Advanced Building Simulation

This chapter introduces the technologies to achieve interoperability on different
levels. It then reviews a number of existing approaches to develop integrated systems
followed by the in-depth discussion of a new initiative in design analysis integration
that combines interoperability and groupware technologies. The last section draws
conclusions about the state of the art and possible next steps.
8.2 Technologies for interoperability
Developments in interoperability 191
The previous section introduced PDT as the key-enabler of interoperability. It
provides the methods and tools to develop seamless connections of software applications.
The connections at the application side is typically implemented as front and
backend interfaces that read/write and interpret/translate data from other (upstream)
applications and produce data in a format that can be interpreted by other (downstream)
applications. Achieving interoperability for building simulation applications
will for instance require that design information from CAD systems can be read and
automatically translated to the internal native simulation model representation,
whereas the simulation outputs are in some form aggregated and automatically translated
back to a neutral format which can be read by the CAD system or by other software
tools such as code checking procedures, HVAC layout applications, lighting
fixture design tools, or simple client report generators.
Achieving interoperability relies on the ability to identify, gather, structure, generalize,
and formalize information that is exchanged between the variety of building
design and engineering applications. Product models attempt to capture this information
in static and generic representations. It is important to make the distinction
between this product data-centric description and the information that describes the
process context in which product data is exchanged. Process models capture the logic
of the data generation and exchange processes that lead to the various states of the
design. Hitherto, the focus of PDT is mainly on the first category of information.
Process information becomes critical when one needs to manage the deployment of
interoperable tools in a given scenario of use. Anticipating and coordinating the tasks
in real-life scenarios require information about decision-making, design evolution
and change management processes, assignment of roles and responsibilities of design
actors, their possible, even their design rationale, etc. It enables the “orchestration”
of the deployment of applications and other project tasks. In that case the suite of
interoperable tools is embedded in a process managed interoperable system, that
helps system users to execute the control over the exchange events. Section 8.2.1 deals
with the data centric part of interoperability. Sections 8.2.2 and 8.2.3 then discuss the
role of the process context and the technologies that are available to build integrated
systems. It concludes with a brief overview of a prototype system built according to
the ideas introduced in this section.
8.2.1 Data-centric interoperable systems
The area of interoperability in A/E/C has received considerable attention over the last
fifteen years. An overview of projects during this period can be found in Eastman (1999).
In different sectors of the A/E/C industry research and standardization initiatives were
started pursuing the development of a common shared building representation. These