VRM Tech aim to digitise passive house building

This article was originally published in issue 28 of Passive House Plus magazine. Want immediate access to all back issues and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €10, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge

VCMP was developed as part of Built2Spec, an EU-funded project that sought to develop digital tools for better quality control of energy efficiency works on site, while integrating with the Passive House Institute’s certification platform. VCMP has a particular focus on energy efficiency and the building envelope, and is particularly targeted at large passive and nearly zero energy building (nZEB) projects. “All aspects of a project’s design and specification are fed into the platform at the start and can be easily communicated to everyone on site, with tasks assigned to particular individuals, and then quality checked by project managers upon completion,” said Neill Ryan of VRM Tech.

“VCMP allows for a consistent approach to quality control, to get things right the first time, rather than snagging at the end. Compliance with buildings regs and all necessary documentation come pre-built in the system.”

“Individuals on a project are also assigned specific skills, and must have the required skills to tick off an action. Once a task is completed, it’s then fed into an approval cycle so those managing the project can approve it.”

VCMP users can also specify products to be installed, and as these arrive to site, someone is assigned the task of entering product barcodes into VCMP to make sure no incorrect substitution occurs. The software was used on Durkan Residential’s Silken Park passive housing scheme in Citywest, Dublin, which averaged airtightness results of around 0.2 ACH.

“Information and photographs from site are constantly being sent back to VCMP so project managers, designers, and architects can control quality.”

Ryan also said that VCMP can be fully integrated with BIM. “It can take all of the information from the BIM model and allocate tasks — you can click on a wall in a room, for example, and see what tasks need to be done, and in what order, and those tasks can be assigned to specific individuals who tick them off as they go.”

Ryan said the software should also make life easier for sub-contractors by digitally organising all the documentation they need on site.

“Documents can be tracked fully all the way back to where they originated, providing a full audit trail.”

For more information see www.built2spec-project.eu.