BimSPARQL: Domain-specific functional SPARQL extensions for querying RDF building data

Abstract

In this paper, we propose to extend SPARQL functions for querying Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) building data. The official IFC documentation and BIM requirement checking use cases are used to drive the development of the proposed functionality. By extending these functions, we aim to 1) simplify writing queries and 2) enhance query abilities to retrieve useful information implied in 3D geometry data according to requirement checking use cases. Extended functions are modelled as RDF vocabularies and classified into groups for further extensions. We combine declarative rules with procedural programming to implement extended functions. Real use cases and building models are used to demonstrate the value of this approach and indicate query performance. Compared with query techniques developed in the conventional Building Information Modeling domain, we show the added value of such approach by providing an extended application example of querying building and regulatory data, where spatial and logic reasoning can be applied and data from multiple sources are required. Based on the development, we discuss the applicability of proposed approach, current issues and future challenges.

Towards data-driven sustainable design: decision support based on knowledge discovery in disparate building data

“…The extracted characteristics are typically semantic and can thus be captured in a semantic data structure. Examples here are the GeoSPARQL 2 and BimSPARQL (Zhang et al, 2018) query languages, the first aiming at geospatial data and the second aiming at building data. The query languages contain statements such as "within" and "above", thus allowing to formulate geometric semantic queries.…”

Semantic technologies and interoperability in the built environment

“…Building home automation is addressed by two papers from a perspective of a social network of agents (Ruta et al [8]) and an all-seeing smart building (Marroquin et al [4]). Zhang et al [9] propose a SPARQL extension for querying building data in IFC.…”

“…In BimSPARQL: Domain-specific functional SPARQL extensions for querying RDF building data, Zhang et al [9] propose an extension of SPARQL functions in order to query IFC building data. The presented approach is driven by the IFC documentation and BIM requirement checking use cases.…”

“…Starting from this modular structure, it is easier to connect semantic representations of buildings with semantic representations of the rest of the built environment, thereby linking to many of the ontologies and topics that are covered by this Special Issue, namely DogOnt, EEPSA, SAREF, SOSA, SSN, CityGML, GeoSPARQL, and so on. As an example, many of the work behind the included article about BimSPARQL [9] is inspired by the GeoSPARQL principles. Using these ontologies, plenty applications are within reach, based on Semantic Web technologies, which have been unaccessible for many stakeholders in the built environment, including (1) the direct combination of sensor data with building element information, (2) the combination of geospatial and building data, and (3) real-time event detection and then analysis of building use patterns.…”

Relating geometry descriptions to its derivatives on the web

“…a bounding box derived from a chair geometry). Nonetheless, these dependencies are needed on every-day basis to ensure data integrity during modelling, exchange and collaboration processes and have already been discussed for geometry descriptions outside of the Semantic Web domain (Mirtschin, Jon 2018) as well as inside of it (Zhang et al 2017). This shows the need for an approach to enable the creation of such substantial connections between geometry derivatives and their origins within a Semantic Web context.…”