When Does the Digital Life of a Commercial Building Begin?

Ten years ago, the buzz in the building efficiency markets was all about data. New offerings of building energy management systems (BEMS) from the large incumbent building vendors and innovative and agile new startups touted the big data that was being collected from sensor laden building systems or utility interval data. At the time, it seemed more about the amount of data collected than the information that was generated and analyzed. The systems worked, however, and identified many opportunities for energy savings in buildings. Due to the easily adjustable nature of the issues that were found at the time, numerous opportunities for savings remained. Fast forward to today, and many of the same vendors have matured to the point where the volumes of data are paying deeper benefits. BEMS have been tuned and developed to the point where gathered information is being used to optimize building performance while providing value in areas that span the enterprise. Buildings have become more of an asset to building owners versus just a single purpose cost center.

Creating a Digital Twin

It is easy to assume that the digital life of a building starts during its operational phase when BEMS and other building systems begin to collect and act upon vast sets of data. For the most part, this assumption is correct. However, buildings that have gone through design and construction using a Building Information Modeling (BIM) process start their digital life before any physical activity begins. According to the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), BIM is a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility that forms a reliable basis for decisions during its life cycle from inception onward. The computer-aided design and other tools used for a BIM design and construction project form a digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a facility. In many cases, the digital models that are created can be considered a digital twin of the buildings. These digital twins can be used to virtually assess the physical and operational characteristics of the building. Building optimization can begin at this point, not after the building is constructed and commissioned for use.

Enabling Deep Digitization of Buildings

BIM processes are becoming more widely adopted around the world, and increasingly becoming a requirement in many countries. Due to the digital nature of BIM, it has the potential to become the next area of opportunity for building market participants as well as companies with big data expertise that desire to enter the building markets with innovative new solutions. If data is the foundation of the new era of intelligent building technologies, such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, then BIM can be the supreme enabler.

This will be the first in a series of blogs that discusses BIM and its ramifications for intelligent and efficient building market technologies. A 4Q 2018 Guidehouse Insights report outlines the strategic benefits and implications of BIM on the building, infrastructure, smart city, and other markets as they transition toward the Energy Cloud. In many respects, BIM is the start of the digital life of a building. Its value stretches beyond design and construction, enabling efficiencies and opportunities for innovation and integration with systems beyond the walls of the building itself. Future Guidehouse Insights blogs, articles, and reports will provide additional details about BIM’s place in the digitally enabled built environment.