Automating the creation of building information models for existing buildings

Abstract

Building Information Models (BIMs) are valuable facility management tools, however the resources required to develop existing building BIMs are a recognized barrier to adoption of facility management enabled BIMs. Significant developments have been made for generating geometrically complex models using scanning technologies, however the resultant models are often extremely large and require significant computational resources. This paper presents an automated process that uses 2D floorplans and elevation drawings to generate semantically-rich BIMs with adequate geometry for energy simulation and integration of the significant diversity and volume of data necessary for day-to-day building operations and facility management. The proposed approach minimizes the resources necessary for both model creation and maintenance, limiting initial BIM creation to match the level of detail available on available building drawings, while providing the flexibility to incorporate complex geometry at a future date. Two case studies, a set of university campus buildings and a healthcare training facility, have been modelled using this approach and the resultant model generation speed, accuracy, and resultant quality are discussed, along with limitations and future process improvements. • The process automatically generates semantically-rich BIMs from cleaned CAD floorplans. • Semantic content mapping algorithms are presented to support FM-BIM activities. • Parameter generation and information mapping is automated to reduce model maintenance. • Envelope suitable for energy models is generated automatically from building elevation CAD.