Structural sustainability appraisal in BIM

The provision of Application Programming Interface (API) in BIM-enable tools can contribute to facilitating BIM-related research. APIs are useful links for running plug-ins and external programmes but they are yet to be fully exploited in expanding the BIM scope. The modelling of n-Dimensional (nD) building performance measures can potentially benefit from BIM extension through API implementations. Sustainability is one such measure associated with buildings. For the structural engineer, recent design criteria have put great emphasis on the sustainability credentials as part of the traditional criteria of structural integrity, constructability and cost. This paper examines the utilization of API in BIM extension and presents a demonstration of an API application to embed sustainability issues into the appraisal process of structural conceptual design options in BIM. It concludes that API implementations are useful in expanding the BIM scope. Also, the approach including process modelling, algorithms and object-based instantiations demonstrated in the API implementation can be applicable to other nD building performance measures as may be relevant to the various professional platforms in the construction domain

Research needs towards a resilient community: Vulnerability reduction, infrastructural systems model, loss assessment, resilience-based design and emergency management

Most of the literature on resilience is devoted to its assessment. It seems time to move from analysis to design, to develop the tools needed to enhance resilience. Resilience enhancement, a close relative of the less fashionable risk mitigation, adds to the latter, at least in the general perception, a systemic dimension. Resilience is often paired with community, and the latter is a system. This chapter therefore discusses strategies to enhance resilience, endorses one of prevention rather than cure, and focuses in the remainder on the role played by systemic analysis, i.e. the analysis of the built environment modelled beyond a simple collection of physical assets, with due care to the associated interdependencies. Research needs are identified and include challenges in network modelling, the replacement of generic fragility curves for components, how to deal with evolving state of information

The outlook of building information modeling for sustainable development

As human needs evolve, information technologies and natural environments require a wider perspective of sustainable development, especially when examining the built environment that impacts the central of social-ecological systems. The objectives of the paper are (a) to review the status and development of building information modeling (BIM) in regards to the sustainable development in the built environment, and (b) to develop a future outlook framework that promotes BIM in sustainable development. Seven areas of sustainability were classified to analyze forty-four BIM guidelines and standards. This review examines the use of BIM in sustainable development, focusing primarily on certain areas of sustainability, such as project development, design, and construction. The developed framework describes the need for collaboration with the multiple disciplines for the future adoption and use of BIM for the sustainable development. It also considers the integration between “BIM and green assessment criteria”; and “BIM and renewable energy” to address the shortcomings of the standards and guidelines

Winnie, the Right Honourable Winston Churchill [picture] /

Published in Vanity fair on 3 Aug. 1911.; "Vanity fair supplement"--above image, upper left.; Inscriptions: "Winnie"--Below image; signed "Nibs", lower right; Condition: Fold across centre.; Also available in an electronic version via the Internet at: http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn3647525.Vanity fair (London, England : 1868