Energy efficiency of a public building renovation and reconstruction using base model passive house and BIM technology

Abstract

Modern constructions, either private houses or public buildings, nowadays must be built meeting all the requirements of the European Union [EU] standards and must be highly energy efficient. Still, there are a lot of old inefficient buildings with high energy costs that require renovation. These buildings can be renovated applying a passive house model that helps to minimize buildings’ heating and cooling energy expenses. Moreover, the decisions made in the stages of early design and preconstruction are essential for the sustainability in a building facility. It is possible to perform various analyses with Building Information Modeling (BIM) in order to have an optimized sustainable building design. BIM system can be used to evaluate and control the costs (e.g. renovation, efficiency) as well as to monitor the conditions during the life-cycle of the building.