Interoperability between Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Building Energy Model (BEM)

Abstract

Building information modelling (BIM) is the first step towards the implementation of the industrial revolution 4.0, in which virtual reality and digital twins are key elements. At present, buildings are responsible for 40% of the energy consumption in Europe and, so, there is a growing interest in reducing their energy use. In this context, proper interoperability between BIM and building energy model (BEM) is paramount for integrating the digital world into the construction sector and, therefore, increasing competitiveness by saving costs. This paper evaluates whether there is an automated or semi-automated BIM to BEM workflow that could improve the building design process. For this purpose, a residential building and a warehouse are constructed using the same BIM authoring tool (Revit), where two open schemas were used: green building extensible markup language (gbXML) and industry foundation classes (IFC). These transfer files were imported into software compatible with the EnergyPlus engine—Design Builder, Open Studio, and CYPETHERM HE—in which simulations were performed. Our results showed that the energy models were built up to 7.50% smaller than in the BIM and with missing elements in their thermal envelope. Nevertheless, the materials were properly transferred to gbXML and IFC formats. Moreover, the simulation results revealed a huge difference in values between the models generated by the open schemas, in the range of 6 to 900 times. Overall, we conclude that there exists a semi-automated workflow from BIM to BEM which does not work well for big and complex buildings, as they present major problems when creating the energy model. Furthermore, most of the issues encountered in BEM were errors in the transfer of BIM data to gbXML and IFC files. Therefore, we emphasise the need to improve compatibility between BIM and model exchange formats by their developers, in order to promote BIM–BEM interoperability.

Improving the Efficiency of Maritime Infrastructures through a BIM-Based Building Energy Modelling Approach: A Case Study in Naples, Italy

“…Nevertheless, this methodology is still unperfect and can introduce geometry errors and loss of data during export/import procedures [28]. BIM to BEM relies on two transfer file formats: IFC (Industry Foundation Classes), developed by buildingSMART [29], and gbXML (Green Building XML) [30]. While the first one was mainly designed for exchanging data from BIM to BIM, gbXML embeds specific information allowing BEM model definition [31,32].…”

Building Information Modeling as an Effective Process for the Sustainable Re-Shaping of the Built Environment

“…Interoperability can be defined as the workflow that allows interconnected applications to be executed by different users, using communication networks (LAN or WAN), through different types of computer systems, operating systems or software suites. In this way, BIM becomes a collaborative strategy in architecture and engineering, where the term "information" implies a sense of transparency among the project operators, aimed at generating a culture of teamwork based on efficiency and integration [33][34][35].…”

Thermal Energy Performance Simulation of a Residential Building Retrofitted with Passive Design Strategies: A Case Study in Mexico

“…Since the main purpose of this study was to evaluate the thermal performance simulation of an existing residential building, and due to the possibility of interoperability issues between building information modeling (BIM)-building energy modeling (BEM) appearing during the importation of the BIM information to a building energy analysis software [48][49][50][51], which can lead to a rework consisting of re-entering the BIM stored information into the energy model [51], BIM was generated through Designbuilder software.…”