  Enabling buildings with Smart Building applications will help to achieve the
ongoing efficient commissioning of buildings, ultimately attaining peak
performance in energy use and improved occupant health and comfort, at minimum
cost. For these technologies to be scalable data ontology must be adopted to
semantically represent data generated by building mechanical systems, acting as
conduit for connection to Smart Building applications. The viability of Brick
and Project Haystack ontologies, as found by industry and academia, prompted a
quantitative comparison of completeness and expressiveness using a case study
with an industry ontology as the baseline. Additionally, a qualitative
comparison was completed using key ontology qualities outlined in literature. A
recommendation of Brick is made based on results. Brick achieved higher
assessment values in completeness and expressiveness achieving 59% and 100%
respectively, as compared to Haystacks 43% and 96%. Additionally, Brick
exhibited five of six desirable qualities, where Haystack exhibited only three.
The recommendation of the appropriate ontology forms the basis for longer-term
Smart Building application development, which will support innovative
approaches to sustainability in building operations across scale, as well as
next-generation building controls and automation strategies.
