Building Structure API¶
The Building Structure API enables you to create and manage a structural representation of your buildings in Building X. The API also helps you manage the location of equipment inside buildings and enables you to programmatically automate data setup.
The Building Structure API is organized around elements of building structures, called Locations, e.g. Building, Floor and Room
Concepts & Glossary¶
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Location | A Location is the basic element describing the topological structure of a site or building, i.e. the common base class of a Campus, Building, Floor, Room etc. |
| Campus | A Campus is a grouping of multiple Buildings and Outside spaces (directly or via CampusParts). Typically it is physically represented by a fence, vegetation or street. It could be a contiguous area like an enfenced airport or a looser aggregation like an government district (with foreign buildings between). |
| CampusPart | In larger or disjoint campuses, there might be the need for a subsection, e.g. the 'science campus' or the 'west shore campus'. |
| Building | A building is generally a structure built for a purpose that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place. Typical examples are a house, factory, or shop; but if necessary also a cave, tower, tent or even a ship could be called a building. |
| BuildingPart | In a larger or structured building, there might be the need for a subgrouping, e.g. the 'left wing' or the 'south part'. |
| Outside | On a campus or even as part of a building, there can be outside areas, e.g. the lawns between buildings, the pavement to the end of the building lot, the carpark or delivery ramp, or a balcony or roof-top restaurant. |
| Floor | A floor is a horizontal / level part of a building with a surface that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc), depending on context, they are also called storey/story, level or deck. Multiple floors can be stacked up vertically to form a multi-floor building. |
| FloorArea | A floor-area is a subsection of an floor, which - unlike rooms - is not separated by walls to which entry is possible by a door or similar as to the floor itself. Normally, areas are large enough for many persons to move about or conduct the intended activity. |
| MultifloorArea | A multifloor-area is a vertical crosssection of multiple floors, like a lecture room, cinema theatre, lobby that spreads the height of multiple floors and can be typically accessed on multiple levels. |
| Room | A room is an indoor space enclosed within four walls (and a roof or ceiling) to which entry is possible by a door or similar, which connects it either to a passageway, to another room, or to the outdoors. Normally, rooms are large enough for several persons to enter and move about or conduct the intended activity. Typically, the height of a room is the full height of the floor it is part of. |
| RoomSegment | Often, a floor is implicitly divided into a grid or into segments that later on might turn into rooms by adding walls. Such segments often contain technical preparations for possible rooms (e.g. pillars, grids, window arrangement, piping or wiring). |
| Device | A Device can be any electronic equipment with some computing ability that has a firmware or supports the installation of software. Examples are pumps, dampers, valves, sensors, detectors, limit switches, remote/local switches or automation devices. |