Performance based building design through Building Energy Modeling (BEM)

The paper illustrates scientific and operational issues related to modeling activities that are \nnecessary to support sustainable design. In this filed, there is the need to produce study models \naimed at the analysis of a plurality of issues such as economic, energy and environmental ones. \nAll of these issues affect each other in the same model. This interdependence requires the \nadoption of interoperable study models. \nWhat is deepened in the paper is the theme of interoperable information modeling (openBIM) \nin energy performance engineering analyzing the interoperability between building information \nmodels and building energy models (BIM to BEM). \nThe work consists of the verification of procedures for sharing information in different \ncomputing environments and in relation to different building processes. \nThe experiments carried out show that only part of the information content can be effectively \ntransferred to the main energy simulation codes. Furthermore it highlights structural problems \nrelated to the inability to transfer the characteristics of technical elements in different phases of \nthe construction process. This happens typically when renovating old buildings. In this kind of \nmodels the same technical element is shared with the simulation codes in two different phases \n(state of fact / state of the project) and should be able to expose in the two phases two different \ntransmittance values. Future research includes the need to manage the different phases of the project within a single \ncollaborative environment-pointed at performance-based building design.