BIM for the Energy Performance of Buildings

CONTEXT : BIM AS A SUPPORT TECHNOLOGY FOR ENERGY PERFORMANCE IN BUILDINGS

The market uptake of BIM is rapidly growing in nearly all European countries and one can assume that this trend will continue and even accelerate in the coming years. A handbook containing the common principles for public procurers and policy makers to consider when introducing BIM to their public works or strategies has recently been published by theEU BIMTaskGroup and made available in several languages.

In the meantime, the directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD) -initially published in 2010- introduced Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and minimum energy performance requirements for buildings. Recently, an amendment of the EPBD has been published (2018/844/EU). This revision aims at accelerating the cost-effective renovation of existing buildings, with the vision of a decarbonised building stock by 2050 and the mobilisation of investments (ref).

However, little to no attention for BIM as a support tool for the regulatory assessment of the energy performance of buildings in Europe has been considered so far by the Member States.

DISCUSSING OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES : CONFERENCE AND EXPERTS’ WORKSHOP IN BRUSSELS

This was the topic of the1st conference “BIM and energy performance of buildings” heldon 25 June 2018 in Brussels (BE) and organized by the International Network for Information on Ventilation and Energy Performance European Economic Interest Grouping (INIVE EEIG) on behalf of the QUALICHeCK platform. LIST and its partners from BIMEET project consortium attended the conference that aimed to present the status of BIM and opportunities and challenges regarding BIM use for the regulatory assessment of the energy performance of buildings. The presentations addressed several important topics like, amongst others, the gaps preventing the efficient use of BIM for EPC calculations. Overall, more than 200 attendees recognized the challenges ahead regarding future BIM standardization and future Energy Performance calculation methods to be defined.

Amongst these challenges, upskilling the construction workforce with regards to BIM and digitalization is essential. This was the key topic of the contractors’ workshop organized on the 26th of June by the Executive Agency for SMEs (EASME) . It gathered the partners involved in four European projects managed by the agency : BIMplement, Net-UBIEP, BIMcert and BIMEET. As coordinator of BIMEET’s project, Sylvain Kubicki (LIST) attended the workshop, together with Yacine Rezgui (Cardiff University), Donia Marzougui (INES Plateforme Formation & Evaluation), Tarja Mäkeläinen (VTT) and Charalampos Malamatenios (CRES).

All along the day, discussions, focus groups and interviews focused on the needs of the market towards new BIM and Energy Efficiency qualifications schemes as well as the methodologies to develop new trainings and ensure their sustainability over the time.

BIMEET PROJECT AND ITS CURRENT FOCUS

As part of these initiatives, BIMEET’s project team focuses at the moment on the requirements for using BIM for Energy Efficiency purposes, on the basis of case studies, interviews and through the use of data analytics methods. Related information can be retrieved from the www.energy-bim.complatform maintained by the project’s partners, aiming at gathering the BIM&EE community of interest around BIMEET’s project results and developments.

The project also develops a responsibilities’ framework covering the whole construction life-cycle and value-chain. Related competencies will allow the team to frame the required training, like the one scheduled in Luxembourg next October : “How can BIM enhance energy efficiency of Buildings ?” (in French).

Communiqué LIST The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology