Nowadays, buildings renovation is a subject of special interest since the building and construction sector is the main body responsible for energy consumption and emissions. Hence, it is necessary to concentrate on refurbishment to achieve Europe’s climate neutrality by 2050 according to European Agenda goals. The BIM4EEB Project, a BIM-based fast toolkit for the efficient renovation of residential buildings, directs the attention toward developing an exhaustive toolkit based on Building Information Modeling (BIM) to be adopted in the renovation of existing residential buildings, to make the flow of information efficient, decreasing intervention working time while improving building performances, quality, and comfort for inhabitants. BIM4EEB is developing a BIM management system connected to an operational and multifunctional toolkit for various architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) stakeholders, integrating a set of tools for improving BIM adoption in renovation environments based on an interoperable flow of information. This paper presents the Horizon2020 Project and the framework used to develop the toolkit. In addition, the first outcomes of the toolkit development are outlined. The validation procedure in real environments has started to demonstrate the efficacy and applicability of the methodology and tools. Although the project is still in progress, benefits connected to the framework and the BIM-based toolkit result in an enhanced building renovation process.

On October 29th the workshop corresponding to the mid-term conference of BIM4EEB (Acronym of BIM Based Toolkit for Efficient rEnovation in Buildings, Horizon Project under grant agreement N. 820660 ) project was held during the Sustainable Places 2020 event. The main focus of the workshop was a general introduction of the project combined with vertical insights on the single tools that have been developed or are still in development. BIM4EEB grows from simple consideration: according to a BPIE analysis on EPC data, about 97% of building stock, currently not in A level, must be upgraded to achieve 2030 decarbonization objectives. As the biggest energy consumers, buildings consume about 40% of energy and they are responsible for 36% of CO₂—they are strategic in order to reach the set of environmental goals and subjected to renovation and refurbishment during their lifecycle according to a specific schedule. Refurbishment becomes the crucial point of sustainability not only in construction but also in the environment in general for the coming years. The BIM4EEB project focuses on implementing a complete BIM (Building Information Modelling)-based toolkit to be adopted in the renovation of existing residential buildings to make the flow of information efficient, to enhance communication and data transfer decreasing intervention working time while improving building performances, quality, and comfort for inhabitants. The platform that controls all the tools developed for the best performance of renovation is BIMMS (Acronym of Building Information Modelling Management System platform), namely a management system linked to an operational and multifunctional toolkit for different AEC stakeholders, offering tools for increasing the adoption of BIM in renovation businesses based on an interoperable flow of information. During the workshop, six development tools have been explored in addition to the BIM Management System: BIM4EEB Fast Mapping of Buildings Toolkit, BIM4EEB BIMeaser tool, BIM4EEB BIM4Occupants tool, BIM4EEB Auteras tool, BIM4EEB BIMcpd tool, and BIM4EEB BIMPlanner tool

The Architecture, Engineering and Construction sector requires an intense innovation process to reduce costs, intervention times, and improve energy performance. This is particularly true to increase the rate of deep renovations of the existing European building stock and therefore support the EU’s 2050 decarbonisation targets. In this scenario, prefabrication can be considered a game-changer for the construction industry: on the one hand, it enables the adoption of an industrial mindset to the design, manufacturing, and installation of façade components, with the related advantages in terms of time, cost and quality; on the other, it allows for the customisation of components thanks to digital, BIM-based design and fabrication tools. However, its adoption in retrofit operations is still limited due, among other factors, to a lack of practical experience and a limited number of actual demonstration cases. This paper introduces an operative guideline to support a more widespread use of prefabricated thermal insulation components for the energy retrofit of existing buildings in the framework of a BIMenabled design and construction process. The guideline highlights the information flow and the role of each actor at every stage of the design and delivery process. The proposed guideline is finally tested through its application to a case study to show the feasibility of the process and the advantages deriving from the adoption of an industrialised approach to façade retrofit in terms of faster installation times.