Overview of BIM integration into the Construction Sector in European Member States and European Union Acquis

Abstract

The amount of information involved in any construction project and the necessity of control of time, cost and waste, has established Building Information Modelling (BIM) as an integral part of construction sector towards achieving adequate communication of information among various parties involved in construction projects. Moreover, it can be considered as a valuable tool for the optimum selection of materials, systems and design decisions, regarding not only the improve of a structure’s performance, but also in terms of reducing its carbon footprint during its life cycle. The study attempts to present the integration of BIM into the national legislation of European Member States, with a special focus on the energy related aspects of BIM analysis. This study performs an overview of the introduction of BIM into different aspects and requirements of the EU Member States building practices, through a comprehensive literature and legislation review of relative legislative documents of the construction sector. According to the findings of this overview study, the concept of BIM has already been incorporated in many aspects of the Acquis of EU Member States, which is recognized as a valuable tool to be exploited by the construction sector, however there is still room for development in this area. The study has revealed that especially in the energy assessment of the built environment, BIM applications are still lacking from the European Legislation. Examples and good practices of employing BIM for the implementation of the European Energy targets in the building sector are also presented and discussed. The findings of this study aim to shed light on the needs and requirements in the field of BIM development for the construction sector, as well as to indicate gaps and weaknesses of the European Member States Acquis towards harmonizing with BIM practices.

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

“…Governments across Europe are recognizing more and more the value of BIM and many professionals are taking proactive steps to encourage its use to secure economic, environmental and social benefits [13,14]. Reports mention that a wider adoption of BIM technologies could lead to up to 15-25% of savings to the global infrastructure market by 2025 [15] but the uptake and "maturity" of BIM can vary considerably from country to country, and from company to company-usually in relation to their size and position in the value chain.…”

Research Challenges and Advancements in the field of Sustainable Energy Technologies in the Built Environment

“…BIM is applied in a wide range of fields of the building sector (Figure 8), including the energy assessment of buildings 25 and the whole life cycle assessment of buildings [68], as well as of specific building elements such as Plumbing and Electromechanical (PEM) applications [69]. already been integrated into the Construction Sector of numerous European Member States, as well as into the European Union Acquis, allowing the development of policies on digital transformation of the built environment [66,67]. BIM is applied in a wide range of fields of the building sector ( Figure 8), including the energy assessment of buildings 25 and the whole life cycle assessment of buildings [68], as well as of specific building elements such as Plumbing and Electromechanical (PEM) applications [69].…”

Low-Carbon Tourism—Technical, Economic and Management Project of a Greenway, for Enhancing Inner Areas of the Cilento National Park, Italy

“…The elaboration of the metric calculation, for the estimation of the intervention costs, will have to be carried out using digital technology, in accordance with the current European Community [39] and national [40] legislation on the integrated management of the construction, maintenance and management process phases.…”