Geometry extraction for high resolution building energy modelling applications from Point Cloud data : a case study of a factory facility

The industrial sector accounts for 17% of end-use energy in the UK, and 54% globally. Therefore, there is substantial scope for simulating and assessing potential energy retrofit options for industrial buildings. Building Energy Modelling (BEM) applied to industrial buildings poses a complex but important opportunity for reducing global energy demand, due to years of renovation and expansion. Large and complex industrial buildings make modelling existing geometry for BEM difficult and time consuming. This paper presents a potential solution for quickly capturing and processing as-built geometry of a factory to be utilized in BEM. Laser scans were captured from the interior of an industrial facility to produce a Point Cloud. The existing capabilities of a Point Cloud processing software were assessed to identify the potential development opportunities to automate the conversion of Point Clouds to building geometry for BEM applications. In conclusion, scope exists for increasing the speed of 3D geometry creation of an existing industrial building for application in BEM and subsequent thermal simulation