Building Information Modeling Objects Research Articles

A BIM-based tool for embodied carbon assessment using a Construction Classification System

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is widely accepted for evaluating a building's environmental footprint. Building Information Modelling (BIM) has become the go-to strategy for LCA during design. Still, despite BIM-LCA automating detailed quantity extraction, challenges persist, such as a lack of standardised geometry modelling and information management, as well as a common language between LCA and BIM data.This study proposes a method to assess embodied carbon from BIM models classified using a construction classification system that provides a data structure, maps BIM objects and environmental impacts in LCA databases, and matches different levels of development (LoD) in BIM models. The method was tested on real-world models, resulting in 375 kgCO2e/m2 for the single residential and 426 kgCO2e/m2 for the multi-residential building. These findings revealed its ability to adapt to different LoD and modelling techniques, expedite assessing different design options, and potentially save up to 20 hours of work remodelling.

BIM and Sustainable Design: A Review of Strategies and Tools for Green Building Practices

Building Information Modeling (BIM) provides a robust foundation for driving sustainability across architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) practices. This paper presents a systematic review of literature elucidating the confluence of BIM tools and processes with accelerated performance simulations and green building certification systems needed to guide environmentally sensitive design. Integrated Revit-Insight 360 is shown to enable 21% lower energy use intensity (EUI) and 8.5% reduced lifecycle costs over baseline for an office building through rapid multi-objective optimization spanning orientation, envelope and HVAC properties. Enhanced integrated platforms perform detailed thermal zoning analysis capturing realistic solar gains and heat storage effects, right-sizing heating equipment by 7.2% over conventional workflows. Further, BIM automation mitigates nearly 50-80% of manual calculations for BEAM Plus, LEED prerequisites and accelerates documentation for certification. However, interoperability issues inhibiting holistic sustainability evaluations persist due to lack of modeling standards. Emerging tools exemplify modular green assessment connecting multi-vendor engines to resolve underlying technical barriers. As BIM object definitions and seamless analytical integration matures, widespread mainstreaming for sustainability is foreseeable. While current measured metrics revolve around energy use, emissions and green certification, future work needs to address social and economic indicators also enabled by data-rich BIMs. Nevertheless, coupled with continuous monitoring for validation, BIM provides the foundation for the AEC industry to progress towards comprehensive sustainable building lifecycles.

An interactive design change methodology using a BIM-based Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

Changes in design and construction constitute variations from the original design prepared by a design team and are inevitable. Despite the fact that rework has been identified as having adverse effects on performance, there have been limited studies on how to mitigate rework in design changes. Despite improving change management, Building Information Modeling (BIM) is insufficient in mitigating rework. However, the convergence of the capabilities of BIM, Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR) are integrated solutions to reduce the impact of rework in design change. In this research, we improve the requirements for reworking design changes, which include redesign, information flow, and delivery for users with no experience with BIM. For interactive design change with BIM in VR and AR, the proposed methodology integrates BIM, as-built data from web sources, and VR and AR functions using game engines and programming. In VR and AR, BIM objects are used to create multiple variants that are matched with BIM databases that provide options for design changes. The interactive design change platform is validated in a VR and AR environment and presented multiple design change options for wall elements based on a set required change factor of a building project. This paper highlights the need for a change platform that reduces the rework of design changes in BIM through VR and AR in three main areas redesign, maintaining the flow of information and delivery of solutions for design changes. The VR and AR proposed solution to design change improves rework collaboration and communication among stakeholders of a building project.

Integrated sustainability assessment using BIM

The construction industry is responsible for 40 % of the energy consumption and 36 % of the CO2 emissions, and buildings are responsible for a significant part of energy consumption in Europe.Thus, a growing concern regarding environmental impacts in the construction sector is in place. Reducing these impacts and optimise the design process is a major priority, and technology needs to be integrated along with the design to allow for better buildings performance. Building Information Modelling (BIM) methodology is one of the technologies that is revolutionising how the supply chain delivers the construction projects, allowing for an overview of the whole life cycle, keeping track of the data along the process, and potentiating more advanced simulations and supported decisions.The tool proposed in this paper aims to integrate different types of sustainability analysis, namely Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Carbon Footprint, Life Cycle Cost (LCC) and Level(s) framework with BIM. This involves defining adequate Product Data Templates (PDT) and a database structure for BIM objects, including the necessary parameters to enable designers to do holistic and dynamic assessments from early design stages to a complete LCA. Also, considering the importance of using BIM to visualise different scenarios, a graphical interface will be developed to show the key sustainability indicators and support decision-making for more sustainable buildings. The results achieved show that technology must be taken to meet Climate most ambition targets and reduce the impact of construction.

Developing a heritage BIM shared library for two case studies in Jordan’s heritage: The House of Art in Amman and the Qaqish House in the World Heritage City of As-Salt

International research is moving towards the development of BIM (Building Information Modelling) libraries applied to the built heritage where one of the main issues to be addressed is the modelling of complex or unique shapes that represent the specific construction components of every single asset. This perspective addresses the generation of parametric families of representative architectural geometry in the context of the management and representation of a building of heritage value. Jordan’s architectural heritage has gone through a long period of evolution and development: the result is a mixture of influences and traditions, making a great stride to conserve its buildings and Historical Heritage but has never adopted advanced digital technologies such as Building Information Modelling. In this framework, the present research aims to bridge the gap in Jordan by applying digital technologies to support heritage conservation plans by creating a 3D library of BIM objects related to typical elements of Jordanian and Arabic architecture, specifically in two cases of study. Co-production and collaboration with diverse stakeholders were central to the development of the methodology and design of the research.As a result, the first open-access HBIM shared library of historical features of Jordanian built heritage will be consolidated; this is crucial because it will set a precedent for the further documentation and conservation of the heritage of traditional cities in Jordan, MENA countries and internationally by promoting social cohesion, economic and technological development, tourism and the awareness of Jordan’s cultural heritage.

Integration of manufacturers' product data in BIM platforms using semantic web technologies

As building information modeling (BIM) gains popularity in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, manufacturers are required to distribute their product specifications in digital product models. Currently, manufacturers mainly employ proprietary formats, such as BIM objects supplemented by PDF documents to represent their product data descriptions. However, these formats do not support flexible automated product search and data integration. This paper describes the use of Semantic Web technologies in combination with BIM-based visual programming language (VPL) to automatically integrate product data from external databases. To facilitate data integration, we introduced a method to semantically represent product data linked with the CEN/TS 17623:2021 standard using ontologies in web ontology language (OWL). The study has focused on the use case of a manufacturer of lighting products. Results show that building designers are able to execute a more efficient product search that satisfies their query requirements and returns suitable products of their choice from the manufacturer's database based on their requests. This approach eliminates the time-consuming and error-prone process of manually entering product data into BIM software.

Features of Civil Law Regulation of Relations in Design and Construction Using Building Information Modeling (BIM)

The paper explains the civil law aspects of the regulation of relations related to the use of information modeling in construction. The author analyzes the features of international and national standards for BIM implementation and highlights the problems of domestic legal regulation of relations in the field of information modeling. It is determined that the development of BIM technologies requires special contractual legal tools, providing, on the one hand, organizational and informational relations for the creation and use of a digital model within a single process of design, construction and operation, and, on the other hand, relations related to the exercise of property rights and obligations, exclusive rights to the BIM object. The author substantiates the necessity of introducing standard structures defining the use of BIM in contractual practice of design and construction. The author proposes to apply conceptual aspects that need to be reflected in the development of relevant treaties.

Defining a Digital Strategy in a BIM Environment to Manage Existing Reinforced Concrete Bridges in the Context of Italian Regulation

Regulatory activity concerning the management of existing bridges has recently been affected by updates, for instance, in Italy, which calls for a speedy and pragmatic approach based on new technologies such as building information modeling (BIM), when dealing with the survey and risk classification as well as the evaluation and monitoring of structural safety. This paper focuses on the development and integration of a digital solution, based principally on the specific framework developed by the authors, which supports BIM modeling and information management activities, in the structural setting under investigation, through the use of several technologies and tools, namely BIM-authoring, CDE platform and visual programming, in addition to programming in Python. Starting from the organization of a specific BIM object library and the initial data, inserted by means of a custom-made input environment, it was possible to reproduce digital models of bridges in accordance with specific information requirements following the new Level of Information Need setting. The applicability of the proposal is tested on two judiciously chosen real-life cases with different characteristics. Through this implementation, a series of advantages emerge, including expediting traditional procedures for BIM modeling, accessibility and traceability of information—which are constantly updated to support the monitoring of structural safety over time—and the decision-making process related to the bridge management context.

Blockchain supported BIM data provenance for construction projects

The management of construction projects requires adequate techniques to support the continual exchange of information across disciplines. Recent advances in Building Information Modelling (BIM) have exposed new ways for process and data integration with open data formats, process mapping, and terminology. In construction projects where multiple disciplines produce and share BIM data, mechanisms for defining information priority, provenance and suitability become necessary in order to have consistent and traceable use of data. This includes objects or collection of attributes for data objects that are associated with a discipline or organisation including clear identification of the transaction that has introduced the information. Blockchain can be used to record metadata of BIM objects such as the issuing discipline, object version and responsibility/ liability associated with the data. Blockchain can offer the capability to apply levels of “trust” to individual BIM objects and a more secured framework of collaboration across stakeholders.This paper proposes a Blockchain-based BIM data provenance model to support information exchange in construction projects. By testing the solution in a real-world bridge construction scenario, it has been shown that the approach can recognise the levels of competence and can improve the process of BIM implementation. The proposed approach gives stakeholders more confidence when sharing their BIM data, reduces costs, and improves risk contingencies in construction projects. The paper provides a cost analysis to evidence the implications of using Blockchain for BIM data provenance through an experimental framework supported by an Ethereum public test network. A front-end web page has also been created to facilitate interaction with smart contracts and to monitor the BIM data provenance process.

Development of a Remote Collaboration System for Interactive Communication with Building Information Model in Mixed Reality

Remote collaboration for construction site management is challenging. Building Information Modeling (BIM) provides the potential for remote collaboration based on its powerful data compatibility. Furthermore, the recently evolving Mixed Reality technology improves visual perception by superimposing 3D virtual BIM objects on real-world artifacts. This study proposes a remote collaboration system based on BIM in Mixed Reality. This system consists of three-unit systems: (1) Field Operator System (FOS), (2) Communication Server, and (3) Office Manager System (OMS). FOS was developed based on MR smart glasses for a field operator. The field operator can manipulate virtual BIM objects with finger-pointing cues and share the view with an office manager. FOS creates Mixed Reality Capture (MRC) video, the combined image of real-world images of existing artifacts in the construction site with virtual BIM elements superimposed on them, and sends it through the Communication Server to OMS. Thus, the office manager can see the field operator’s view through OMS based on a desktop or tablet PC. The office manager can give instructions to a field operator by voice through OMS. A user test was conducted to evaluate the applicability of the developed prototype system. As a result of the test, it was found that most of the testers had a positive evaluation of the developed system. This paper discusses the development of the BIM and MR-based remote collaboration and the test results.

APPLYING AI TECHNOLOGY TO RECOGNIZE BIM OBJECTS AND VISIBLE PROPERTIES FOR ACHIEVING AUTOMATED CODE COMPLIANCE CHECKING

Automated code compliance checking is an effective approach for assessing the quality of building information modeling (BIM) models. Various automated code compliance checking systems have emerged, wherein users need to input all information accurately according to BIM modeling guidelines, in order to ensure the accuracy of checking results. However, as this process involves human inputs, it is difficult to ensure that each input is accurate. In the case of errors or missing inputs, the checking results will be erroneous. Although automated checking systems can be developed accurately, it is difficult to apply these systems practically. Therefore, this paper proposes the application of AI technology to recognize BIM objects and visible properties, in order to improve the operability of automated code compliance checking. The two necessary elements – object names and properties – could be automatically extracted to a certain extent, following the application of the proposed method to the automated code checking process. The error rate of the input could also be reduced, thus making the application of the code checking system more practically feasible. The proposed recognition method for BIM objects and visible properties is also expected to be used widely in BIM-based building e-submission systems and BIM-based forward designs.

Mapping and modelling defect data from UAV captured images to BIM for building external wall inspection

With the increase of service years, external walls of high-rise buildings tend to suffer from a variety of defects which impose great safety risks. Traditional methods for inspecting high-rise building external walls require inspectors to work at height and identify defects manually, which is dangerous and inefficient. In recent years, there has been an increasing trend of using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for inspecting building external walls, but how to manage the information obtained by the UAV is still a problem. In addition, although building information modelling (BIM) with rich geometric and semantic information has been applied in the construction engineering industry, BIM models usually lack updated condition data of facilities. Therefore, this paper presents a method for managing the inspection results of building external walls by mapping defect data from UAV images to BIM models and modelling defects as BIM objects. First, images of building external walls obtained by UAV are processed and useful information such as coordinates are extracted. Considering the small scale of single buildings, a simplified coordinate transformation approach is developed to transform location of real-world defects to coordinates in the BIM model. Meanwhile, a deep learning-based instance segmentation model is developed to detect defects in the captured images and extract their features. In the end, the identified defects are modelled as new objects with detailed information and mapped to the corresponding location of the related BIM component. To validate the feasibility, the proposed method has been applied to a real office building, which successfully mapped and integrated the defects of external walls with the BIM model. This study is applicable to both buildings and infrastructure, and is expected to facilitate structure inspection and decision making in maintenance with integrated data of as-is condition and as-built BIM.

BIM-based LCSA application in early design stages using IFC

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) is an integrated method that combines environmental, economic, and social assessments. Its methodological development remains under discussion, mainly regarding the building design. This paper aims to provide a systematic, interoperable, and open-source approach towards implementing LCSA in Building Information Modelling (BIM) in five steps. A harmonized data structure that enriches BIM objects is proposed. Automation in the principal evaluation step is provided by integrating new parameters into the current Industry Foundation Classes (IFC4). A Dynamo script verifies its utility in a case study in Spain using real-time calculations and visualizations. Two alternative structural systems are assessed, and identification is made of the lowest CO2 emitter, the lowest cost, and the most beneficial system for local employment. The approach can be employed to evaluate other indicators and building systems in other countries. Challenges and limitations in the standardization and harmonization of the three dimensions are identified.

Object-centred automated compliance checking: a novel, bottom-up approach

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is changing how built assets are delivered and operated. A built asset is represented as a set of objects, each with an identity, attributes, and relations. This object-oriented nature enables new approaches for ensuring compliance with a range of requirements: e.g. industry guidelines; pro-ject and client-specific requirements; and building codes and standards. Furthermore, bottom-up design ap-proaches are known to be more suitable for quality control and design errors detection. Based on an adapted version of simulated annealing concept, this paper proposes an automated compliance checking classification and identifies a set of desired characteristics these methods should fulfil. It then demonstrates a bottom-up object-centred approach for automated model checking and the corresponding plugin prototype. The approach and the prototype enable four key processes and satisfy all desired characteristics of compliance checking methods including content validation, model completeness, smart object, and design option checking. To demonstrate the feasibility and accuracy of the approach, two case studies are processed using existing BIM objects libraries one of which is created by a major French manufacturer. All four steps were successfully completed, and the results show savings of around 125 minutes per object between the automated approach and traditional manual methods of working.

BIM – object harmonization for timber construction

ABSTRACT The Ministry of the Environment of Finland funded “projectGENERIC” and “Puurakentamisen suunnittelun automaatio” to develop generic Building information modeling (BIM) model objects for massive timber buildings. Based on findings of the PuuBIM project the main research questions and goals were to create a generic open-source library of BIM objects for designers. Standardization is based on EN ISO 23387: 2020, YTV2012, and BIM Level-of-Development (LOD) to enhance data modeling and competitive bidding. The project used mixed methods research for the survey group of design offices and designers to collect data of the weak points in the BIM design processes and which are the key features required for the objects. Based on the research findings, a list of key features and properties were put together for BIM objects to Autodesk Revit. Objects will be available on Nordic BIM library service provider free of charge. The current projects are supposed to function as a proof of concept, provide data for discussion about harmonization of BIM-object standards. Next steps include creating a rules for Tekla Structures, with readiness for ETA- and EPD-data to compare the results at similar on-going research in other Nordic countries.

BIM을 활용한 개인별 사무공간 비용 산출과 관리 방안 : 스마트 워크 오피스를 중심으로

Purpose: Smart Work, which started with IT (Information Technology) companies, takes place within various types of office spaces. While companies focus more attention on employees’ paycheck, most companies do not have a specific database for their office space expenses which also account for quite part of total expenditures. Using BIM (Building Information Modeling) 3D Simulation and Object Informational Database, efficient office space management can be achieved and the expense of office space can be calculated quickly. Method: By organizing an office space with Autodesk Revit, each office space of an employee is allocated according to the employee’s job assignment and position. The database sheet to calculate the rent of an employee’s personal office space and the cost of personal office supplies can be intuitively identified along with a 3 dimensional Revit modeling. The database with the expenses of space and supplies shows the cost of office space for each employee depending on the region. Result: BIM allows efficient management and response to changes in office space by configuring and calculating costs for individual employees. The assessment of employee productivity can be considered differently by region, working space, and types of office space in the era of Smart Work.

A two‐stage recursive ray tracing algorithm to automatically identify external building objects in building information models

AbstractThe internal or external attribute of building information modeling (BIM) objects is vital information for many BIM‐based engineering analyses such as building energy analysis and cost estimation. Unfortunately, such information is often inaccurate, incomplete, or missing entirely in most BIM models. Manually checking, correcting, or inputting this data for large‐scale BIM models can be time‐consuming, laborious, and error‐prone. This study proposes a two‐stage ray tracing algorithm to automatically identify external BIM objects, based on the idea that external objects of a building can be viewed from somewhere outside the building. The first‐stage ray tracing samples viewpoints from the six faces of an offset axis‐aligned bounding box (AABB) of the building and emits a ray for each viewpoint to detect relevant external objects. The second‐stage ray tracing recursively searches for any remaining external objects from the view of the external objects that have been detected in the previous round of ray tracing. Both stages are carefully designed for efficiency. Furthermore, a two‐tier AABB tree is introduced to spatially index building objects on both model and object levels to accelerate relevant geometry operations. The proposed algorithm is validated with one synthetic and two large‐scale real‐world building models. The results show that all the external objects in the three models are accurately and efficiently identified, and the two‐tier spatial indexing and other acceleration techniques improve the algorithm's efficiency significantly.

Artificial intelligence for BIM content management and delivery: Case study of association rule mining for construction detailing

The proliferation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) applications, in tandem with the extensive variation of building products, pose new demands on design and engineering firms to efficiently manage and reuse BIM content (i.e., data-rich parametric model objects and assembly details). Tasks such as classifying BIM objects, indexing them with meta-data (e.g., category), and searching digital libraries to load objects into models still plague practice with inefficient manual workflows. This research aims to improve the productivity of BIM content management and retrieval by developing an AI-backed BIM content recommender system. Using data from a case-study firm, this research extracted content from over 30,000 technical BIM views (e.g., plans, sections, details) in historical projects to build an unsupervised machine-learning prototype with association rule mining. This prototype explicated the strength of relationships among co-occurring BIM objects. Using this prototype as the backbone AI-engine in live BIM sessions, this research developed a context-aware recommender system that dynamically provides BIM users with a set of objects associable with their modeling context (e.g., type of view, existing objects in the model) and human–computer interactions (e.g., objects selected by the user). By mining association data from hundreds of historical projects, this development marks a departure from the existing prototypes that rely on explicit coding, recurring user input, or subjective ratings to recommend BIM content to users. The simulation and experimental implementation of this recommender system yielded high efficacy in predicting content needs and achieved significant savings in the time spent on conventional BIM workflows.

Evaluation and Planning Decision on Façade Greening Made Easy—Integration in BIM and Implementation of an Automated Design Process

Façade greening at the intersection between buildings and urban space offers an optimal opportunity to integrate greenery into increasingly dense cities and influence the microclimate and contribute to high quality of life in urban areas. Despite proven numerous positive effects, there is still a lack of implementation and practical relevance is low until now. To integrate existing greening systems directly into future planning processes and thus keep up with the advancing digitalization in the building sector, an integration of these systems into Building Information Modeling (BIM) is urgently needed and in connection to this, the implementation of an automated planning process to support easier realization of greening projects contributing to a sustainable urban development. Therefore, BIM objects were created for five façade greening systems after analyzing the necessary basic data. Subsequently, an automated process was used to optimize the time-consuming conventional planning process of façade greening, with the aim of evaluating the simulated greening variants based on defined parameters. A case study presents the application of the prototypes and the possible calculations over the life cycle of the building. This development holds great potential by simplifying the process of decision-making and placing façade greenery on buildings.

Brazilian BIM Objects Technical Standard: a first approach on Acoustics parameters

The Building Information Modeling (BIM) has increased worldwide as a new approach on the building design, construction, and facilities management. Given this panorama, the Brazilian Government enforced a regulation in 2019, Decreto 9983, which outlines a roadmap for the BIM implementation in the Brazilian construction ecosystem. As one of its guidelines is to publish the necessary technical standards, a special committee, ABNT CEE 134, was hosted at the Brazilian organization for Technical Standardization with a dedicated WG for establishing BIM objects parameters. In the framework of the WG, a subgroup on Acoustics analysis aimed to deal on how to incorporate acoustic requirements to the BIM Object. In this paper, the authors describe the development of this feature, unprecedented so far. The approach adopted for incorporating acoustic requirements into BIM objects at the Brazilian BIM Standard aimed to facilitate the workflow of acoustic consulting, while adapting it to the limitations imposed by the existing software and the construction market culture in Brazil. This paper also provides some guidelines on how this issue could be addressed in future standards revisions.