ABSTRACT
Sustainability has become a hot topic in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) industry. Recent studies reveal the importance of incorporating sustainability in construction projects (Cheung et al. 2012; Shrivastava and Chini 2012; Motawa and Carter 2013; Wong and Fan 2013; Abanda et al. 2014; Alwan and Jones 2014; Bragança et al. 2014; Wong and Kuan 2014). However, construction projects comprising so many materials and components are often too complex, making it a challenge to assess their sustainable performance. As a result of the complexity and variety of different specializations in construction, many building information modeling (BIM) software packages have been developed for different applications. Based on current practice, modeling software (e.g. Revit, ArchiCAD, Edificius, PriMus, and PriMus-To), energy analysis software [e.g. Green Building
14.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................303 14.2 Challenges Hindering the Uptake of BIM in Construction ................................................304 14.3 Sustainability Appraisal Using BIM Software: An Overview of Current Practices ..........306 14.4 Embodied Energy and CO2 Analysis: An Overview ..........................................................308 14.5 Embodied Energy and CO2 Analysis: Computational Steps ..............................................309 14.6 Implementation in Revit ..................................................................................................... 310
14.6.1 Description of the Model ........................................................................................ 311 14.6.2 Quantity Takeoff ..................................................................................................... 311
14.7 Exploiting Model in Revit for Decision-Making Purposes ................................................ 315 14.7.1 Scenario 1: Model Is Complete and Perfect ............................................................ 316 14.7.2 Scenario 2: Model Is Complete and Minor Changes Are to Be Made ................... 317 14.7.3 Scenario 3: Model Is Complete and Component Information Needs
to Be Changed ......................................................................................................... 318 14.7.3.1 Carrying Out Changes through the Properties Palette .............................. 318 14.7.3.2 Carrying Out Changes through the Edit Type Function ............................ 318
14.8 Implementation in MS Excel .............................................................................................. 319 14.9 Results and Analysis ........................................................................................................... 322 14.10 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 326 References ...................................................................................................................................... 327
Cato), and planning (e.g. Synchro, Navisworks, Visual Simulation, and ProjectWise Navigator) exist as separate entities. However, these software packages depend on interoperable languages or plug-ins for exchanging construction project information. In practice, a building may have been modeled in Revit and then exported via gbXML to Green Building Studio before performing an energy analysis on the model. In most cases, once a building model has been exported, no modification in BIM energy analysis software can be done. This means that, although sustainability analysis software systems such as Green Building Studio are great for what they are developed, they do not provide the means to alter design parameters for making alternative choices. If changes are required, then the changes will have to be made on the original model and then re-exported to the sustainability analysis software. Also, most often, the exported data need to be modified to conform to the input data of the sustainability analysis software (Shrivastava and Chini 2012; Wong and Fan 2013). Furthermore, the challenges with interoperability between software systems have been noted in the literature (Bynum et al. 2013). Data loss is a very common example. To avoid time-consuming operations, going back and forth between sustainability analysis and BIM design software to explore suitable alternatives, the building should be properly and accurately modelled in the BIM authoring software before being exported into any other application software. An option will be to explore various alternatives in the early design stages in the BIM design software. Furthermore, consideration of sustainability and other construction performance factors at the early design stage has proven to be beneficial in the overall performance of the construction project (Cheung et al. 2012; Bragança et al. 2014).
