Abstract:
One of the major problems in the data exchange process from Building
Information Modelling (BIM) to Building Energy Modelling (BEM) is data loss. This
is due to the different file structures of authoring software and analysis tools. In order
to increase a building’s energy efficiency, it is vital to carry out performance analyses
throughout the building’s lifecycle. This can be achieved efficiently by transferring
data from BIM to BEM. Thus, it is of practical significance to find the exchange
method with the least data loss, to achieve the most accurate energy simulation
results.
After studying and comparing, one BIM platform, two data exchange formats,
three simulation engines and three BEM analysis tools have been chosen in the
research. To define several possible data flows, a simple theoretical model is created
as a data source to test different data exchange methods. Among these tests, only
some workflows can transfer data to BEM tools and perform the energy simulation
successfully. Then, these data flows have been studied by using three actual projects
with different functions and levels of complexity. The data loss in each process and
the accuracy of simulation results are recorded and compared. Two additional
validation studies also showed similar data loss and building energy simulation results
as the tests before.
The results undertaken within this thesis showed that, the gbXML format works
better than the IFC format in transferring data for building performance calculation.
However, the different ways of exporting gbXML files from BIM platform affect the
data accuracy contained in the files. All the three BEM tools selected in this study can
use the data exchange methods to perform energy simulation. However, these BEM
tools have different requirements for the energy model and the difficulty of
customizing settings. These depend on the stage of design, level of model detail and
types of users.