A Case Study of Building Performance Analyses Using Building Information Modeling

Abstract

The first decade of the twenty first century has witnessed a tremendous increase in the demand of sustainable buildings mainly due to mounting energy costs and growing environmental concerns. The most effective decisions related to the sustainable design of a building can be made in the planning and design phases. Since Building Information Modeling (BIM) allows for multi-disciplinary information to be superimposed within one model, it creates an opportunity for sustainability measures to be incorporated early in the design process. This paper presents findings of a research project to investigate the feasibility of BIM for sustainability analyses via a case study. Based on the collected data, it is found that BIM can significantly aid in performing complex building performance analyses to ensure an optimized building design. The designers can also use these results to generate necessary documentation for LEED ® certification (a green building rating system used in the USA), thereby saving considerable time and resources.

A Performance Evaluation of the BIM-Based Object-Oriented Physical Modeling Technique for Building Thermal Simulations: A Comparative Case Study

“…BIM is semantically-based and object-oriented; it has 3D modeling capabilities and allows users to retrieve comprehensive design model information represented by objects and their attributes through its authoring tools and standard data schemas such as IFC. In addition, BIM allows a single data model to represent multi-disciplinary information [35]. Such BIM capabilities facilitate data integration between building design and building performance simulation models.…”

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“…Better monitoring of building performance in initial stages, supported with a significant amount of accurate information, is required to achieve sustainable design [5]. It is noteworthy that decisions regarding sustainability of design have to be made at early design stages [1,6]. However, traditional building design methods, such as the conventional CAD practices, do not contain sufficient amount of information at the beginning stage to support early decision-making as needed for various sustainability analyses aimed at achieving a sustainable design.…”

Predicting Energy Usage Using Historical Data and Linear Models

“…Recent years have witnessed a remarkable increase in energy costs and increasing environmental concerns [1]. The optimal operation of office buildings is essential for reducing energy.…”