BIM2BEM integrated approach: Examining status of the adoption of building information modelling and building energy models in Egyptian architectural firms

Abstract

Egyptian architectural firms are moving from the use of CAD towards the adoption of BIM. Meanwhile, these firms are challenged with the use of BEM in order to cope with the call for energy conservation. To achieve better collaboration, the approach of BIM2BEM has emerged, aiming to integrate between BEM and BIM, which leads to the production of buildings that cope with updates in environmental policies. Nevertheless, these changes facing Egyptian architectural firms haven’t been examined in an integrated manner in published research work. Thus, the main objective of this paper is to examine the status of the application of both BIM and BEM, in Egypt. The research methodology involved using a semi-structured questionnaire and analysing two office buildings as case studies. Results showed that the application of BIM2BEM approach in Egypt is currently spreading and developing. It also showed that there are several barriers to adoption of this approach. Keywords: Building Information Modelling (BIM), Building Energy Models (BEM), Architectural firms, Egypt