Automation in Construction 80 (2017) 118–136

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Automation in Construction

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon

Review

Bibliometric analysis and review of Building Information Modelling

literature published between 2005 and 2015

Rúben Santos a,⁎, António A. Costa a, António Grilo b

a
CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
b
FCT, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Quinta da Torre, Campus Universitário, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) has increased in recent years, mostly due to the potential of the
Received 5 May 2016 methodology for improving construction project performance and efficiency. With a view to achieving a better
Received in revised form 27 February 2017 understanding of the research work on this subject, this paper conducts a bibliometric analysis and a review of
Accepted 14 March 2017
existing literature on BIM focusing on the last decade. The authors selected the articles published in journals
Available online 17 March 2017
with an impact factor higher then 1.0, as well as the top 100 most cited articles. The search resulted on 381 arti-
Keywords:
cles, which were then categorised in order to systematise the research conducted over the years. The authors
BIM have not only analysed the existing literature but also highlighted new emerging fields in BIM research, being
Literature review possible to identify Collaborative Environments and Interoperability, Sustainable Construction, BIM Adoption &
Bibliometric analysis Standardisation, and BIM Programming as the categories with the most significant growth in the last years. It
Digital construction was also observed that the most researched topics were related with the development of BIM tools, the study
Categorisation of BIM adoption worldwide, the energy simulation using BIM-based information and, more recently, with the se-
mantic interoperability and ontology. On the other hand, the study on BIM at the academic level is very small, as
well as parametric modelling and quantity take-off.
© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
1.1. Originality of the review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
2. Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
3. Bibliometric analysis outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
4. Content analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
4.1. Category: Collaborative Environments and Interoperability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
4.1.1. Sub-category: Interoperability & IFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
4.1.2. Sub-category: Semantic BIM & Ontology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.1.3. Sub-category: Collaborative Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.1.4. Sub-category: Knowledge & Information Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
4.2. Category: Sustainable Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
4.2.1. Sub-category: Energy Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
4.2.2. Sub-category: Sustainable Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
4.2.3. Sub-category: Building Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
4.3. Category: BIM Adoption and Standardisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.3.1. Sub-category: Rules Checking & Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.3.2. Sub-category: BIM Benefits & ROI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.3.3. Sub-category: BIM Adoption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.3.4. Sub-category: BIM Training & Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (R. Santos).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2017.03.005
0926-5805/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 R. Santos et al. / Automation in Construction 80 (2017) 118–136 119

4.4. Category: BIM Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

4.4.1. Sub-category: Parametric Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
4.4.2. Sub-category: BIM Tool Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
4.4.3. Sub-category: Cloud Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
4.5. Category: Image Processing, Laser Scanning, and Augmented Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
4.5.1. Sub-category: Image Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
4.5.2. Sub-category: Laser Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
4.5.3. Sub-category: AR-based Framework/Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
4.6. Category: Facilities Management and Safety Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
4.6.1. Sub-category: Safety Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
4.6.2. Sub-category: Building Management and Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
4.7. Category: Construction Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
4.7.1. Sub-category: Schedule Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
4.7.2. Sub-category: Quantity Take-off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
4.7.3. Sub-category: Cost Estimation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
4.8. Category: BIM and Spatial Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
4.8.1. Sub-category: Geographical Information System (GIS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
4.8.2. Sub-category: Space Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
5. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

1. Introduction published research in the field of BIM and then a comprehensive review.
It is chronologically organised, giving the readers a better understand-
The construction industry currently generates 9% of gross domestic ing of the evolution of BIM over the last ten years. After the Introduction,
product (GDP) and provides 20 million jobs in Europe [1], and is respon- the rest of the paper is structured as follows: Section 2 describes the re-
sible for 40% of energy consumption and 38% of CO2 emissions [2]. The search methodology in detail; Section 3 groups the papers into catego-
building sector is probably the single largest contributor to resource de- ries based on a bibliometric analysis; Section 4 discusses the contents
pletion, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption [3]. of selected papers and identifies trends and research gaps revealed in
In response to this demanding reality, it has become important to im- the literature; and Section 5 presents the conclusions.
prove the energy performance and resource efficiency of buildings, in-
frastructures and construction in general. To achieve this goal, the
Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector will need to 1.1. Originality of the review
promote the use of collaborative-based and rich information methodol-
ogies, such as BIM. Between 2006 and 2015 several literature reviews on BIM were pub-
The term “Building Information Model” first appeared in 1992, in lished. In 2009, Eastman et al. [17] reviewed rule checking systems, as it
“Modelling multiple views on buildings” article, published in Automation was deemed as an emerging field in 2009, and argued that the advent of
and Construction journal [4]. In this article, the authors proposed a new BIM tools and IFC would enable an automatic rule checking, as it was
approach for modelling building information based on multiple aspects verified later. Two years later Jung and Joo [14] studied the literature
(e.g. spatial design, building structure, and energy). Since then, the re- in the fields of computer-integrated construction (CIC) and BIM, with
search on BIM methodology has been growing significantly and new ap- the purpose of developing a BIM framework for real-world projects de-
plications are being found. In the early phases of BIM research, most veloped by companies. Love et al. [12] examined BIM literature in the
articles were published either in Architecture magazines [5–7] or in area of design errors and also presented a systemic model for reducing
conferences, covering the novelty of BIM methodology/technology and design errors, concluding that little empirical research had been carried
how challenging it would be to adopt it. out in this field of study. Cerovsek [13] focused on the technological di-
Currently, BIM refers to the use of a shared digital representation of a mension of BIM literature and on BIM implementation in projects for
built object to facilitate the design, construction, and operation process- new buildings, in contrast to Volk et al. [16], who focused on recent re-
es and to form a reliable basis for decision making [8]. It is not only a search on BIM for existing buildings. Zhou et al. [18] surveyed the state-
method that foster closer cooperation between all the various technical of-the-art on construction safety and digital design, evidencing BIM as
teams involved in the different stages of a construction project's life- one of the studied fields, similar to the study of Skibniewski [31]. De-
cycle [9], but also integrates the information inputs from all teams in- spite the focus was not the BIM methodology, the authors analysed a
volved in a project. Recent research shows that the BIM methodology few articles that used BIM tools for safety analysis during construction
improves the flow of information between the parties involved in a pro- planning (4D BIM). Ding et al. [15] studied the existing BIM applications
ject and encourages new design solutions. It also reduces the amount of in the construction industry and proposed a BIM application framework
time and money expended on a project, through highly accurate cost es- to expand from 3D to nD as a result, similar to other studies [19,20]. A
timation, clash detection and other mechanisms [10,11]. Recognising more systematic analysis of BIM literature was conducted by Yalcinkaya
these advantages, most contractors that started to use BIM in their pro- and Singh [27], which resulted in the compilation of published articles
jects do not intend to perform traditional methods again, as BIM in- between 2004 and 2014. Despite the useful identification of BIM re-
creased their productivity and greatly decreased the requests for search areas, the respective discussion is more focused on the scope of
information and rework [10]. a few studies within each research area than actually analysing the con-
With the aim of providing the readers with sufficient knowledge of tents of the articles.
the current literature on BIM, we review herein the existing research Other reviews focused on the different fields of BIM application, as
in BIM. While there are a number of reviews of BIM literature already structural design [21], infrastructure industry [29], as-built data collec-
published [12–32], these either focus on specific aspects of BIM applica- tion and analysis [22,24,25,28,32], where technologies as photogram-
tion instead of providing an overall picture of it or different selection metry and laser scanning were deeply studied, building performance
criteria are used. So, this paper performs a bibliometric analysis of simulation in early phases of the project [26], and sustainability [23,30].
120 R. Santos et al. / Automation in Construction 80 (2017) 118–136

Fig. 1. Research methodology (bibliometric analysis).

In contrast to most of previous literature reviews, that focused on previously. Accordingly, they were not included in the Content analysis
single aspects of BIM, this review contributes with a more systematic section that grouped the remaining 360 papers.
and updated analysis of all research on BIM. It not only studies a wide Although the first paper was published in 1992, entitled “Modelling
range of publications, but also examines papers published by recognised multiple views on buildings” [4], only in 2006 the literature started to
journals within this field. Throughout the review, BIM methodology will be more focused and assertive in relation to BIM research and develop-
be categorised to simplify the understanding of the literature and per- ment [33,34]. Therefore, we decided to review the last decade (from
mit a better analysis of trends and gaps in the research. 2006 to 2015) in order to cover the most important phases of BIM re-
search, tool development and implementation.
2. Methodology Based on a grounded approach, the categorisation process was carried
out by each author in an independent way. Rather than categorising the
Our paper analyses and classifies the research on BIM until 2015 by literature based on existing research themes or areas (present in other
applying the quantitative method of bibliometric analysis. This studies), we proposed our own categories built on the articles' contents.
bibliometric analysis consists of six main steps (Fig. 1): (i) keyword After the categorisation process, we brought together our categories in
search in the Web of Science database; (ii) selection of journals that order to reduce it to a single categorisation framework. For that purpose,
have an impact factor higher than 1.0; (iii) individual search in the da- we compared the independent categories using Cohen's Kappa method
tabase of the journals selected in the previous step; (iv) exclusion of du- [35]. As Cohen's Kappa coefficient obtained in the first round was not suf-
plicates and articles that do not discuss BIM; (v) selection of the 100 ficient, we conducted another categorisation round, which allowed to
most cited articles; and (vi) categorisation of articles based on contents. converge the process. Finally, a high degree of reliability was finally
In the first step of our bibliometric analysis we conducted a keyword found at the second time, with Cohen's Kappa coefficient being 87%.
search in the Web of Science database using the keywords: (i) “BIM”; (ii)
“Building Information Modelling”; (iii) “Building Information Model- 3. Bibliometric analysis outcomes
ing”; and (iv) “Building Information Model”. We then refined the search
in the database to only include scientific articles written in English and The bibliometric analysis shows that over the last decade there has
from the engineering and computer related fields, which resulted in 577 been an increase in published papers on BIM from 4 in 2006 to 106 in
articles. Afterwards, we selected 399 articles that were published in 2015 (Fig. 2 and Table 1). It is also interesting to note that only 8,3% of
journals with an impact factor greater than 1.0 (i.e. journals with articles the 381 articles were published up until 2011, which means that the
published in the last two years and that have been cited one time, on av- last five years were particularly productive. Over the ten-year period
erage). However, even though Web of Science is acknowledged as the under review, and according to our selection criteria, the Automation
leading citation database with high quality and multidisciplinary re-
search, it has some limitations as a search tool, mainly because it
searches the terms only in the title/abstract/keywords of the articles.
Considering this limitation, we conducted a new search in the databases
of the journals selected in the previous step, as it performs a thorough
search in the full article. This individual search resulted in 1.005 articles.
After the exclusion of duplicated articles, and the ones that did not
discussed BIM (from WoS database and the journals' database), only
369 articles fit our criteria. Then, we conducted a search (in the Web
of Science) to identify the most cited articles in the BIM literature, in
order to cover the most influencing articles in this field. By doing this,
not only do we have a criterion based on journals' quality (Impact Fac-
tor) but also a criterion that is based on articles' influence in the litera-
ture (TOP 100 citation). As a result, 12 more papers were included (as
the other 88 were published in journals with an Impact Factor higher
than 1.0). As a result, we are going to analyse 381 papers in this review.
Of the 381, 21 are literature reviews on BIM and were already discussed Fig. 2. BIM papers published over the last decade.
 R. Santos et al. / Automation in Construction 80 (2017) 118–136 121

and Construction Journal published the majority of papers in the field of According to the categories mentioned above, it was possible to
BIM (177), followed by the Advanced Engineering Informatics Journal identify which research areas are more appealing to academic peers,
(47) and the Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering (39). based on top 100 citation (Table 3). Those research areas contain studies
Our bibliometric analysis also showed that, according to Table 2, 59 that covers “BIM Adoption and Standardisation”, “BIM Programming”,
of the 100 most cited articles were published in the Automation and “Image Processing, Laser Scanning” and “Augmented Reality”, and “Col-
Construction journal, followed by Advanced Engineering Informatics laborative Environments and Interoperability”. Similarly, the categories
(14) and Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (8). with higher number of published papers are also the same ones with
Based on the content analysis, the papers were grouped into several more cited studies, with the exception of Sustainable Construction.
categories according to specific major categories, defined as explained While this analysis does not necessarily identify new trends or gaps in
in the Methodology section (Fig. 3): the BIM literature, as it will be discussed in the next section, it shows
which topics were more interesting to the researchers during this last
− BIM Adoption and Standardisation; decade.
− BIM and Spatial Information;
− BIM Programming; 4. Content analysis
− Collaborative Environments and Interoperability;
− Construction Management; In order to discuss the results and provide a more qualitative analy-
− Facilities Management and Safety Analysis; sis of the papers, we proposed a sub-categorisation structure, which
− Image Processing, Laser Scanning and Augmented Reality; was defined based on a content analysis of the articles and a consensus
− Sustainable Construction; discussion. In the sub-categories descriptions, we have opted to de-
− and BIM Reviews. scribe and analyse the most representative and distinguished articles

Table 1
BIM papers published over the last decade (journal list).

Journals 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total

Advanced Engineering Informatics 0 0 3 2 1 7 5 10 6 13 47

Advances in Engineering Software 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Applied Energy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 3
Applied Mathematical Modelling 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Archives of Computational Methods in Engineering 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Automation in Construction 3 2 3 4 13 19 14 30 42 47 177
Building and Environment 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 1 4 10
Building Research and Information 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 5
Building Simulation 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 4
Carbon Management 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Computer Journal 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4
Computer-Aided Design 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 3
Computers Environment and Urban Systems 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 3
Computers in Industry 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 2 7
Construction and Building Materials 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Disaster Advances 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Energy and Buildings 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 7 3 12
Energy Efficiency 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Energy Policy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Environmental Science & Technology 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Expert Systems with Applications 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Ieee Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Ieee Transactions on Services Computing 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
International Journal of Digital Earth 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
International Journal of Geographical Information Science 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
International Journal of Project Management 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2
Isprs Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Journal of Civil Engineering and Management 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3 2 9
Journal of Cleaner Production 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering 1 0 0 2 2 1 5 11 8 9 39
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management 0 0 1 1 2 0 2 2 0 0 8
Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4
Journal of Management in Engineering 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 3
Photogrammetric Record 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Project Management Journal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2
Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Research in Engineering Design 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2
Resources Conservation and Recycling 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Safety Science 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2
Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Software and Systems Modelling 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Solar Energy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Sustainable Cities and Society 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 4
Visual Computer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Waste Management 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Total 4 2 7 11 22 34 37 78 80 106 381
122 R. Santos et al. / Automation in Construction 80 (2017) 118–136

Table 2 Table 3
TOP 100 citations. Number of articles and citations by category (TOP 100 articles).

Journals Number of Number of Categories Number of Number of

articles citations articles citations

Advanced Engineering Informatics 14 384 BIM Adoption and Standardisation 25 739

Applied Energy 1 33 BIM and Spatial Information 4 92
Automation in Construction 59 1698 BIM Programming 15 416
Building and Environment 2 63 Collaborative Environments and 17 360
Building Simulation 1 21 Interoperability
Computer-Aided Design 2 21 Construction Management 7 156
Computers Environment and Urban Systems 1 11 Facilities management and Safety Analysis 4 98
Energy and Buildings 1 17 Image Processing, Laser Scanning and 15 365
Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering 5 78 Augmented Reality
Journal of Construction Engineering and 8 195 BIM Reviews 6 227
Management Sustainable Construction 7 184
Journal of Management in Engineering 1 37 Total 100 2637
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering 3 44
Education and Practice
Research in Engineering Design 1 18
& IFC; (ii) Semantic BIM & Ontology; (iii) Collaborative Environments;
Software and Systems Modelling 1 13
Total 100 2637 and (iv) Knowledge & Information Management.

4.1.1. Sub-category: Interoperability & IFC

of the respective sub-category based on their citation and pertinence to The sub-category that is most studied in this category is Interoper-
their field. So, after analysing the full content of 381 papers, we conduct- ability & IFC, with a number of authors testing the interoperability be-
ed a critical analysis and description of 200 papers. tween BIM tools for different applications. One of the most detected
issue on this subject was the IFC capability to support information ex-
change. For instance, Sacks et al. [36] conducted an experiment (Rose-
4.1. Category: Collaborative Environments and Interoperability wood experiment), which purpose was to analyse the workflow
between design and construction in the domain of architectural precast
Collaborative Environments and Interoperability (Table 4) is the façade, contributing for the development of an Information Delivery
category with the most papers published, mainly in the past three Manual (IDM) draft for this domain as well. The authors found that
years. Also, 33% of its papers were published last year, registering the IFC 2 × 3 schema lacks entities and property sets required for precast
highest growth rate of all categories in this review. An interesting result concrete data exchanges, claiming that future work should be done in
is the seemingly low volume of papers that address the collaborative en- the IFC schema to address this issue. Loss in translation of semantic
vironment aspect of BIM, despite this being referred to as one of the best meaning for the data exchanged was pointed out as a major difficulty
aspects of BIM. Our review of the literature in these fields reveals that in the experiment, due to the inability of some applications to read
several authors made reference to a number of IFC limitations, despite some information within objects. Similarly, a more recent article stud-
the advantages of an open format tool. With a view to resolving certain ied the use of IFC schema for the reinforced concrete domain, in order
issues, it is expected that new studies in the field of IFC will follow in the to identify which properties and interrelationships the IFC schema are
near future, mainly focusing on semantic interoperability. Other sub- missing if one wanted to support earthquake design [37].
category identified by the authors concerns information and knowledge Other authors, as Venugopal et al. [38], have looked at IFC limita-
exchange between BIM tools, highlighting the potential of BIM as an in- tions. These authors studied the idea of model view definition (MVD)
formation repository. Another recent topic is the research on Semantic as an object-oriented mechanism for adding semantic meanings in
BIM and Ontology, which is increasingly drawing attention of scholars. model views, concluding that IFC language lacks a logical mathematical
Studies on this topic quintuplicated only in the last year, being proof theory and has a limited expression range. In their research, Steel et al.
of its importance for the research on taxonomies and data exchange be- [39] studied the interoperability when exchanging IFC-based models
tween different platforms. Thus, Collaborative Environments & Interop- amongst different BIM tools. As in [36], the authors evidenced that IFC
erability encompasses the following sub-categories: (i) Interoperability still faces semantic interoperability challenges, which will tend to

Fig. 3. BIM categories.

 R. Santos et al. / Automation in Construction 80 (2017) 118–136 123

Table 4
Collaborative Environments and Interoperability category.

Category and sub-categories 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total %

Collaborative Environments and Interoperability 1 2 0 2 7 7 8 16 8 24 75 19,7%

Interoperability & IFC 1 2 0 1 2 1 3 5 4 5 24 6,3%
Semantic BIM & Ontology 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 5 2 13 23 6,0%
Collaborative Environments 0 0 0 0 3 1 3 3 0 4 14 3,7%
Knowledge & Information Management 0 0 0 0 2 3 2 3 2 2 14 3,7%

increase as more domains are added to BIM studies. Other authors also More related with the study of ontologies, Rezgui et al. [48] argued
referred the same issues regarding the effectiveness of interoperability that Web Ontology Language (OWL) can address some of the issues of
[40]. IFC. The authors believe that ontologies enable a richer conceptualisa-
BIM query language research is another topic considered in this sub- tion of all domains in the construction industry, when compared to
category, as it has much to do with IFC manipulation. As in the study car- product data standards. So, a roadmap for the purpose of semantic ser-
ried out by Daum and Borrmann [41], Mazairac et al. [42] developed a vice-based e-Construction was proposed in order to assist the industry
framework for an open query language for BIM (BIMQL) for IFC model to move from product data standards to semantic services. Another on-
data management, resorting to bimserver.org platform. However, tological approach was discussed by Lee et al. [49], which proposed an
while Daum and Borrmann only assesses topological information ontological inference process for an automatic cost estimation. The
pertaining to BIM models, Mazairac et al. are more generic. Neverthe- added value by using discipline-oriented ontology is that subjectivity's
less, there are certain limitations to [42], such as the restricted natural errors due to the misinterpretation of designers are reduced, as con-
language mapping in the buildingSMART data dictionary that difficult struction work items are automatically inferred. A more recent article
the search for model parts (e.g. construction elements or quantities) developed by Venugopal et al. [50] proposed a novel integrated ontolog-
by their natural language terms, lack of automation and scarcity of ical framework to improve data sharing throughout construction indus-
shortcuts available for the development of queries. try domains, showing that the existing IFC schema should be re-
Other works related to IFC are those focused in data extraction from structured. This study revealed that ontologies are able to define a
IFC models. An interesting example is the article developed by Fu et al. more logical semantic structure to the building elements than the
[33], which discussed how the different aspects of a building project existing IFC schema.
could be implemented in BIM. For that purpose, IFC was used as data re-
pository for all nD-driven analysis. As an outcome, it was developed an 4.1.3. Sub-category: Collaborative Environments
IFC-viewer that serves as the interface for the nD modelling tools, There is no BIM without collaboration, which can be noticed
allowing the users to visualise the data within the IFC file. With a differ- throughout this review. So, another sub-category we considered is the
ent approach, Isikdag et al. [43] used the information contained in IFC Collaborative Environments aspect of BIM. In this sense, works cov-
files to populate a novel methodology, the BIM-oriented modelling ered in this sub-category focus on the benefits of BIM regarding team
(BO-IDM), to ease indoor navigation. This new approach resulted in an collaboration. For instance, Isikdag and Underwood [51] proposed two
improved and semantically rich 3D visualisation of indoor environment. design patterns for formalisation of the Model-View-Controller (MVC)
Other authors have also used IFC files for indoor navigation, as Lin et al. architecture in order to facilitate model-based synchronous collabora-
[44]. However, while BO-IDM was the used method in [43], in [44] the tion through the entire lifecycle of a building. This was later continued
authors used path planning with fast marching method, with IFC serv- by [52], now focusing on model-based web services. The authors argued
ing as an input for geometric and semantic information. that effective collaboration can be achieved only through effectual coor-
dination and communication, and that the MVC proposed in [51] en-
4.1.2. Sub-category: Semantic BIM & Ontology ables different specialised technical areas to work within their own
The next identified sub-category in Collaborative Environments and views, while in [52] the interaction between BIMs and web techniques
Interoperability category covers the study on BIM semantics and on- such as AJAX, SOAP and REST was studied. Similar to [51], Lee and
tology. While this topic remained unnoticed until recently, researchers Jeong [53] developed a prototype for a filter-based communication
started to focus on solving issues as semantic interoperability to im- model that enabled different technical teams to participate in the pro-
prove the communication between different systems. We believe that ject with higher levels of shared understanding, each accessing the nec-
the recent interest was encouraged by the increasing adoption of BIM essary information that was converted into their own representation
throughout the world, by the increase of existing standards, and by using user-defined ontologies. Another study that focused on designer
the development of BIM data dictionaries. As more tools and standards and user communication was developed by Shen et al. [54], with users
emerge, it becomes even more important to achieve higher levels of se- simulating their activities in new buildings by using BIM models, for
mantic interoperability. It is the study of the semantic interoperability pre-occupancy assessment. By doing so, future occupants will be able
that will potentiate synergies between BIM and other fields and im- to contribute for the design of buildings more oriented towards their
prove the existing ones. In their study, Pauwels et al. [45] argued that necessities.
the use of semantic web languages can enhance IFC for building perfor- Collaborative-based platforms/networks are another important fa-
mance monitoring, demonstrating their findings with a test case for cilitator for communication amongst teams, with Singh et al. [55] and
acoustic performance. Some of the issues of IFC schema identified by Grilo et al. [56] developing interesting works in this matter. While in
the authors were the lack of mathematically rigorous logic and the mul- [55] a theoretical framework for using the BIM-server as a multi-disci-
tiple ways to describe the same information, which could be improved plinary collaboration platform was proposed, categorising the features
with the use of semantic web. Further studies on semantic information and technical requirements, in [56] a Business Interoperability Quotient
were also conducted recently, namely a new graph data model (GDM) Measurement Model (BIQMM) was developed which, combined with a
to extract topological and geometric information of IFC files, multi-criteria decision-making tool, analysed business interoperability
representing the topological relationships between 3D objects in for BIM-based projects, enriching the selection processes solely on the
models [46]. Semantic web language was also used in other works, basis of technical parameters. Another research was conducted by
which is believed to improve the interoperability between BIM and its Ajam et al. [57], which developed an augmented process and informa-
synergies [47]. tion model to support data exchange between web-collaborative
124 R. Santos et al. / Automation in Construction 80 (2017) 118–136

extranets (WCEs) and Project Integrated Databases (PIDs) for the ten- 4.2. Category: Sustainable Construction
dering stage, being a new development in the field of ICT applications.
The used of augmented reality to improve the collaboration amongst Sustainable Construction (Table 5) is the second largest category,
teams was also studied by Lin et al. [58], where a stationary system with one of the highest growth rate in the last years. This domain is in-
named BIM table was developed. By using this system, the involved creasingly becoming one of the most crucial targets for building in the
parties can connect their tablets to the BIM table in order to discuss EU, with sustainable performance and energy efficiency at the forefront
the construction planning and coordination, sharing only the informa- of this trend. The analysis of energy consumption is a field that always
tion they deem necessary. Further study in the field of ICT was done concerned researchers of the construction industry. Thus, the integra-
by Moum [59], which assessed the benefits of using 3D object models tion of energy simulation with BIM tools was a predictable outcome,
and applied a descriptive and multi-level framework for exploring the resulting in a sub-category with several studies. The sustainability as-
impact of ICT on the architectural design process, while Shen et al. pect of BIM is also one of the categories with the highest growth rate
[60] developed a User Pre-Occupancy Evaluation Method (UPOEM) to in the last years. This may have to do with the international commit-
improve communication between designer and client. However, the ment to reduce GHG emissions and mitigate the effects of climate
UPOEM only provides basic architectural information on office change. The researchers identified the potential of BIM methodology
buildings. to tackle these issues and increase transparency in the whole construc-
tion process, not only for new buildings but also for existing ones. The
EUPPD [68] also recognised BIM's huge potential for resource and time
4.1.4. Sub-category: Knowledge & Information Management management, and used in conjunction with state-of-the art knowledge
Articles that focus on the exchange and management of information and software for energy performance and LCA, BIM will be a key ele-
and knowledge within BIM environment are covered in this sub-catego- ment in the reduction of resource and energy wastage. The Building Per-
ry, the Knowledge & Information Management. Concerned with the formance field is also a new trend in terms of study and research, with
information exchange requirements, Eastman et al. [61] proposed pro- the aim of improving the sustainability of the AEC sector by monitoring
cedures for information delivery manuals (IDM), capturing detailed the interior conditions of buildings and promoting green material usage.
level information requirements from end users at the IDM phase of BIM-LCA integration is being recently recognised, despite the difficulties
specification to anticipate MVD specification issues. Aware of the results of integrating these methodologies, as well as interoperability issues be-
of [61], Lee et al. [62] proposed an extended Process to Product Model- tween the software used. The sub-categories that we have identified
ling (xPPM) to overcome IDM's issues, improving exchange require- are: (i) Energy Performance; (ii) Sustainable Performance; and (iii)
ments and functional parts as a result. Building Performance.
The quality of information exchange between coupled software
packages (ability to work in unison) was assessed by Fröbel et al.
[63], which took into account diverse sources of mapping errors, 4.2.1. Sub-category: Energy Performance
resulting in global quality values and indicators. In the field of The sub-category that we first identified is the Energy Performance,
lifecycle information management, Motamedi et al. [64] proposed which covers studies on Photovoltaics (PVs), automation of energy
the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags that are perma- analysis, and also the study of the impact of human behaviour on energy
nently attached to specific elements to provide lifecycle information, consumption. In order to assist energy managers throughout the
in ifcXML format, allowing the involved stakeholders to store and lifecycle of a building, Costa et al. [69] proposed a novel integrated
hand over useful data to other users. In the same field, Jiao et al. toolkit that could be used for building renovation optimisation and
[65] presented a cloud approach for data management through a comparison of different alternatives. However, due to a number of com-
unified BIM and business social networking services (BSNS) federa- patibility issues, this product still has not been made ready for commer-
tion, enabling data sharing through individuals, project teams and cial use. Other article that considered BIM for building energy
enterprises throughout the lifespan of a construction project. It was renovation was written by Larsen et al. [70], which analysed the role
also highlighted the challenges of Big Data in the field of information of scanning technologies in energy retrofit projects. The digital
management and how cloud services could be a solution for the high workflow analysed by the authors due to the use of prefabricated tim-
volume of data. Researching on information flow as well, Čuš-Babič ber-framed elements on energy performance retrofit projects allowed
et al. [66] proposed an automatic information mapping to improve them to conclude that these type of elements generates less waste and
project progress monitoring, detailed planning, and management less assembly effort on-site. Another approach to reducing energy con-
of material flows. sumption was studied by Eguaras-Martínez et al. [71], in which human
Regarding knowledge sharing, Lin [67] proposed a new method- behaviour was considered in the building simulation. According to the
ology, the Construction BIM-based Knowledge Management authors it is possible to save up to 30% of total energy consumption if
(CBIMKM) system, which improved the effectiveness of knowledge schedules are correctly used and that value would be even greater if
sharing in the 3D environment by means of a 3D CAD-based knowl- used with BIM methodology. An original article in the field of thermal
edge map. Lin used a questionnaire to evaluate CBIMKM, in which analysis was authored by Wang et al. [72], with the authors developing
automatic knowledge correction, knowledge management and easy a hybrid light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system that is used to col-
identification of knowledge and experience were recognised as the lect point cloud and temperature data from existing buildings. By using
main advantages of this system. High hardware requirements, time a laser scanner and an infrared camera, this novel system can then be
expenditure and difficulty in knowledge editing were highlighted used for retrofitting purposes and to generate an as-built BIM model,
as barriers. improving the energy performance of buildings.

Table 5
Sustainable Construction category.

Category and sub-categories 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total %

Sustainable Construction 0 0 0 1 0 8 4 13 21 15 62 16,3%

Energy Performance 0 0 0 1 0 4 2 7 11 4 29 7,6%
Sustainable Performance 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 4 5 8 20 5,2%
Building Performance 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 5 3 13 3,4%