Development of BIM use cases for building performance, in particular decarbonisation and energy controlling

Funders: EFRE sowie MHKBG NRW

Project term: 09/2017 to 08/2020

The research project "BIM-gestützte Arbeitsplanung in KMU" (BIM-supported work planning in SMEs) was considered part of a large-scale project on the use of the BIM method over the life cycle of buildings. The aim of this was to advance the standardisation efforts of building data models in terms of processes and the associated information flow between the project participants in all life cycle phases. This was to help create transparency with regard to the BIM method for those involved in the construction process, while at the same time conforming to legal and standard requirements.

Energy consumption and climate gas emissions from existing buildings are of central importance for the energy transition and climate protection, both nationally and for NRW. The federal government and the state are striving for a nearly climate-neutral building stock in 2050. For new buildings, these issues are reflected in the planning phase through increased legal requirements; for the existing building stock, it is a matter of a higher renovation rate and depth of renovation. Significant potentials, which are not sufficiently taken into account, lie in the improved operation and use of existing buildings. This is especially true for non-residential buildings. They account for about 40% of emissions from the building stock. The concerns of those who are responsible for the operation of buildings are not taken into account enough in the planning. On the other hand, valuable information from planning is lost due to a lack of consistent information for the operation and deconstruction phases. The metrological equipment of most buildings is not suitable for quality assurance. It is also insufficient to detect faults at an early stage and to optimise commissioning/operational management with regard to low energy consumption and decarbonisation of the energy supply. The targeted re-use of building components/materials during deconstruction is hindered by information gaps in the field of building construction.

The Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering is already dedicated to information management in construction (BIM, building information models) as well as simulation and monitoring of building performance in numerous projects. In the case of energy performance, the interface with the network researchers of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering is served. A basic infrastructure with test facilities, tools and equipment is available in all areas. The new building that has just been completed on the Haspel campus is a contemporary building, but it does not have any equipment for a research platform.

Building on the existing research foci, facilities and (further) education offers in both faculties, the aim of the proposed project is to create a networked infrastructure for expanded and improved research services. Three interconnected work packages and a transfer strategy in a joint "Living Lab Building Performance" serve this purpose:

The building is representative of the portfolio of large real estate companies. The activation as a living lab in the sense of the three work packages contributes to increasing research achievements and making them concrete for transfer. In particular, the targeted expansion of the already existing further education offers for actors in the NRW real estate and energy industry (work package Perform TRANS) serves this purpose.The project created a demonstrator and a unique selling point for attractive and practical further education offers.