An introduction to technological tools and process of Heritage Building Information Modeling (HBIM)

Heritage Building Information Modelling (or HBIM) is a multi-disciplinary process and a promising tool for the management and documentation of heritage structures. HBIM can record the significant historic events that have taken place in the built environment and is used to track the aging process of the built asset. However, the digital re-construction procedures for HBIM development associated with historic buildings are very challenging: the objects of the historic models consist of components whose heterogeneous, complex, and irregular characteristics and morphologies are not represented in the existing BIM software libraries. Unlike conventional BIM workflows for new constructions, the tried and tested tools and methods must be adapted, and even reinvented, for HBIM applications. This article introduces the basic concept of HBIM, a set of technological tools of data capture for HBIM model development, and a feasible HBIM workflow.