The role of Green BIM in energy efficiency of buildings: In the Proceedings of the Sustainable Built Environment Conference (SBE 2016), 29th – 1st Dec. 2016, Cairo, Egypt.

The emerging trends of Sustainability and Building Information Modelling in the built environment are intensively pulling the attention of the contemporary AEC industry. Although BIM and Sustainable Design have derived from quite discrete underlying needs and market factors, they share a significant mutual thread: the success of both endeavours relies heavily on a front loaded, deeply integrated building design philosophy that aims to encapsulate all team players from the very beginning of a project. This paper reviews the interrelationship between BIM and sustainability and extends it to be utilized for the achievement of energy efficient buildings. The study includes analysis of the background of the synergy, commonalities between them, benefits of their intersection and frameworks for their application. Concurrently, challenging issues are discussed and future research opportunities indicated. However, the reviewed literature in the paper is limited to the impact of BIM on energy efficiency, as an aspect of sustainability, during the early stages of the project, although the contribution of post-occupancy stages to energy consumption is recognized. The paper concludes that the combination of the two trends is driven by necessity, in fact, since BIM can enable the substantial adoption of sustainability. Meanwhile, efficient energy modelling and analysis, facilitated by BIM tools and BIM-friendly applications, have the potential to result in energy efficiency and in further successful implementation of certification systems. Thus, acknowledging the supportive approach of the new emergences, further research is recommended in the terms of simplification of the practice, and design of the lines of communication between the multidisciplinary project team, as a vital condition of BIM, sustainability and Green BIM.