Integration of structural performance and human-centric comfort monitoring in historical building information modeling

Abstract

The integration and processing of monitoring data in Historical Building Information Modeling (HBIM) can aid the design, restoration, and maintenance activities of historic buildings through the conscious assessment and potential improvement of their performance. In this regard, this paper presents a new methodology for performing structural performance and human-centric environmental comfort monitoring of historic buildings within the HBIM environment. A new Python-based software application, named H2BIM, developed by the authors to fully implement the proposed approach in Revit, i.e. the BIM design authoring platform by Autodesk, is also developed and implemented for the first time in this paper. The effectiveness of the novel methodology and developed software is demonstrated through an application case study involving a recently renewed historic building located in the countryside of Perugia, Italy, and subjected to various monitoring activities within the framework of GEOFIT Horizon 2020 Project. Obtained results highlight the multidisciplinarity and high interoperability of the new approach, whose employment via the developed software led to a comprehensive assessment of the building during its operating conditions.