eeBIM for Energy Optimized Building Operations

Interoperability of the heterogeneous applications in the domain of energy efficiency can be best achieved by using generalized and standardized representations of the needed product data from various services, thereby enabling optimized and energy efficient building operations. At the moment sophisticated building energy management systems (BEMS) are available worldwide. However, their focus on energy performance rating of buildings is at best sporadic often consisting of an ad-hoc combination of off-the-shelf building energy management systems. This ad-hoc combination presents many difficulties as the BMS is consist of a number of components utilizing various information exchange protocols that have to be integrated within the M&T software packages. The optimization of these systems for efficient energy management adds another layer of complexity to the design and management procedures of these systems. However, even though various solutions have been proposed in the last years, a general approach based on an acknowledged building information model (BIM) is still missing. In this paper, a new methodology complying with the data schema of the industry foundation classes (IFC) standard is presented. It allows for coherent integration of different information, helping to achieve the interoperability of the involved tools and services in collaborative working environments. In this regard, a single combined information and communication platform would not adequately predict the consequences of the building performance behaviour and the needs of the building occupant/operator to manage energy consumption efficiently. To avoid these shortcomings, a promising approach is the implementation of a dynamic modular infrastructure based on standardized Building Information Models. The essence of the developed interoperability approach is in the consistent definition of a partial IFC model for energy efficient building operations.