Overview
About This Ontology
The LiveBetter Ontology provides a semantic framework for describing buildings, spaces, devices, energy systems, and measurements in the context of building renovation and smart energy management. This ontology integrates concepts from multiple standard vocabularies including SSN/SOSA, SAREF, BOT (Building Topology Ontology), and others.
Key Features:
- Building Topology: Model building structures, spaces, floors, and zones
- Device & Sensor Integration: Describe IoT devices, sensors, actuators, and their relationships
- Energy Management: Track energy consumption, production, and efficiency metrics
- Measurements & Observations: Capture sensor data and observations over time
- Interoperability: Seamlessly integrates with W3C SSN/SOSA, SAREF, and other standards
Classes
All classes defined in the LiveBetter Ontology, organized by category.
Object Properties
Properties that relate instances of classes to other instances.
Datatype Properties
Properties that relate instances to literal data values.
Namespaces
Namespace prefixes used in the LiveBetter Ontology.
Usage Examples
Practical examples of using the LiveBetter Ontology for data modeling.
Example 1: Modeling a Building with Sensors
@prefix lb: <http://example.org/livebetter#> .
@prefix bot: <http://w3id.org/bot#> .
@prefix sosa: <http://www.w3.org/ns/sosa/> .
# Define a building
:Building1 a lb:Building ;
rdfs:label "Smart Office Building A" ;
bot:hasSpace :Floor1 .
# Define a space
:Floor1 a lb:BuildingSpace ;
rdfs:label "First Floor" ;
lb:hasDevice :TempSensor1 .
# Define a sensor
:TempSensor1 a lb:Sensor ;
rdfs:label "Temperature Sensor 1" ;
sosa:observes :Temperature .Example 2: Recording Energy Consumption
@prefix lb: <http://example.org/livebetter#> .
@prefix saref: <http://saref.etsi.org/core/> .
# Define energy consumption measurement
:EnergyMeasurement1 a lb:EnergyMeasurement ;
rdfs:label "Monthly Energy Consumption" ;
lb:hasValue 1250.5 ;
lb:hasUnit "kWh" ;
lb:measurementDate "2025-10-31"^^xsd:date ;
lb:relatedToBuilding :Building1 .Example 3: Device-Space Relationships
@prefix lb: <http://example.org/livebetter#> .
# Connect devices to spaces
:HVAC_System1 a lb:HVACDevice ;
rdfs:label "Central HVAC Unit" ;
lb:installedIn :Floor1 ;
lb:hasEnergyRating "A+" ;
lb:operationalStatus "active" .
:Floor1 lb:hasDevice :HVAC_System1 .Best Practices
- Keep standard prefixes consistent (sosa, saref, s4bldg, time, brick) for interoperability
- Model spaces and building elements with `s4bldg:BuildingSpace` subclasses (e.g., Apartment) and connect systems to buildings
- Describe devices as `saref:Device` subclasses (HVAC, SmartMeter, SolarPanel) and use `lb:hasDevice` to link systems
- Represent observations with SOSA and attach temporal context using `time:Instant` or `time:Interval`
- Use `skos:closeMatch` to align LiveBetter properties with Brick sensor concepts where available
- Capture flexibility lifecycle with `FlexOffer` subclasses (Initial, Offered, Assigned, Executed, Canceled, Rejected)
Ontology Visualization
Interactive graph visualization of the ontology structure. Nodes are classes and properties; edges show subclass hierarchy and domain/range relations.