The structure of the input file • floodam.building

Input files

floodam.building uses two types of input file:

A xml/yaml file, hereafter the building file
A csv file, hereafter the furniture file

The building file contains information on the building geometry and the elementary components and their positions (coordinates xyx). The furniture file contains the information on stocks and furniture in the building, as well as their location (coordinates xyz) inside the building

The building file

Independently of the format of your choice –xml or yaml– the building file is always divided in three different blocks:

The general block
The element block
The building block

Each block is meant to provide different information. Let us explore in detail each block.

The general block

This block provides general information on the building. There are five mandatory features in this block:

type: type of building (dwelling or activity)
H: height of the ground floor
height: height of the building
dilapidation: default dilapidation factor to be used for the elementary components
version: version of the xml/yaml file used

It should be noted that no additional features can be included in this block.

The element block

This block provides information on the elementary components present in the building. This block is organized using sub-blocks to differentiate each elementary component, and each elementary component will have its own set of features to declare. There are also mandatory and optional elementary components:

ceiling: mandatory elementary component; list of types of ceilings present in the building. Each type must be defined using the following features:
- material: mandatory feature; material used for the ceiling
- H: mandatory feature; height at which the ceiling is located (relative to the floor of the room in which the ceiling is located)
- insulating: optional feature; material used to insulate this type of ceiling
- coating: optional feature; material used for the coating of this type of ceiling
wall: mandatory elementary component; list of types of walls present in the building. Each type must be defined using the following features:
- wall_type: mandatory feature; type of wall
  - It must be chosen among load_bearing_wall, lining, partition or empty
- material: mandatory feature; material used for the wall
- insulating: optional feature; material used to insulate this type of wall
- render: optional feature; material used for the render with this type of wall
baseboard: optional elementary component; list of types of of baseboard present in the building. Each type must be defined using the following features:
- material: mandatory feature; material used for the baseboard
- width: mandatory feature; width of the baseboard
coating: optional elementary component; list of types of of wall coatings present in the building. Each type must be defined using the following features:
- material: mandatory feature; material used for the coating
coverstrip: optional elementary component; list of types of of coverstrips present in the building. Each type must be defined using the following features:
- material: mandatory feature; material used for the coverstrip
floor: optional elementary component; list of types of types of floors present in the building. Each type must be defined using the following features:
- material: mandatory feature; material used for the floor
- insulating: optional feature; material used to insulate this type of floor
- coating: optional feature; material used for the coating of this type of floor
opening: optional elementary component; list of types of openings present in the building. Each type must be defined using the following features:
- opening_type: mandatory feature; type of opening
  - It must be chosen among door, french.window, window or empty
- height: mandatory feature; height of the opening
- width: mandatory feature; width of the opening
- material: optional feature; material used for the opening
- shutter: optional feature; material used for the shutter with this type of opening

The building block

This block provides the information on the geometry of the building and on the placement of the structural elementary components declared in the previous block.

The information in this block must be structured in stories. In other words, the geometry and the location of the elementary components must be done one storey at a time. For each storey the following features must be provided:

H: mandatory feature; height at which the storey is located (relative to the ground)
height: optional feature; height of the storey. This value is used as the default height of the walls, if this information is missing
name: optional feature; name of the storey

The information for each storey is organized using two sub-blocks:

The so-called external: external part of the storey, namely the exterior wall. This block is meant to contain as many sub-blocks wall as exterior walls define the perimeter of the building
The so-called room: interior part of the storey, or, in other words, the interior distribution of the storey. This block is meant to be repeated as many times as rooms exist in the storey

Both sub-blocks share the same collection of features:

wall: mandatory feature; each room is made up of a list of walls. Each wall has the following features:
- coordinates: mandatory feature; coordinates of the starting point of the wall
- type: mandatory feature; type of wall
- H: optional feature; height at which the wall is located (relative to the room’s floor)
- height: optional feature; height of the wall.
- side: optional feature; side of the building where the wall is located
- name: optional feature; name of the wall
In addition, each wall can have the following two features:
- coating: optional feature; if provided, each coating has the following features:
  - type: mandatory feature; type of coating
  - H: optional feature; height at which the coating starts (relative to the base of the wall on which the coating is located). The height at which the coating ends is given either by the height at which the next coating starts or by the height of the wall on which the coating is located
- opening: optional feature; if provided, each opening has the following features:
  - type: mandatory feature; type of opening
  - H: mandatory feature; height at which the opening is located (relative to base of the wall on which the opening is located)
  - coordinates: optional feature; coordinates of the center of the opening
  - name: optional feature; name of the opening
  - coverstrip: optional feature; type of coverstrip used
name: optional feature; name of the room
baseboard: optional feature; type of baseboard used in the room
ceiling: optional feature; type of ceiling used in the room
floor: optional feature; type of floor used in the room
H: optional feature; height at which the room is located (relative to the base of the storey in which the room is located)

The furniture file

The contents file provides information on the stock and or the furniture in the building. The following fields must be filled out:

component_elementary: name of the type of elementary component
room_name: name of the room where the elementary component is located
wall_name: name of the wall where the elementary component is located
relative_height: height in cm at which the elementary component is located, relative to the floor of the room where the component is located
dilapidation: own dilapidation factor to be used for the elementary component (overwrites the one defined at the level of the building)
quantity: quantity in which the elementary component is present
v_min: own min value of replacement (overwrites the one defined by default for the type of elementary component)
v_max: own max value of replacement (overwrites the one defined by default for the type of elementary component)

See the example below:

component_elementary	room_name	wall_name	relative_height	dilapidation	quantity	v_min	v_max
coffee_machine	room_1	wall_a	90	0	1	150	220