Delivering Energy Savings for the Supply Chain Through Building Information Modelling as a Result of the Horizon 2020 Energy BIMcert Project

The global buildings sector is now responsible for 40% of final energy consumption as well as accounting for 33% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. This has resulted in a growing urgency to address energy and emissions from buildings and construction, to meet restrictive 2020 targets as specified by the European Union (EU). To achieve these targets a number of funding initiatives have been put in place through Horizon 2020 with a focus on BIM, due to it having the potential to rapidly produce energy outputs that enable design teams to analyse and compare the most cost-effective, energy-efficient options. However, despite the recorded benefits that BIM can bring to the design, there is still a lack of understanding of how it can be used on site by the supply chain to impact energy savings directly. In order to address this industry-wide concern a Multi-International consortium, bid, won and then launched the Horizon 2020 Energy BIMcert project in March 2018 with the goal to educate all areas of the supply chain in the use of BIM, so as to achieve better energy efficiency during the design, construction and ongoing maintenance of an asset. An online platform will be launched in September 2019, which will deliver blended training that combines theory, practice, and eLearning that will enable workers to train more effectively. This paper will explore the initial stages of this project and will focus on how the findings from a survey and series of workshops conducted within the member states of the Energy BIMcert consortium has helped establish the training needs of the industry. These findings were cross-referenced with a state-of-the-art literature review on BIM pedagogy, which has resulted in the formation of the curriculum and learning outcomes for a number of BIM focused training units. Further to this, the paper will discuss how the delivery of the blended training and associated materials will affect current energy saving targets.