Investigating the Role of BIM and Simulation Tools in Promoting Energy Efficiency for Green Building Certification

The growing urgency of sustainable development has led the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry to seek innovative approaches to reduce environmental impacts. Building Information Modeling (BIM), coupled with advanced simulation tools, stands out as a transformative strategy for achieving energy-efficient designs that meet GBC standards such as LEED, BREEAM, and GRIHA. This study investigates the integration of BIM and simulation tools to enhance energy efficiency, resource management, and sustainability in building projects. Despite BIM’s potential, challenges remain in maximizing its effectiveness for green certifications, largely due to interoperability issues and the absence of standardized workflows. Through a comprehensive literature review, this paper examines how BIM-integrated simulation tools optimize design and operational phases by providing predictive insights into energy and daylighting performance. Additionally, it addresses significant barriers to BIM adoption, including limited regional mandates and insufficient awareness of certification standards. This research contributes to bridging these gaps by proposing advanced methodologies to improve BIM’s role in sustainable design, thereby supporting the AEC industry’s goals of achieving higher energy efficiency and sustainability in GBC projects.