValues
dt:PredefinedValuesList isoprops:PossibleValues
iddo:hasUnit dt:hasPredefinedValueItem
qudt:Unit dt:PredefinedValueItem
dt:hasIndex
schema:PropertyValue
rdfs:subClassOf
owl:ObjectProperty
Figure 3: DT ontology schema and the alignment with LOIN and Property Dictionary
the isoprops:ExternalDictionaryReference element. By defining the dt:Library-
Component with these two core components, it is achieved that all subclasses inherit these
references as well. Through this mechanism, set by the original XML-based schema, various
references to simple documents, e.g., descriptions for construction objects, or norms for sets
of properties or templates, can be made. In addition, more detailed references to entries in
data dictionaries can be made for all elements. Subclasses of dt:LibraryComponent, that
profit from these references, are dt:ReferenceDocument, which allows the incorporation of
miscellaneous documents, and dt: ConstructionObject. The LOIN ontology references the
latter through the loin: SpecificationPerObjectType element to describe the objects
for which the information is needed. Another subclass is dt: DataTemplate, which is called
upon by the LOIN ontology loin: AlphanumericalInformation element to provide a
structure for the defined alphanumerical information. Further, dt:PhysicalQuantity is also
a subclass of dt:LibraryComponent, and was put in equivalence to the qudt:Quantity-
Kind element from the QUDT (Quantities, Units, Dimensions, and Data Types) ontology [29].
The QUDT ontology is a framework designed to facilitate the understanding and use of data by
84
precisely defining the quantities involved and how they are measured, including the units of mea-
sure and data types [29]. Similarly, the dt:Unit was set in equivalence to qudt:Unit as well.
Finally, the subclass dt:SetOfProperties can describe properties using the dt:Property
element. Both elements to describe a property within DT and ISOProps ontologies were set in
equivalence to each other. Furthermore, the dt:Property and therefore indirectly also the
isoprops:Property can also be used by the dt:DataTemplate directly. The set of proper-
ties mechanism from DT and the group of properties mechanism from ISOProps differ in the
sense that properties within a set (DT) can come from different groups of properties (ISOProps).
Both structures, sets, and groups, are needed to enable modular reusability. The dt:Property
element has predefined values inside the dt:PredefinedValuesList, which is equivalent
to the isoprops:PossibleValues element. It has a dt:PredefinedValueItem and a
qudt:Unit.
4.2. Ontology Alignment
During the alignment of the three ontologies considered in this work, terminological and
structural changes were also made to the LOIN and the ISOProps ontologies, formerly known
as the IDDO, which are presented below. To ensure consistency with the LOIN-XML-Schema
[6], the core classes about contextual information and the specification of information needs
(e.g., the LOIN classes in Fig. 4) of the LOIN ontology classes are renamed. In addition, classes
related to the extension of information delivery specifications from previous work [18] are
separated into a dedicated namespace, which aims to improve the clarity of the ontology.
LOIN and DT ontology are aligned to facilitate standardized definitions using data templates.
Using the object property loin:hasObjectType, an instance of loin:SpecificationPer-
ObjectType can be declared with an instance of dt:ConstructionObject. Using loin:has-
DataTemplate, an instance of loin:AlphanumericalInformation can be specified with
an instance of dt:DataTemplate, which can then be detailed with instances of the class
dt:Property or of the class dt:SetOfProperties.
Before implementing structural changes within the ontology that formalize the ISO 23386
standard, the namespace of the ontology was adjusted. As already mentioned, IDDO was
renamed to ISOProps Ontology. This renaming was done to emphasize that the central elements
of the ontology are properties. In addition to the adjustment of the namespace, further editorial
changes were made to the ontology, which can be found in the documentation of the ontology.
Following the terminological adjustments, the DT and ISOProps were aligned. For this
purpose, the class isoprops:Property was first assigned to the dt:LibraryComponent as
a subclass, which enables class equivalence and thus an alignment between the classes (cf. Figure
3 bottom right). Furthermore, both ontologies have adapted the mechanisms for referencing
external data catalogs. All classes that are a subclass of dt:LibraryComponment after the
alignment can now reference an object of the class dt:ExternalDictionaryReference or
isoprops:ExternalDictionaryReference via the predicate reference dt:hasExternal-
Dictionary. From such an :ExternalDictionaryReference object, a reference to an
external data catalog (:hasExternalDictionary) and, if desired, a reference to a specific
property (:hasExternalDictionaryProperty) in this data catalog is possible.
In addition to the alignment carried out, structural adjustments were made within the ISO-
85
Props ontology. The processing of boundary values that can be specified in a property was
adapted based on the principle proposed in ISO 23387. Through this adjustment, it is now
possible to store a unit and the information on whether the boundary value is considered
inclusive or not in each isoprops:BoundaryLimitMin or isoprops:BoundaryLimitMax.
Furthermore, the handling of dimensions, physical quantities, and the associated units has
been simplified. This was achieved by a class equivalence between the classes isoprops:
PhysicalQuantity and qudt:QuantitiyKind. This link bundles all relevant information
about the physical quantity of the properties in one place.
In addition to the alignment steps already listed, further changes were made to the ontologies.
However, since comprehensive documentation of all adjustments made during the harmoniza-
tion and alignment process would exceed the scope of this paper, the authors refer to the
documentation of the ontologies, which can be found in the section Data Availabilty of this
work.
5. Demonstration
To demonstrate the definition of the information requirement using the aligned ontology
network proposed in this article, a simple use case is presented for requiring partition wall
properties during structure design in a public building. Given the high importance of fire
safety in public buildings, the non-load-bearing but space-enclosing partition walls should be
designed to fulfill fire resistance requirements. In this use case, the building structure needs to
substantiate a fire resistance of 120 min. The building structure design is based on the European
standard DIN EN 1992-1-2 [30]. Therefore, the thickness and the related fire resistance class of
partition walls are the relevant properties according to Table 5.3 of DIN EN 1992-1-2 that need
to be delivered considering the building-specific fire resistance requirement.
The specified requirements can be defined using LOIN, DT, and ISOProps ontologies, as
illustrated in Figure 4. In the first step, the information delivery milestone, the purpose, and
related sending and receiving actors can be instantiated using classes of the LOIN ontology. The
partition wall as an object type and the required alphanumerical information are instantiated
on the project-milestone-specific level. Independent of whether an object type template is
already available for the partition wall, using the DT ontology, a data template of the con-
struction object :Wall_Partition_NonLoadBearing_SpaceEnclosing as an instance of
dt:ConstructionObject can be defined and aligned with the project-milestone-specific
instance Partition_Wall in the second step. This alphanumerical information can be spec-
ified with the data template :Wall_Fire_Resistance_Template as an instance of class
dt:DataTemplate. For detailing the template with information content, instances of dt:Set-
OfProperties can be assigned to the template. In this case, :Wall_Fire_Resistance_PSet
is created as a property set. Furthermore, relevant documents can be linked to the defined
object as defined in the use case. For instance, :DIN_EN_1992_1_2_2008 is created using
class dt:ReferenceDocument.
In the third step, a property or a group of properties that are assumed to be predefined and
maintained in a digital form based on ISO 23386 should be used to facilitate the setup of a data
template. The instance :Wall_Partition_PGrp of isoprops:GroupOfProperties refer-
86
LOIN Data Template Property Dictionary
ISO 7817 ISO 23387 ISO 23386
loin:InformationDeliveryMilestone
loin:AlphanumericalInformation
T Box
loin:SpecificationPerObjectType dt:ConstructionObject
loin:ReceivingActor dt:SetOfProprties isoprops:DictionaryReferenceDocument
loin:SendingActor dt:ReferenceDocument isoprops:Property
loin:Purpose dt:DataTemplate isoprops:GroupOfProperties
rdf:type rdf:type rdf:type rdf:type rdf:type
:Building_Detailed_Design :Wall_Partition_NonLoadBearing_SpaceEnclosing
loin:hasPurpose loin:hasConstructionObject
:Coordination :Wall_Fire_Resistance_Template
isoprops:hasPropertyGroupReference
loin:hasSendingActor dt:hasReferenceDocument
:DIN_EN_1992_1_2_2008 :Wall_Partition_PGrp
:Structural_Engineer
A Box
loin:hasReceivingActor dt:hasSetOfProperties isoprops:hasGroupOfProperties
dt:hasProperty
:Lead_Architect :Wall_Fire_Resistance_PSet :Fire_Resistance
loin:hasSpecificationPerObjectType
:Wall_Thickness
:Partition_Wall isoprops:hasUnit
loin:hasAlphanumericalInformation loin:hasDataTemplate unit:MilliM
:Partition_Wall_Info_Content
Figure 4: Exemplary definition of information requirements using the standard-based ontologies
ences the requirement defined in :DIN_EN_1992_1_2_2008. Within this group of properties,
two relevant properties are instantiated as :Wall_Thickness and :Fire_Resistance via
the class isoprops:Property. Using dt:hasProperty, the two property instances can be
assigned to the :Wall_Fire_Resistance_PSet.
Figure 5: SPARQL query and the query results of predefined use case
After the ontological definition, the required information of a certain construction object
can be retrieved using a SPARQL query. As illustrated in Figure 5, the SPARQL query se-
lects the requirement of alphanumerical information of the declared object types in the
use case. As the query result, the two required properties are listed for the object type
loin-dt-isoprops:Partition_Wall. By explicitly defining the information requirements
in this way, the structural engineer, as the sending actor, has a better understanding of the
information to be delivered. Furthermore, associated checking rules can be delivered after the
87
definition of information requirements by the receiving actor, which facilitates quality control
considering predefined requirements. For instance, previous work by Zentgraf et al. [15] using
ISOProps showed how a Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL) shape is used to check the
cardinality, unit, and value of the required property. However, the data validation with SHACL
is not in this paper’s scope and can be found in [15].
6. Conclusion and Outlook
This study showed the integration potentials of the standards for LOIN, Data Templates (DT),
and properties in interconnected data dictionaries (ISOProps) using an alignment of modular on-
tologies. By cross-referencing and class and property equivalency mechanisms, three ontologies
were successfully integrated into an aligned ontology network for exhaustively describing and
defining properties as well as construction objects harmonized with the analyzed standards ISO
7817, ISO 23386, ISO 23387, as well as indirectly regarding ISO 12006 and ISO 19650 standard
series. Furthermore, the proposed ontology network presents modular and reusable descriptions
for properties and construction objects. Aligning these standard-conforming ontologies pre-
vents taxonomy problems, facilitating uniform query searches. The use case demonstration for
building design coordination considering fire safety highlighted the application of the proposed
ontologies for a recurrent problem within the industry. Given that neither the LOIN nor the DT
approaches proposed in standardization and implemented in this study propose static structures,
this ontology network can be modeled from a generic perspective, reducing overhead and
implementation efforts imposed by rigid schemas. By implementing these entangled standards
as ontologies, this study emphasized the degree of harmonization between existing and ongoing
state-of-the-art standards and state-of-research Linked Data approaches.
Future work addresses applying all three ontology domains to a broad range of example
products and construction objects to identify limitations. In addition, the development of
databases and data dictionaries should be observed and regarded, given their closeness to
the presented study. Finally, interfaces between modeling environments, DTs, and property
databases should be developed or extended to make the state-of-research knowledge accessible
to end users in the industry.
Data Availability
The aligned and harmonized ontologies, the DT ontology, and demo data are available via
GitHub: https://rub-informatik-im-bauwesen.github.io/ir-ontologies/.
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