Building information modelling for sustainability appraisal of conceptual design of steel-framed buildings

In the construction sector, capturing the building product in a single information model with good interoperable capabilities has been the subject of much research efforts in at least the last three decades. Contemporary advancements in Information Technology and the efforts from various research initiatives in the AEC industry are showing evidence of progress with the advent of building information modelling (BIM). BIM presents the opportunity of electronically modelling and managing the vast amount of information embedded in a building project, from its conception to end-of-life. Researchers have been looking at extensions to expand its scope. Sustainability is one such modelling extension that is in need of development. This is becoming pertinent for the structural engineer as recent design criteria have put great emphasis on the sustainability credentials in addition to the traditional criteria of structural integrity, constructability and cost. Considering the complexity of nowadays designs, there is a need to provide decision support tools to aid the assessment of sustainability credentials. Such tools would be most beneficial at the conceptual design stage so that sustainability is built into the design solution starting from its inception. This research work therefore investigates how contemporary process and data modelling techniques can be used to map and model sustainability related information to inform the structural engineer’s building design decisions at an early stage. The research reviews current design decisions support systems on sustainability and highlights existing deficiencies. It examines the role of contemporary information modelling techniques in the building design process and employs this to tackle identified gaps. The sustainability of buildings is related to life cycle and is measured using indicator-terms such as life cycle costing, ecological footprint and carbon footprint. This work takes advantage of current modelling techniques to explore how these three indicators can be combined to provide sustainability assessment of alternative design solutions. It identifies the requirements for sustainability appraisal and information modelling to develop a requisite decision-support framework vis-à-vis issues on risk, sensitivity and what-if scenarios for implementation. The implementation employed object-oriented programming and feature modelling techniques to develop a sustainability decision-support prototype. The prototype system was tested in a typical design activity and evaluated to have achieved desired implementation requirements. The research concludes that the utilized current process and data modelling techniques can be employed to model sustainability related information to inform decisions at the early stages of structural design. As demonstrated in this work, design decision support systems can be optimized to include sustainability credentials through the use of object-based process and data modelling techniques. This thesis presents a sustainability appraisal framework, associated implementation algorithms and related object mappings and representations systems that could be used to achieve such decision support optimization

BIM extension for the sustainability appraisal of conceptual steel design

Contemporary advancements in Information Technology and the efforts from various research initiatives in the AEC industry are showing evidence of progress with the emergence of building information mod- elling (BIM). BIM presents the opportunity of electronically modelling and managing the vast amount of information embedded in a building project, from its conception to end-of-life. Researchers have been looking at extensions to expand its scope. Sustainability is one such modelling extension that is in need of development. This is becoming pertinent for the structural engineer as recent design criteria have put great emphasis on the sustainability credentials in addition to the traditional criteria of structural integrity, constructability and cost. With the complexity of designs, there are now needs to provide deci- sion support tools to aid in the assessment of the sustainability credentials of design solutions. Such tools would be most beneficial at the conceptual design stage so that sustainability is built into the design solu- tion starting from its inception. The sustainability of buildings is related to life cycle and is measured using indicator-terms such as life cycle costing, ecological footprint and carbon footprint. This paper proposes a modelling framework combining these three indicators in providing sustainability assessments of alterna- tive design solutions based on the economic and environmental sustainability pillars. It employs the prin- ciples of feature-based modelling to extract construction-specific information from product models for the purposes of sustainability analysis. A prototype system is implemented using .NET and linked to the BIM enabled software, Revit StructuresTM. The system appraises alternative design solutions using multi-crite- ria performance analysis. This work demonstrates that current process and data modelling techniques can be employed to model sustainability related information to inform decisions right from the early stages of structural design. It concludes that the utilized information modelling representations – in the form of a process model, implementation algorithms and object-based instantiations – can capture sustainability related information to inform decisions at the early stages of the structural design process

Building information modelling for sustainability appraisal of conceptual design of steel-framed buildings

In the construction sector, capturing the building product in a single information model with good interoperable capabilities has been the subject of much research efforts in at least the last three decades. Contemporary advancements in Information Technology and the efforts from various research initiatives in the AEC industry are showing evidence of progress with the advent of building information modelling (BIM). BIM presents the opportunity of electronically modelling and managing the vast amount of information embedded in a building project, from its conception to end-of-life. Researchers have been looking at extensions to expand its scope. Sustainability is one such modelling extension that is in need of development. This is becoming pertinent for the structural engineer as recent design criteria have put great emphasis on the sustainability credentials in addition to the traditional criteria of structural integrity, constructability and cost. Considering the complexity of nowadays designs, there is a need to provide decision support tools to aid the assessment of sustainability credentials. Such tools would be most beneficial at the conceptual design stage so that sustainability is built into the design solution starting from its inception. This research work therefore investigates how contemporary process and data modelling techniques can be used to map and model sustainability related information to inform the structural engineer’s building design decisions at an early stage. The research reviews current design decisions support systems on sustainability and highlights existing deficiencies. It examines the role of contemporary information modelling techniques in the building design process and employs this to tackle identified gaps. The sustainability of buildings is related to life cycle and is measured using indicator-terms such as life cycle costing, ecological footprint and carbon footprint. This work takes advantage of current modelling techniques to explore how these three indicators can be combined to provide sustainability assessment of alternative design solutions. It identifies the requirements for sustainability appraisal and information modelling to develop a requisite decision-support framework vis-à-vis issues on risk, sensitivity and what-if scenarios for implementation. The implementation employed object-oriented programming and feature modelling techniques to develop a sustainability decision-support prototype. The prototype system was tested in a typical design activity and evaluated to have achieved desired implementation requirements. The research concludes that the utilized current process and data modelling techniques can be employed to model sustainability related information to inform decisions at the early stages of structural design. As demonstrated in this work, design decision support systems can be optimized to include sustainability credentials through the use of object-based process and data modelling techniques. This thesis presents a sustainability appraisal framework, associated implementation algorithms and related object mappings and representations systems that could be used to achieve such decision support optimization

A review of information modelling systems in the built environment

The built environment can be described to constitute the surrounding and existing elements created by humans. The systems for modelling information related to the built environment are numerous. Their development are based on varying assumptions and tailored to the various domains in which they are deployed. The functions of these systems are sometimes similar or overlap and they tend to end up with similar acronyms thereby creating confusion to stakeholders in the built environment. As such, stakeholders also find it difficult to choose systems best suited for their needs among the numerous existing ones. A comprehensive record of systems in the built environment with clear definitions of their functions and areas of overlap is therefore necessary to straighten up such confusion and provide requisite understanding among stakeholders. A literature review of information modelling systems in the built environment is therefore proposed. The review examines systems in key sectors of the built environment such the Architectural, Engineering, Construction, Geography and Urban Planning. We conclude that stakeholders should give strong consideration to interoperability needs along the supply chain in which they work while deciding on the choice of information modelling systems to procure

BIM adoption and implementation: Focusing on SMEs

Purpose. To reach its full potential, Building Information Modelling (BIM) should be implemented throughout the supply chain. This study explores BIM implementation and adoption among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the UK Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector. The paper addresses two key issues; the slow rate and lack of homogeneity of BIM adoption in the SME sector. Design/methodology/approach. The study employs qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate BIM uptake and test for correlations between organisational features and BIM aspects. The sample includes data from SMEs, based in the South East of England, analysed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings. The results show that, although SMEs have some understanding of BIM related concepts, their familiarity with existing BIM software support systems is particularly low. Limited financial capacity is identified as the main barrier to BIM adoption while knowledge exchange initiatives as the most useful measure in facilitating further implementation. The variations of SMEs in the adoption and implementation of BIM are mostly affected by company size, professional discipline and offered services. The paper also demonstrates that a one-size-fits-all approach to BIM implementation in the AEC sector has limited potential. Originality/value. The heterogeneity of SMEs in the AEC sector has been considered to a very limited extent. This paper considers the nature, characteristics and core business areas of SMEs as factors affecting BIM adoption and implementation

The integration of lessons learned knowledge in Building Information Modelling (BIM)

Lessons learned systems are vital means for integrating construction knowledge into the various phases of the construction project life cycle. Many such systems are tailored towards the owner organisation’s specific needs and workflows to overcome challenges with information collection, documentation and retrieval. Previous works have relied on the development of conventional local and network/cloud-based database management systems to store and retrieve lessons gathered on projects. These lessons learned systems operate independently and have not been developed to take full advantage of the benefits of integration with emerging building information modelling (BIM) technology. As such construction professionals are faced with the shortcomings of the lack in efficient and speedy retrieval of context-focused information on lessons learned for appropriate utilization in projects. To tackle this challenge, we propose the integration of lesson learned knowledge management in BIM in addition to existing 2D-8D modelling of project information. The integration was implemented through the embedding of non –structured query system, NoSQL (MongoDB), in a BIM enabled environment to host lessons learned information linked to model items and 4D modelling project tasks of the digitised model. This is beyond existing conventional text-based queries and is novel. The system is implemented in .NET Frameworks and interfaced with a project management BIM tool, Navisworks Manage. The demonstration with a test case of a federated model from a pre-design school project suggests that lessons learned systems can become an integral part of BIM environments and contribute to enhancing knowledge reuse in projects

A BIM-driven framework for integrating rules and regulations in the decommissioning of nuclear power plants

Purpose: The relative low capital cost and contributions to mitigating global warming have favoured the continuous construction and operation of nuclear power plants across the world. One critical phase in the operation of nuclear plants for ensuring safety and security of radioactive products and by-products is decommissioning. With the advent of digital twinning in the building information modelling (BIM) methodology, efficiency and safety can be improved from context-focus access to regulations pertaining demolition of structures, and cleaning-up of radioactivity inherent in nuclear stations. A BIM-driven framework to achieve a more regulation-aware and safer decommissioning of nuclear plants is proposed. Design: The framework considers task requirements, and landscape and environmental factors in modelling demolition scenarios that characterise decommissioning processes. The framework integrates decommissioning rules/regulations in a BIM linked non-structured query system to model items and decommissioning tasks, which are implemented based on context-focused retrieval of decommissioning rules and regulations. The concept’s efficacy is demonstrated using example cases of digitalised nuclear power plants. Findings: This approach contributes to enhancing improvements in nuclear plant decommissioning with potential for appropriate activity sequencing, risk reduction, and ensuring safety. Originality: A BIM-driven framework hinged on querying non-structured databases to provide context-focused access to nuclear rules and regulations, and to aiding decommissioning, is new

A BIM-based framework for construction project scheduling risk management

The management of risks has been at the heart of most construction projects. Building Information Modelling (BIM) provides opportunities to manage risks in construction projects. However, studies about the use of BIM in risk management are sketchy with a lack of a systematic approach in using BIM for managing risk in construction projects. Based on existing risk models, this study investigated and developed a BIM-based framework for the management of construction project scheduling risk. Although, the frameworks were developed by mining risk management processes from Synchro and Vico, both being amongst leading 4D/5D BIM software systems, they can inform risk management in BIM projects that are supported by 4D/5D BIM software systems that contain risk management modules. The frameworks were validated for their syntactic and semantic correctness

Research Roadmap - Information Integration in Construction

This Roadmap is developed for a challenging Global environment where fundamental\ua0paradigms such as data generation and analysis, are shifting at a seismic rate, while change in\ua0Construction Industries across the Globe is, in the main, confined to large-scale projects and\ua0slow. Against this background, the authors set out to also give a ‘voice’ to small-to-medium scale\ua0projects through which the construction output Worldwide is delivered. Hence, project\ua0scale was one of the key considerations throughout this Roadmap.Moreover, the authors conceptualized data integration by taking the realities of doing\ua0business’ in construction into consideration. The emergent framework facilitates the discussion\ua0of knowledge and data integration at organisational, team, operational and technical levels\ua0across key project phases. This approach recognizes that business is done through projects but\ua0change can only come about if appropriate organizational structures and processes are put in\ua0place.Last, but not least, the authors strived to ensure that data integration was not considered solely\ua0from a technical perspective. Organisational, team and individual aspects of data integration\ua0were integrated in the research framework. Through our work the individual’s willingness to\ua0collaborate emerged as a critical driver for high levels of integration, while our survey did\ua0identify “Reluctance to work across professional boundaries” as a major barrier to integration.Hence, we conclude that research on integration should pay due attention to the individual

Distilling agency in BIM-induced change in work practices

Purpose: Critics of claims about BIM’s capability to revolutionise construction industry practices, describe it as overhyped, fallacious, and therefore suggest that there is need for a more critical examination of its’ change impacts. Others have posited that the changes BIM induces are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. In this vein, a careful analysis of the nature of such changes was undertaken to distil actual changes that happened, and the type of agency that brings such changes about. Design: Drawing from appropriate qualitative research strategies, data was collected through key informant interviews from consulting organisations in South Africa that have implemented BIM within their organisations and on projects. Findings: Changes in organisations’ work practices were evident in their workflows, formal/informal methods of interaction, norms, leadership and authority structures, remuneration, and the way work was conceived or conceptualised. Furthermore, changes in organisational work practices do not solely occur through the direct agency of the BIM tool’s implementation. Instead, BIM-induced change occurs by delegated, conditional and needs-based agency – which are not mutually exclusive. Originality: The nature of changes in professional work practices could be misconstrued as being solely due to the actions of agents who actively participate in implementing BIM. The discussion in the literature has been advanced from general to specific theoretical understandings of BIM-induced change, that emphasise the need for construction stakeholders to actively participate in developing the innovations that drive change in the industry rather than hand the power to drive change to BIM authoring and management application developers who have less stake in the industry