Including widespread geometry schemas into Linked Data-based BIM applied to built heritage

A reliable data exchange – often including geometry-related data – between stakeholders is crucial in construction projects. In this regard, data exchange frameworks built on Linked Data principles are very promising for combining disparate data sets. However, existing proposals to combine geometry and Linked Data either demand dedicated applications or support only a limited number of common geometry schemas. If any existing geometry schema could be used in a Linked Data context, error-prone geometry conversions are avoided and stakeholders do not need to invest in new geometry engines. In this paper, the applicability of Resource Description Framework (RDF) literals for including a wide variety of existing geometry schemas is studied and applied in a built heritage context. The uniform linking pattern and related terminology of the Ontology for Managing Geometry are used to implement this approach. Subsequently, the File Ontology for Geometry formats and Geometry Metadata Ontology are developed to ease the reuse of linked geometry descriptions. The effectiveness of the entire data structure is demonstrated in a built heritage case study project. The receiving party is able to create successfully a coordinated view – using a demo web application – on shared, but disparate, RDF data sets containing geometry descriptions.