Digital-driven thermal and energy performance assessment of heritage buildings using HBIM, environmental monitoring and energy simulation

Conservation and management of built cultural heritage require a multidisciplinary approach. To enhance building energy efficiency and support informed decision-making, projects should include a digital transformation strategy that incorporates digitisation, simulation and monitoring. In this work, an integrated digital framework to improve the energy performance assessment and conservation of heritage buildings. The approach combines HBIM (Heritage Building Information Modelling), environmental monitoring through low-cost wireless sensors, as-built data collection, dynamic Building Energy Modelling (BEM), and data visualisation within a digital shadow framework. Applied to the Monserrate Palace in Portugal, the methodology included model calibration using in-situ temperature measurements and simplification of complex heritage geometries for energy simulation. Experimental and simulated data showed a reasonable agreement between, demonstrating the capability of this methodology to support reliable energy analysis. The integration of monitoring and simulation data within the HBIM digital shadow enables a proactive, data-driven approach to heritage conservation and management.