Data modeling issues in simulating the dynamic processes in life cycle analysis of buildings

Typically, in simulating the dynamic processes in buildings, data modeling efforts require the modeling of the building geometry, its components and the relationship between these components, as well as the modeling of the process that is under study. For example, in simulating the life cycle of a building, one must simulate the flow of materials as well as the flow of information as part of the process modeling, while a component model is needed to represent the building as an artefact. A third aspect of this modeling effort constitutes the simulation of human intervention, i.e. the decision process that might affect the nature of the building itself as well as the process that acts upon it. For example, the decision to remodel a certain component clearly affects both the component itself as well as the process of aging, when the life cycle of buildings is simulated. This paper looks at the data modeling requirements of the simulation of building life cycle within the context of the three parameters mentioned above: data model for buildings, process models, and decision models. Temporal issues in data modeling, such as versioning for components, keeping track of data that are related to change and remodeling, and buildings as temporal–spatial entities for life cycle analysis purposes are also addressed.