MICA (Monitoring Internal Comfort Application):

A new BIM tool processing IEQ data input for building management and energetic optimizations

Abstract

Façades are one of the main elements that affect indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in buildings and building performance. Given the increasing development of sensor technology, the collection of building monitoring data is useful to understand whether the building and in particular the façade system performs as designed. The increasing use of Technical Building Management (TBM) as well as Building Automatic and Control System (BACs) has been demonstrated to be a promising method to decrease the energy consumption and increase the indoor comfort in new and existing buildings. This project aims to develop a tool showing and processing the monitoring data in a BIM environment using an IFC model. The application has been developed thinking about a BIM approach in the building management. Nowadays IFC models are the most used exchange file format in a BIM process. An IFC file can be loaded into a common data environment (CDE) reachable from stakeholders, sharing information and management strategies. The developed tool is a stand-alone application written in C# which is called MICA (Monitoring Internal Comfort Application). MICA can properly display the monitoring data of building sensors, sharing information between different building actors using the IFC format. It is a platform to visualize, manage and identify the IEQ aspects of building based on real monitored data.