Topological BIM for Occupancy-based Integrated Energy and Safety Analysis of Higher Education Buildings

Abstract: Despite the recognised benefits of BIM and Building Performance Simulation (BPS) in managing built heritage, developing and adopting them remains a resource-intensive task. Interoperability issues make it difficult to effectively use BIM data for performance assessment in building management, limiting the possibilities of combining, integrating and using building performance data to create knowledge-based tools supporting decision-making. To address the BIM-BPS interoperability issue, this paper introduces a semi-automated approach for developing space-oriented, BPS-compatible BIMs. Applied to a university building, the presented method generates semantically rich models for integrated, occupancy-based energy and fire safety analyses, demonstrating scalability for large stocks.