Proposal for an Open Data Model Schema for Precinct-scale Information Management

This paper reports on a project currently underway to investigate how an open exchange standard for modelling information at the scale of an urban precinct can be used to support integrated solutions to achieve low carbon targets in the built environment. The project is part of a major research initiative to deliver on low carbon targets in Australia. The project builds on the concept of BIM to develop an object-oriented approach to modelling the built environment at a broader urban scale, focusing in the first instance on a precinct, being any region within an urban context that can be regarded as an integrated whole for the purposes of planning, design or management. This approach is referred to as precinct information modelling (PIM) and provides a key mechanism to bridge the information modelling gap between building scale (BIM) and the spatial scale. The paper argues the case for such an approach, proposing that the current IFC data model, and recent work that is investigating how that data model can be extended to handle transport infrastructure elements such as roads and bridges, can be adapted with modest extensions to serve this purpose. The paper describes this approach, proposing an initial data model and addressing several key strategies and principles that influence the work (e.g. commonality of concepts to maintain semantic integrity and the use of data dictionaries to define concept hierarchies). The paper offers a review of current approaches, reflects on a couple of trial implementations and provides a discussion of how this work can be carried forward.