The successful completion of the Horizon 2020 project “BIM4Ren – BIM based tools & technologies towards a fast and efficient renovation of residential buildings”, a pioneer in investigating easy-to-use digital technologies to contribute to the renovation of the EU building stock, has been achieved over the last couple of months.
BIM4Ren ran from October 2018 to September 2022, exploiting the potential of BIM for the energy-efficient renovation of existing buildings, by developing SME-friendly BIM-based tools and related training materials.
In the table below, some of the major final outputs of these four intense years of activity:
| The development of the BIM4Ren One-stop-access (OSAP) platform, built to act as a unique entry point for all digital tools and services developed within the project and to serve as a common data environment for renovation projects. All tools are fully documented in the OSAP, with links to online video tutorials and explanations of their main functionalities. To learn more about it, it is possible to read this article on the B4R website or directly register for testing on the dedicated OSAP platform website. |  |
| The publication of the White Paper “BIM and Renovation: Innovation for a Better Future“, to present the partnership’s vision on the potential of BIM for energy-efficient renovations. The document includes sections describing the general context (e.g., the need to improve the renovation of Europe’s building stock; the challenges in BIM adoption; etc.); the methodologies and tools developed in the project; and the experiments conducted in the project’s pilot sites, with a list of feedback, mistakes to avoid, alert points and main benefits. To consult the White Paper in full, you can download it at this link on the B4R website. |  |
| The development of user-friendly training material on BIM in renovation projects for construction professionals and SMEs. It is about quickly introducing digital tools and BIM and their benefits in the context of energy renovation processes. The BIM4Ren comprehensive training programme succeeded in delivering 36 training modules, consisting of easy-to-access PDF documents, videos and tools demonstrations. All training modules are freely available in 4 languages (English; French; Italian; Spanish) on the BIM4Ren legacy website, which will ensure the BIM4Ren efforts live on after the official end of the project, gathering also all engagement material and relevant information on the BIM4Ren OSAP and tools in a new, easy-to-access format. It also includes all EU and national BIM4Ren contact points that you can reach for any future project-related enquiries. |   |
On top of this, 4 national training days were organised in Italy (hosted by EBC national members CNA Costruzioni and ANAEPA), Spain and France, which succeeded in gathering a total of over 300 participants (in person and online). Also, EBC and the partnership organised a final EUSEW 2022 event on opportunities and challenges of the digital and green transitions for construction SMEs; a joint workshop on digitisation and Renovation Wave organised with sister projects at Sustainable Places 2022; and a total of 38 videos were uploaded on the BIM4Ren YouTube channel, dedicated to B4R webinars, tool demonstrations, pilot activities, interviews, etc.
All these results, and more, are summarised in the BIM4Ren’s fourth and final yearly newsletter, downloadable at this link on the B4R website.