BIMCERT Project: Digital Competencies Training for a More Sustainable Built Environment

The global buildings sector is now responsible for 40% of final energy consumption as well as
accounting for 33% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. This has far resulted in a
growing urgency to address energy and emissions from buildings and construction, to meet
restrictive 2020 targets as specified by the European Union (EU). To achieve these targets
several funding initiatives have been put in place through Horizon 2020 with a focus on BIM,
due to it having the potential to rapidly produce energy outputs that enable design teams to
analyse and compare the most cost-effective, energy-efficient options.
However, despite the recorded benefits that BIM can bring to the design, there is still a lack of
understanding of how it can be used on site by the supply chain to impact energy savings
directly. In order to address this industry-wide concern a Multi-International consortium bid,
won and then launched the Horizon 2020 Energy BIMcert project in March 2018 with the goal
to educate all areas of the supply chain in the use of BIM, to achieve better energy efficiency
during the design, construction and ongoing maintenance of an asset. An online platform was
launched in 2019, which delivers blended training that combines theory, practice, and
eLearning to enable workers to train more effectively. This paper will present the project and
discuss some of its major results.