Benefits of BIM for Sustainable Buildings
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A green building is designed, constructed, or operated in such a way as to reduce or eliminate adverse impacts on the environment. Moreover, it can positively affect not only the climate and natural environment but also the occupant's wellbeing. With the passing of the years, the term Green was replaced by the term Sustainable.
BIM (Building Information Modelling) is a 3D model-based process that can provide intelligent insights and tools to effectively plan, design, construct, and manage buildings and infrastructure. Traditionally, the building design was done in 2D.
BIM is an ideal solution for designing sustainable buildings. 2D design models do not contain the data that is required for analyzing building performance. On the other hand, the BIM model of a building is an integrated database with coordinated information. It can help visualize the data related to sustainable design as the project proceeds, which helps in keeping all the stakeholders engaged and updated about their projects. Readily available information saves time, improves inter-discipline communication and understanding besides reducing or eliminating re-work at the design and on-site construction stages, thus leading to a greater focus on doing things right the first time with efficient outcomes.
BIM has a positive impact on the various aspects of sustainability, including
· Building orientation, which impacts energy costs
· Building massing used to analyze building form and optimize the building envelope),
· Daylighting analysis,
· Energy modeling - reducing the energy needs and analyzing renewable energy options can lead to reduced energy cost
· Sustainable materials, i.e., reducing the material needed by using recycled materials
· Site and logistics management to reduce waste and carbon footprints
BIM and Sustainability Analysis
BIM is a powerful tool for sustainable design because it can help us iteratively visualize, test, analyze, and improve your design and Building Performance Analysis. For example, BIM can enable better energy analysis to predict the occupants' energy performance and thermal comfort. In addition, BIM supports how a given building operates according to specific criteria and enable comparisons of different design alternatives. It can help validate design assumptions with actual performance.
Information for energy analysis as input data includes building geometry, a grouping of rooms in thermally homogeneous zones, building orientation, utility rates, weather data, etc. All these inputs can be incorporated into the 3D model.
BIM-based sustainability calculations generate results faster than the traditional methods and save substantial resources and time. Some popular BIM-based sustainability software used are Autodesk Ecotect, Autodesk Green Building Studio, Integrated Environment Solutions Virtual Environment (IESVE), etc.
BIM Improves Energy Saving:
In the AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) industry, energy analysis is becoming increasingly relevant during the design stage due to the growing regulation of requirements for buildings.
Earlier, the energy calculations were primarily done manually or using spreadsheets and were usually carried out only once. However, there is a growing need to forecast Energy usage during the design process and consider alternative energy conservative measures and design considerations for a more energy-efficient building. BIM can play a positive role in this aspect.
Incorporating Energy Analysis is just one of the ways of using BIM to create a seamless workflow. BIM can be used with the Building Management System (BMS) to create a highly accurate energy model. As a result, it is undoubtedly an effective support tool for the design and decision-making processes and effectively reduces the carbon footprint of our buildings.
BIM Reduce Material Wastage:
Developers are particularly interested in the optimization of building efficiencies so that they can design sustainable buildings. They also want to know how the facility will perform after commissioning and operate throughout its lifetime. The most crucial contribution to sustainability is using BIM to eliminate waste throughout the building's lifecycle.
A significant amount of waste is generated in the new construction and demolition processes. Construction wastes are mainly caused due to improper design, poor procurement and planning, inefficient material handling, raw materials residues, and unexpected building design changes.
A detailed BIM model can also significantly help reduce the quantity of materials we need for the building. Visualizing the final condition improves our understanding and the contractors' understanding of what is being built. This visualization happens before construction and can be substantially reduced.
BIM can efficiently manage waste by avoiding it in the design stages. In particular, BIM can reduce, reuse, recycle, and manage construction waste through clash detection, quantity take-off, planning of construction activities, site utilization planning, and prefabrication are proposed in this paper.
BIM Enables Accurate Daylight Analysis:
Daylighting defined as the use of natural light for illumination, not only makes people more comfortable and productive but can also sharply reduce the electrical lighting load and subsequent heat and energy loads. A sustainable high-performance design can drive much of its ultimate success from effective relationship to and integration of solar energy into the design of the building envelope and fenestration. Using BIM for daylighting analysis provides greater understanding, resulting in better decisions.
BIM saves energy by reducing or eliminating the need for electric lighting during daylight hours without compromising heating or cooling requirements. Electric lights contribute 40-50 percent to the total energy consumption in commercial buildings. Daylighting can therefore reduce total energy costs significantly.
BIM Helps Improve Indoor Air Quality (IAQ):
Indoor air quality plays an essential part in the well-being of people residing in the building. Therefore, a conventional home built without any green building considerations will have emissions that may affect the health and wellbeing of the individuals.
BIM involves designing mechanical ventilation systems as per ASHRAE (American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers) air quality standards to meet the minimum fresh air requirements to provide a continuous supply of fresh air inside the buildings. The same criteria are used in 2D design, but the level of accuracy and efficiency obtained in BIM is superior.
The indoor air quality during construction activities can be improved utilizing BIM. The indoor pollutant concentration can be determined using various techniques and models, and they can be integrated with BIM to calculate the air pollutant concentration during construction activities. This method allows the stakeholders to assess the indoor air quality before actual construction work. IoT sensors can be integrated with the BIM models to give real-time data on IAQ once the building is occupied.
Even though the Indian construction industry is generally aware of the advantages of BIM for sustainability, it has somehow shied away from its mass adoption across all construction projects and throughout the construction workflow. There is a general belief that BIM is worthwhile for pre-construction during planning, designing, and engineering stages. However, this is not true, as the total value of BIM is realized during the construction and post-construction phases.
Written by Inderjit Ahuja and Anbalagan Muthusamy