# Building Information Modelling and Energy Simulation for Architecture Design
## 8 Discussion  
The main goals of this study are the analysis of the interaction between BIM and energy simulation, through a review of the main existing commercial tools, and the identification and application of a methodology in a BIM environment by using Graphisoft's BIM software Archicad and the plug-in for dynamic energy simulation EcoDesigner STAR. The application on a case study gave the possibility to explore advantages and limits of this commercial tools and, consequently, to provide some possible improvements. As said in Section 4, the selection of the analyzed tool was based on some main criteria. The first characteristics are the versatility and the possibility to combine BIM modelling with well-integrated plug-in for energy analysis, to import and export building 2D drawings, BIM modelling and 3D visualization, quasi-static energy diagnosis, dynamic energy diagnosis, calculation of thermal bridges, and calculation of renewable energy sources. The second characteristic is that it meets the requirements set by the most advanced energy diagnosis standards, such as UNI EN ISO 52016-1 for the calculation in dynamic hourly regime, and ASHRAE 140-2017 and UNI/TS 11300 on the monthly average stationary calculation. Finally, it meets the validity requirements required by buildingSMART for IFC certification. All these requirements, according to the conducted study and the results reported above, were confirmed. Although the results of this study are satisfactory, some critical issues and disadvantages were found within the application and possible fields. They can be addressed in future research, in order to improve digital tools and achieve perfect integration between BIM and BEM, without the passage of digital models in third-party analysis software. As shown in Table 3, the major limitation that has been detected is the poor personalization of data relating to heating systems. The type of data that can be set is limited and inherent to the fundamental characteristics of the system, such as the nominal power, the thermoregulation, the nominal capacity, and the COP/EER. It is not possible to specify the efficiency and to insert the heating terminals with their technical specifications. Furthermore, it is not possible to set the vapor diffusion resistance factor of the material, the efficiency and the emission of the system. Thus, as improvements of the tools there is the implementation of the possibility to set these latter parameters. In particular, giving the possibility to set the vapor diffusion \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline  & & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**ArchicAD +**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Termology**} \\  & & & **EcoDesigner STAR** & \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{Material physical properties} & Density [\(\rho\)] & ✓ & ✓ \\  & Thermal conductivity [\(\lambda\)] & ✓ & ✓ \\  & Vapour diffusion resistance factor [\(\mu\)] & ✕ & ✓ \\  & Heat Capacity & ✓ & ✓ \\  & Embodied energy & ✓ & ✕ \\  & Embodied carbon & ✓ & ✕ \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{Building Systems} & \multirow{4}{*}{Boiler} & Nominal capacity & ✓—basic— & ✓—detailed \\  & & Efficiency [n] & ✕ & ✓—detailed \\  & & Emission system & ✕ & ✓ \\  & & Thermoregulation & ✓—basic & ✓—detailed \\ \cline{2-4}  & & Nominal capacity & ✓—basic & ✓—detailed \\ \cline{2-4}  & & Efficiency & ✓—basic & ✓—detailed \\  & & [COP/EER] & & ✓ \\  & & Emission system & ✕ & ✓ \\  & & Thermoregulation & ✓—basic & ✓—detailed \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{lighting} & \multirow{2}{*}{Power} & ✓ & ✓ \\  & & Sources typologies & ✓ & ✓ \\ \cline{1-1}  & & Control system & ✕ & ✓ \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: Comparison with Termolog software. resistance factor of the materials, it will improve the calculation of possible surface and interstitial condensation. Regarding the HVAC system, in order to provide a more precise energy analysis, the tool could be improved by giving the possibility to set the efficiency of the boiler and the emission system characteristics and typology.