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Integrated modeling of CityGML and IFC for city/neighborhood development for urban microclimates analysis

Authors:
Steve Kardinal Jusuf at Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT)
Steve Kardinal Jusuf
Benjamin Mousseau at Électricité de France (EDF)
Benjamin Mousseau
Gaelle Godfroid
Gaelle Godfroid
Gaelle Godfroid
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Vincent Soh Jin Hui
Vincent Soh Jin Hui
Vincent Soh Jin Hui
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
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Abstract

Planning of the built environment requires at least two different levels of planning process and modelling. They can be categorized as city/neighbourhood-scale and building-scale. The typical application for city/neighbourhood-scale is Geographic Information System (GIS) and CityGML for the open source 3D format. Meanwhile, for building-scale, Building Information Modelling (BIM) is used, and IFC format is the open source standard. In this paper, two case studies were presented, including visualization for a web application and input model of the urban microclimate modelling STEVE Tool. We used Autodesk Revit and Graphisoft Archicad in developing the building models as prototype for the transformation testing. The transformation system was developed using Feature Manipulation Engine (FME), by Safe Software. FME allowed us to restructure the data model (IFC) and transform it to the destination data format (CityGML).
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ScienceDirect
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect
Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
1876-6102 © 2017The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling.
The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling
Assessing the feasibility of using the heat demand-outdoor
temperature function for a long-term district heat demand forecast
I. Andrića,b,c*, A. Pinaa, P. Ferrãoa, J. Fournierb., B. Lacarrièrec, O. Le Correc
aIN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research -Instituto Superior Técnico,Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
bVeolia Recherche & Innovation,291 Avenue Dreyfous Daniel, 78520 Limay, France
cDépartement Systèmes Énergétiques et Environnement -IMT Atlantique, 4 rue Alfred Kastler, 44300 Nantes, France
Abstract
District heating networks are commonly addressed in the literature as one of the most effective solutions for decreasing the
greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector. These systems require high investments which are returned through the heat
sales. Due to the changed climate conditions and building renovation policies, heat demand in the future could decrease,
prolonging the investment return period.
The main scope of this paper is to assess the feasibility of using the heat demand –outdoor temperature function for heat demand
forecast. The district of Alvalade, located in Lisbon (Portugal), was used as a case study. The district is consisted of 665
buildings that vary in both construction period and typology. Three weather scenarios (low, medium, high) and three district
renovation scenarios were developed (shallow, intermediate, deep). To estimate the error, obtained heat demand values were
compared with results from a dynamic heat demand model, previously developed and validated by the authors.
The results showed that when only weather change is considered, the margin of error could be acceptable for some applications
(the error in annual demand was lower than 20% for all weather scenarios considered). However, after introducing renovation
scenarios, the error value increased up to 59.5% (depending on the weather and renovation scenarios combination considered).
The value of slope coefficient increased on average within the range of 3.8% up to 8% per decade, that corresponds to the
decrease in the number of heating hours of 22-139h during the heating season (depending on the combination of weather and
renovation scenarios considered). On the other hand, function intercept increased for 7.8-12.7% per decade (depending on the
coupled scenarios). The values suggested could be used to modify the function parameters for the scenarios considered, and
improve the accuracy of heat demand estimations.
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and
Cooling.
Keywords: Heat demand; Forecast; Climate change
Energy Procedia 122 (2017) 145–150
1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CISBAT 2017 International Conference – Future Buildings &
Districts – Energy Efficiency from Nano to Urban Scale
10.1016/j.egypro.2017.07.329
10.1016/j.egypro.2017.07.329
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientic committee of the CISBAT 2017 International Conference – Future Buildings &
Districts – Energy Efciency from Nano to Urban Scale
1876-6102
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect
Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CISBAT 2017 International Conference – Future Buildings & Districts –
Energy Efficiency from Nano to Urban Scale.
CISBAT 2017 International Conference – Future Buildings & Districts – Energy Efficiency from
Nano to Urban Scale, CISBAT 2017 6-8 September 2017, Lausanne, Switzerland
Integrated modeling of CityGML and IFC for city/neighborhood
development for urban microclimates analysis
Steve Kardinal Jusufa, Benjamin Mousseaub, Gaelle Godfroida, Vincent Soh Jin Huib *
aEngineering Cluster, Singapore Institute of Technology, 138683 Singapore
bEDF Lab Singapore, 738973 Singapore
Abstract
Planning of the built environment requires at least two different levels of planning process and modelling. They can be categorized
as city/neighbourhood-scale and building-scale. The typical application for city/neighbourhood-scale is Geographic Information
System (GIS) and CityGML for the open source 3D format. Meanwhile, for building-scale, Building Information Modelling (BIM)
is used, and IFC format is the open source standard. In this paper, two case studies were presented, including visualization for a
web application and input model of the urban microclimate modelling STEVE Tool. We used Autodesk Revit and Graphisoft
Archicad in developing the building models as prototype for the transformation testing. The transformation system was developed
using Feature Manipulation Engine (FME), by Safe Software. FME allowed us to restructure the data model (IFC) and transform
it to the destination data format (CityGML).
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the scientific committee of the CISBAT 2017 International
Conference – Future Buildings & Districts – Energy Efficiency from Nano to Urban Scale.
Keywords: CityGML, IFC, Interoperability, Sktechup, FME
1. Introduction
The approach for GIS (CityGML format) and BIM (IFC format) modeling integration has recently emerged as an
important area of research. Extensive efforts are put on building models extensions, such as IFC4 and CityGML ADE,
* Corresponding Author: Engineering Cluster, Singapore Institute of Technology, 10 Dover Drive, 138683 Singapore Tel.: +65 6592 1343; fax:
+65 6592 1190.
E-mail address: Stevekj@singaporetech.edu.sg
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect
Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CISBAT 2017 International Conference – Future Buildings & Districts –
Energy Efficiency from Nano to Urban Scale.
CISBAT 2017 International Conference – Future Buildings & Districts – Energy Efficiency from
Nano to Urban Scale, CISBAT 2017 6-8 September 2017, Lausanne, Switzerland
Integrated modeling of CityGML and IFC for city/neighborhood
development for urban microclimates analysis
Steve Kardinal Jusufa, Benjamin Mousseaub, Gaelle Godfroida, Vincent Soh Jin Huib *
aEngineering Cluster, Singapore Institute of Technology, 138683 Singapore
bEDF Lab Singapore, 738973 Singapore
Abstract
Planning of the built environment requires at least two different levels of planning process and modelling. They can be categorized
as city/neighbourhood-scale and building-scale. The typical application for city/neighbourhood-scale is Geographic Information
System (GIS) and CityGML for the open source 3D format. Meanwhile, for building-scale, Building Information Modelling (BIM)
is used, and IFC format is the open source standard. In this paper, two case studies were presented, including visualization for a
web application and input model of the urban microclimate modelling STEVE Tool. We used Autodesk Revit and Graphisoft
Archicad in developing the building models as prototype for the transformation testing. The transformation system was developed
using Feature Manipulation Engine (FME), by Safe Software. FME allowed us to restructure the data model (IFC) and transform
it to the destination data format (CityGML).
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the scientific committee of the CISBAT 2017 International
Conference – Future Buildings & Districts – Energy Efficiency from Nano to Urban Scale.
Keywords: CityGML, IFC, Interoperability, Sktechup, FME
1. Introduction
The approach for GIS (CityGML format) and BIM (IFC format) modeling integration has recently emerged as an
important area of research. Extensive efforts are put on building models extensions, such as IFC4 and CityGML ADE,
* Corresponding Author: Engineering Cluster, Singapore Institute of Technology, 10 Dover Drive, 138683 Singapore Tel.: +65 6592 1343; fax:
+65 6592 1190.
E-mail address: Stevekj@singaporetech.edu.sg
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect
Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CISBAT 2017 International Conference – Future Buildings & Districts –
Energy Efficiency from Nano to Urban Scale.
CISBAT 2017 International Conference – Future Buildings & Districts – Energy Efficiency from
Nano to Urban Scale, CISBAT 2017 6-8 September 2017, Lausanne, Switzerland
Integrated modeling of CityGML and IFC for city/neighborhood
development for urban microclimates analysis
Steve Kardinal Jusufa, Benjamin Mousseaub, Gaelle Godfroida, Vincent Soh Jin Huib *
aEngineering Cluster, Singapore Institute of Technology, 138683 Singapore
bEDF Lab Singapore, 738973 Singapore
Abstract
Planning of the built environment requires at least two different levels of planning process and modelling. They can be categorized
as city/neighbourhood-scale and building-scale. The typical application for city/neighbourhood-scale is Geographic Information
System (GIS) and CityGML for the open source 3D format. Meanwhile, for building-scale, Building Information Modelling (BIM)
is used, and IFC format is the open source standard. In this paper, two case studies were presented, including visualization for a
web application and input model of the urban microclimate modelling STEVE Tool. We used Autodesk Revit and Graphisoft
Archicad in developing the building models as prototype for the transformation testing. The transformation system was developed
using Feature Manipulation Engine (FME), by Safe Software. FME allowed us to restructure the data model (IFC) and transform
it to the destination data format (CityGML).
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the scientific committee of the CISBAT 2017 International
Conference – Future Buildings & Districts – Energy Efficiency from Nano to Urban Scale.
Keywords: CityGML, IFC, Interoperability, Sktechup, FME
1. Introduction
The approach for GIS (CityGML format) and BIM (IFC format) modeling integration has recently emerged as an
important area of research. Extensive efforts are put on building models extensions, such as IFC4 and CityGML ADE,
* Corresponding Author: Engineering Cluster, Singapore Institute of Technology, 10 Dover Drive, 138683 Singapore Tel.: +65 6592 1343; fax:
+65 6592 1190.
E-mail address: Stevekj@singaporetech.edu.sg
Smart Cities (Urban Simulation, Big Data)
146 Steve Kardinal Jusuf et al. / Energy Procedia 122 (2017) 145–150
2 Steve Kardinal Jusuf et al. / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000
to realize meaningful integration. A unified model is under development for integrating the two standards; but the
integration sacrifices its semantics and cannot be applied to existing models. The key of the integration is merely data
conversion.
In this project, a practical approach for local Singapore context is being used to build a simple and straightforward
transition framework. The research approach uses case study models and the research focuses on understanding and
defining the rules of data semantics for seamless geometric transformation and semantic matching between the two
formats.
2. Literature review
CityGML is an XML-based encoding for the representation, storage, and exchange of virtual 3D city and landscape
models. CityGML is realized as an opened data model implemented as an application schema for the Geography
Markup Language 3 (GML3), the extendible international standard for spatial data exchange issued by Open
Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and ISO TC211. It provides a standard model and mechanism for describing 3D objects
with respect to their geometry, topology, semantics and appearance. It also includes generalization hierarchies between
thematic classes, aggregations, relations between objects, and spatial properties. [1,2,3].
IFC is defined as an object-based file format oriented specification for exchanging, sharing and re-using information
throughout the building industry’s life -cycle. It is an open file format developed and maintained by buildingSmart
(formerly the International Alliance for Interoperability). The goal of IFC is to specify a common language for building
industry technology that improves communication, productivity, delivery time, cost, and quality throughout the design,
construction and maintenance life cycle of building. IFC is used to assemble computer readable models that contain
data elements that represents parts of buildings and their relevant information. [1,3,4]
Despite the incompatibility between IFC and CityGML, various solutions have been tested to overcome this
problem. The first approach is to achieve integration through application domain extensions (ADEs) as presented by
Bahu and Nouvel [5] or T. Kolbe [6]. Other approaches to achieve integration are the unidirectional transformation of
IFC building models into CityGML, as presented by van Berlo and de Laat with their GeoBim extension [7] or El
mekway Östman and Hijazi with their Unified Building Model (UBM) [1,4,8,9].
Xun Xu, et al proposed the concept of City Information Modeling (CIM) as an information integrating framework
for BIM and GIS, comparing and mapping the data schema behind each other [10]. Yu and Teo studied the generation
of CityGML LOD models form BIM/IFC models by dividing geometric conversion into calculating node points’
coordinates and editing geometric information, followed by attribute conversion [11]. Amirebrahimi, et al approached
the integration of GIS and BIM through a data model to assess the damage of building due to flooding. They designed
a conceptual data model illustrating the required concepts and their relationships. An UML class diagram was
employed for developing and presenting the data model [12]. Geiger, et al integrated an IFC model in a CityGML
through a method for semantical and geometrical generalization of IFC models. The method is implemented as an
early prototype in the software platform IFCExplorer, developed at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. [13]
Karan, et al used semantic web technology to ensure semantic interoperability between existing BIM and GIS tools
[14]. Kang and Hong proposed a BIM/GIS-based information Extract, Transform and Load (BG-ETL) software
architecture that separates geometrical information from that related to relevant properties [15]. Deng, et al used an
instance-based method to generate the mapping rules between IFC and CityGML and design a reference ontology and
CityGML ADE for schema mediation [16].
3. Research Objectives and Methodology
The objective of this research is to propose a spatial extract, transform and load (spatial ETL) workflow for the
effective integration of IFC, CityGML and Sketchup that could be use as model visualization for web application and
in a micro climate modelling perspective. Several effective ETL workflows are designed to define adequate
transformations between IFC and CityGML at different Level of Detail (LOD) and between IFC and Sketchup.
Two case studies were developed, including visualization for a web application for urban energy planning and an
input model of the urban microclimate modelling STEVE Tool.
Steve Kardinal Jusuf et al. / Energy Procedia 122 (2017) 145–150 147
2 Steve Kardinal Jusuf et al. / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000
to realize meaningful integration. A unified model is under development for integrating the two standards; but the
integration sacrifices its semantics and cannot be applied to existing models. The key of the integration is merely data
conversion.
In this project, a practical approach for local Singapore context is being used to build a simple and straightforward
transition framework. The research approach uses case study models and the research focuses on understanding and
defining the rules of data semantics for seamless geometric transformation and semantic matching between the two
formats.
2. Literature review
CityGML is an XML-based encoding for the representation, storage, and exchange of virtual 3D city and landscape
models. CityGML is realized as an opened data model implemented as an application schema for the Geography
Markup Language 3 (GML3), the extendible international standard for spatial data exchange issued by Open
Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and ISO TC211. It provides a standard model and mechanism for describing 3D objects
with respect to their geometry, topology, semantics and appearance. It also includes generalization hierarchies between
thematic classes, aggregations, relations between objects, and spatial properties. [1,2,3].
IFC is defined as an object-based file format oriented specification for exchanging, sharing and re-using information
throughout the building industry’s life -cycle. It is an open file format developed and maintained by buildingSmart
(formerly the International Alliance for Interoperability). The goal of IFC is to specify a common language for building
industry technology that improves communication, productivity, delivery time, cost, and quality throughout the design,
construction and maintenance life cycle of building. IFC is used to assemble computer readable models that contain
data elements that represents parts of buildings and their relevant information. [1,3,4]
Despite the incompatibility between IFC and CityGML, various solutions have been tested to overcome this
problem. The first approach is to achieve integration through application domain extensions (ADEs) as presented by
Bahu and Nouvel [5] or T. Kolbe [6]. Other approaches to achieve integration are the unidirectional transformation of
IFC building models into CityGML, as presented by van Berlo and de Laat with their GeoBim extension [7] or El
mekway Östman and Hijazi with their Unified Building Model (UBM) [1,4,8,9].
Xun Xu, et al proposed the concept of City Information Modeling (CIM) as an information integrating framework
for BIM and GIS, comparing and mapping the data schema behind each other [10]. Yu and Teo studied the generation
of CityGML LOD models form BIM/IFC models by dividing geometric conversion into calculating node points’
coordinates and editing geometric information, followed by attribute conversion [11]. Amirebrahimi, et al approached
the integration of GIS and BIM through a data model to assess the damage of building due to flooding. They designed
a conceptual data model illustrating the required concepts and their relationships. An UML class diagram was
employed for developing and presenting the data model [12]. Geiger, et al integrated an IFC model in a CityGML
through a method for semantical and geometrical generalization of IFC models. The method is implemented as an
early prototype in the software platform IFCExplorer, developed at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. [13]
Karan, et al used semantic web technology to ensure semantic interoperability between existing BIM and GIS tools
[14]. Kang and Hong proposed a BIM/GIS-based information Extract, Transform and Load (BG-ETL) software
architecture that separates geometrical information from that related to relevant properties [15]. Deng, et al used an
instance-based method to generate the mapping rules between IFC and CityGML and design a reference ontology and
CityGML ADE for schema mediation [16].
3. Research Objectives and Methodology
The objective of this research is to propose a spatial extract, transform and load (spatial ETL) workflow for the
effective integration of IFC, CityGML and Sketchup that could be use as model visualization for web application and
in a micro climate modelling perspective. Several effective ETL workflows are designed to define adequate
transformations between IFC and CityGML at different Level of Detail (LOD) and between IFC and Sketchup.
Two case studies were developed, including visualization for a web application for urban energy planning and an
input model of the urban microclimate modelling STEVE Tool.
Steve Kardinal Jusuf et al. / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000 3
Autodesk Revit 2016 and Graphisoft Archicad 20 were utilized in developing the building models as prototype for
the transformation testing. Two apartment block models have been developed to be used as prototype. The
transformation system has been developed by using Feature Manipulation Engine (FME) 2016.1, by Safe Software.
By using FME, a workflow has been designed to restructure the data model (IFC) and transform it to the destination
data format (CityGML or Sketchup).
4. Transformation Processes and Results
4.1. Main Transformation 1– IFC to CityGML LOD2 Extrusion model with surfaces (see Fig. 1.)
Fig. 1. (a) “Slab” Block Apartment in Archicad Format; (b) “Slab” Block Apartment in CityGML LOD2 format.
A workflow was designed using FME, see Fig. 2. The 1st step was to read the source. As IFC source, only the
IfcSlab was loaded to create an external envelop of the building in CityGML. By importing the IfcSlab only, it reduced
the required processing time to generate the outer envelope of an extrusion block, based on the outermost feature of
the building. A BoundExtractor was then used to extract the coordinates of the cuboid bounds of the object, given by
_xmin, _xmax, _ymin, _ymax, _zmin and _zmax which covers the six corners. This bound was based on minimum
bound to enclose the 3D object in a 3D canvas space. Then a Testfilter was used to eliminate the unnecessary slab
elements from the IFCslab’s feature.
Fig. 2. IFC to CityGML LOD 2 Transformation Workflow
The 2nd step was to create a single mesh. A MeshCreator_IFC custom transformer was created which automated
the process of creating a solid object with surface mesh from the solid read from IFC files. This step created a merged
mesh, whereby the model can be enclosed in a single boundary cuboid for further processing in latter stages. Then, a
LODExtrusionBlock custom transformer was used to create a solid geometry with a fixed cross-sectional profile based
on the IfcSlab taken from the geometry of the feature, generated from the previous transformer. The height of the
building has been automatically determined by the entire mesh of the object from the previous transformer. A
3DRotator_Alignment custom transformer was then added allowing the user to specify the rotation of the 3D block
created and align the block to the origin. This allowed the coordinate to be set accurately in the latter
CRS_Transformer.
The 3rd step was to set the attributes. Valid geometry traits, such as a valid geometry type, feature roles, and a level
of detail for every surface were set. The geometry traits were used by the CityGML writer to create the correct and
148 Steve Kardinal Jusuf et al. / Energy Procedia 122 (2017) 145–150
4 Steve Kardinal Jusuf et al. / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000
valid geometry for the feature based on the CityGML Schema. The 4th step was to set the coordinate system and
surfaces. A CRS_Transformer custom transformer was created, simplifying the process of setting the coordinate
system. It re-projected the entire model to the correct coordinates. Then, a SurfaceSplitter_3DExtrusion custom
transformer was added. It allowed the different surfaces to be identified before writing to the CityGML. When writing
the CityGML format, the extruded LOD2 model clearly identified the Ground, Roof and Wall surfaces to form a
standardized CityGML model. This workflow could be combined to have several CityGML LOD2 files generated in
a single transformation.
It can, therefore, be loaded to the EDF City Platform and be used to simulate the energy consumption for the
individual buildings as seen in Fig. 3. EDF City Platform, a City Application and Visualization Interface (CAVI), is a
complex system modelling tool developed to help urban planners evaluate the trade-offs in master-planning scenarios,
from building to city scale assessments. It evaluates different indicators like energy, emissions, costs, transport, in an
integrated way.
Fig 3. Cavi Platform – Visualization of CityGML LOD2
4.2. Main Transformation 3– IFC to Sketchup (see Fig. 4.)
Fig. 4. (a) “Slab” Block Apartment in Revit Format; (b) “Slab” Block Apartment in Sketchup format.
A single IFC building could be easily converted to a Sketchup format using the IfcSlab with a tester to eliminate
the unnecessary slab elements (like stairs, roof or ground), then apply a SurfaceFootPrintReplacer and an extruder.
The challenge was to combine multiple buildings with road surfaces to form a neighborhood. A workflow has been
created to overcome that challenge, see Fig. 5. The workflow was a combination of the extrusion buildings (similar to
Fig. 2. workflow), and the roads features. The roads features were based on ESRI Shapefile format, and extracted
from OpenStreetMap. They were polylines, and were categorized into major roads, secondary roads, walkways, etc.
A conversion of the polylines to surfaces was required to visualize them in CityGML, Sketchup and other formats.
Steve Kardinal Jusuf et al. / Energy Procedia 122 (2017) 145–150 149
Steve Kardinal Jusuf et al. / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000 5
To create the roads surrounding the buildings of interest, the GIS shapefile is loaded into FME with the polylines.
Then a Bufferer transformer is used to create the boundary around the polylines, which forms the road surfaces. A
dissolver was used to combine the different buffers created around the polylines, by eliminating the boundaries. The
2DForcer was then used to replace the buffer area with a surface geometry. The custom MeshCreator_IFC was used
to create the surface meshes required to form the surface geometry of the road. Finally, the AttributeCreator was used
to define the parameters for CityGML. For roads, we displayed them as a generic city object, with a LOD2 surface.
Fig. 5. Workflow of multiple buildings from IFC and Shapefile to CityGML and KML
Fig. 6. STEVE Tool Application
150 Steve Kardinal Jusuf et al. / Energy Procedia 122 (2017) 145–150
6 Steve Kardinal Jusuf et al. / Energy Procedia 00 (2017) 000–000
The neighborhood created from simplifying the IFC and the road surfaces, could be displayed in various
applications suitable for further manipulation and web viewing, like Google Earth or STEVE tool (Fig. 6.). The results
presented in this research showed an effective integration of BIM to CityGML/Sketchup including visualization for a
web application and input model of urban microclimate modelling STEVE Tool.
5. Conclusion and future work
This paper presents a mapping framework between IFC and CityGML/Sketchup. Different levels of details and
use cases have also been considered. An Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) software, FME, has been used to generate
a transformation schema to achieve a complete and accurate transformation in different LOD.
Further work could be done to automate the entire conversion and extend the application range, as the study only
considered buildings models and roads and other kinds of special or external features, such as MEP features, site and
so on, were not considered.
Acknowledgement: This work is supported by SIT Innovation Grant WBS: R-MNR-E103-A010
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[15] Kang Tae Wook and Hong Chand Hee. A study on software architecture for effective BIM/GIS-based facility management data integration,
Automation in Construction 54, 2015, pp25-38.
[16] Deng Yichaun, Cheng Jack C.P., Anumba Chimay. Mapping between BIM and 3D GIS in different level of details using schema mediation
and instance comparison, Automation in Construction 37, 2016, pp1-21.
... Another example of application was a study done on integrated modeling between CityGML (City Geography Markup Language) and IFC formats for the analysis of urban microclimates for urban development and neighborhoods. FME was then used to convert data from IFC format to CityGML format [24]. However, there is a lack of applications for existing buildings that could be digitized into a digital model, which in turn could feed GIS spatial reference databases (in Poland, for example, the Land and Building Register). ...
Integration of BIM and GIS Data of a Heritage Building Using FME
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2024
BIM and GIS technologies are used in both planning and investment and construction processes. GIS is more often used in the former, where one operates on a macro scale and information about the environment is essential for decision-making. BIM, on the other hand, is increasingly implemented in investment and construction processes (micro scale). The BIM model as a resource of knowledge and information about the construction object is the basis for decision-making, while data from GIS systems are necessary to obtain reliable information about the environment and the prevailing spatial, social or economic conditions. The basic information from GIS systems are attributes related to geographic location (coordinate system, angle to true north, elevation ordinate). Unfortunately, both technologies use different programming paradigms. GIS is mainly a relational database based on multidimensional tables, while BIM uses so-called encapsulation, polyform, hierarchy or instantiation, which enrich semantically stored data. There are many benefits to integrating geospatial data with building object information. The problem of compatibility and interoperability of the two technologies is the subject of many considerations of basic science and the problem of practitioners during application work. Georeferencing of BIM models is conferred in several ways, however, most of them require relatively expensive commercial tools or extensive digital skills or even programming. Rarely, however, are tools such as FME used for data conversion, management and visualization. Thus, the purpose of the present work was to attempt to properly georeference a BIM model of a historic building, located at Constitution Square in Warsaw, in a GIS environment, and then convert the data to shapefile output format using FME software. The results of the experimental work indicate that the BIM data can be embedded quite accurately in the space of a given coordinate system and displayed against various contextual data, but the 3D geometry itself loses its detail and quality. The paper discusses the limitations of the procedure and future research directions.
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... The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard CityGML (Gröger & Plümer, 2012) and the buildingSMART standard Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) (ISO, 2018) are two prominent data formats (or data models) commonly employed in the domains of architecture, engineering, construction (AEC), and the geospatial world (Biljecki et al., 2021). A detailed discussion regarding the differences between IFC and CityGML data formats can be found in (Biljecki et al., 2021;Kardinal Jusuf et al., 2017). For instance, the IFC data model stores building data in a hierarchical system, with level 1 representing the building itself, level 2 for building floors, and level 3 for building elements, spaces, and space boundaries. ...
City Information Modeling and Its Applications: A Review
Chapter
Full-text available
  • Feb 2024
Over the past few decades, there has been a growing interest in the field of City Information Modeling (CIM). CIM is generally considered a digital representation of a city which can empower the identification of optimal approaches to enhance urban environments. CIM is extensively used in various applications, primarily under the umbrella of smart cities. This chapter first provides a brief review of the history and definition of CIM. Subsequently, the structure and modules of CIM are discussed. Based on the literature review, it is evident that integrating Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Geographic Information System (GIS) is a widely adopted approach for CIM generation. This is because BIM and GIS both model spatial information, with BIM focusing on indoor modeling and GIS emphasizing outdoor environment, thus complementing each other effectively. To investigate the feasibility of CIM applications based on BIM–GIS, the main BIM–GIS integration CIM applications are further reviewed in this chapter. It revealed that these applications include but are not limited to urban planning, urban facility management, urban flood hazard assessment, route and evacuation planning, underground space development and underground utility management, building energy analysis and management, and more.
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... file, which was enriched with the new simulated solar potential information for each building. This enabled the export of the information to various spatial data processing software, such as Qgis [48] (Figure 13). The significance of this process lies in the creation of a sort of solar cadaster, where data on the solar potential of all buildings are consolidated into a single database. ...
A Methodology to Improve Energy Efficiency and Sustainability in Urban Environments
Article
Full-text available
  • Aug 2023
This paper presents a methodology to improve energy efficiency and sustainability in urban environments. The ongoing climate change is causing increasingly important consequences for cities and their inhabitants. Temperatures are rising and human thermal comfort conditions are becoming worse. For this reason, it is essential to evaluate how parts of cities react to these phenomena and how they could improve their behavior. To do this, the area of interest has to be analyzed from various aspects, starting with an assessment of the microclimatic conditions. Through these analyses, it is possible to observe the interactions between climate and the urban context on a macro-scale. The actual results, such as surface temperature and air temperature, will be useful for hypothesizing where different paved surfaces need to be restored with mitigative actions. Another aspect that needs to be considered for a comprehensive analysis of the area’s potential concerns the study of solar potential. We will describe how this topic was approached, making in-depth evaluations of the quality of the results obtained through the analysis of simplified models. The portability of these data within a spatial domain was also evaluated, integrating the values on a territorial database. Another important topic that needs to be analyzed to plan an improvement of an area in terms of energy production is the installation of new solar active production systems. The appropriate inclusion of photovoltaic panels could lead to the near self-sustainability of buildings by decreasing the external energy demand. The results obtained by applying the methodology in a case study highlight that all these aspects must be taken into account simultaneously to improve the existing conditions of entire city areas, leading to a more sustainable urban environment.
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... 3D underground objects are often derived from different datasets. The concept of ExternalReference can be used to refer to external data sets (Elwannas, 2011;Góźdź et al., 2014;Gröger et al., 2012;Jusuf et al., 2017;Van Oosterom et al., 2018). ...
EXTENDING CITYGML 3.0 TO SUPPORT 3D UNDERGROUND LAND ADMINISTRATION
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2022
Rapid development of underground space necessitates the efficient management of underground areas. Data modelling plays an underpinning role in integrating and managing underground physical and legal data. The physical data refers to semantic and spatial data of underground assets such as utilities, tunnels, and basements, while the legal data comprises the ownership information and the extent of underground legal spaces and the semantic and spatial relationships between legal spaces. Current Underground Land Administration (ULA) practices mainly focus on representing only either legal spaces or the physical reality of subsurface objects using fragmented and isolated 2D drawings, leading to ineffective ULA. A complete and accurate 3D representation of underground legal spaces integrated with the 3D model of their physical counterparts can support different use cases of ULA beyond underground land registration, such as planning, design and construction of underground assets (e.g. tunnels and train stations), utility management and excavation. CityGML is a prominent semantic data model to represent 3D urban objects at a city scale, making it a good choice for underground because underground assets such as tunnels and utilities are often modelled at city scales. However, CityGML, in its current version, does not support legal information. This research aims to develop an Application Domain Extension (ADE) for CityGML to support 3D ULA based on the requirements defined in the Victorian state of Australia. These requirements include primary underground parcels and secondary underground interests. This work extends CityGML 3.0, which is the new version of this model. In CityGML 3.0, UML conceptual models as platform-independent models are suggested to express ADEs. Thus, the ADE proposed in this study will be based on UML. The findings of this study show that extending CityGML to support legal information can be a viable solution to meet the requirements of a 3D integrated model for ULA. The CityGML ADE proposed in this study can potentially provide a new solution for 3D digital management of underground ownership rights in Victoria, and it can be used to implement an integrated 3D digital data environment for ULA.
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Integration of GIS and CAD data to perform interactive preliminary environmental analyses at district scale
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2024
This paper describes the proposed methodology, the implementation, and the experience resulting from the further development of a tool, embedded in Rhinoceros/Grasshopper, that allows to perform preliminary environmental analyses at district scale in the case of a new planned building. The CAD-based parametric 3D model of a “new” building, generated in Grasshopper, is enriched with and embedded into a 3D urban scene of the block/district where it is planned to be built. The resulting 3D scene is then used to perform shadowing, solar and wind analyses that are used by architects and engineers in their preliminary development phases of the project. The work stems from a preliminary analysis in terms of data and software requirements carried out between practitioners from both the GIS and AEC domain.More in detail, a series of modules in Grasshopper have been developed that allow to import GIS “surrounding” data at district scale (e.g. buildings, terrain) and to blend them with the “new” building model, in order to perform environmental analyses in (near) real time while the designer interactively changes the design parameters of the building and its position. The paper presents the results and discusses the inherent limitations.
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An Integrated Solution for increased Circularity in Buidings: A Method
Conference Paper
  • Jul 2023
The transformation from a linear to a circular economy remains very slow worldwide. The abundance of materials measured in billions of tonnes is transferred annually within the economy, with minimal materials being cycled back. The construction sector uses approximately half of the materials extracted while generating a third or more of all waste. The current circular potential in the construction industry is yet to be exploited. This paper addresses the issue of materials embedded in buildings and the possibility of their reversible capacities. This paper aims to develop a systemic methodological framework on how to create, collect, process and present data that could facilitate the improvement of a more efficient recovery process of embedded building materials, especially their reuse and high-quality recycling during the renovation and demolition processes. The proposed framework defines a methodological approach for developing an interactive digital solution, a digital map, to increase circularity in a built environment by integrating spatial data and building information models (BIMs). To this end, a four-step methodological approach is introduced: (1) development of BIMs for the existing building stock; (2) allocation of material inventory data to BIMs; (3) calculation of circular economy indicators; and (4) digital solution integration into 3D Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This map may facilitate maximising the circular potential of buildings, support data transparency and broaden accessibility to a broad spectrum of market participants. It could be imbued with tools such as a digital building logbook with which it could share data.
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1. Báo TC Khí tượng TV
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2023
The database infrastructure of the smart city includes a 3D geospatial data system that serves as a platform for various applications, such as designing, building, and proposing emergency response plans in. Currently, ground imaging technology and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imaging technology are the data collection methods often employed in building the 3D geospatial data, ensuring reliability and low cost. Although international standards regulated the process, additional research is necessary to combine data types that suit the specifics of each region, given the variations in the reliability and level of detail of data types. This study focuses on proposing a process for building 3D geospatial data for a smart city using geospatial data collected by UAV and terrestrial photogrammetry. The experimental results have produced 3D geospatial data of adjacent villas in LoD3, with the root mean square error of the received test points mΔx = 1.4 cm, mΔy = 1.6 cm, and mΔz =1.7 cm.
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A data model for integrating GIS and BIM for assessment and 3D visualisation of flood damage to building
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2015
Flood Damage Assessment (FDA) is a key component in modern risk management frameworks providing an effective basis for decision making and the treatment of the risks. Current FDA methods do not consider the distinctiveness of buildings in analysis and therefore, cannot analyse them on a case-by-case basis, which is necessary for a variety of applications like engineering and design evaluation. This is mainly due to the limited input data used in these methods. The information required for such micro-level FDA analysis includes on one hand, complete building information (well-represented in BIM) and on the other hand, flood information that is commonly managed by GIS. While the independent use of BIM and GIS cannot satisfy all the information requirements for detailed FDA, their integration can potentially be used for this purpose. However, existing integration methods are application-specific and their adoption for FDA is challenging. This paper presents a method for BIM-GIS integration to support the requirements of a detailed assessment and 3D visualisation of flood damage to buildings. The data modelling cycle was used to design a new data model as a profile of GML for this purpose. The model was evaluated using a case study and found effective to satisfy the required criteria for micro-level FDA.
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BIM and GIS Integration and Interoperability Based on Semantic Web Technology
Article
Full-text available
  • Jul 2015
When making design and construction decisions, planners must consider information from different scales and domains. Currently, building and geospatial data are shared and exchanged through a common data format, such as industry foundation classes (IFC). Because of the diversity and complexity of domain knowledge across building information modeling (BIM) and geographic information system (GIS) systems, however, these syntactic approaches are not capable of completely sharing semantic information that is unique in each system. This study uses semantic web technology to ensure semantic interoperability between existing BIM and GIS tools. The proposed approach is composed of three main steps: ontology construction, semantic integration through interoperable data formats and standards, and query of heterogeneous information sources. The completeness of the methodology is validated through a case study.
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A Unified Building Model for 3D Urban GIS
Article
Full-text available
  • Jul 2012
  • ISPRS
Several tasks in urban and architectural design are today undertaken in a geospatial context. Building Information Models (BIM) and geospatial technologies offer 3D data models that provide information about buildings and the surrounding environment. The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) and CityGML are today the two most prominent semantic models for representation of BIM and geospatial models respectively. CityGML has emerged as a standard for modeling city models while IFC has been developed as a reference model for building objects and sites. Current CAD and geospatial software provide tools that allow the conversion of information from one format to the other. These tools are however fairly limited in their capabilities, often resulting in data and information losses in the transformations. This paper describes a new approach for data integration based on a unified building model (UBM) which encapsulates both the CityGML and IFC models, thus avoiding translations between the models and loss of information. To build the UBM, all classes and related concepts were initially collected from both models, overlapping concepts were merged, new objects were created to ensure the capturing of both indoor and outdoor objects, and finally, spatial relationships between the objects were redefined. Unified Modeling Language (UML) notations were used for representing its objects and relationships between them. There are two use-case scenarios, both set in a hospital: “evacuation” and “allocating spaces for patient wards” were developed to validate and test the proposed UBM data model. Based on these two scenarios, four validation queries were defined in order to validate the appropriateness of the proposed unified building model. It has been validated, through the case scenarios and four queries, that the UBM being developed is able to integrate CityGML data as well as IFC data in an apparently seamless way. Constraints and enrichment functions are used for populating empty database tables and fields. The motivation scenarios also show the needs and benefits of having an integrated approach to the modeling of indoor and outdoor spatial features.
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Semantic Mapping: an Ontology Engineering Method for Integrating Building Models in IFC and CITYGML
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2010
One of the main problems facing 3D city modelling applications is lack of interoperability among various Building Information Models (BIM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) models. CityGML (representing a wide range of 3D urban objects) and IFC (representing a very detailed semantic model for buildings) are considered the most prominent semantic models in GIS and BIM, respectively, today. When integrating the two models, substantial difficulties may arise in transforming information from one to the other. Professionals from both domains have made significant efforts to integrate CityGML and IFC models for seeking useful common applications. However, most of these efforts use a unidirectional method (mostly from IFC to CityGML) for a conversion process. As a formal mapping between both domains is required, researchers have suggested that harmonising semantics is the best approach for such integration. In this paper, we focus on semantic integration of IFC and CityGML building models for bidirectional conversion. Both IFC and CityGML use different terminologies to describe the same domain. Additionally, there is a great heterogeneity in their semantics. This paper, therefore, propose more expressive reference ontology between IFC and CityGML semantic models and an intermediate Unified Building Modelled (UBM) is built. The result of the paper contributes, through the reference ontology, towards a formal mapping between IFC and CityGML ontologies that allows bidirectional conversion between them. It also contributes towards a design of meta-standard for 3D city modelling that can support applications on both domains.
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Mapping between BIM and 3D GIS in different levels of detail using schema mediation and instance comparison
Article
  • Jul 2016
  • AUTOMAT CONSTR
The Building Information Modeling (BIM) domain and the Geographic Information System (GIS) domain share a mutual need for information from each other. Information from GIS can facilitate BIM applications such as site selection and onsite material layout, while BIM models could help generate detailed models in GIS and achieve better utility management. The mapping between the key schemas in the BIM domain and the GIS domain is the most critical step towards interoperability between the two domains. In this study, Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) and City Geography Markup Language (CityGML) were chosen as the key schemas due to their wide applications in the BIM domain and the GIS domain, respectively. We used an instance-based method to generate the mapping rules between IFC and CityGML based on the inspection of entities representing the same component in the same model. It ensures accurate mapping between the two schemas. The transformation of coordinate systems and geometry are two major issues addressed in the instance-based method. Considering the difference in schema structure and information richness between the two schemas, a reference ontology called Semantic City Model was developed and an instance-based method was adopted. The Semantic City Model captures all the relevant information from BIM models and GIS models during the mapping process. Since CityGML is defined in five levels of detail (LoD), the harmonization among LoDs in CityGML was also developed in order to complete the mapping. The test results show that the developed framework can achieve automatic data mapping between IFC and CityGML in different LoDs. Furthermore, the developed Semantic City Model is extensible and can be the basis for other schema mappings between the BIM domain and the GIS domain.
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An Evaluation of IFC-CityGML Unidirectional conversion
  • Östman El-Mekawy Mohamed
  • Hijazi Anders
  • Ihab
El-Mekawy Mohamed, Östman Anders, and Hijazi Ihab. An Evaluation of IFC-CityGML Unidirectional conversion, International Journal of Advances Computer Science and Application (IJACSA) 2012, Vol. 3, No. 5.
Interoperable semantic 3D city models, ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
  • Jan 2012
  • 12-33
  • Gröger Gerhard
  • Plümer Luz Citygml
Gröger Gerhard, Plümer Luz. CityGML. Interoperable semantic 3D city models, ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 2012, 71 pp12-33.
Integrating BIM and GIS for 3D City Modelling -The case of IFC CityGML Licentiate Thesis -Geoinformatics division -Department of Urban Planning and Environment -Royal Institute of Technology -and
  • Jan 2013
  • El-Mekawy Mohamed
El-Mekawy Mohamed. Integrating BIM and GIS for 3D City Modelling -The case of IFC CityGML Licentiate Thesis -Geoinformatics division -Department of Urban Planning and Environment -Royal Institute of Technology -and Stockholm -Sweden 2013.
  • Jan 2015
  • Bahu Jean-Marie
Bahu Jean-Marie, Nouvel Romain. Development of the CityGML ADE Energy, INSPIRE GWP 2015, Lisbon, 2015.