Life-cycle building information modelling (BIM) engaged framework for improving building energy performance

•Thirty-eight problems in closing building energy performance gap are identified.•Five BIM functions for closing building energy performance gap are explored.•The relationship between BIM functions and identified problems are identified.•Process maps for each BIM function are developed.•An integrated conceptual framework for BIM-based approaches to close building energy performance gap is established. The building sector is responsible for 32% of global energy consumption and 19% of all energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. The urgent requirement for energy conservation and greenhouse gas emission reduction in the building sector has been recognised at the highest level of governments around the world. One potential solution, which has yet to be critically considered, is the application of Building Information Modeling (BIM) to overcome building energy performance gap (BEPG), defined as the discrepancy between the designed and actual energy consumption in buildings. This study performs a systematic and comprehensive literature review to identify the specific causes of the BEPG, and then analyses the application of BIM for addressing the BEPG. A life-cycle BIM engaged framework was developed, including the function of “information exchange”, “design review”, “energy-related quality control”, “life-cycle commissioning”, and “real-time operation and maintenance management”. It is expected that the proposed framework will assist researchers and practitioners better understand application of BIM to systematically improve building energy performance.