Integration of Building Information Modelling and Augmented Reality for Building Energy Systems Visualisation

Buildings consist of numerous energy systems, including heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and lighting systems. Typically, such systems are not fully visible in operational building environments, as some elements remain built into the walls, or hidden behind false ceilings. Fully visualising energy systems in buildings has the potential to improve understanding of the systems’ performance and enhance maintenance processes. For such purposes, this paper describes the process of integrating Building Information Modelling (BIM) models with Augmented Reality (AR) and identifies the current limitations associated with the visualisation of building energy systems in AR using BIM. Testing of the concept included creating and superimposing a BIM model of a room in its actual physical environment and performing a walk-in analysis. The experimentation concluded that the concept could result in effective visualisation of energy systems with further development on the establishment of near real-time information.