Ten questions concerning building information modeling (BIM): Energy-efficiency in design, construction, and operation

Although Building Information Modeling (BIM) has arrived in the architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AECO) industry and its added value is recognized, there still persist unresolved technical and organizational challenges that hinder full market exploitation. The objective of this article is to establish a critical framework for reflection that facilitates further development and adoption of BIM, Building Energy Modeling (BEM), and Digital Twins (DTs) as tools for evidence-based and sustainable construction practices and identifies necessary research gaps and directions. The focus is on how BIM improves efficient interdisciplinary planning and the conditions that enable its effectiveness. The potential and limitations of generating simulation-ready geometries for BEM are also discussed. It also reflects on how standardized data structures and ontologies open up new possibilities, but also create challenges and dependencies in interoperability on their own. A particular focus is placed on the development of DTs as an extension of BIM. DTs open up the prospect of continuous evaluation of building performance throughout the entire life-cycle, but at the same time raise questions about data availability, model consistency, and methodological validity. The challenges in integrating building automation and control systems (BACS), computer-aided facility management (CAFM), and IoT data, showing both optimization potential and remaining gaps. In addition, the article examines how BIM supports the integration of life-cycle assessments (LCA) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). These topics are not understood as closed technical solutions, but as open discourses that stimulate future research and raise the question of the actual sustainability of digital planning paradigms.