Ontology for holistic building performance modeling and analysis

Building performance modeling and analysis using Building Information Modeling (BIM) platforms remains fragmented, requiring various software applications to address different disciplines. Challenges in data extraction, transfer, and integration arise due to inconsistencies in vendor-specific data schemas and limited interoperability. Moreover, OpenBIM data schemas lack comprehensive object definitions and semantics, compromising data integrity. While ontological frameworks have been proposed to address these issues, a unified ontology that integrates multiple performance disciplines has yet to be developed. This paper designed and developed a holistic building performance ontology (HBPO) focusing on acoustic, lighting, and energy domains as subsets to represent a range of sufficiently different domains. This ontology comprises 28 classes, 26 object properties, and 183 data properties, encapsulating essential information, data requirements, and object relationships within and across these domains. Additionally, a series of proof-of-concept experiments were conducted to test, demonstrate, validate, and evaluate the feasibility and applicability of the HBPO.