urbanit partner presentation

City Futures Research Centre

Built Environment, UNSW

UrbanIT Partner PresentationA Framework to Support Integrated Metropolitan Planning

Case Study Area: Green Square

Source: Jack Barton

Project Themes: Spatial Decision Support; City Modelling; Metropolitan Strategic Planning; Urban Sustainability & Urban Information ModelsStudy Area: Green SquarePartners: City of Sydney, Department of Planning, LandcomSupported by: Australian Research Council (ARC)Commenced: March 2008Completion: April 2010

Rendering: Jack Barton

The Scale of “Things”

Source: UrbanIT, after Andreas Kohlhaas

Initial Project Aim

“… to demonstrate that a single information framework based on an emerging robust data modelling technology can be exploited to support better decision-making and successful management of metropolitan development in Australia through effective integration of diverse sources of geographic, demographic and planning information.”

(excerpt from Linkage Grant Application)

Specific Project Objective

“… to adapt an information modelling technology that is already gaining wide acceptance in the building industry for modelling at the individual building scale and apply that as an urban information model to facilitate coordinated decision-making based on scientific analyses to accomplish sustainable urban planning and management outcomes.”

(excerpt from Linkage Grant Application)

Rendering: Jack Barton

A Starting Point …

UrbanIT Vision

• Enable a deep understanding of a development within its urban context, rather than in isolation– A significant step beyond urban visualisation– Well informed decision-making– Documented spatial information for large developments– Publically transparent, informed governance– Facilitate local community participation

UrbanIT Approach

• Use of open standards for information management– OGC: Open Geospatial Consortium– ISO IFC: buildingSMART (adapted for urban

models)– Open Solutions

• Use of ontologies to manage integration• Adoption of object-oriented database

management systems (OODBMS)

Neighbouring Developments

• GIS and OGC web services– http://www.opengeospatial.org/pressroom/pressreleases/732 (June 2007)

• City models and CityGML– http://opportunity.bv.tu-berlin.de/software/projects/show/3dcitydb

• Semantic Web and Ontologies• Google Earth and KML• Urban Ontologies (UK Ordnance)

– http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/ontology/

http://www.opengeospatial.org/pressroom/pressreleases/732

http://opportunity.bv.tu-berlin.de/software/projects/show/3dcitydb

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/ontology/

CityGML – Levels of Detail

Source: www.citygml.org

Integrated Data Sources

UrbanIT Framework

extract GIS for feasibility

submit proposal for DA

submit for Strata Title

extract GIS for development

submit for BA

submit for BASIX

submit for METRIX

submit for 319A

decision support

...

UrbanIT Use Cases

Presentation Structure

• Urban Information Model

• Ontologies

• Context Analysis

• Project Compliance Checking

Urban Information Model

• Building Information Model– Object-based concept

• Urban Information Model– Based on the IFC standard– International Endorsement - buildingSMART

• Model Server Technology– EPM Technology – Norway



• Ontologies



Drivers for Urban Models• Nations are responding to climate change

– The built environment must be sustainable• Planning has many pressure points

– Integration of diverse policy, social and city asset data needs a quantum improvement

• Government and City authorities need better information– Security, emergency, transport, etc, etc

• Adoption of Digital Object Modelling in Australia– Inevitable that BIM will become a primary technology for

the built environment

A change in technology…

Green Square Precinct

Project Site (Lot)

Traditional Approach

Project Design & Documentation

Building Information Modelling

Cadastre – links GIS & BIM “A cadastre (also spelt cadaster), using a cadastral survey[1] or cadastral

map, is a comprehensive register of the (boundary) metes-and-bounds of real property of a country.

A cadastre commonly includes details of the ownership, the tenure, the precise location (some include GPS coordinates), the dimensions (and area), the cultivations if rural, and the value of individual parcels of land”.

To build requires the ownership of land, and only relatively recently has it been possible to own part of a facility, that is a strata title.

cadastraltype

Water Feature Road Lot Railway Unidentified

subType TidalNon-TidalOceanUndefined

PublicPathway

Standard LotStandard PartLotStrataStratum

Parcels, boundary lines, parcel corners, and control points (See http://www.profsurv.com/magazine/article.aspx?i=70278)

SurveyedUnsurveyed100ft wide reserveClosed RoadCrossingACT

[1] See Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadastre

Australian Cadastral Types

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadastre%23cite_note-CTdata-0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_registration

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metes_and_bounds

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ownership

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenure

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Location

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadastre%23cite_note-CTdata-0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadastre

Cadastre & Geo-referencing in IFC

• IFC is the open ISO Standard that supports the exchange of whole of life data for buildings – a common language for the built environment

• A complementary development of two activities:

– UNSW, Australia urbanIT Cadastre project and Statsbygg, Norway Geo-referencing project

• Key objectives

– GIS to BIM - precise land data and context to support facility development referenced to map systems

– BIM to GIS - create building models at appropriate levels of detail to support urban planning, control and management

– Achieve an effective integration of diverse sources of geographic, demographic and planning information in BIM

Land Data Conversion

ifcSite entityTwo geometrical representations:• Cadastral boundary• TerrainSpecific Coordinate Reference System

Prototype Urban Repository

Map Reference & Ownership

Object relationships

Strata Title example

Strata Lot parts – Lot 67

Building Element Attributes

Exploring the urban model

• Demonstrate GSq model with SMC– Lot and Road objects and properties– Buildings are located on Sites– Examine Aarlborg and show footprint &

Totalheight property (Google earth demo)– Gadigal building – examine by storey and show

spaces– Pollina Residence – show element properties

Cadastre & the IFC StandardScope

– this work is an enhancement of the current IFC specification (precisely the ifcSite entity)

ITM 44.10 Resolution : – “ITM agrees that the geo-referencing and cadastre

extensions (A Note on Cadastre, v3.02, 18 Jan 2010) in IFC model use as submitted by NO and AC chapters are in principle important and agrees to review the proposal … no less than 6 weeks before the ITM meeting in Korea”.

Achievements• Extension of ISO-PAS 16739 standard (IFC) to

support BIM with cadastral data• IFC at this stage of development provides

– Open format– “richest” object solution for urban modelling– “lighter” solution than CityGML– Multi-disciplinary support for facility life cycle

integrating building services, utilities– Permits holistic urban analysis



• Ontologies



Integration with Ontology

• Ontology– Set of concepts to express a world view

• Web 2.0 – the semantic Web– Concept searching

• Urban Ontologies – current research• Ontology tools – OWL (Web Ontology Language)

– Concept mapping– Queries & reasoning



• Ontologies



Semantic Web Stack

Data encoding

Resource Definition Framework (cf. HTML for Web documents)

Concept definitions

Knowledge management

back

46IFC/Express Schema / Walrus Visualisation

Ontology

Source: Walrus / Jack Barton

47 Source: Walrus / Jack Barton

Green Square Space use from FSES

Source Data: CoS

Ontology mapping

Source: CoS, Walrus, Jack Barton

CONCEPT

FLOORSPACE AND

EMPLOYMENT SURVEY BASIX IFC SCHEMA STRATA SEPP65

SITE(s) Site_2006 tagcadastre IfcSite AddressContext,

Streetscape

BUILDING Building_2006 building_details IfcBuildingFirsthousenum,

'Name'Built form

STOREY Floor_2006building_details

.storeysIfcBuildingStorey

Floor_num (usually NULL)

Scale: Bulk, height

SPACE SpaceUnits_2006 dwelling details IfcSpace, IfcZoneLot_num vs.

unit_numUnits, Room:

Dimension+Shape

PROJECT Establishmentproject_details.tag_cadastre

IfcProject Strata Plan (SP) Process

PERSON Tenant, SurveyorAccredited Assessor

IfcPerson, IfcOccupant

Owner, Organisation

Social Dimensions, Density

Same Same, but different

Mapping

Fuzzy Mapping

Information Leverage & Integration

• Information System Development in Urban Environment

• Characteristics of Data Sources• Challenges in Urban Modelling/Spatial

Decision Support • Advanced Metropolitan Strategic Planning

53

Benefits of Ontologies

• Transparency in data access: Multi-Channel Capability• Domain experts focus on modelling supported by

semantically rich formalism: Partner Connectivity• Providing logic-based inference for automating processing

and reasoning tasks: Real-time, Web Interface• Users face open, unified and user-defined conceptual views• Convenient platform at the levels of the conceptualization for

easy maintenance and reusability: One-stop Experience• Leading to Service-Oriented Computing, diversified/flexible

Business Architecture: Business Process Management• Open Standard: Service Oriented Design

54



• Ontologies



Context Analysis

1. Site context retrieval –Informing a potential DA

2. Visualising as-built performance–A building in a 3D, data-driven context

3. Visualising an application–BIM in LoD:1

LoD:1 Massing+ DCP heights




Context Analysis

Online interface

Context Model




Context Analysis

Illustrative Values (VG)

Illustrative Star-rating (BASIX)




Context Analysis

Aarlborg Site 10398715 DP739598

An Application in Context

CONSIDERATIONS

• Level of detail• Levels of security: open/public data vs private

data• Level of spatio-temporal accuracy: Unverified /

Verified• Custodianship, accountability• Preservation of Spatial Coordinate Systems,

metadata, Three-dimensionality (ANZLIC)

http://www.anzlic.org.au/

UrbanIT STRENGTHS

• OPEN FORMATS EXTENDED• (MOSTLY) OPENSOURCE• DATABASE DRIVEN, WEB DELIVERED• DYNAMIC, SEMANTIC AND (GEO)SPATIAL• LIVE• NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL ORIGINALITY



• Ontologies



Compliance Checking

• Model Server as a Repository– Information model upload

• Compliance Checking– Reports based on information content– Model auditing

• BASIX compliance example– IFC schema & BASIX compliance analysis



• Ontologies



BASIX Assessment

• Chosen as “proof of concept” pilot– Used the NSW Basix Web site (see

http://www.basix.nsw.gov.au)– Mapping specification prepared to

identify any gaps in IFC support• Trial implementation of 5 steps

– Project address, Plan type, Building type & “bedroom” count, Thermal comfort - wall types

http://basix.nsw.gov.au/

Basix – Web Assessment Steps

For each step in the BASIX submission process each data item has been mapped to the appropriate entity in the IFC Specification. In this analysis we have not investigated all details in the system, but we consider that we have been able to interpret everything in principle to support the use of a BIM in IFC format as the means of submitting for BASIX assessment.

Basix IFC MappingExample

Pollina Residence – BASIX Assessment

Process Management - IDM• The IDM (Information Delivery Manual)

defines in the language and perspective of the professional participant (‘submitter’) what information must be contained in a “model exchange”.

• Since the downstream participant (DoP) expects very specific information, data exchanges should be carefully specified to ensure that required information is proved sufficient and complete, including for example naming and classification.

• The EDM model server IDM functions allow the checking of a model to suit specific exchanges

Address details - BASIX

Project (building) type - BASIX

Room type ‘Bedroom’ count - BASIX

Thermal Comfort: wall types

Wall Materials Report – The Beecroft

Auditing & Checking Models

• “Well built” models are models created to a formal guideline or specification

• The CRC-CI has initiated such guidelines(see http://www.buldingSMART.org.au/)

• IFC modelservers have tools and functions to automate such IDMs to validate data conformance, content etc

• Model Guidelines are an essential next step

http://www.buldingSMART.org.au/

UrbanIT Strengths

• Better access to planning information• Better communication between experts/non-experts• Better intergovernmental information sharing• Movement away from bureaucratic duplication toward

automation. Text based moving toward spatially enabled secure, logged and verifiable transactions

• Seamless integration with existing planning tools• Ability to see a development in an urban context, rather

than in isolation

What makes this different?

• BIM – extension to form an urban information model

• GIS – achieves better granularity at the urban scale

• Ontologies – for knowledge integration

Exploiting the urban model

• How can the urbanIT framework support planning and local government?– Creation & management of asset data– Compliance checking

• DA assessment• BASIX assessment• Occupancy Certificate and related certification

– Planning policy and analysis– Sustainability & resource analysis

Next Steps

• This project has developed a framework that needs continuing development

• The framework now needs strengthening in– The “planning” view– Consultation with more interested parties – other

Local Govt organisations, key consultants, data suppliers

• There are many potential avenues for discussion

Continuing the work…

• Three ideas …– Develop a CoS Model Guideline that enables

FSES data to be updated from a BIM– Develop model-based eDA submissions– Operationalise the Green Square project for

submissions & PRECINX compliance

Project Wrap-up

• Partner reports– Project documentation– Recommendations – Letter needed (template provided)

• Webpage– Download .ppt presentation– Publications in progress, blogs, tutorials– Downloadable (public) ontologies, source code

PARTNERS

UrbanITBill RandolphJim PlumeJack Barton John MitchellDavid MarchantPeter RickwoodHairong YuBruno ParolinBruce Judd

http://urbanit.fbe.unsw.edu.au/

Source: Jack Barton