Construction Classification System Database for Building Resource Use

A research team at the University of Toronto developed this novel dataset and ontology to study resource use in building design and construction. The data structure uses UniFormat (2010) and MasterFormat (2016) standards, facilitating interoperability with existing construction management practices. Data was created by performing material take-offs from design or construction drawings of studied buildings.

Use Cases

• Analyzing material intensity and resource use in buildings based on the UniFormat/MasterFormat ontology.
• Benchmarking construction projects for sustainability using a standardized material data structure.
• Supporting future material intensity (MI) studies with a proposed common classification framework.

Strengths

• Uses established industry classification standards (UniFormat 2010, MasterFormat 2016) for interoperability.
• Dataset and methods were formally submitted to the journal Scientific Data in 2021, indicating peer-reviewed intent.
• Designed as a contribution-based database, suggesting potential for community expansion.

Limitations

• Key metadata is missing from all sources: specific row count, column names, file formats, and exact update dates are unknown.
• Sources conflict on the submission date to Scientific Data (October 2021 vs. May 2021).
• The dataset's current scale and the number of included buildings are not specified.

Provenance

Source

Research team supervised by Prof. Shoshanna Saxe at the University of Toronto.

Collection Method

Data was developed by collecting design or construction drawings for studied buildings and performing material take-offs based on the drawings.