Latin American and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions

Conference Track:  Information Technology

Selection1:       Paper

Language:         English

Keywords:         building product model, collaborative design, construction industry, ontologies

Contact Title:    Ms.

Contact First Name: Qi Ying

Contact Last Name:  Cai

University:       University of Hong Kong

Web:              http://www.hku.hk

Position:         postgraduate student

Country:          Hong Kong

Email:            kikicqy@hkusua.hku.hk

Paper Title:

Weave Semantics Into Building Product Models: The Potential Role of Ontologies for Collaborative Design

Abstract:

With the application of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in the construction industry, people aim to integrate heterogeneous information flow across the disparate disciplines through the project lifecycle. To achieve interoperability, several platforms or industry standards have been established, for example, IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) and aecXML developed by IAI (International Alliance for Interoperability). However, to exchange compatible information is insufficient for interoperability. Without necessary knowledge support, computing tools cannot “understand” what the information means and thus fail to integrate them. Ontologies, as concept modeling tools to support semantic interpretation of information, have aroused much research awareness in diverse industries. After an overview of current ontology researches in the construction industry, e.g. STABU/BAS, eConstruct, ISTforCE, etc., this paper discusses the potentials of ontologies for modeling collaborative design. We identify the drawbacks of IFC and argue that ontologies can help to overcome the obstacles. At last, we compare several modeling languages, e.g. XML, RDF, and OWL, in representing the ontologies and also highlight the advantages of Protégé-2000 as an ontology editor in developing ontologies for collaborative design.

Mailing Address:

Rm 523, Dept. of Real Estate and Construction, Univ. of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Rd, Hong Kong

Phone:  

Authors:

Qi Ying Cai/kikicqy@hkusua.hku.hk/Univ. of Hong Kong (P)

Fung Fai Ng/hrrbnff@hku.hk/Univ. of Hong Kong