Building information modeling for energy retrofitting – A review

• Published in: Renewable & sustainable energy reviews Vol. 89; pp. 249 - 260
• Main Authors: Sanhudo, Luís, Ramos, Nuno M.M., Poças Martins, João, Almeida, Ricardo M.S.F., Barreira, Eva, Simões, M. Lurdes, Cardoso, Vítor
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2018
• Subjects: Authoring and energy analysis software; Building information modeling; Data acquisition methods; Energy retrofit; Interoperability; LOD; gbXML; Energy retrofit; BIM; IFC; Data acquisition methods; STEP; Building information modeling; BEM; Interoperability; COBIM; ICADS; COMBINE; XML; IBDE; GUI; NBS; AEC; Authoring and energy analysis software
• ISSN: 1364-0321; 1879-0690
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2018.03.064

Building Information Modeling (BIM), as a rising technology in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, has been applied to various research topics from project planning, structural design, facility management, among others. Furthermore, with the increasing demand for energy efficiency, the AEC industry requires an expeditious energy retrofit of the existing building stock to successfully achieve the 2020 Energy Strategy targets. As such, this article seeks to survey the recent developments in the energy efficiency of buildings, combining energy retrofitting and the technological capabilities of BIM, providing a critical exposition in both engineering and energy domains. The result is a thorough review of the work done by other authors in relevant fields, comprising the entire spectrum from on-site data acquisition, through the generation of Building Energy Models (BEM), data transfer to energy analysis software and, finally, the identification of major issues throughout this process. Additionally, a BIM-based methodology centered on the acquired knowledge is presented. Solutions for as-built data acquisition such as laser scanning and infrared thermography, and on-site energy tests that benefit the acquisition of energy-related data are explored. The most predominant BIM software regarding not only energy analysis but also model development is examined. In addition, interoperability restrictions between BIM and energy analysis software are addressed using the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) and Green Building Extensible Markup Language (gbXML) schemes. Lastly, the article argues the future innovations in this subject, predicting future trends and challenges for the industry. •A BIM-based methodology for building energy-retrofit is presented.•Multiple methods for geometric and energy-related data acquisition are examined.•Evaluation of the usage of BIM authoring and energy-analysis tools in scientific research.•Analysis of the interoperability between energy and authoring tools.