Using 4D BIM in the Retrofit Process of Social Housing

There is a large stock of solid wall homes in the UK presenting poor thermal insulation and low energy performance. Although the UK Government has supported improvement efforts in the area, the identification of appropriate technical solutions that effectively improve the existing stock remains a challenge. BIM offers opportunities for building performance optimisation, through improved design and simulation. This research investigates how BIM could improve the retrofit process for social housing. This paper describes a research project looking into the use of BIM to develop what-if scenarios for retrofitting existing ’no-fines’ solid wall homes. The scenarios enable the analysis of alternative solutions considering costs, energy performance and user disruption. More specifically, this paper focuses on the use of 4D models to evaluate disruption for end users. The research process includes simulations, meetings, interviews, documents, and observations. Results indicate that the development of 4D BIM models supports a better understanding of the retrofitting process on site, enabling the definition of production processes with as minimal disruption as possible for users, whilst still delivering energy-oriented and cost effective solutions.