1st Newsletter - April 2019

Launch of the BIMzeED project website

First meeting on the BIMzeED Croatian National Steering Group 

On 15 April the first meeting of the National Steering Group (NSG) was held as part of the BIMzeED project at the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Zagreb. The NSG (established in each partner country) will act as associate partners of the project and thus contribute significantly to the quality of the project results and, at the same time, strengthen the co-operation among stakeholders.

"We are very proud that we have gathered the leading Croatian experts regarding nearly zero energy buildings (NZEB) and Building Information Modeling (BIM)", said Srecko Vrcek, project manager from the North-West Croatia Regional Energy Agency (REGEA), one of the project partners. The meeting was attended by 40 representatives from various sectors of the construction industry - state and local government, science and education sector, designers, architects, contractors, construction materials manufacturers, associations and clusters.



After the project presentation by prof Bojan Milovanovic from the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Zagreb, also one of the project partners, Srecko Vrcek presented what the NSG is and its role in the project. During the meeting the participants were also introduced with the questionnaire that they will have to fill in, in order to obtain useful information for the further course of the project. After the presentation of the questionnaire an interesting and useful discussion on the implementation of BIM in the design of nearly zero energy buildings arosed. 

The meeting ended with a conclusion that everyone agreed on: the advantages of BIM and digitalization in the construction sector are numerous and bring many benefits. However, to implement those practices it is of upmost importance that they are introduced into the education system as soon as possible. This will then contribute to raising awareness on how important BIM and NZEB are to the construction industry by developing flexible and accessible ways for everyone to acquire better competences on in the construction sector market.

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Presentation of the BIMzeED project to the Construction Industries Commission (CIC)

ACE Guide: An Introduction to BIM

On 25 March, the Architects' Council of Europe (ACE) released a short guide on Building information Modelling (BIM) to support architects in dealing with digital models and processes.

At present, there is no clear understanding or a definition of the concept of BIM.  Does it mean 3D models, is it a tool, is it a process, is it a method, or is it a business model? The questions are manifold, and this is reflected in the multiple definitions to be found in the construction industry. The current answer is that the concept of BIM encompasses a little of everything.



The purpose of this guide is to give some answers to how to deal with the challenge of rapidly progressing digitisation in the construction industry. This guide is about what we can do now to bring value to architects, projects, partners and our clients who are working in a fast-evolving digital environment: how can architects improve their IT capabilities and expand their traditionally visual, geometry-based form of communication to include alphanumeric data associated with BIM models and data objects/building parts? 

The guide was written by Peter Hyttel-Sørensen, Chair of the ACE BIM Work Group with the support of the ACE BIM Work Group Members. Read here the full report. 

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NEWCOM: New competences for building professionals and blue collar workers

The energy and climate targets set by the European Union cannot be reached without a qualified building workforce who is ready to follow the high quality expectations required for NZEBs. The projects such as NEWCOM implemented in the framework of the Horizon 2020: Construction skills topic are mainly building on the previous BUILD UP Skills initiative of the EU.

In order to implement the Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD) systematically and thereby reach the EU's energy and climate targets, building owners, constructors and municipalities need to be aware of the energy saving measures and the way these have to be planned, applied and monitored. The buildings being built or renovated now, are the building stock of the future. Since construction errors are responsible for most of poor energy performance of buildings in practice, it is important to pay attention to the quality of work on the construction site.

The project NEWCOM addresses building quality issues and challenges building owners, construction workers and supervisory authorities are facing today in order to achieve the European and national climate protection targets for 2020 by implementing nearly zero-energy buildings standards. NEWCOM focuses on the development of missing qualification and certification schemes with a specific focus on mutual recognition.



The aim of NEWCOM is to set up large-scale qualification schemes in order to implement missing professional qualifications and certifications of blue collar workers and building inspectors with a special focus on the possibility of mutual recognition between different member states. These schemes will enable the building workforce to be qualified for the construction and renovation of the NZEB buildings.

The project implementation now reached its’ interim phase where the project partners already developed units of learning outcomes for blue collar workers (flat roofers and HVAC installers) and building inspectors based on the research of existing and needed certifications in each partner country (Austria, Netherlands, Hungary and Slovakia). The defined ULOs will also appear in a European database of certified professionals which will be used as a portal to make it easier to find skilled personnel/-companies (certified or acknowledged).

Currently training content and qualification schemes are under development in the selected fields (for blue collar workers and building inspectors) which will be taught during ‘Train the Trainers’ courses for selected trainers in all 4 partner countries. 
 
Main project output:

• Development of needed qualification and certification schemes for blue collar workers and building inspectors
• Implementation of respective “train the trainer” trainings in the participating countries
• Preparation of mutual recognition of the developed certified qualification schemes between different member states (incl. the preparation of a European database of certified building professionals).
• Development of strategies to raise the market demand for the developed certified qualification schemes to guarantee the sustainability beyond the project lifespan as well as the replication across the EU by involving national associations and training centres.

Fit-to-nZEB: Innovative training schemes for retrofitting to nZEB-levels

Fit-to-nZEB EU project aims to increasing competence and skills of the building professionals in the field of deep energy renovation (DER) in the target countries (Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Croatia, Ireland and Greece) through the unique educational programmes developed by the consortium, which will contribute to both the quality and the scale of the deep energy building renovations. 

The project consortium developed an innovative European Qualification Framework (EQF) level 3-7 training schemes for retrofitting buildings up to NZEB-levels, implemented under the project framework. The training programs have been organized in different countries across Europe with common structure, learning outcomes and competences. Courses were delivered by Universities, professional high schools and colleges, vocational training centres (VTCs), as well as through on-the-job training and validation programmes.

Additionally, a compendium (systematically organized collection of requirements) of competences for DER was derived from all relevant professions.

Find out more on the project website. 


Fig 1: example of the training models, execution of the university training – blower door, university training – minimizing thermal bridges, on the job training in Ireland 

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Net-UBIEP: Network for Using BIM to Increase the Energy Performance

The Horizon 2020 funded project Net-UBIEP aims at increasing energy performance of buildings by wide spreading and strengthening the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM), during the whole life cycle of the building. It is thought that the use of BIM will allow to simulate the energy performance of the building using different materials and components, both to be used in the building design and/or in building design refurbishment.

The main objective of the project is to integrate Building Information Modelling with energy performance requirements in order to promote the improvement of energy performance in a more effective and efficient manner.

The project proposes BIM Qualification Models integrated with energy (NZEB) competences, to widespread a better comprehension of energy issues along all the value chain of building industry so that both existing and new building will have better energy performances. Public Administrations, Professionals (Engineers / Architects), Technicians (Installers / Maintainers) and Tenants will be therefore involved in the Net-UBIEP activities. List of competences to energy performance needed for each BIM professional profile were defined. Competencies on energy performance are mapped to the defined target groups, public administration, professionals, technicians and owners. Additionally, there is a mapping to the different BIM professions: BIM manager, BIM coordinator, BIM expert, BIM expert user, BIM evaluator, BIM facility manager and the unaware BIM user.

Multimedia Handbooks for all four target groups were developed and are being validated through different training activities.

Find out more information on the project website.


Fig 2 training activities performed under the Net-Ubiep project

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ICARO: training a new generation of site technicians

ICARO is an International project (funded under the same BIMzeED Erasmus + call) that aims at training a new generation of site technicians able to respond to the challenges imposed by new technologies and new regulatory framework in the building sector. There is a need for a generational change, steering the young and unemployed towards qualified professions. The gender issue will also play a central role: only 10 per cent of graduates in vocational training in the building sector are women and the project seeks to increase this percentage rapidly.

The Icaro project will have a positive impact on youth employment, promoting high quality training that is appealing and relevant for the labour market. The project partners are 3 national vocational training centres operating in the building sector (FORMEDIL, FLC, VSRC), a regional centre (FLC ASTURIAS), a provincial centre (IIPLE), a European professional association (ACE), a Chamber of Commerce (PANEVEZYS CHAMBER) and a university (ALMA MATER – UNIBO).

Networking will be essential to achieve the objectives described, with the development of a methodology to enhance certification and qualification schemes and a more efficient use of European tools in order to render the same more transparent.

The objectives of Icaro are essentially three:

• revitalize the building sector by means of a profound generational turnover, steering the young and unemployed towards qualified professions;
• reverse the trend that sees few women employed in construction;
• increase employment possibilities by incorporating work-based learning in the training process of companies.

Icaro wishes to improve the planning of training activities that lead to the VET qualification at a European level involving students, enterprises and the system of professions. Work transition and apprenticeships must become the paradigm of training so as to introduce elements of flexibility within the curricula. 

Work and training policies will be in constant correlation through the establishment of a permanent forum.
In short, Icaro will develop a combined qualification of “Worksite Technician”, which refers to a multi-functional technical profile able to supervise activities on the building site, coordinate the building and/or renovation process, follow the planning, management and supervision of works, optimizing the human resources involved.

The impact of the project will be particularly relevant in the 3 countries taking part in the project: Lithuania, Spain and Italy. For more information visit the ICARO website.