Review and Analysis of Models for a European Digital Building Logbook

Abstract

The concept of a Digital Building Logbook (DBL) was first introduced with the European strategy ‘Renovation Wave’. It is considered as one of two fundamental parts of which the Building Renovation Passport is composed: the DBL and a Renovation Roadmap. As the implementation of the DBL is a European priority, this paper reviews the existing literature and analyses the most developed European Digital Building Logbook models. The analysis includes iBRoad, ALDREN, X-tendo, and the Study on the Development of a European Union Framework for Buildings’ Digital Logbook, from the perspective of seven key aspects: References used as a starting point for the model definition; Identification of the relevant stakeholders in the DBL; Identified potential user needs; Proposed structure of indicators; Data sources; Potential functionalities; and Operation and use. The results show that important advancement has been made, although there is still no consensus about crucial subjects, such as the indicators to be collected or how to collect and use them. This is probably due to the fact that the final functionalities (objective and scope) that the logbook should provide are not fully clear.

The Digital Building Logbook as a gateway linked to existing national data sources: The cases of Spain and Italy

“…Regarding the DBL functionalities, we start from the assumption that, in addition to serving as a repository of building data, as stated in [29] it should directly contribute to promote energy renovation by providing the necessary information for: a) preparing renovation roadmaps (as pointed out by [9,30]); b) carrying out maintenance plans; and c) assessing the progress of decarbonization (as pointed out by [14,29]) (see Fig. 1).…”

“…In this paper, we will identify those indicators available in existing data sources and compare them with those proposed by the European-scale DBL initiatives previously mentioned. Currently, there is not an official positioning from the EC regarding the indicators the DBL should include, nor consensus among the running initiatives and proposals [14]. This research will be useful to identify the already digitized indicators and to support in the decision of other indicators to include.…”

“…Despite the existence of this large amount of data on buildings, there is a lack of strategies to efficiently manage and correlate them, and this issue has scarcely been addressed in the literature [6,14]. With the aim of homogenizing data gathering processes and promoting the generation, storage and management of reliable and quality information, the aforementioned Proposal for the EPBD recast [2] introduced the figure of the 'Digital Building Logbook' (DBL), defined as a 'common repository for all relevant building data, including data related to energy performance such as energy performance certificates, renovation passports and smart readiness indicators, which facilitates informed decision making and information sharing within the construction sector, among building owners and occupants, financial institutions and public authorities'.…”

“…Even though the concept of DBL was clarified in the abovementioned Directive [2], it has not still become a mandatory tool for the construction sector in Europe. However, some national initiatives already exist [19][20][21] and several research groups are working on the definition of a European common scheme [14]. At the moment, the most developed initiatives at a European scale are the outcomes from the H2020 projects iBRoad [22,23], ALDREN [24,25], and X-tendo [26,27], as well as the 'Study on the Development of a European Union Framework for Buildings' Digital Logbook' [28].…”

“…At the moment, the most developed initiatives at a European scale are the outcomes from the H2020 projects iBRoad [22,23], ALDREN [24,25], and X-tendo [26,27], as well as the 'Study on the Development of a European Union Framework for Buildings' Digital Logbook' [28]. Even though these experiences constitute an important first step for the definition of the DBL model, some crucial aspects are still under development, such as the functionalities of the DBL and user needs, how it will be operated and used, the connection to existing data sources, and the indicators it should include [14]. Regarding the last This paper focuses on the mutual connection to existing data sources.…”