Automatically Generating a MEP Logic Chain from Building Information Models with Identification Rules

Abstract

In mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems, logic chains refer to the upstream and downstream connections between MEP components. Generating the logic chains of MEP systems can improve the efficiency of facility management (FM) activities, such as locating components and retrieving relevant maintenance information for prompt failure detection or for emergency responses. However, due to the amount of equipment and components in commercial MEP systems, manually creating such logic chains is tedious and fallible work. This paper proposes an approach to generate the logic chains of MEP systems using building information models (BIMs) semi-automatically. The approach consists of three steps: (1) the parametric and nonparametric spatial topological analysis within MEP models to generate a connection table, (2) the transformation of MEP systems and custom information requirements to generate the pre-defined and user-defined identification rules, and (3) the logic chain completion of MEP model based on the graph data structure. The approach was applied to a real-world project, which substantiated that the approach was able to generate logic chains of 15 MEP systems with an average accuracy of over 80%.