BIMBestand - BIM-based management of existing buildings

Motivation and research question

The reduction of energy demand in the building sector is a crucial factor for achieving the climate targets. The development and application of digital methods in the construction and real estate industry is seen as a key element and important pillar in order to achieve the European targets in this most relevant sector. Increasing the energy efficiency of building operation is of utmost importance in this context. It is therefore essential to support and optimise building operation in the best possible way through digital technologies and methods. In this context, Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a fundamental methodology that will gain substantial importance in the future and play a significant role in building operation. It is therefore important to exploit the potential of BIM in terms of sustainable building operation and to enhance the method by developing necessary technological foundations and processes.

Initial situation/status quo

BIM is not yet widely used in the operational phase of buildings, which means that much potential remains untapped. This includes, in particular, energy and resource-efficient building operation. The long-term goal of fully integrating BIM into facility management (FM) and the operational management of buildings is therefore an important task to be solved. Studies and practical examples show that data transfer via BIM to facility management is currently associated with significant losses of information. Interoperability of software tools is often missing, as proprietary applications are still prevalent and open data formats such as the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) are insufficiently used. In this context, it is also important to establish the practical use of BIM across all project phases, which has not yet been done. A key aspect here is to achieve a high level of data consistency, enabling a seamless model-based data transfer from the design and construction process to the operational phase of buildings.

Project contents and objectives

The aim of this research project is to derive information requirements and process descriptions from operational building management by means of use cases and to validate these use cases in a practical manner. This includes detailed development and evaluation of use cases, improvement of the flow of information and models across different project phases, development of a software solution for coupling relevant software tools on the basis of open data interfaces and transfer of knowledge to stakeholders.

Methodical procedure

The applied research methodology consists of the following consecutive steps. The starting point is a comprehensive requirements analysis. This includes evaluating FM and building operation processes as well as elaborating user stories and conducting stakeholder interviews. The next step is to develop use cases and to publish them on a use case management platform. In order to demonstrate the feasibility and practical applicability of the developed use cases, a suitable software environment has to be developed. For this purpose, a software prototype based on open interfaces is implemented. Finally, the developed use cases are tested and evaluated in this software environment.

Results and conclusions

The research project BIMBestand has demonstrated the feasibility of an open BIM-based building management approach. Starting from the basic definition and formulation of use cases, it has been shown how processes and workflows can be set up, implemented and used in a close to reality environment by integrating open data interfaces. The feasibility of this approach and its benefits were demonstrated in a validation study. The use of open BIM can bring significant benefits to stakeholders in the different phases of a construction project. Use cases are an important prerequisite for the targeted and successful use of BIM models in the operational phase of buildings. They help to create a common understanding of the need for and value of detailed modelling across the project environment, facilitating collaboration. It is also essential that all communication steps are based on open interfaces. This enables the flexible use of software tools during the design, construction and operation of buildings and underlines the need and importance of standardised open data formats and interfaces.

Outlook

There is a wide range of potential applications of digital technologies in building management, ranging from the use of IoT technologies to the application of artificial intelligence methods. Interaction and communication are also essential, e.g. for linking buildings to smart energy infrastructures and for the associated automated exchange and processing of data and metadata. The availability of structured and machine-processable models and data of buildings is a fundamental prerequisite for the widespread use of sophisticated digital methods in building operations. BIM models are an essential part of this. It is therefore important to promote the use of BIM in the operational phase of buildings so that, in combination with other digital technologies, the full potential of digitalisation can be used to enable sustainable operation of buildings.

Project management

Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Michael Monsberger, Graz University of Technology, Institute for Construction Management and Economics, Integrated Building Systems Work Group

Project or cooperation partners

• AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH
• TBH Ingenieur GmbH
• DI Martin Hollaus
• ALLPLAN Gesellschaft m.b.H.
• Flughafen Wien Aktiengesellschaft
• building smart Österreich
• Technische Universität Wien, Institut für Werkstofftechnologie, Bauphysik und Bauökologie

Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Michael Monsberger
Graz University of Technology
Lessingstraße 25/III
A-8010 Graz
Tel.: + 43 (316) 873 6255
E-mail: michael.monsberger@tugraz.at
Web: www.bbw.tugraz.at