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Ontology-driven energy management in smart buildings: A comprehensive review of methodologies, tools, and challenges

Saffari, Mohammad orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-3583-6484, Bampoulas, Adamantios, Raj, Kaiwalya, Parthiban, Anandhi and Saffari, Mohammad orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-3583-6484 (2026) Ontology-driven energy management in smart buildings: A comprehensive review of methodologies, tools, and challenges. Energy and Buildings, 352 . ISSN 1872-6178

Abstract
While building energy systems (BES) increasingly rely on advanced automation, occupant-centric control, and digital twin technologies, a lack of robust semantic interoperability continues to hinder integrated, adaptive, and efficient energy management. Ontology-based approaches have emerged as a powerful solution, offering structured knowledge representation, consistent data exchange, and improved interpretability for AI-driven analytics. However, existing reviews tend to focus on subfields - such as occupant behaviour, IoT sensor data, or demand response - without providing a holistic synthesis of ontology-driven frameworks across diverse BES. In response, this study systematically reviewed 997 articles using a series of academic databases from 2011 to 2024, identifying 81 primary studies relevant to building energy analysis for comprehensive review. The results reveal that although ontologies facilitate standardised data flows and multi-agent coordination, significant gaps remain in domain coverage, alignment with emerging industry standards, and the integration of time-series data for predictive modelling. Furthermore, the interdependence of occupant comfort, multi-energy systems, and real-time decision-making has not been sufficiently addressed. This review compares commonly utilised ontological models (Brick, SAREF, SSN, and Open Energy Ontology) and proposes future directions emphasising interoperability with domain-specific data sources, bridging occupant modelling with data-driven optimisation, and leveraging digital twins for real-time operations. These findings aim to guide both academic and industry stakehold.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Energy system; Semantic interoperability; Knowledge representation
Subjects:Computer Science > Computational complexity
Computer Science > Computer engineering
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Engineering and Computing
DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Engineering and Computing > School of Computing
DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Engineering and Computing > School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
Publisher:Elsevier BV
Official URL:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/...
Copyright Information:Authors
ID Code:32476
Deposited On:31 Mar 2026 10:50 by Vidatum Academic . Last Modified 31 Mar 2026 10:50
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