On October 29th the workshop corresponding to the mid-term conference of BIM4EEB (Acronym of BIM Based Toolkit for Efficient rEnovation in Buildings, Horizon Project under grant agreement N. 820660 ) project was held during the Sustainable Places 2020 event. The main focus of the workshop was a general introduction of the project combined with vertical insights on the single tools that have been developed or are still in development. BIM4EEB grows from simple consideration: according to a BPIE analysis on EPC data, about 97% of building stock, currently not in A level, must be upgraded to achieve 2030 decarbonization objectives. As the biggest energy consumers, buildings consume about 40% of energy and they are responsible for 36% of CO2—they are strategic in order to reach the set of environmental goals and subjected to renovation and refurbishment during their lifecycle according to a specific schedule. Refurbishment becomes the crucial point of sustainability not only in construction but also in the environment in general for the coming years. The BIM4EEB project focuses on implementing a complete BIM (Building Information Modelling)-based toolkit to be adopted in the renovation of existing residential buildings to make the flow of information efficient, to enhance communication and data transfer decreasing intervention working time while improving building performances, quality, and comfort for inhabitants. The platform that controls all the tools developed for the best performance of renovation is BIMMS (Acronym of Building Information Modelling Management System platform), namely a management system linked to an operational and multifunctional toolkit for different AEC stakeholders, offering tools for increasing the adoption of BIM in renovation businesses based on an interoperable flow of information. During the workshop, six development tools have been explored in addition to the BIM Management System: BIM4EEB Fast Mapping of Buildings Toolkit, BIM4EEB BIMeaser tool, BIM4EEB BIM4Occupants tool, BIM4EEB Auteras tool, BIM4EEB BIMcpd tool, and BIM4EEB BIMPlanner tool
The validation of a building simulation program or model is a daunting task, and one that should receive as much attention as algorithm and code development. Previous research in this field has led to a well-accepted approach composed of analytical verification, empirical validation and inter-program comparative testing to diagnose model deficiencies, mathematical solution errors and coding errors. Through a case study using a model for predicting the thermal and electrical performance of fuel cell micro-cogeneration devices, this article demonstrates the utility of the inter-program comparative testing validation construct. It shows that by comparing program-to-program results, solution problems, coding errors and deficiencies in mathematical model descriptions can be efficiently identified, diagnosed and subsequently repaired.
It is important to assess the effectiveness of different energy refurbishment scenarios in the early design stages of apartment buildings. This paper demonstrates the main features of a new tool BIMeaser (BIM Early Stage Energy Scenario - a product of the European Union Horizon 2020 project BIM4EEB), which supports the decision-making process in the early stage of design. The tool uses the BIM and linked data from the BIM Management System (BIMMS) for faster initialisation of the actual state, resulting in more accurate building models. The tool finds solutions in accordance with the client’s requirements while also aiming to minimize energy use and maximize the occupant’s indoor climate comfort.
The project BIM4EEB aims also to develop digital tools to support the design, procurement, installation, post-renovation operation, user feedback and profiling of building automation systems for HVAC. This helps supporting decision making, interaction with tenants and owners during the design, construction, and post-renovation operation phases. The development of the tools will be underpinned by a sound methodological approach. Work will include considerations of interoperability with Smart City technology of automation systems for HVAC. Specific objectives will be related to the development of the following software tools: A software component supporting the automatic generation of the layout for control systems emphasising on user preferences and including constraint checking of BAC-topologies against selected building codes. Data and information stored in BIM models are used to generate the initial recommendations and constraints and to deliver the final installation instructions. A software component allowing the seamless specification and evaluation of user comfort and systems performance. The underpinning information model will merge data sources from BIM (dimensional data) and BAC (factual data). An energy-refurbishment assessment tool, for bridging the gap between commercial simulators and the BIM management system. A user-profiling component allowing to compare expectations of tenants and owners regarding comfort and systems’ performance against monitored parameters. The results of this software component can be used in the pre- and post-renovation phases to update the content of BIM systems and thus to improve their accuracy and to reduce efforts for data acquisition and verification.
Adopting intelligent solutions in residential buildings for reducing the HVAC energy demand, especially during the operational stages, is becoming more popular. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) devices are often the backbone of such intelligent solutions, since they can enable an easy and intuitive bidirectional communication between energy systems and users and, at the same time, are able to suggest energy saving procedures. These energy saving procedures are mainly suggested when energy hungry behaviors are registered. Particularly, authors of this paper have assumed setting indoor set point temperatures, adjusting ventilation airflow rates and opening windows as energy hungry behaviors to tackle by means of ICT-driven intelligent solutions. Two different localities, namely Helsinki and Milan, have been considered as representative of cold and mild European climate conditions. Results report that adopting ICT-driven intelligent solutions for setting heating setback and indoor set point temperatures and for controlling the mechanical ventilation according to actual people's presence and CO 2 levels ensures consistent reductions of energy demand, especially in Helsinki, where mechanical ventilation is adopted. Moreover, if mechanical ventilation does not work properly or is missing, benefits in reducing energy demand can be even achieved by adopting ICT-driven intelligent solutions for advising building users when windows should be opened or closed according to sensed CO 2 levels. This is relevant especially in Milan. The adoption of intelligent HVAC-window controls, which enable to turn off the HVAC when windows are opened, does not ensure a significant effect in Helsinki. Instead, this solution is promising in Milan, especially when heating systems with low thermal masses are installed.
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