The method to modernize resources against climate change

An innovative process is being developed to manufacture and assemble high performance buildings more quickly and efficiently. The BERTIM solution halves the energy consumption of renovated buildings and reduces the time spent on the building site by 30%.

Since 2014, the EU funded project BERTIM has been developing a new industrial process that imports scanned data from an existing building into a Building Information Model (BIM) and exports it to automated cutting machinery for prefabrication of timber modules. This new method to retrofit buildings is contributing to decarbonizing Europe’s building stock by 2050, one the European Commission’s goals to fight climate change.

Thanks to the specially developed RenoBIM software, design and construction teams can collaborate and fine-tune their building projects more quickly and accurately than before. Prefabricated elements are assembled in the factory incorporating insulation, services and structural supports. The BERTIM solution has been tested at the Kubik research building in Spain, and is now being demonstrated on real case study buildings in France and Norway. The building occupants will be able to stay in their homes while the renovation is carried out from the outside.

In BERTIM, European timber construction companies have teamed up with researchers and other specialists, with grant funding from the Horizon 2020 programme. The project consortium, comprising academic and industrial partners from Spain, France, Norway, Sweden, Poland and Germany, intends to bring the completed BERTIM solution to the market once the case studies have completed.

The project will be exhibiting at the European Commission’s EU Industry Day in Brussels on 22nd February alongside other promising innovations.

BERTIM is one of several Horizon 2020 projects that are developing innovative industrial solutions to renovate Europe's building stock. Further opportunities for funding such project proposals are now open via the Horizon 2020 Participant Portal under the topic "Decarbonization of the EU building stock".