Integration of BIM and Energy Consumption Modelling for Manufacturing Prefabricated Components: A Case Study in China

Abstract

Prefabrication is undergoing significant growth in the building and construction sector in China. Meanwhile, the integrated measurement and reduction solution for energy consumption is quickly becoming an important target of scientific efforts and research, especially in prefabricated buildings. Embedded energy consumption requirements can potentially be reduced during the manufacturing process of prefabricated components: the opportunity for its reduction can be significant. This paper aims to propose a BIM and LCA integrated approach that enables the energy consumption of prefabricated components in the manufacturing stage to be extracted and calculated in order to obtain a clear, precise understanding of the energy consumption management in prefabrication. To enhance the energy consumption description of prefabricated components, this paper clarifies the contents of energy consumption inventory and related calculation formula in raw material extraction and production, material transportation, and factorized production of prefabricated components, respectively. Specifically, considering that current Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) standard does not accommodate entities with energy consumption information or relationships, it applies the IFC extension method to connect the energy consumption inventory with the BIM model. The proposed approach is applied and verified in a case study from China. This study reveals that energy consumption control should be investigated in the element level considering the differences of various prefabricated components’ requirements in the manufacturing stage.

Modularity clustering of economic development and ESG attributes in prefabricated building research

“…Therefore, BIM technology has always been associated with the life cycle assessment of prefabricated buildings and is an essential factor in the promotion of the development of prefabricated buildings. Yet, one of the previous research suggested that BIM is not economically feasible for usage in China's prefabricated buildings (Xu et al, 2019) 2018) considered the benefits of prefabricated buildings, established a cost analysis framework, analysed the actual cases, and put forward countermeasures. Nahmens and Bindroo (2011) concluded that the existing system in the United States had not formed a large-scale business.…”

A Systematic Review of Digital Technology Adoption in Off-Site Construction: Current Status and Future Direction towards Industry 4.0

“…Table 1 shows the number of citations of papers published by these countries and the link strength with other countries. Mainland China is the most active country in carrying out research on adopting digital technology in OSC, and China is also actively working with other countries and has the highest link strength [27,[79][80][81][82]. Hong Kong ranked 3rd in the total number of publications, one paper less than Canada, although the citation and link strength with other countries are much higher than Canada.…”

Life Cycle Assessment of Different Prefabricated Rates for Building Construction

“…In prefabrication plants, electric steel cutting and bending machines are also needed for processing reinforcement bars. To cast precast concrete components in the plant, diesel is consumed by cranes and forklift trucks, and steam is required for concrete curing [51,52]. Specific water and energy consumption data per m 2 floor area for the reference building is listed in Table S2 in Supplementary S1.…”