Utilizing Building Information Modeling and Radio Frequency Identification in Recording and Preserving Historic Buildings

Preserving irreplaceable historic structures is an important factor in architecture design studies. The environmental, cultural and economic benefits cannot be overemphasized. We have an obligation to record and preserve the history of each generation because the buildings change with us. Historic buildings are not too complex to benefit from the advantages of building information modelling (BIM). BIM and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) integration serve as a powerful tool useful across the lifespan of a building. RFID tag is a memory storage device for storing a certain amount of data—highly effective in decentralizing information management of historic buildings. The tags are attached to different components of the building that are of historic relevance. This information are accessible wirelessly providing the ability to process large volumes of multiple data sets simultaneously. Historically, buildings have been better and more accurately described in drawings rather than words and BIM is an extension of that process, particularly for existing infrastructure. Where 2D CAD improved on paper drawings by adding the ability to describe a building in layers, BIM and RFID allows the process to be taken further by increasing the efficiency of facility inspection, maintenance and data collection. Rudimentarily, BIM models are used to document historic buildings prior to any development, stabilization or investigative work are conducted in order to record crucial material evidence. Understanding how a building has changed over time is helpful in determining the level of deterioration. Data gained from investigations of a historic building are well documented and fed into RFID tags. In this study, options and decisions necessary to establish a BIM and RFID for recording and preserving historic buildings are discussed along with a case study of Bopiliao Historic Block in Wanhua District, Taipei. As foreign students, when we discovered the physical, political and social threats on Bopiliao Historic Block, it is evident that it needs saving from various threats because it holds so much of historic value to the community and the country at large. A comprehensive data analysis was conducted to assimilate the current method used in preserving the historic structures.