8

Building Information Systems – Extended

Building-Related Information Systems
Based on Geospatial Standards
Jörg Blankenbach and Catia Real Ehrlich
Technische Universität Darmstadt,
Germany

1. Introduction
In the context of facility management, specific building information systems or so called
Computer Aided Facility Management (CAFM) systems are often utilised. Similar to geo
information systems, these systems use geometric and graphical data (e.g. CAD floor plans)
for space management inside buildings. By the use of current trends in geo information
science (e.g. 3D interior room models) these systems could be extended considerably.
Moving to real-time data exchange and interoperability across several systems; geo
standards and geo web services can be used for the description and provision of building
objects with all their information. Thus, new web or mobile applications based on building
information systems will become possible where geo information plays a crucial role. The
applications, which could benefit from such extended building information systems, reaches
from services for improved facility management (e.g. inspection and maintenance) to mobile
navigation for pedestrians and emergency staff (e.g. fire fighters).
This chapter introduces CAFM-systems. Modern geo information standards like CityGML
and geo web services are described (Section 3), which could be used to extend these
systems. Workflow and software architecture for utilising these standards for building
information systems will be outlined (Section 4). In conclusion, application examples which
could benefit from these new building information systems are demonstrated (Section 5).

2. Motivation and subjective

In general, Geo Information Systems (GIS) are tools for the capture, storage, management,
visualisation, and presentation of spatial related data. In addition, this spatial data can be
queried, analysed, evaluated, or simulated in real time. Usually geo information systems are
used for outdoor issues (i.e. urban planning), but buildings, their interior components, and
assemblies are also spatially referenced and can be implemented with a GIS. For the
management and provision of (spatial and non-spatial) building data, Building Information
Systems (BIS) can be applied. With Computer Aided Facility Management (CAFM) systems,
a type of GIS for buildings already exists supporting in particular the facility management.
Specifically the space management in CAFM systems i.e. for cleaning, occupancy, or lease
issues are done with geometric data of the building quite similar to GIS. Most CAFM

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systems, however, are using 2D data such as floor plans or 2D CAD drawings. The user
interface of these systems are normally desktop or browser (web) clients (Figure 16).
With the third dimension an enhanced description of the building is possible. Details of a
building such as installations and equipment can be described more realistically and viewed
in each possible perspective. The observer stands in the centre of the 3D building and can
move on his own axis or change the line of sight in this scene. Materials, textures, lights, and
other effects make the 3D interior building model more realistic. The observer in virtual
reality can examine and analyse the building without being on-site. When on-site the user,
equipped with a mobile device, can find his/her way through the building without
cumbersome plans in his/her hands and can demand and display building attributes (e.g.
building services). A plethora of questions and problems may be solved and are suitable for
many business applications.
The deployment of a geo information system on the basis of three-dimensional interior
building models requires the correct modelling of geometry, semantics, and topology as
well as the provision of this data via standardised web based interfaces.

3. Basic technologies
Standardisation plays an important role in the multifunctional use and profitability of a
building information system. Web standards ensure that information can be accessed by all
users and applications (interoperability).
The next sections describe the important basic technologies which will support the
developed building information system.

3.1 CityGML
CityGML is an interoperable data model of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) for
virtual 3D models of a city and can be used to describe, exchange geometric and topological,
as well as semantic properties of buildings. This standard is based on XML (Extensible
Markup Language), an expandable, text based, and standardised format for the
representation of any information (e.g. documents, data, configuration, or transaction).

LoD 1 building LoD 2 building

LoD 3 building LoD 4 building

Fig. 1. Building model in LoD 1 to LoD 4 (Gröger et al., 2008)

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CityGML differentiates between four Levels of Detail (LoD 0-4). For example, a building
can be described geometrically as block model in level 1 or as an interior room model in
level 4 (see Fig. 1). With increasing level, more details about the building will be depicted
and the building model gains clarity and expressiveness. The following table describes the
correspondence of the different building objects to LoDs. (Bleifuss, 2009; Gröger et al.,
2008)

Building features LoD 1 LoD 2 LoD 3 LoD 4

Building shell x x x x
Outer boundary surfaces (outer wall,
x x x
roof, ground)
Outer building installations x x x
Openings (Door, Window) x x
Rooms x
Interior boundary surfaces (ceiling,
x
floor, interior wall, closure surface)
Interior building installations x
Building furniture x
Table 1. Building features with their Levels of Detail (in according to Gröger et al., 2008)

CityGML includes a geometric, topological, and a semantic model. All models can be linked
together and used for the execution of thematic queries, analyses, and simulations. The
semantic model defines real objects in the form of classes, which represent the meaning and
classification of objects. These objects (e.g. buildings, outer walls, windows, or rooms) are
referred to as features. The geometric model allows the definition of geometric properties of
three-dimensional spatial objects. For this, the position and form of the CityGML-feature is
described uniformly as GML-geometry. GML (Geography Markup Language) is a XML-
based, international standard for the exchange of geo data. It allows the modelling of 0-3-
dimensional objects. For the relations between features, CityGML offers a topological model.
The relationship is implemented through references. Multiple Features can refer to the same
feature or geometry object. (Gröger et al., 2008)
Figure 2 illustrates a part of CityGML document. Every building component can be
modelled with CityGML building features. In addition to the description of the building
with attributes (e.g. class, function, usage, year of construction, year of demolition, roof
type, measured height, ...), a wall surface for the presentation of a building in LoD 4 is
defined. The wall surface is combined by multiple GML surfaces (gml:MultiSurface), which
in turn is described with GML polygons (gml:Polygon). Subsequently rooms, outer building
installations, room installations, and building furniture can be modelled.
The CityGML document can be viewed with dedicated software. For example, LandXplorer
CityGML Viewer from Autodesk (available from http://www.citygml.org) is a visualisation
program which allows the simultaneous display of geometric and semantic properties of
buildings.

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<CityModel
...
xmlns:citygml="http://www.citygml.org/citygml/1/0/0"
xmlns:bldg="http://www.opengis.net/citygml/building/1.0"
xmlns:gml="http://www.opengis.net/gml"
xmlns="http://www.opengis.net/citygml/1.0">
<cityObjectMember>
<bldg:Building gml:id="BUILDING_1">
<bldg:class> schools, education, research </bldg:class>
<bldg:function> kindergarten or nursery </bldg:function>
<bldg:usage> kindergarten or nursery </bldg:usage>
<bldg:roofType> combination of roof forms </bldg:roofType>
<bldg:storeysAboveGround>3</bldg:storeysAboveGround>
<bldg:storeysBelowGround>1</bldg:storeysBelowGround>
...
<bldg:boundedBy>
<bldg:WallSurface gml:id="SURFACE_1">
<bldg:lod4MultiSurface>
<gml:MultiSurface>
<gml:surfaceMember>
<gml:Polygon>
<gml:exterior>
<gml:LinearRing>
<gml:posList count="5" srsDimension="3">
7.196 2.719 -4.294
6.623 2.713 -4.294
6.556 10.749 -4.294
7.123 10.752 -4.294
7.196 2.719 -4.294
</gml:posList>
</gml:LinearRing>
...
</gml:MultiSurface>
<gml:MultiSurface>
...
</gml:MultiSurface>
</bldg:lod4MultiSurface>
<bldg:opening>
...
</bldg:opening>
</bldg:WallSurface>
</bldg:boundedBy>
... outerBuildingInstallation, roomInstallation, interiorFurniture
</bldg:Building>
</cityObjectMember>
</CityModel>

Fig. 2. Part of a CityGML document

3.2 Geo Web Services

Web services represent a modern model for Internet based applications following the paradigm
of Service Oriented Architectures (SOA). This architecture bases on components (i.e. services)
that can be plugged together to build larger more comprehensive services. Each service is self-
describing and provides standardised interfaces. Geo Web Services are specialised web services
following the standards of the OGC as framework for online geospatial services such as
mapping, geo data providing, or geo processing services. These services, also called OGC Web
Services (OWS), allow distributed geo processing systems to communicate with each other
across the Web using familiar technologies such as XML and HTTP. The following subchapters
detail several OWS which support three-dimensional geo data.

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3.2.1 Web Feature Service

The Web Feature Service (WFS) is one of the basic OGC Web Service for the access and
manipulation of geo information at any time and place. For the exchange of geo data, GML
is used, which allow the storing, editing, and transformation of spatial information in vector
format.
The communication is carried out by a software client (e.g. Web browser). In this process, the
WFS receives the client-request and sends back a response to the client (see Fig. 3). The service
will be available via a fixed address (Uniform Resource Locator, URL). (Vretanos, 2005)

request querying and storing

of geo data
Clients WFS Feature Store
response
(e.g. geo database)
GML

Fig. 3. Interaction of a WFS

According to the OGC-specification, the WFS provided up to six request operations

(Vretanos, 2005):


GetCapabilities


GetFeature


DescribeFeatureType


Transaction


GetGMLObject
LockFeature
For the query of all or individual feature instances, the GetFeature operation can be used.

3.2.2 Web 3D Service

At the moment, OGC develops several services for the visualisation of three-dimensional
geo data (http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/dp). Examples include the Web
Terrain Service (WTS), the Web View Service (WVS) and the Web 3D Service (W3DS). The
WTS and WVS provide the internet user a rendered picture (JPEG, PNG, etc.) of 3D geo
data. The selection, displaying, and rendering of geo features is executed by the server
(Thick Server), refer Figure 4. The advantages of thick-server-models are that clients do
not need specially hardware and software updates. Technical changes are installed on the
server. Disadvantages are severely limited interaction of the client site and potential
server overload. For every interaction of the user new rendered pictures must be sent to
the client, meaning the geo data must be again selected, viewed, and rendered by the
server. If too many clients queries at the same time, it may lead to delays and the client is
waiting for an answer. In the worst case scenario it could lead to a breakdown of the
server.
The Web 3D Service (W3DS) allows also the visualisation and navigation of 3D geo data on
the web. In contrast to the other services, the W3DS transfers a 3D graphic format to the

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Image

Rendering

X3D,
Display Elements
VRML

Displaying

Features GML3,
CityGML

Selection

Data Source

WTS, WVS W3DS WFS

Thick Medium Thin
Server Server Server

Fig. 4. Several 3D web services (in according to Schilling et al., 2010)

client, which contains a 3D scene. The 3D scene can be viewed interactively in the web
browser with 3D plug-ins or in a visualisation software (Medium Server). Through the use
of standards and plug-ins, a simple operation of the visualisation of 3D geo data in the web
is possible. (Schilling et al., 2010)
For the visualisation of geo data in the web the W3DS supports several 3D graphic formats,
for example X3D (Extensible 3D) or VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language). VRML is a
text based format and is used as description and visualisation of 3D scenes in the web. X3D
is a XML based standard for three-dimensional graphics in the web. In view of high
complexity, inability to expand, and the large data volumes of the VRML standard this
standard will be replaced by X3D. With X3D it is possible to create and visualise complex
geometry objects. The structure of X3D is divided into header and scene (see Fig. 5). The
header include the metadata (title, creator, description, created, version, ...) for the
specification of the document. The scene contains the description of the 3D world with
lights, background, navigation, viewpoint, and shapes. The element shape defines the
geometry and appearance of the geometry object. In addition to the basic geometric forms
(box, cone, cylinder, and sphere) it allows to describe objects with coordinates
(IndexFaceSet), extrusion of 2D geometries (Extrusion) and elevation grid (ElevationGrid).
(Pomaska, 2007)
A W3DS enables the visualisation of 3D scenes in the X3D format. The service provides five
operations, which could be accessed by the user. The GetScene operation provides a scene in
X3D or VRML format and can be viewed in a internet browser.

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 GetCapabilities
 GetScene
 GetFeatureInfo
 GetTile
 GetLayerInfo
The W3DS is presently an OGC discussion paper but it will, in all probability, become an
OGC standard. (Schilling et al., 2010)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<X3D
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsd:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="http://www.web3d.org/specifications/x3d-3.0.xsd"
profile="Interchange" version="3.0">
<head>
<meta name="title" content="building"/>
<meta name="description" content="X3D-Model of a Building"/>
<meta name="created" content="08.12.2010"/>
<meta name="modified" content="08.12.2010"/>
<meta name="generator" content="transformation.CityGMLToX3D"/>
</head>
<Scene>
<Background groundColor=".1 .4 .1" skyColor=".8 .8 1"/>
<Shape>
<IndexedFaceSet convex="false" solid="false" coordIndex=" 5 6 7 -1 4 5 7
-1 4 7 8 -1 4 8 9 -1 3 4 9 -1 3 9 0 -1 3 0 1 -1 3 1 2 -1">
<Coordinate point="2.0 6.613 -3.221, 2.558 6.613 -3.224, 4.794 9.419 -3.236,
4.794 9.489 -3.236, 8.023 9.489 -3.254, 8.023 9.151 -3.254, 9.985 6.613 -3.264,
10.543 6.613 -3.264, 7.666 10.009 -3.252, 5.019 10.046 -3.238, "/>
</IndexedFaceSet>
<Appearance>
<Material diffuseColor="0.5 0.1 0.1" transparency="0.0"/>
</Appearance>
</Shape>
<Shape>
...
</Shape>
...
</Scene>
</X3D>

Fig. 5. Part of a X3D document

4. Workflow and architecture

The development of a building geo information system by the use of CityGML and Geo
Web Services require some important steps; capture, storage, management, provision,
visualisation, and analysis of building-related geo data. A brief overview of these
consecutive steps is described below.

4.1 Capture
For measuring as the basis for the building data capturing various techniques like hand
measurements, laser scanning, photogrammetry, or tachymetry can be employed.

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Hand measurements
For the acquisition of simple geometries, measuring tapes, folding rules, and laser distance
meters can be used. If the room is not rectilinear and complex, the method reaches its limits.
This technique is mostly consulted as extended method for the building survey.
Tachymetry
With electro-optical distance measuring, a tachymeter determines contactless the position of
points (polar point determination). In addition to the measuring of horizontal and vertical
angles the total station is able to measure distances very precisely.
Photogrammetry
An additional possible process is photogrammetry. The 3D object is recorded by a camera.
Before 3D measurements can be made on the recording photos all pictures have to be
analysed (determination of camera parameters, etc.). Contact with the object is not
necessary.
Laser scanning
With a laser scanning the room can be scanned automatically in a raster. In short periods of
time, a great number of points with x,y,z-coordinates (also called 3D point cloud) is
available (polar point determination). From this 3D point cloud a CAD model can be
obtained.
The choice of a suitable capturing method depends on the recorded object (interior building
structure, lighting, size, usage, etc.), on the completeness, accuracy, speed, and efficiency
required. The table below compares various methods.

Hand Photo-
Tachymetry Laser scanning
measurement grammetry
Expenditure of time in
- + ++ ++
capturing
Accuracy of individual
+ ++ ++ ++
measurement
Expenditure of time in
- + - --
object modelling
Topology + + - -
Semantic - ++ + --
Table 2. Capturing methods by comparison (+: good, -: bad)

Tachymetry utilises a total station enabling the precise determination of individual points of
space on the basis of electro-optical distance measuring. It can be equipped with a laser
range finder to measure reflectorless. Horizontal directions, vertical angles, and slope
distances are registered simultaneously and stored digitally.
If the total station is connected to a computer (e.g. notebook, handheld), the evaluation or
construction of the data can be done on-site (see Fig. 6). In this process the measurement
data is sent from the instrument to the computer. At the computer the data is processed and

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Fig. 6. Building survey with a total station combined with a computer

(http://www.vitruvius.de/software/index.html)

transformed to a geometry model using dedicated measurement software. Building data

(including semantics and attribute data), are captured and constructed simultaneously.
Additionally, the graphical output of the software allows an easy visual controlling of the
measurement.

4.2 Post processing

The measurement software used for data capturing generally creates automatically a three-
dimensional wireframe graphic. For the correct processing of geometric, semantic, and
topological building data a 3D volume model of the building is necessary. With a built-in
export tool the drawing can be exported directly into CAD (Computer Aided Design)
software and converted into a 3D volume model. With the constructive functions of the
CAD program 3D geo data can be generated, modified, and visualised.

4.3 Storage and management in a geometrical-topological data model

In a CAD system, data is stored usually in CAD formats (e.g. dxf, dgn, dwg). CAD formats
show the disadvantage of restricted further processing. Only single user access to the
building model data is possible. Furthermore, CAD systems are not compatible with each
other. In the exchange of data information cannot be read and may be lost. In addition, CAD
formats generally do not support thematic or topological information for analysis and
simulations. For this reason the building data is to be stored in an object-relational geo
database where all building information (including geometry and semantic) can be
organised and managed. AutoCAD Map 3D from Autodesk (http://usa.autodesk.com-
/autocad-map-3d/) is an example of CAD software allowing connection to a geo database
system. This makes it feasible to create, visualise, and save building information in a
database contemporaneously. For the external storage and management of spatial data,
AutoCAD Map 3D use open source technology FDO (Feature Data Object), which allows
direct access to several data formats and databases.

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Oracle is a widespread database management system used for the storage and management
of different information types. Additionally, Oracle provides a spatial extension Oracle
Spatial, which offers tools for the storage of three-dimensional geometries (Brinkhoff, 2005;
Oracle, 2009). In this case the building elements are stored by use of the special geometry
data type from Oracle Spatial. However this geometry data type, also called
SDO_GEOMETRY, does not include the spatial relationships to other elements. Shared
points, lines, surfaces, and solids which belong to several objects are stored multiply, see
picture 7.

redundant line

Fig. 7. Redundancy

This leads to redundant data storage, raising the data volume, and the risk of inconsistencies
in stored data. SDO_GEOMETRY possesses no topographical information. Neighbourhood
analyses are thus possible only with time consuming calculations. As a result, an extended
geometrical-topological data model is developed which saves the geometry, semantic, and
topology efficiently and allows the export into the CityGML data format (refer Subchapters
4.3.1 and 4.3.2). With the help of Java, the stored CAD data can be converted into the
extended CityGML data model. For this, the Java application establish a connection to the
database (e.g. about Java Database Connectivity, JDBC), queries the corresponding data,
divides the Oracle geometry type in his topological primitives, and stores all in the extended
CityGML data model.

4.3.1 Semantic data model

The semantic data model based on the CityGML building schemata (see Fig. 8) is to ensure
the output of the building data in CityGML format. All building features as such as rooms,
building installation, building furniture, and building properties are realised as tables and
attributes. Database relationships describe the link between the features.

4.3.2 Geometric-topological data model

The semantic data model will be supplemented with a geometric-topological data model.
This geometric-topological model is based on the concept of Boundary Representation (B-
Rep). B-Rep is a description method for vector data and describes three-dimensional solids
with topological primitives (see Fig. 9). A solid consists of limiting faces. The face, in turn, is
bonded with edges and an edge is defined through two vertices which carry the geometrical
information in the form of Cartesian coordinates (x,y,z).

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Oracle provides a tool for the storing of topological data (SDO_TOPO), but it works in
current version 11g only with two dimensional objects and cannot be used in a 3D geo
information system. In this case, the topological primitives (solid, face, edge, node) are
realised as tables and linked together with relationships. With these database relationships,
neighbourhood relations between building objects can be detected, because adjacent
building objects refer to the same primitives.

Fig. 8. Extended CityGML-Database-schema (in according to Gröger et al., 2008)

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S
V4(x,y,z) F2 V3(x,y,z)

E3 F1 F2 F3 ...

F3
E4 F1 E2
E1 E2 E3 E4 ...
S: Solid
F: Face
E1 E: Edge
V1 V2 V3 V4 ... V: Vertex
V1(x,y,z) V2(x,y,z)

Fig. 9. Concept of Boundary Representation

4.4 Provision
For the provision of the building data at any time, a Web Feature Service (WFS) which
supports CityGML can be used. A Web Feature Service is an OGC Web Service for the
provision of vector data in GML format (see Subchapter 3.2.1). CityGML is an application
schema of GML. With an Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) the
generated XML output can be converted into CityGML. XSLT is a XML-based language,
defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for the transformation of XML
documents (Tidwell, 2002). With this XSL transformation, XML documents can be
transformed in each other format, for example HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), and
ensures the data exchange of several systems.
The Web Feature Service was extended by such a XSL transformation that allows the
exporting of the stored building data in a conforming CityGML document or in another
format such as IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) for the data change of buildings between
different architecture software (Coors & Zipf, 2005), see Fig. 10.

CityGML-
GetFeature-request
WFS
data readouts
Clients CityGML
response output filter database
CityGML, IFC (XSLT)

Fig. 10. Communication between client and the database about a Web Feature Service

For the access to the geometrical- topological data model, multiple PL/SQL-scripts are used,
which transforms the topological elements into WFS readable geometry objects.

4.5 Visualisation and analysis

The CityGML document can now be visualised and analysed with special viewing software
(e.g. LandXplorer). For example, attribute data of each building object (e.g. walls) can be
queried for the determination of the energy balance of a building (see example application
in Chapter 5). But CityGML is not an efficient graphic format. For the visualisation of 3D

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interior building models with less effort formats such as X3D or VRML can be used. In
contrast to CityGML, X3D is developed for the visual appearance and performance of the
transmittal and display of 3D objects.
With a visualisation service the generated CityGML document can be converted into the
X3D format. OGC has developed a series of services which allow a visualisation of three-
dimensional geo data. The Web 3D Service (W3DS), see Chapter 3.2.2, is such a visualisation
service and able to read and visualise CityGML data in the web when the service contains a
CityGML-X3D-converter. At present this service is not OGC standard but an OGC
Discussion Paper (see http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/dp). As a result, a
bespoke web service as Java EE (Java Enterprise Edition) web application simulating W3DS
was developed generating the desired output formats (see Fig. 11).

GetScene- GetFeature-
3D Service request
CityGML-
request data
WFS readouts
Clients CityGML
response response
Citygml4j, output filter database
X3D JDOM CityGML (XSLT)

Fig. 11. Transformation from CityGML to X3D

The 3D web service, realised as servlet, requests the CityGML data via the Web Feature
Service and transforms this data into the structure of X3D. A servlet is a Java program
running in a servlet container (e.g. Tomcat). It receives and answers inquiries from users
about HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). The GetScene-parameters of this service has been
adapted to the OGC standard. In addition to the parameters Service, Request, Layer, Version,
and Format are offered a Viewpoint. This allows the user to specify his/her position and view
angle in the 3D scene. Via that viewpoint it is possible to load only visible objects in order to
reduce the data volume and response time.
The transformation from CityGML to X3D is realised with the help of Citygml4j and JDOM
(Java Document Object Model). Citygml4j is an open source Java application from the
Institute for Geodesy and Geoinformation Science of the technical university Berlin
(http://opportunity.bv.tu-berlin.de) for handling with CityGML documents. JDOM
(http://www.jdom.org/) creates a tree structure from a XML document in Java and allows
the building and manipulation of XML objects. With these two tools, the CityGML building
data can be easily read and transformed in X3D with Java.
The generated X3D scene can be saved and visualised with a viewer (e.g. InstantPlayer,
Octaga Viewer) or displayed directly in a web browser.
The use of digital information remotely has become matter of fact. Building information can
be queried and displayed on-site with mobile devices such as handhelds or mobile phones.
A special viewer is necessary given the limited display area, relatively poor graphic
performance, and restricted transmission capacity. For that purpose a JavaME (Java Micro
Edition) viewer was developed allowing the visualisation of X3D data. JavaME is tailored to
the limited scope of functions. For the implementation of 3D applications on mobile devices
the Mobile 3D Graphics API (M3G) from JavaME is used. It allows the creation and
visualisation of 3D scenes. (Breymann & Mosemann, 2008)

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In this process the JavaME application reads and parses the X3D file, creates M3G-objects,
renders, and draws directly the 3D scene (Fig. 12). Moreover, it is possible to define
additional cameras, lights, and background features for lifelike three-dimensional objects.

GetScene-
request
Reading in data Web
response
3D Service
X3D
Parsing data

Creating M3G-objects

Rendering + Drawing

Fig. 12. Mobile devices application with JavaME

5. Application example
The three-dimensional building data may be integrated in several applications. The
determination of energy balance for buildings in case of restorations or the navigation in a
building for rescue teams in case of fire are two examples. In the next chapters, there two
example applications describe how the implemented building information system can be
used.

5.1 Building Information System for energy balances

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) finances the project
"PokIm". PokIm (Portfoliostrategien für kommunale Immobilien, Portfolio Strategies for
Municipal Estates) develops strategies for eliminating deficiencies of real estate
management. The aim is to save costs, preserve, and build up public real estate. A possible
approach is through the improvement of buildings. With the help of renovations, the energy
consumption of buildings and corresponding costs (e.g. heating) can be reduced. In order to
be able to renovate in the best way possible an energy balance is needed. With energy
balances, measures and their effects can be checked. Thus suitable energy and cost savings
may be found. For this purpose an geo information system with an accurate building model
is needed. This would include information about the internal structure of the building and
the building basic fabric (material, heat transfer coefficient, etc.). The developed concept can
be used and extended. For the energy balance, properties about building components, how
material characteristics, and thermal conductivity are added in the developed model as
attributes (see Fig. 13).
The building geo information system was implemented and tested on a building (a villa
used as kindergarten). All geometric, topological, and semantic properties were
recorded, modelled, and saved. They can be used for the energy balance of this building
(see Fig. 14).

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Extended Building-Related Information Systems Based on Geospatial Standards 161

Room

Properties BoundarySurface
 Material
 Thermal
conductivity
 ... Geometry

Fig. 13. The expansion of the data model

Fig. 14. Simultaneous display of building attribute data and geometry for the determination
of the energy balance of a building in Autodesk LandXplorer Software

5.2 Distributed Building Information Systems and Indoor Location Services

The availability of semantic 3D building models and the use of open geo standards
(CityGML, WFS, W3DS etc.) previously described allows the interoperable access to
building information at every time. Thus, modern web-based and distributed building
information systems may grow up from which many applications may benefit from. A
selection of possible applications is already mentioned in Section 1.
Interesting kinds of applications in this context are mobile applications which allow the
providing of building information on mobile devices (e.g. smartphones) at any time or place.
Combining these mobile applications with localisation technology for determining the users

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geolocation inside the building automatically (Indoor Positioning), Location-based services or,
expressed more precisely, Indoor Location Services could be developed (Fig. 15). Indoor location
services are meant in this context as applications which provide information or other services
based on a position determination in indoor environments. Generally indoor location services
address mobile applications using portable devices like handhelds or smartphones.

Fig. 15. Indoor Location Services resulting from the combination of building information
systems with indoor positioning systems

5.2.1 Indoor positioning

Although indoor positioning is still a young field of research many localisation prototypes and
systems already exists. Many of those systems utilises a permanent installed localisation
infrastructure like reference stations or beacons inside the building and apply radio waves (e.g.
WLAN, RFID) or ultrasound for localisation of a mobile station. Autonomous systems in turn
detect existing physical forces respectively fields and utilise low-cost sensors (e.g. inertial
sensor units, electronic compasses, barometer) often embedded in a mobile sensor module for
position estimation. Occasionally both approaches are combined in a kind of hybrid position
system. An overview of indoor positioning techniques and system can be found at Bensky
(2008), Kolodziej & Helm (2006), Koyuncu & Yang (2010) and Liu et al. (2007).
In the following a software architecture design for indoor location-based applications is
described using the developed concept of a building information system. An augmented
reality prototype as one application of the developed concept is then introduced.

5.2.2 Architecture for Indoor Location Services

The software architecture of indoor location services resembles commonly used web
applications as a distributed software system. Following the concept described in Sections
4.4 and 4.5 a three tier web application was conceived.
The server side of the developed architecture contains the web and data tier bundled to the
building information platform (Fig. 16). The web tier is composed of some chained geo web

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Extended Building-Related Information Systems Based on Geospatial Standards 163

Fig. 16. Software architecture for indoor location services based on geo web services and
building geo databases

services like a WMS for the dynamic generation of 2D floor maps, a WFS providing all
building and POI data in GML format and a W3DS for the delivery of 3D visualisation
models. In addition, a Web Processing Service (WPS), an additional OGC geo web service is
embedded and able to offer any geospatial processing task. These core services of the
architecture design represent the server side application logic. An additional feature of this
concept is the service chaining meaning that WMS, W3DS and WPS access the WFS as a
client for querying all desired building data.
The data tier contains the geo databases for all information needed; the building data stored
in geometric-topolocigal datamodel (cf. Section 4.3), the point of interest as well as all
further required information.
It is conceivable that more and more building data and services will be available over
standardised web interfaces. These web resources may also be accessed by an indoor
location service over the building information platform.
The client side of the system is a software interface running on handheld, laptop, or any
other kind of (typically mobile) device equipped with a wireless communication interface
for establishing an internet connection and access to the building information platform.
The software architecture design described was implemented for location services in a
building on the university campus. The client side was implemented as a software
application for a handheld device developed with JavaME with interfaces to the core
services of the building information platform. The main component of the client is the map
viewer (Fig. 16) for

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164 Modern Information Systems

- rendering 2D floor plans derived from the WMS

- visualisation of the user’s position determined with the indoor positioning system
- display the POIs requested form the WFS and their relative position derived from the
WPS.
For further information and more detailed description of possible mobile user scenarios of
the building information platform see Blankenbach & Norrdine (2010).

5.2.3 Indoor augmented reality

As one implementation of an indoor location services a prototype of an augmented reality
application for inspection and maintenance tasks was developed. Augmented reality means
the merging of real and virtual world, for example by displaying virtual objects (e.g. power
lines located inside walls) or texts (e.g. names, descriptions) in a picture taken by a digital
camera.
Here a calibrated web cam is used for capturing the real world that is overlaid by a rendered
scene of the building model stored in the building information platform.
The positioning and orientation determination of the web cam is done by a self-developed
indoor local positioning system. The basic technology of this system is Ultra Wide Band
(UWB), a broadband radio technology which shows positive characteristics for indoor
positioning (e.g. the ability to penetrate building materials like walls). The developed
position system - so called UWB-ILPS – allows the precise position determination of a
mobile station equipped with UWB inside a building. Therefore UWB reference stations
with known coordinates are placed indoor. By measuring the time of flight of UWB signals
exchanged between the reference stations and the mobile station, the unknown position can
be determined by means of lateration. More detailed information about UWB-ILPS can be
found at Blankenbach et al. (2009) and Blankenbach & Norrdine (2010).
For the determination of the 3D position and orientation (pose) of the web cam the
measurement system shown in Figure 17 was used. A UWB mobile station was equipped

Fig. 17. Prototype of indoor augmented reality measurement system

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Extended Building-Related Information Systems Based on Geospatial Standards 165

with a base in the middle on which the web cam was adapted. At the ends of the base two
antennas connected to the UWB mobile station were mounted. By determining the 3D
position of the two antennas the 3D position and the yaw angle of the camera can be
determined directly. To find out the two missing degrees of freedom (roll and pitch angle)
an inclinometer as additional sensor is used.
For the control of the augmented reality application a software module with an interface to
the UWB-ILPS system was implemented. The pose estimation of the camera is done
continuously and for every new estimation the W3DS of the building information platform
is queried by sending an http request with the pose as parameters. As result, a 3D scene in
VRML format (Fig. 18, left) is received and overlaid with the taken web cam picture (Fig. 18,
right) by the developed software client.

Fig. 18. Augmented Reality based on CityGML building models: Simplified interior room
model (left); By a precise indoor positioning system oriented web cam picture overlaid with
the room model

6. Conclusion
With this closed concept three-dimensional building models can be managed and provided
efficiently. Furthermore, with the involvement and combination of additional information,
the system can be used for analysis, planning, and control of building processes.
Utilising mobile information technology the building data can be queried anywhere using
World Wide Web combined with mobile devices. These allow the user to access information
about the building in real time and also on-site.
The advantage of this implementation of a building GIS has optional expandability. It can be
realised in other data formats and the system can be linked with modern web services. The
data model can be extended with additional data to accomplish a series of tasks like
improved documentation and analysis for facility management (e.g. energy balance Fig. 14),
inspection, maintenance issues, or logistics. If it is possible to obtain the location within the
building (indoor positioning), a variety of new applications can be realised that were not
feasible previously (e.g. pedestrian navigation, indoor location services, augmented reality
Fig. 18).

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166 Modern Information Systems

7. References
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Norwood, Massachusetts, USA
Blankenbach, J. & Norrdine, A. (2010): Building Information Systems based on Precise Indoor
Positioning. Journal of Location Based Services, Volume 5, Issue 1, Taylor & Francis,
London, pp. 22-37. Available at http://www.tandfonline.com
Blankenbach, J.; Norrdine, A. & Willert, V. (2009): Ultra Wideband Based Indoor Positioning – A
Localization Prototype for Precise 3d Positioning and Orientation. Grün/Kahmen (Eds.):
Optical 3-D Measurement Techniques Ix, Volume Ii, 2009, Pp. 179-188, Self-
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für Geodäsie, GIS und Landmanagement, Fachgebiet Geoinformationssysteme,
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Gröger, G.; Kolbe, T. H.; Czetwinski, A. & Nagel, C. (2008). OpenGIS® City Geography
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007r1, 16.08.2011, Available at http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/citygml
Liu, H.; Darabi, H.; Banerjee, P. & Liu, J. (2007): Survey of Wireless Indoor Positioning
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 Modern Information Systems
Edited by Dr. Christos Kalloniatis

ISBN 978-953-51-0647-0
Hard cover, 166 pages
Publisher InTech
Published online 13, June, 2012
Published in print edition June, 2012

The development of modern information systems is a demanding task. New technologies and tools are
designed, implemented and presented in the market on a daily bases. User needs change dramatically fast
and the IT industry copes to reach the level of efficiency and adaptability for its systems in order to be
competitive and up-to-date. Thus, the realization of modern information systems with great characteristics and
functionalities implemented for specific areas of interest is a fact of our modern and demanding digital society
and this is the main scope of this book. Therefore, this book aims to present a number of innovative and
recently developed information systems. It is titled "Modern Information Systems" and includes 8 chapters.
This book may assist researchers on studying the innovative functions of modern systems in various areas like
health, telematics, knowledge management, etc. It can also assist young students in capturing the new
research tendencies of the information systems' development.

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Information Systems Based on Geospatial Standards, Modern Information Systems, Dr. Christos Kalloniatis
(Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-51-0647-0, InTech, Available from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/modern-
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