Digitising building energy renovation In a market where time, costs and disruption to people’s lives are key drivers, the BERTIM project has looked to digital solutions and a prefabrication business model to help boost the market potential for energy-efficient renovation. Project coordinator Nagore Tellado explains how she hopes this approach will lead to greater innovation in the construction sector and, ultimately, more much-needed renovation of Europe’s inefficient buildings. Energy © BERTIM The EC has funded many projects supporting its policies designed to increase the energy efficiency of buildings through their renovation, with varying degrees of success. All aim to reduce Co2 emissions, increase energy efficiency, help make buildings less reliant on fossil fuel energy and benefit the environment overall - but while the policies are in place and the research is being generously funded, the market for this type of renovation is just not keeping up. One of the main reasons for this is that the cost of energy is relatively cheap, while to renovate a building is very expensive and also very intrusive for those living or working in it. If we want to renovate buildings on a large scale to meet the EC’s ambitious targets and change this market situation, then we need cost-effective solutions available that are quick to install and keep to a minimum any intrusion on residents’ lives. BERTIM is a project that may well have a chance in this difficult market. Having just completed its four-year effort, which was coordinated by Tecnalia, the project addressed these two essential elements the market is looking for. On the one hand it has developed a prefabricated solution which allows for cost-effective renovation that improves energy performance, air quality, aesthetics, comfort, and raises the value of the property while on the other hand, it ensures low intrusiveness during renovation works, while providing a clear indication of any return on investment the improvements will deliver. There are two elements to BERTIM’s approach. The manufacturing element of the solution is included in a holistic methodology for the renovation process, from data collecting to installation. Meanwhile, there is a systemic methodology that is based on a digital data flow in BIM that has been implemented in a bespoke software named RenoBIM. This helps constructors reduce renovation operation time, allows for customised mass production, and lowers the financial risk for investors. “Put simply, for BERTIM, cost-effective solutions for building renovation have two drivers,” says project coordinator Nagore Tellado from Tecnalia in Bilbao, Spain. “Firstly, we have digitised the whole process of renovation and secondly, we have developed a system of using mass-manufactured prefabricated modules that speed up the whole process and, through a franchise business model, are fully scalable.” Tellado is, however, quick to concede that initial investment costs for BERTIM’s renovation package may still be a barrier to market. While compared to traditional renovation solutions, BERTIM reduces installation time by more than half, the prefabricated solution is still not cheaper than the traditional solution at the moment. “Our solution still requires a lot of man effort if done on a small scale,” she says. “But, if we are able to use these solutions in a large number of buildings, then an economy of scale will be reached and we will then start to see better returns on investment.” The BERTIM solutions are designed for larger buildings that need to be renovated very quickly, like those in city centres where work cannot take months due to the disruption that would cause. “We have a demo site in France, where we renovated one building in two and a half days,” Tellado explains. “While the work in the factory making the prefabricated elements for the renovation takes longer than it does for traditional renovation, the BERTIM solution is very quick to install at the site itself – and digitisation is key to being able to achieve this.” This article was written for Projects Magazine. You can find the full article at: http://www.projectsmagazine.eu.com/current_issue
