Extending the current model view definition standards to support multi-storey modular building projects

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has significantly facilitated information management and collaboration in construction projects. During the past two decades, many information standards such as Information Delivery Manuals and Model View Definitions (MVDs) have been developed to enhance interoperability among construction-related tools. The focus of these standards has mainly been on conventional construction. In this paper, differences in the data structure of these two types of construction-related tools are discussed and compared with the current MVD standards. This study shows that the existing standards cannot fully support multi-storey modular buildings. By development of a product architecture model and comparing it with the data structure of current MVDs, it is concluded that available standards can be modified to support both modular and site-built constructions. In this paper, essential MVD concepts required for such extensions are presented. Through a case study, the developed concepts are applied to the currently available architectural-to-structural MVDs in order to create architectural to structural design/analysis MVDs for application to multi-storey modular buildings. The case study shows that using the presented concepts, an existing MVD can be extended to address special needs of multi-storey modular building projects as well as conventional construction

Interpretation of structural analytical models from the coordination view in building information models

Structural design/analysis is one of the most needed uses of Building Information Modeling (BIM). Transforming a building information model to an engineering analytical model is tedious and time-consuming. In addition to geometry transformation, extensive modifications and interpretations are required to make the complex transformed model ready for analysis. Despite such a recognized need, Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) has not been developed sufficiently in engineering analysis uses of BIM as much as it is in some other uses such as design coordination and facility management. As a contribution to addressing this void, development of a new mechanism is discussed in this paper for transformation of IFC building information models in the Coordination View to their equivalent structural models in IFC Structural Analysis View. Considering IFC as the input and output file formats of the mechanism significantly increases the level of interoperability in the proposed model interpretation process. This mechanism is designed to automate the required transformation, modification, and additions operations during such information exchanges. To illustrate feasibility of its implementation, a tool is introduced to automate the developed Interpreted Information Exchange (IIE) mechanism, and its application through a case study serves as validation of the mechanism. The designed IIE mechanism can be extended to automate additional structural modeling tasks. The IIE concept is also applicable to other uses of BIM, especially engineering analysis uses, in order to automate creation of analytical modeling from building information models

Interpreted information exchange: Implementation point of view

Engineering design is one of the most in-demand Building Information Modelling (BIM) uses. Due to efforts required for modifying and preparing an imported model for analysis, the difficulty-to-benefit ratio is low in this BIM use. These preparations are more geared toward modifying an imported model based on the designer\u27s interpretation of the building information model and including additional engineering information. Automating the interpretation and model transformation process can significantly facilitate information exchanges. The Interpreted Information Exchange (IIE) concept is developed in this study for such automation during model exchanges. A platform is developed and presented in this paper for implementation of this concept. The platform contains procedures and functionalities required for inputting, processing, and exporting IFC information models through automated interpretation processes that implement IIE concept. The platform is especially formulated to be schema-independent to make it compatible with any standard or custom-defined version of IFC

Digital Twin for Fault Detection and Diagnosis of Building Operations: A Systematic Review

Intelligence in Industry 4.0 has led to the development of smart buildings with various control systems for data collection, efficient optimization, and fault detection and diagnosis (FDD). However, buildings, especially with regard to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, are responsible for significant global energy consumption. Digital Twin (DT) technology offers a sustainable solution for facility management. This study comprehensively reviews DT performance evaluation in building life cycle and predictive maintenance. 200 relevant papers were selected using a systematic methodology from Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, and various FDD methods were reviewed to identify their advantages and limitations. In conclusion, data-driven methods are gaining popularity due to their ability to handle large amounts of data and improve accuracy, flexibility, and adaptability. Unsupervised and semi-supervised learning as data-driven methods are important for FDD in building operations, such as with HVAC systems, as they can handle unlabeled data and identify complex patterns and anomalies. Future studies should focus on developing interpretable models to understand how the models made their predictions. Hybrid methods that combine different approaches show promise as reliable methods for further research. Additionally, deep learning methods can analyze large and complex datasets, indicating a promising area for further investigation

IFC-Based BIM-to-BEM Model Transformation

Building information modeling (BIM) can facilitate evaluation of the energy performance of a building from the early stages of a project. However, due to differences in how information is represented in BIM and building energy modeling (BEM), the exchange of data between the two tools is tedious and error prone. This paper presents research on leveraging open BIM standards for facilitating energy analysis BIM use. An extension was developed for OpenStudio that transforms building information models represented in Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) files into building energy analysis models in the OpenStudio data format. In the defined workflow, the model transformation is performed by a serializer that was developed using the open source BIMserver, while the OpenStudio extension transitions models between OpenStudio and BIMserver. The model transformation algorithm and its implementation in BIMserver were validated in a case study by comparing the actual energy demands of a building with the predicted energy demands of a simulation model that was created through the developed workflow

Comparison Basis of Building Information Modeling Workflows for Energy Analysis

Energy prediction methods and tools play a crucial role in the lifecycle of energy-efficient buildings. Such tools and methods could be leveraged at different stages of a project by different actors including but not limited to: 1) owners and facility managers for evaluating cost of ownership, 2) architects and engineers for selecting the best-fit system for target energy performance, and 3) construction managers for making more informed value-engineering decisions. There are two major approaches for energy modeling: forward modeling and inverse modeling. The former approach is the most common approach used in industry due to its quick analysis process. In this approach, provides a prediction of energy use by building system design parameters and environmental drivers using energy models. On contrary, inverse modeling approach is used to select building parameters such as energy conservation measures from energy use and drivers by developing statistical models with the use of available data. However, the gap between predicted and actual is larger compared to the forward modeling approach due to the differences in detailing and interoperability issue between the design authoring and analysis tools. Even though some energy analysis tools include an authoring module, the modeling details are limited. There is a variety of design authoring and energy simulation tools that could communicate with each other using open file formats such as industry foundation classes (IFC). This paper investigated two different energy analysis workflows and selection of parameters to compare them with the metered data available for an educational facility building located in 5A climate region. These two workflows include: 1) creating a physical model in a BIM authoring tool and transferring the model to an energy analysis model by means of IFC file format, 2) creating an energy model directly in an energy analysis tool. In the light of this case study, this research contributes to the body of knowledge by providing 1) justification of testing criteria for the selection of simulation tool, workflow, and level of development (LOD) for models, 2) parameters for modeling, and 3) metered conditions for the basecase to compare with two different energy analysis building information modeling (BIM) workflow by using same design authoring and energy simulation tools

Product-Oriented Information Delivery Framework for Multistory Modular Building Projects

During the past decade, building information modeling (BIM) has significantly influenced the construction industry. However, none of the available BIM tools and frameworks focuses on modular construction as an industrialized type of construction; thereby, implementation of BIM in these projects is relatively more challenging compared to site-built constructions. In this paper, an information delivery framework is presented for multistory modular buildings that can address both the project-based and product-based nature of these buildings. To develop such a framework, an extension to an already-existing information delivery manual development methodology is proposed in this paper. The extension makes it possible to capture the hierarchy of the building components, which is an important characteristic of modular buildings as manufactured products. This is done by integrating a new component known as a product architecture model (PAM) with other components of the framework in order to capture the information related to industrialized product-based nature of these buildings. This paper reports the extended methodology and frameworks developed using this methodology for multistory modular buildings. The resulting framework is validated by considering a typical modular building project in the United States and comparing its information flow with the framework. The paper also discusses additional potential contributions of the work such as outlining a baseline to extend the industry foundation classes (IFC) data schema and enable it to model specific elements of modular buildings

Investigation of leveraging BIM information exchange standards for conducting LOD-based cost estimating

Building information modeling (BIM) is a digital information management system that can facilitate workflows and delivery of information in facility projects. Cost estimating is one of the uses of BIM that has the potential to reduce considerably the time and cost required for estimating construction cost of a building project. In this use, type of materials along with their quantities and properties are extracted from building information models and mapped to a cost estimating database in order to estimate the cost. However, interoperability issues currently exist in the industry for the exchange of information from BIM authoring software to cost estimation tools impedes reaching to the full potential efficiency in this use. This paper identifies common information exchange workflows between BIM authoring and cost estimating tools and discusses their advantages and issues. It continues with studying potentials in leveraging open information modeling standards for addressing the identified shortcomings in the workflows. Next, a level of development (LOD)-based cost estimating framework is proposed that uses open information modeling standards for addressing inefficiencies in different detail levels of cost estimating approaches commonly being practiced in the industry. This framework facilitates automated digital information exchanges in the process of using BIM for cost estimating and promotes the implementation of BIM-based cost estimating from early stages of projects

Development of an automated tool for cost estimation of transportation projects

The cost estimation process has undergone fundamental changes with the advancement of technology, and has been converted from cost estimation that employs two-dimensional maps to cost estimation using building information modeling (BIM). This technology has been recently implemented to estimate the costs of several transportation projects, but there is not a tool that accurately estimates the cost in a continuous spectrum and keeps pace with the progress of the transportation project. The main objectives of this study were to (1) create a cost estimation mechanism that operates in a continuous spectrum from the study phase to the construction phase of transportation projects, and (2) automate the cost estimation process. Open standards such as the industry foundation classes (IFC) were used, and the level of confidence (LOC) mechanism were introduced and implemented for determining the risk of the estimated costs. The developed cost estimation approach will be implemented as a web-based application developed by C# and ASP.NET MVC Core. The results of implementing this tool showed that a higher LOD level results in greater reliability in the cost estimation and quantity take-off, and will help transportation project managers accurately estimate project costs throughout the construction process

Investigation of leveraging BIM standards to facilitate sustainability evaluations from early stages of design

Improving energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact are two major priorities worldwide. The building construction industry represents a considerable share of global energy consumption and carbon emission. The majority of information required for sustainability evaluation of a building is usually specified at early stages of projects. Therefore, decision makers can potentially estimate energy consumption and environmental impacts of a building in the preliminary design phases in order to attain the best results in terms of sustainability. During the past decade, building information modeling (BIM) has become widely adopted in the architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, and the trend is still growing. Sustainability evaluation is one of the applications of BIM that can be implemented from early stages of building projects. Although, using BIM for extraction of information required for sustainability assessment shortens the evaluation process, the lack of interoperability between BIM and sustainability evaluation software makes the information exchange process tedious and error-prone. This paper reviews the current status of the application of BIM for sustainability assessments and identifies issues and shortcomings. It also investigates potentials of BIM standards such as IFC, as BIM\u27s open standard file format, and the level of development (LOD) Specification for addressing these challenges. Finally, a three-level IFC/LOD-based LCA analysis approach is presented, which can enable designers to estimate the embodied energy of buildings from early stages of projects, and refines such estimation as a design progresses by adding more reliable content to the model