Integrating BIM with Green Building Certification System, Energy Analysis, and Cost Estimating Tools to Conceptually Design Sustainable Buildings

Abstract

Owners, architects, and engineers are highly concerned about the sustainability and energy performance of proposed buildings. Evaluating and analyzing the potential energy consumption of buildings at the conceptual design stage is very helpful for designers when selecting the design alternative that leads to a more energy efficient facility. Building Information Modeling (BIM) assists designers assess different design alternatives at the conceptual stage of a building life so that effective energy strategies are attained within the green building constraints. As well, at that stage, designers can select the right type of building materials that have great effect on the building's life cycle energy consumption and operating costs. The aim of this paper is to propose an integrated method that links BIM, energy analysis, and cost-estimating tools with the green building certification system. The successful development of the proposed method helps owners and designers evaluate design alternatives, taking into consideration the sustainability constraints in an efficient and timely manner. BIM's tool is customized to allow its integration with the energy analysis application to identify the potential gain or loss of energy for the building, detect and evaluate its sustainability based on the U.S. or Canadian Green Building Council (USGBC or CaGBC) rating systems, and approximately estimate the costs of construction early at the conceptual design stage. An actual building project is used to illustrate the workability and capability of the proposed method.