Knowledge representation through cognitive maps to foster collaborative research. An application on the energy improvement of built heritage with innovative technologies

Research increasingly makes use of multidisciplinary contributions to achieve valid and shared results. The synergy between different areas of knowledge is greater the clearer the language of sharing. Cognitive maps, an instrument belonging in general to the sphere of cognitive sciences, propose a language for sharing knowledge using graphic codes for the synthesis of concepts. This article proposes a revision of the “grammar” generally used for the modelling of cognitive maps, aiming at a representation of knowledge capable of facilitating the access to the information produced. The prototype map was then applied for content sharing as part of the PRIN TECH-START project, in which a seminar was held involving experts in conservation, representation of architecture, representation of knowledge, technical physics, computer science, IoT, evaluation and estimation, and the technology of architecture. Different experts were asked to express their opinion on the barriers to the use of new enabling technologies and smart environments as a support to the evolution of processes for the management, conservation, documentation, predictive control, non-destructive diagnostics and energy improvement of historical buildings. The joint use of these tools produces complex heterogeneous data that require an interdisciplinary approach, involving very different actors with the common need to share their knowledge.