XYZ BIMCollective · Portugal Research
PTENDE

Heatmap of open access BIM research

All free papers (gold + green OA) on Building Information Modeling indexed by OpenAlex since 2015, classified by theme. The colour measures the intensity of each theme within its own history; the number is the total papers in the year (a paper can count towards several themes).

papers analysed10,800 since 2015
in 20261,584 so far
themes28
#1 themeAdoption, maturity & organisational management
Featured · systematic review · outside the sample

Towards BIM and the EU Level(s) Integration: A Systematic Review and Taxonomy of Digitalisation Approaches for Sustainability Assessment

Parisi, Cascone, Cervantes Puma, Mateus, Bragança, Caponetto · Sustainability 18 (18), 9546 · 2026 · open access · Univ. of Catania · Politecnico di Torino · Univ. of Minho

The map below classifies papers with a keyword dictionary and measures trends; it does not replace a systematic review. This is one, on a question the map's classification does not isolate: how BIM connects to Level(s), the EU's common framework for assessing the sustainability of buildings.

Following PRISMA 2020 (Scopus, Web of Science and ScienceDirect), the authors arrive at 18 studies. The field grows mainly from 2025 onwards and concentrates on greenhouse gas emissions, the design stage and semi-automatic interoperability; no study achieves a fully automatic BIM-Level(s) data exchange. From this they derive a taxonomy of four groups: conceptual-exploratory, plugin-based, scripting or pipeline-based, and cross-domain integration.

Published on 2026-09-17, after this collection's cut-off (2026-09-01), so it is not counted in the map. It is pinned to the top of the two themes it falls under.

open in the map:read the paper ↗ResearchGate ↗

Heatmap — theme × year

▲ gaining share · ▼ losing share · ★ emergent — change in the theme’s share of the total BIM OA papers, 2024–2026 vs 2019–2023 mean. Hover over the cells.

theme201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026*total
Adoption, maturity & organisational management▲68711011431792152452763414818216623603
Sustainability, LCA & energy▲565764831152032232503204928466403349
Infrastructure & civil works·566086971512162642923313935995463091
HBIM & heritage▼631071161162382322783063353684753913025
AI & machine learning▲626363811511741982192883505954882732
Facility management (FM) & 6D/7D▼7483811051892132322873253374113022639
Structures & structural analysis▲1929314160721211401732773783811722
Contracts, legal & public procurement▲43516456801171221421491923203281664
Safety & occupational health▲2523292855721151231802304123651657
Education & training·34486174941201191121712053302651633
GIS, geospatial & CIM·295358591061061191241241982402681484
Interoperability & IFC▲332739515997981021021572732821320
Scan-to-BIM & reality capture·163036309878931031231532011961157
IoT & sensors▲164111825375272861423192981080
Digital twins▲··1313244257106128263343980
5D & costs▲191520282357496184147209246958
4D & planning·292024304375859391105173147915
Information management, CDE & LOD·19203233605969747899150148841
Ontologies & linked data▲18243323525549706984166151794
VR, AR & immersive reality·9172017504560796411914198719
Prefabrication, precast & DfMA▲1313192237343745629314293610
Other / general BIM▼142117244457425759664531477
Standards & standardisation (ISO 19650…)▲7121219162630252557110118457
Robotics & digital fabrication▲3871028312738496410980454
Computer vision▼66693621263151487843361
Coordination & clash detection▲9612131416142427567081342
Automated rule checking▲101187822142731395160288
Blockchain & smart contracts▲···177182227266859235
papers / year260319350405645780824972113314692059158410,800
less more (theme max) * 2026 partial (up to 9 months)
▸ click a cell, a theme name or the cards to open the papers (links to the full text)

On the rise — growing share

Losing share

The most cited papers of the last 3 years (open access)

  1. A review of building digital twins to improve energy efficiency in the building operational stage2024 · 161 citations · Energy Informatics
  2. Digital twins for the automation of the heritage construction sector2023 · 150 citations · Automation in Construction
  3. Improving building occupant comfort through a digital twin approach: A Bayesian network model and predictive maintenance method2023 · 130 citations · Energy and Buildings
  4. Digital technologies in architecture, engineering, and construction2023 · 130 citations · Automation in Construction
  5. From LCA to circular design: A comparative study of digital tools for the built environment2023 · 125 citations · Resources Conservation and Recycling
  6. Multiobjective Optimization-Based Collective Opinion Generation With Fairness Concern2023 · 120 citations · IEEE Transactions on Systems Man and Cybernetics Systems
  7. Digital Twin Framework for Built Environment: A Review of Key Enablers2024 · 118 citations · Energies
  8. IoT-BIM and blockchain integration for enhanced data traceability in offsite manufacturing2024 · 118 citations · Automation in Construction
  9. Exploring the Benefits and Limitations of Digital Twin Technology in Building Energy2023 · 114 citations · Applied Sciences
  10. The Application of Historic Building Information Modelling (HBIM) to Cultural Heritage: A Review2023 · 114 citations · Heritage
  11. Recent Technological Advancements in BIM and LCA Integration for Sustainable Construction: A Review2024 · 114 citations · Sustainability
  12. The Role of BIM in Integrating Digital Twin in Building Construction: A Literature Review2023 · 106 citations · Sustainability
  13. Integration of building information modeling and project management in construction project life cycle2023 · 102 citations · Automation in Construction
  14. A framework using BIM and digital twins in facilitating LCSA for buildings2023 · 101 citations · Journal of Building Engineering
  15. Barriers to Building Information Modeling (BIM) Deployment in Small Construction Projects: Malaysian Construction Industry2023 · 100 citations · Sustainability