A design integrated parametric tool for real-time Life Cycle Assessment – Bombyx project

Abstract

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become a widely accepted method for environmental assessment of buildings, but is still not commonly applied in design practice. The biggest potential for optimization and reduction of GHG emissions lies in the early stages of the design process. Therefore, a design-integrated approach for LCA is needed. The goal of this paper is to describe the development of a parametric LCA tool for application in early design stages in the Swiss context. The envisioned users of the tool are primarily architecture and engineering students, but also practitioners. The integration of LCA throughout the design process is solved through a modular strategy. In the early stage, pre-defined components are selected to model a complete LCA. In the following design steps when more information is available, individual materials can be input with higher level of detail. The Bombyx tool is developed as a plugin for Grasshopper based on Rhinoceros3D and includes an SQL material and component database. Users are able to choose different materials and building systems and quickly modify the building's geometry while continuously receiving the calculated environmental impact in real-time. Visualization of the results, e.g. colour code indicate how the design performs in relation to a benchmark or optimization potential. The project is developed in open source to broaden the user and developer community and foster new ideas, designs and implementations in Bombyx.

Design and Manufacturing of Adaptive Facades in a Life Cycle Approach: A Survey on Challenges and Solutions in the Italian Building Industry

“…Through 3D modelling and a choice of materials and components, the building's environmental impact can be calculated in real time. As a further example, Bombyx is an open-source plug-in for Grasshopper 3D, a parametric design software based on Rhinoceros 3D [20]. Aside from software development, research has also explored the possibility of mapping parameters that affect environmental impacts in the form of an information flow matrix called Architecture of Variables (AoV) [21,22].…”

Computational screening-LCA tools for early design stages

“…Certainly, parametric modelling environments enable quick changes on a component level, but have limitations when it comes to essential adaptations and high numbers of building elements. Meanwhile, the emergence of VPL in CAD environments such as Grasshopper in Rhinoceros and Dynamo in Autodesk AutoCAD facilitated immediate carbon evaluation by means of simplified surfaces, instead of volumetric 3D models to represent building components; these include CAALA, 20 Bombyx 21 and Integrated Dynamic Model (Grasshopper). 22 In this paper we emphasize on exploring alternative materials and construction systems in the early stages of design as a means to improve the embodied carbon footprint.…”

Parametric Optimization and Decision Support Model Framework for Life Cycle Cost Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment of Flexible Industrial Building Structures Integrating Production Planning

“…In fact, an integrated decision support framework that optimizes building structures and layouts towards improved sustainability and flexibility while taking into account production layout scenarios is lacking. Parametric modeling and performance-based design tools offer a potential way of integrating life cycle assessment optimization [31], interdisciplinary collaboration [32] and generation, and evaluation and comparison of multiple variants at an early design stage [33,34]. Therefore, the goal of this study is to establish a parametric structural optimization and decision support (POD) model framework for the LCC, LCA, and flexibility assessment of industrial buildings incorporating production planning.…”