Generalization of 3D IFC Building Models

Today, Building Information Modeling (BIM) is mainly used in architecture. Typically, a BIM model contains detailed geometric and semantic information for design evaluation, simulation, and construction of the building. If, as on the regional and city levels, more than one building is considered, the information content of detailed BIM models might be too high. For applications like noise simulation or emergency management, representing buildings as block models, reduced outer-shell models or simplified indoor models are more suitable. Such models are typically found in Geospatial Information System (GIS) applications. This paper describes a process for BIM building models to extract different generalized representations for buildings and building elements. As an example, the definitions for such representations are based on the LoD concept of CityGML.