BUILD UP is hosting a webinar with the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) on ‘Driving sustainable digital workflows: exploring open BIM, data standards, and energy efficiency innovations’.  

This webinar sheds light on some key technologies needed for digital planning workflows. Open BIM (Building Information Modelling) is an approach to integrated digital planning. At its heart, it enables collaboration, so architects, planners, modelers, constructors and even operators can work on the same data source – the BIM model.

The first talk informs about the current activities of the data standard ECLASS in the direction of BIM and sustainability themes. The aim is to understand the main possibilities and benefits of ECLASS. In particular, the focus is on the goals of using ECLASS in the construction industry and related sectors, such as Industry 4.0. In addition to the ECLASS aspect of the 'environmental footprint', possibilities in the direction of DPP (digital product passport) are also briefly addressed.

The second presentation explores an advanced open BIM workflow, focusing on the latest developments in BIM and Building Energy Modeling (BEM). It highlights the pivotal role of buildingSMART Standards and Services, particularly the buildingSMART Data Dictionary (bSDD), Information Delivery Specification (IDS) in accurately capturing client requirements, and Industry Foundation Classes (IFC 4.3) that enables further exchange also within the infrastructure domains. Emphasis will be placed on sustainability principles and the efficient documentation of changes, tasks, and building-related issues using the BIM Collaboration Format (BCF). The session will also introduce the newest additions to the bSI (buildingSMART International) Information Delivery Manual (IDM) for BIM and BEM.

The third talk introduces the international initiative IEA EBC Annex 91 'Open BIM for energy efficient buildings'. This project resolves digital data exchange between different stakeholders throughout the life cycle of a building using open BIM (Building Information Modelling). It links research on open BIM data standards, develops processes for better collaboration and evaluates software tools that enable users to work together on construction projects. One key research field is the use of open BIM for thermal building performance, aiming at fully automated model transformation for building simulation tools.