Building simulation and BIM in architect education at the TU Dresden – Series: Building simulation and calculation tools in teaching. This series of articles presents the use of computer programs in university teaching of building physics and building technology for architects and civil engineers. This article addresses the integration of building simulation tools in the education of architects at the Faculty of Architecture at the TU Dresden. In contrast to the education of civil engineers, which focuses on verification calculations, the challenge for prospective architects is to incorporate findings from thermal simulation calculations into an optimization of the design. Data exchange formats and Building Information Modelling are particularly important in this context. These factors are investigated at the TUD in two courses, a course accompanying the design in the sixth semester and an advanced seminar in the eighth semester. In both teaching formats, the influence of design decisions on the supply of daylight, the risk of overheating and the supply concept (regenerative energies) was discussed. This involved using the CAD models created by the architecture students from various software applications and testing a transfer into BIM-compatible exchange data formats (gbXML and IFC).