Re: [ontolog-forum] International Alliance for Interoperability

[Deborah MacPherson <debmacp@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thank you Matthew, this is extremely helpful. So, in the context of building information models:

If a building is a processing plant, 15926 would be necessary to link the spaces and layout to processing activities. Especially because plants don't always have typical floors and can be like a big machine, you just need to see if a person can get through all the pipes and catwalks to service components 15926 would know about.

If the building is an airport, 10303 would be useful to see if there is enough space for the shapes, sizes, and servicing needs of airplanes, if a military base, then submarines. Any product that benefits from 10303 that is housed or moved around from building to building some day may utilize BIM and OGC standards to compare building features and the distances between locations to determine which buildings or locations are the best fit for a set of requirements. 

Some day any dumb office building with square simple geometry and a completely typical purpose could plug and play with smarter, more complex utility grids as Toby Considine states. For this to be consistent across the spectrum of every kind of building and utility service, it would help to use the 15926 reference library and integration features as a translator, or normalizer to level the playing field.

Lots of buildings together change over time, since buildings vary so much both geometrically and in their function, they will never be as modular as lego blocks or data. To monitor and improve sustainability maybe EXPRESS, STEP, 15926 and other logical standards can help see bigger pictures.  

Regards, 

Deborah

On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 5:32 AM, Matthew West <dr.matthew.west@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Dear Deborah,

Let me see if I can shed a little light for you.

> Thanks Matthew, I have never been clear on the relationships between
> 15926, EXPRESS, STEP and the ways these can work together. Is there an
> overview on this somewhere to help the building information community
> understand more about the standards governing larger systems that come
> into buildings, for example utilities?

[MW] There are descriptions of each of these individually, not least in the
standards that embody them, but a brief over view is possible.

EXPRESS

EXPRESS (ISO 10303-11) is a data modelling language. In fact it was the
first such to become an ISO standard. It has very similar capabilities to
UML static models, or indeed any other data modelling language, and indeed
frame based or Description logics. One of its main distinguishing features
is that whilst most data modelling languages are graphical in nature,
EXPRESS has both a graphical and lexical form (like OWL). EXPRESS is a
pre-XML language, and the lexical form is easily human readable as well as
computer interpretable. Both STEP and ISO 15926 data models were originally
developed using EXPRESS.

STEP - Standard for the Exchange of Product model data

STEP usually refers to ISO 10303, but is not the formal name for the
standard, and is also sometimes used to refer to the whole family of ISO
TC184/SC4 standards, including ISO 15926. The key components of ISO 10303
are Application Protocols. These are data models that are exchange standards
for particular interfaces for particular industries. The focus in STEP is on
the exchange of geometric data about products (generally complex ones like
submarines, planes, buildings etc). Some 40 such Application Protocols (AP)
have been developed. As time went on, people wanted to use these APs
together, and found they were not compatible. Since the mid '90s work has
gone on to restructure the APs so that they are constructed out of common
"modules" so that making an SP is now rather more like building out of Lego
blocks. The price is that configuration management is a significant issue.

ISO 15926

The process industries, including the oil industry, arrived on the scene in
the early nineties with a data integration requirement rather than a data
exchange requirement, and where it was already clear that STEP did not
support "plug-and-play" but was a long way from a modular design. ISO 15926
consists principally of an integration data model (ISO 15926-2) and a
Reference Data Library (Part 4) that together provide an integration
environment into which data from different sources and different data models
can be translated and integrated.

Regards

Matthew West
Information  Junction
Tel: +44 560 302 3685
Mobile: +44 750 3385279
matthew.west@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.matthew-west.org.uk/

This email originates from Information Junction Ltd. Registered in England
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-- 
********************************************************

Deborah L. MacPherson CSI CCS, AIA
Specifications and Research Cannon Design
Projects Director, Accuracy&Aesthetics

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