What is an Ontology?

In the context of building data, an ontology is a structured way of representing a set of concepts in a domain. In the context of buildings, an ontology helps describe the components in a building (like equipment, sensors, floors, rooms) and how they relate to each other in a consistent, machine-readable format.

📘 Think of it as a dictionary for your building’s data.

Instead of having each building system describe its data differently (which makes it hard to use), an ontology standardizes this data. By using ontology, we give semantic meaning to the data (e.g., a temperature sensor on a VAV inside a conference room on the second floor). This means both humans and software can easily understand what the data represents.

This is essential for things like:

• ⚙️ Running analytics
• 🛠 Detecting faults
• 🤖 Automating operations

At Onboard, we use the open-source Google Digital Buildings Ontology (DBO), which standardizes how building systems and devices are represented. We also enrich our ontology with Project Haystack tags to further describe equipment & point types.

📎 To see how this connects to your building’s data, check out: What is Onboard’s Data Model?