A building automation system for a building with physical separators (212, 214) that divide a particular plane of the building into zones (211, 213, 215), the building automation system being adapted to use a data structure that represents zones (211, 213, 215) and technical devices (221, 223, 225) within the building, and that represents device-to-zone assignments (221/211, 223/213, 225/215), the building automation system further being adapted to control the operation of the technical devices (221, 223, 225) in the building by processing the data structure, wherein the building automation system comprises an image-to-data converter which is adapted to obtain the data structure, the image-to-data converter comprising: a receiver component that is adapted to receive an image that is related to the plane, the image having image lines (412, 414) corresponding to the separators (212, 214) and having image symbols (421, 423, 425) corresponding to the devices (221, 223, 225); a recognition component that is adapted to identify - the separators (212, 214) and the zones (211, 213, 215) by processing the image lines (412, 414), - the technical devices (221, 223, 225) by processing the image symbols (421, 423, 425), - coordinates (xy) of the zones (211, 213, 215) and the technical devices (221, 223, 225); a mapper component that is adapted to process the coordinates (xy) and to provide the data structure in an hierarchical arrangement with at least a first layer with first data elements representing the particular zones (211, 212,213), and at least a second, sub-ordinated layer with second data elements representing the particular technical devices (221, 223, 225) that are located inside the zones (211, 212, 213), and assignment elements representing the device-to-zone-assignments and the recognition component in the image-to-data converter comprises: a line recognizer that employs optical recognition techniques, adapted to recognize image lines (412, 414) including coordinates of the image lines (412, 414); a zone recognizer adapted to process the image lines (412, 414) and their coordinates the identify the zones (211, 213, 215) of the plane; a symbol recognizer that employs optical recognition techniques, adapted to recognize image symbols (421, 423, 425) and their coordinates; and a device recognizer adapted to process the image symbols (412, 414) and to identify the devices (221, 223, 225). a receiver component that is adapted to receive an image that is related to the plane, the image having image lines (412, 414) corresponding to the separators (212, 214) and having image symbols (421, 423, 425) corresponding to the devices (221, 223, 225); a recognition component that is adapted to identify - the separators (212, 214) and the zones (211, 213, 215) by processing the image lines (412, 414), - the technical devices (221, 223, 225) by processing the image symbols (421, 423, 425), - coordinates (xy) of the zones (211, 213, 215) and the technical devices (221, 223, 225); - the separators (212, 214) and the zones (211, 213, 215) by processing the image lines (412, 414), - the technical devices (221, 223, 225) by processing the image symbols (421, 423, 425), - coordinates (xy) of the zones (211, 213, 215) and the technical devices (221, 223, 225); a mapper component that is adapted to process the coordinates (xy) and to provide the data structure in an hierarchical arrangement with at least a first layer with first data elements representing the particular zones (211, 212,213), and at least a second, sub-ordinated layer with second data elements representing the particular technical devices (221, 223, 225) that are located inside the zones (211, 212, 213), and assignment elements representing the device-to-zone-assignments and the recognition component in the image-to-data converter comprises: a line recognizer that employs optical recognition techniques, adapted to recognize image lines (412, 414) including coordinates of the image lines (412, 414); a zone recognizer adapted to process the image lines (412, 414) and their coordinates the identify the zones (211, 213, 215) of the plane; a symbol recognizer that employs optical recognition techniques, adapted to recognize image symbols (421, 423, 425) and their coordinates; and a device recognizer adapted to process the image symbols (412, 414) and to identify the devices (221, 223, 225). a line recognizer that employs optical recognition techniques, adapted to recognize image lines (412, 414) including coordinates of the image lines (412, 414); a zone recognizer adapted to process the image lines (412, 414) and their coordinates the identify the zones (211, 213, 215) of the plane; a symbol recognizer that employs optical recognition techniques, adapted to recognize image symbols (421, 423, 425) and their coordinates; and a device recognizer adapted to process the image symbols (412, 414) and to identify the devices (221, 223, 225).