Heritage building information model (BIM) for scientific data

This research aims at enabling usage of Building Information Modelling (BIM) within heritage science, and, specifically, it intends to provide a tool that depicts continuous surface quantities, such as weathering. BIM is a new technology that has been specifically developed for new buildings. BIM consists of several platforms, which enable the digital control and buildings’ design in all their life-cycle phases. It is possible to enrich BIM model’s elements with any data type. Data embedding is crucial in heritage; indeed, heritage buildings are often characterised by large amounts of data, either historical, or performance, i.e., environmental monitoring. Using BIM in heritage buildings could lead to a new way of working, given the critical data management issues in building conservation projects. However, using BIM technology in heritage presents challenges, and research is active on solving heritage-specific issues, such as modelling automation, surveying, data embedding, etc. A literature review enabled research gaps identification in some fields, including weathering depiction, as well as challenges and future steps that the BIM industry could take for the heritage sector. After identifying the need for heritage-specific technical solutions, a dedicated algorithm, which is able to read and depict data that will be useful for heritage, was created. This algorithm was tested in two case studies using Autodesk Revit and related technologies. The BIM models are enriched with data through Revit spreadsheets. A combination of Autodesk Dynamo and Python is used to produce an algorithm that can read, interpolate, and depict moisture in the Jewel Tower case study. In the second case study, Hellens Manor, we use a streamlined version of the Dynamo algorithm to depict the chemical components variation of historic glass panes. These 2 experiments demonstrate that our algorithm is flexible and can be successfully used to depict any surface quantity of interest to heritage.