The Application of Heritage Building Information Modelling in Sustainable Heritage Protection

Dear Colleagues,

The relevance of sustainable methodologies and practices for the conservation of built heritage is currently gaining traction. In fact, conservation and sustainability share many methodological aspects, from the transgenerational timeframe to the need for interdisciplinary approaches between hard sciences and humanities.

Built heritage is not the most energy-intensive part of the building stock, thanks to its passive design optimised for the reference climate; however, climate change is weakening this assumption, intensifying the risk of damage and decay, raising operation costs and limiting use. On the other hand, built heritage can act as a driver for sustainability, thanks to its potential for mobilising the scientific community and society towards decarbonisation and circular economy.

Yet, promoting sustainable heritage conservation, which represents not only a technical issue but also a “cultural issue”, requires careful, multidimensional approaches able to investigate the richness, heterogeneity and complexity of historical buildings while finding the ideal balance between appropriate interventions, building context and social acceptability, historical–artistic values, passive behaviour and energy use, within a framework of inclusive policies. Moreover, the urgency of the climate crisis calls for replicable processes of information management and decision support, crossing scientific advancement and technological transfer to the professional practice and public sector.

Heritage building information modelling (HBIM) represents one of the most promising of such processes for sustainable conservation, as it fosters interdisciplinarity, stakeholder involvement, efficient workflows, feasible analysis and performance-based design solutions. HBIM's ability to act as a single repository for documentation, diagnostics, monitoring, energy and environmental data, analytical investigations and surveys enhances the dynamic implementation, accessibility and transparency of shared knowledge.

Despite this potential, to fully exploit HBIM-based processes for sustainable heritage conservation, many gaps still need to be addressed relating to methodologies, software applications and built heritage’s inherent complexities: for instance, the interoperability between HBIM and building performance simulation, the coupling of HBIM with decision-support systems on heritage risks, the integration of static and dynamic diagnostics results within HBIM models and platforms, the use of HBIM to design and compare scenarios of energy and environmental improvement, the enhancement of effectiveness and social acceptability, and the management capability of HBIM to assist interventions, operation and maintenance for public authorities. Also, it is important to note that case studies on the topic are still limited.

In line with the above, this Special Issue seeks contributions that examine in depth both the theoretical and methodological implications of the application of HBIM for sustainable heritage conservation, contributing to building a critical mass of data, experiences and insights at the service of an increasingly urgent technological transfer to support sustainability.

We are inviting you to contribute original research articles and reviews to this Special Issue. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Methodologies and applications of HBIM for sustainable heritage protection to relevant case studies;
• Energy and environmental improvement of historical buildings and sensitive renovation through HBIM: analyses, diagnostics and interventions;
• HBIM support of sustainable operation and maintenance;
• Interoperability between HBIM and building performance simulation;
• HBIM and IoT to support sustainable heritage protection;
• HBIM approaches to prevent maladaptation;
• Sustainable asset management through the use of HBIM for public authorities involved in heritage conservation and enhancement;
• HBIM support for ecological compatibility and circular economy within conservation processes (materials, tools, etc.);
• Evaluation of environmental impacts and risks and integration of decision support systems within HBIM processes;
• Analysis through HBIM of strategies and construction techniques traditionally implemented in historical buildings to optimise their energy and environmental behaviour and comfort depending on local climate.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Letizia Martinelli
Dr. Filippo Calcerano
Dr. Elena Gigliarelli
Guest Editors

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• HBIM
• built heritage
• sustainability
• conservation
• building performance simulation
• environmental design
• restoration
• climate change
• ecological transition
• energy improvement