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EU-funded project supports development of tomorrow's construction tools

Passive House Institute combines BIM-based platform with PHPP and designPH
Sept. 23, 2015
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Darmstadt, Germany. In order to close the “performance gap” that often occurs with energy-efficient buildings, 20 partners from across Europe have joined forces in the new Built2Spec project. The aim is to provide construction specialists with tools for mobile applications using smartphones and tablet computers – from easy-to-use 3D visualisation and compact solutions for airtightness measurements to a BIM-based data platform for on-site quality assurance. The most important objectives of the Built2Spec project were presented at the Sustainable Places conference which was held in Savona in Italy last week.

The discrepancy between the consumption values calculated in advance and the values actually achieved in building operation, referred to as the “performance gap”, is frequently raised as an issue in many areas of energy-efficient construction. With the Passive House Standard, this disparity between demand and reality does not exist, though. The Passive House Institute was involved in Built2Spec to make the project profit from the experiences gained with this standard which functions well for every building type and in every climate.

The international Passive House Institute is providing its expertise for the development of
the new Built2Spec tools for future-proof construction and quality assurance. Simultaneously, the independent research facility founded by Dr Wolfgang Feist is working on the interfaces between the BIM-based platform of the EU-funded project and the planning and design tools PHPP and designPH.

Built2Spec (Built to Specifications) is being funded by the EU's framework programme for research and innovation Horizon 2020. The project was initiated in January 2015 and will run for four years. The European conference Sustainable Places 2015 in the Italian city of Savona was held on 16 - 18 September. The Built2Spec objectives were presented here by project coordinator Germain Adell in the workshop “Closing the Energy Performance Gap”. An interview with this expert of the French organisation Nobatek has also been published in the latest newsletter of the EU-funded project.

The dis­crep­ancy between the con­sump­tion val­ues cal­cu­lated in ad­vance and the val­ues ac­tu­ally achieved in build­ing op­er­a­tion, re­ferred to as the “per­form­ance gap”, is fre­quently raised as an is­sue in many areas of en­ergy-ef­fi­cient con­struc­tion. With the Pass­ive House Stand­ard, this dis­par­ity between de­mand and real­ity does not ex­ist, though. The Pass­ive House In­sti­tute was in­volved in Built2Spec to make the pro­ject profit from the ex­per­i­ences gained with this stand­ard which func­tions well for every build­ing type and in every cli­mate.

The in­ter­na­tion­al Pass­ive House In­sti­tute is provid­ing its ex­pert­ise for the de­vel­op­ment of
the new Built2Spec tools for fu­ture-proof con­struc­tion and qual­ity as­sur­ance. Sim­ul­tan­eously, the in­de­pend­ent re­search fa­cil­ity foun­ded by Dr Wolfgang Feist is work­ing on the in­ter­faces between the BIM-based plat­form of the EU-fun­ded pro­ject and the plan­ning and design tools PHPP and design­PH.

Built2Spec (Built to Spe­cific­a­tions) is be­ing fun­ded by the EU's frame­work pro­gramme for re­search and in­nov­a­tion Ho­ri­zon 2020. The pro­ject was ini­ti­ated in Janu­ary 2015 and will run for four years. The European con­fer­ence Sus­tain­able Places 2015 in the Itali­an city of Savona was held on 16 - 18 Septem­ber. The Built2Spec ob­ject­ives were presen­ted here by pro­ject co­ordin­at­or Ger­main Ad­ell in the work­shop “Clos­ing the En­ergy Per­form­ance Gap”. An in­ter­view with this ex­pert of the French or­gan­isa­tion Nobatek has also been pub­lished in the latest newsletter of the EU-fun­ded pro­ject.

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EU Projects Built2Spec BIM