RUB » Bibliotheksportal

Florian Heger, Daniel Napps

• This paper proposes an approach to enhance architects’ ability to reuse knowledge from previous projects during the early design phases of buildings. Therefore, the use of buildings is discussed to enable efficient comparisons and to apply knowledge from previous projects for new ones. A graph-based comparison based on the hierarchical Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) and a retrieval of similar models has proven highly efficient in related researches. However, the lack of available models limits the applicability of this approach. An alternative method for capturing data from building floor plans and transforming it into a graphical structure based on IFC is provided. This involves analyzing the data contained in floor plans and implementing a tool to transform plans into an IFC floor plan graph. Additionally, it is defined how information is presented in this graph and how missing information is handled to facilitate comparisons with other graphs. The developed interface enables the transformation of 2D floor plans into an IFC graph structure and enhances an existing case base of building graphs, providing architects with an increased ability to find a design solution for an emerging project. It increases the efficiency of decision-making and accelerates the planning phase.