A Performance Evaluation of the BIM-Based Object-Oriented Physical Modeling Technique for Building Thermal Simulations: A Comparative Case Study

The development of separate building performance simulation tools has brought about a significant need for the integration of multi-domain simulations that would enable multiple building performance analyses to be conducted from a single building model. Insufficient data integration between the tools and Building Information Modeling (BIM) currently prevents the efficient production of comprehensive building performance analyses. To overcome this problem, a multi-domain simulation tool, effective and efficient data, and a process integration methodology are all required. Object-Oriented Physical Modeling (OOPM) has emerged as a form of object-oriented modeling capable of supporting multiple domain simulations. Adoption of OOPM into building performance simulations with BIM is particularly interesting as a means of facilitating model translations between BIM and BEM (Building Energy Modeling). Specifically, complex data translation from the building topology in BIM to the space boundary conditions in BEM is both labor intensive and time consuming. This research uses case studies to investigate the feasibility of automatically translating a building topology from BIM to OOPM-based BEM. We included numerous preconditions in order to incorporate various object semantic differences into each model translation. Our research indicates that this adoption approach allows seamless model translations from BIM to OOPM-based BEM, which supports efficient and effective thermal simulations and facilitates the reuse of BIM data in multi-domain simulations.