Role of BIM in sustainability

Rapid development in building design and analysis software over the last decade, coupled
with advances in desktop and laptop computational power, having led to the emergence of new
digital models for the design and documentation of buildings: virtual buildings or building
information modeling. BIM's data rich 3D modeling, various disciplines can extract and
manipulate relevant tabular or graphical buildings views such as reports and drawings. Such an
approach can improve building construction and operational performance, increase design
efficiencies, foster an integrated design workflow and more importantly in can help achieve
sustainability of buildings in various aspects.
Trends in global climate change are correlated with carbon emission, in that the cost of
hydrocarbon fuels upon which world economics are largely dependent is trending upwards, and
geopolitical instabilities abound in oil-rich regions of the world. . Reducing our carbon emissions
sufficiently to slow global warming will require far more radical changes in energy use. BIM
provides so many opportunities for the quantities assessment of design options. That is, the data
bound to the virtual building model can be defined, analyzed and parameterized by the designer,
with the ultimate goal of positively influencing the performance of the building. The role of BIM
is to effectively use the data to design sustainable buildings.
During the design period of the building, BIM can be used to optimize the following
aspects of the building.
1. Role of BIM in the analysis and design of sustainable sites : As it is discussed above,
minimizing the cost also comes under attaining sustainability. BIM can produce dynamic datadriven site models with editable 2D contours and 3D topography. BIM presents an opportunity to
integrate manipulable site data into the design process in an immediate and recursive way. Such
models are parametric in that they may be regarded and re contoured either through the use of
area tools or contour lines. Once created, such a site model can report site condition for either
existing or proposed conditions.
Site model in BIM can be developed after the data is attained from rough field surveys,
from survey contours, from aerial and topographical surveys, by using GIS data.
Analysis of the site using BIM helps the designer of the design implications of existing
and proposed grade. It can give solutions for minimizing the disturbance while supporting the
design objectives, to find out limitations and revealed opportunities for the project in the
combination of site and zoning ordinance.
A primary function of a site model is to facilitate topographical analysis of the site. There
are a variety of ways a BIM site model can help designer analyze the site for sustainable design.
A cut fill analysis is one way to quantifying development impact. When the BIM application
allows the automated comparison of existing and proposed sites, performing cut fill analysis to

achieve a net zero fill design is a matter of a few commands. Drainage analysis, Site sections,
Float to surface/ gravitate to mesh can be done using BIM. It can also be used in deterring the
buildable envelope maxima and minima in a very early stage of the project which helps in
correctly designing the buildings. Errors in zoning and restrictions application can lead to
unviable designs. A BIM model can also be quickly tested for conflicts with the tent for solar
rights and setbacks, taking into account the geometry of the particular site.
2. Role of BIM in conceptual design and the quantitative sustainable analysis of building
massing
BIM is rarely considered as a design tool in schematic or conceptual design. Data driven
massing models can offer important insights into potential building performance that can provide
huge benefits in sustainability. Moreover, ignoring quantitative information affecting critical
massing factors like building orientation, aspect ratios, and maximum envelope may lead the
designer to commit to decisions that may be expansive or impossible to reverse later.
Inherent in any conceptual architectural design is the requirement to establish building
massing. From establishing a building's spatial use and thermal performance, massing models
can be inevitable tools in incorporating sustainable design in a BIM process. There are several
approaches to developing intelligent conceptual models, some are data ready, while others are
truly data rich. 3D modeled massing studies are an invaluable tool even in pre conceptualization
stages of the project. One advantage of generating the conceptual massing model can be inform
the BIM model, and vice versa, with a minimal loss of data or need for repeating work. Even
early in the design phase BIM can produce models that may be used to test basic design
decisions.
Aside from designing for envelope restrictions imposed jurisdictionally, intelligent
massing models may inform the designer's effort to design economically or to optimize energy
performance. In cases where construction budgets are restrictive, it may be desirable to evaluate
the relative costs of two or more divergent designs, even at a very early stage. Space object
geometry can be used to evaluate massing models even when little or no detailed design
information has been determined.
In the very early phase of the design process, the designer may be required to verify the
project's feasibility with respect to land development codes (zoning or setback restrictions) or the
client's budget. At its most fundamental probable cost of construction can be estimated from
building areas and volume. The role of BIM here is to analyze past projects and analyze dynamic
data on the current project being estimated.
3. Role of BIM in designing parametrically for energy use for sustainable building

BIM can be applied to specific passive strategies, such as heating or cooling. Such
methods necessarily require more detailed models and imply a more mature design. BIM can be
used for the following
a) R-value and U factor : BIM parametric components such as walls, roofs, basement slab areas,
glazing etc. can be fed with R-values or U factor for the purpose for measuring the overall
conductivity. The reports generated within the BIM model allow quick analysis and optimization
of design.
b) Thermal mass : For climates with modest humidity and especially those with significant
temperature swings, thermal mass may be an effective passive cooling strategy. The total area of
exposed thermally massive materials (generally stone, concrete or water) within a building
interior can be optimized for the building.
c) Spatial dependencies : In the above, it can be seen that BIM helps in analyzing the schematic
design construction envelope imposed by zoning, first costs, and energy use, among other
factors. In addition, building performance will be influenced by other spatial dependencies:
occupancy and ventilation requirements.
For residential projects, the number of occupants will generally not impact design, except
at a programming level and in determining water use and cooling loads. For other project types ,
however, the number of occupants will affect egress and ventilation requirements.
4. Role of BIM in reducing the consumption of energy by incorporating solar geometry and
day lighting for sustainable building
As in the case with energy modeling or structural analysis, BIM software in not by itself a
full featured day lighting analysis tool or passive heating modeler.. It can however, be a powerful
tool for supporting passive lighting and heating design goals. This is particularly true early in the
design process, when BIM can be highly effective for quantitative design.BIM model may
support more detailed day lighting and energy analysis performed by simulation software.
a) Shade from the sun : Studies of solar access to the building envelope are key to effective day
lighting and passive heating and cooling. For the former, diffuse day lighting is most desirable:
direct beam solar radiation creates glare problems and increases heat gains. Moreover, a welldesigned space can receive adequate illumination from diffuse skylight alone (overcast skies, or
just light from the sky dome other than the sun). For thermal comfort, reducing direct gain in
summer is obviously critical. On the other hand, optimizing solar heat gain in winter is desirable
in cold and temperate climates. This poses a potential conflict between day lighting and winter
heat gain agendas: the low winter sun that the designer invites into a space for winter warming
can also present a glare problem.
b) Designing shading devices:

The designer can use BIM to help evaluating the effectiveness of shading devices both to
deny direct gain in warm months and to admit it in cold seasons. Monthly heating and cooling
degree day data, rather than solar geometry, may govern times of year to shade windows and
opening.
c) Optimizing for autumnal and vernal seasonal lag:
The designer mast weigh whether to design fixed shading devices for warmer springs and
therefore warmer autumns (less shade) or cooler autumns and therefore chiller springs ( more
shade). Solar modeling in BIM used to test potential shading device designs, combined with
consideration of simple weather days, offers a potential design approach which can help to
balance the asymmetry between solar geometry and annual weather pattern. An alternative is to
design adaptive, polymorphic shading devices that are recognized to compensate for the weathersolar asymmetry.
d) Adjacent structures and vegetation:
Whether designing for sun shifting, access to solar rights or day lighting, nearby
obstruction may have a significant impact on lighting, either by blocking areas of sky dome
illumination, or by diffuse reflecting some light into the building. For design purposes it is not
necessary to model adjacent building facades and fenestration; in most cases adjacent building
may be modeled as simple masses, perhaps with approximations of their roof shapes. BIM
applications typically include massing model tools that generate such adjacent structures quickly
and easily. Obstructions like trees should be should also be shown, especially for smaller
projects, which may be significantly shaded by nearby large trees. Modeling all obstructions is
especially critical when designing for on-site solar energy collectors, particularly photovoltaic.
e) Static sum models and solar animations:
There are several types of sun or shade studies in which BIM can be extremely useful.
These are studies range from creating views that show sun shading for a single moment in the
year, to animations showing the play of shadow on a building throughout a day, to fixed views
that represent the total annual direct sun visible from a point.
Since buildings are used year-around, a rendering of shading conditions at a single
moment in time is of limited usefulness. Solar animations are intended to overcome that
limitation, and broadly include representational tools that depict the sun's movement over time or more accurately the movement of shadows cast by the sun - whether over the span of a day, a
season, or a year.
f) Day lighting : A lot of electricity is consumed in lighting residential, commercial, and
industrial buildings. When one considers that even a relatively efficient fluorescent lamp
converts about only 22 percent of the energy it consumes into lught and 78 percent of the enrgy

becomes waste heat, it's evident that much of the electricity consumed by lighting is wasted
inefficiently. This in turn increases building cooling loads, with a corresponding increase in
cooling, ventilation and operating costs. Cooling equipment must be upsized in order to handle
the lighting load, and this equipment costs more to run. However, it is not sufficient to simply
add a lot of glass to a building and declare it "daylit". Current daylighting requires the right
amount of light and the right kind(diffuse). Over lighting a space even with daylight can create
unnecessary cooling loads, and an over-bright space creates glare problems for its occupants.
Designer should spend a great deal of effort carefully analyzing their designs for correct
daylighting. There are several analysis approaches that the BIM practitioner can undertake to
ensure more successfully daylit projects, whether or not more detailed analysis in undertaken
later with Ecotect, Daysim or Green Building studio.
a) Window - height to room depth ratio : A common and very simple, rule of thumb for
determining the area of adequate daylighting for a window of a given geometry is the 2.5H rule.
That is , a space will be adequately daylit for a depth equal to 2.5 times the window head height
above the floor. Window head heights in the BIM model can be checked against room width to
verify compliance with the 2,5H rule.
b) Estimate average Daylight Factor: Daylight factor (DF) is a simple measure in use for decades
to predict or assess whether a point in the given space will receive adequate daylighting for an
occupant to comfortably perform tasks. DF gives information wheather a space has adequate
daylight. For precise calculations of interior illuminance levels, far more sophisticated methods
must be employed, and there is a role for BIM to play in those as well. In preliminary design,
however, there are some relatively simple calculations that can be built into the BIM model to
inform the design and help optimize daylighting.
c) Light shelves: Light shelves are exterior and/or interior horizontal projections, placed just
above eye level with glazing above and below, whose essential function is to redistribute the DF
gradient. That is, they introduce more shade at the window wall, decreasing DF there But thanks
to their high diffuse reflectance, they project more light deeper into the room. Of course, because
they never have prefect diffuse reflectance, there is some net overall loss of average DF.
Nevertheless, lightshelves help redistribute over- abundance of light at the window wall to
deeper and darker recesses of room.
Unfortunately, there are no light shelves sizing rules of thumb that can be quickly applied
to a BIM model. On the other hand, properly placing and sizing them can be best achieved
through modeling and lighting analysis. As BIM is an excellent starting point for modeling the
geometry on which those analysis are based, the same techniques describe above for iterating
and refining sun shading devices are wholly applicable to light shelves. Indeed, for the lower
glazing, an external light shelf is essentially just a shading device.
5. Role of BIM for implementing passive cooling for sustainable building

Natural ventilation such as wind driven and stack ventilation are in part predicated on
environmental conditions: wind speed and direction, and ambient temperature. However, the
rate of air movement is also largely influenced by architectural elements, such as the size and
placement of openings and the heights of thermal chimneys; In other words, natural ventilation is
dependent on building geometry, which can readily be quantified in the BIM model. A BIM
workflow can quantify the relative impact of design decisions on effective natural ventilation
rates.
A significant challenge in performance- based passive cooling design is the calculation of
cooling loads. This may be simplified somewhat by accounting for worst case conditions, but
cooling load calculations are inherently complex. Contributing to this are the at times interrelated
mechanisms of heat transfer: conduction, convection, radiation and evaporations. In addition,
seasonal and daily movement of the sin, combined with the cumulative nature of climate
dominated cooling loads, makes accurate energy modeling and involve and computationally
demanding effort well beyond the scope of current BIM applications. As a result, true energy
modeling is performed using dedicated applications, with geometry and material data supplied
by the BIM model.
The first rule of sustainable energy use is to reduce demand. For cooling envelope-driven
buildings, solar gain is the chief load of interest. The designer must consider solar geometry and
how best to shade the building in hot months, while allowing winter heat gain and minimizing
the impact on desirable views and natural ventilation. BIM approaches to achieving appropriate
solar shadings are given below:
a) In designing shading devices, it is typical to simulate sun angles for three significant dates:
summer and winter solstices, and either the vernal or autumnal equinox. Optimizing the BIM
model geometry to exclude summer sun and ensure deep penetration of winter sun.
b) Daylighting analysis applications like Ecotect provide useful daylight factor and daylight
autonomy analysis of buildings or individual spaces. These are particularly helpful in making
detailed and quantified design decisions in selecting the materials based on reflectivity. However,
there is also value early in the design process in making qualitatively informed design decisions.
BIM applications, like ArchiCAD and Vectorworks as well as 3D modelers like sketchup, allow
solar animations to be created even at the conceptual design stage. Animations are particularly
useful if generated from the southwest and southeast for the solstices and equinox, and from the
north for the summer solstice.
Ventilation: Wind-driven or cross, ventilation is dependent on wind direction and
intensity, as well as aperture sizes. Wind roses indication annual wind direction and speed are
commonly available. However, prevailing wind direction is highly affected by local geographical
phenomena (nearby buildings, topography, bodies of water and vegetation). For large
unobstructed sites, a published wind rose may be reliable. There is no substitute, however, for

onsite investigation. Wind roses are included in analytical software like Ecotect, and published
online at a variety of sites. In many cases, simply being able to quantifiably compared ventilation
rates among design options is sufficient and BIM turns out to be excellent in providing various
options.
Stack effect: Warm air's natural tendency to rise has been exploited for centuries to
provide natural ventilation when wind- driven ventilation was unavailable or unreliable.
Accurately predicting rate of airflow due to the stack effect is problematic, as a rising warm air
mass represents a complex system involving interrelated mass transfer ( movement of air) and
heat transfer (through convection). True modeling of the phenomenon involves computational
fluid dynamics (CFD), well beyond the capabilities of any available BIM modeler.
Evaporative cooling: A BIM model of a cool tower uses readily available average
weather data combined with values from the model geometry to calculate the tower's cooling
capacity. Detailed calculations that determined hour-by-hour cooling of the thermal mass can be
accomplished with detailed thermal modeling, rather than incorporated into a BIM model.
Roof pond for cooling: The roof pond is an effective implementation of the thermal mass
strategy. It relies on direct radiation to the sky to complete a heat transfer cycle. Roof ponds may
be used to help cool buildings in summer as well as heat them in the winter. The characteristics
to be parameterized in BIM are the pond depth and area, or its volume. AAs the building design
evolves and the roof pond's extent and depth is adjusted, the designer can determine if it is
adequately cooling the floor below.
6. Role of BIM for implementing passive heating for sustainable building
A key component of sustainable design is to incrementally lessen human impact on the
biosphere by reducing building energy use. Barring breakthroughs in energy generation,
materials resources management, and pollution control, all our buildings will have to evolve to
the point where they have net-zero energy use - not unlikely within a generation. To minimize
energy expenditures for heating buildings, the appropriate approach is to maximize passive
heating gains while controlling envelope losses. The former includes eternal gains from solar
insulation, and internal gains, while ignoring internal ones. For colder climates, it is critical to
design for appropriate maximum passive heating, all the while not overheating spaces. Moreover,
even cold climates have warm seasons, and vice versa so passive heating strategies must be
seasonally indexed to avoid poor performance in summer. And as with passive cooling strategies,
not all passive heating techniques are appropriate to every project, nor to every climate.
Determining and optimizing envelope heating losses can be achieved as with any exercise
in envelope design, applying the principle of conductivity times area. However, in the case of
heating losses, slabs on grade and basements are special cases that require variant approaches to
estimating losses. As with other instances of designing for optimal performance, the application

of the few straightforward rules of thumb to the BIM model can yield reports that better in for
the designer.
The BIM model may detail the window geometry for visualization and detailing
purposes, but since window U-factor is global, for energy calculations the overall window
characteristics applied to its total area are used. Any sustainable project in a cold climate ( r
warm climate in cold conditions) is assumed to make use of passive solar heating. Since southfacing glass is a source of heat, it cannot simultaneously be a site for heat loss. Total glazed
assemble heat losses therefore ignore any south facing glass multiply the area of non-south glass
by window U-factor for the glazing.
Infiltration heat loss and ground heat loss: For heat loss at slabs, the characteristics of
interest are the slab perimeter, not its area. Either value may be reported automatically by the
BIM model with appropriate schedules.
7. Role of BIM for onsite energy systems for sustainable building
Sustainable design leads us to the path where the increase use of alternate sources of
energy while weaning our society from carbon emitting and non renewable resources. Onsite
energy production can be an architectural from giver, as well as serving other architectural
functions, such as displacing cladding materials, as in the case of integrated photovoltaic, or
serving as solar - indexed shading structure.
Onsite or distributed, energy generation has distinct advantages:

It eliminates transmission losses

It represents a scalable energy sources
It supports passive survivability
It is an opportunity for architectural expression
Building integrated photovoltaic does displace other envelope cladding materials.
It capitalizes on subsidies
It sustains technological innovation

The following onsite energy systems can be incorporated to the building or the site using BIM:
a) Solar photovoltaic: BIM can be a useful tool in supporting the design and optimization of
photovoltaics. Parametric properties that can be inserted into the BIM model are type of PV,
materials, energy storage, size, location, azimuth and elevation. The benefits are given below:
Maximum exposure: Sun studies of the BIM model with accurate latitude and building
orientation can inform the designer on the optimal elevation and azimuth for solar arrays.
Avoiding shading and self-shading: While simple rules of thumb may inform the designer
on the best PV array approximate elevation and azimuth, site-specific obstructions and

the specific geometry of particular arrays make BIM shading studies critical to good PV
performance.
PV synergy: Integrating solar PV with other building performance concerns dependent on
solar geometry: shading devices and daylighting geometry. In this regard, an integrated
BIM approaches to passive and active design is particularly effective. Building envelopes
developed within a BIM workflow can be designed to simultaneously maximize annual
solar collection and summer shading, while allowing appropriate daylighting and
optimization insulation on south glazing in winter.

b) Solar thermal systems and wind turbines can also be used in order to generate renewable
energy.
8. Role of BIM for implementing building hydrology for sustainable building
Water scarcity worldwide is a growing problem. Fifteen years ago 8 percent of the world
population was living with water scarcity or stress; UN projections are that in less than 40 years
almost half the world will experience scarcity or stress. So any broad discussion of sustainability
therefore must include water resources. Human can survive without fossil fuels, but not without
water. Global climate change combined with increasing populations will only exacerbate water
problems, and at increasing rates. An estimated 12 percent of fresh water use is dedicated to
buildings. Therefore, some impact on this issue given over how buildings are supplied by,
capture, and dispose of water. As that cycle is inherently quantifiable, there are opportunities to
use BIM to improve architectural design for better water management.
a) Site design for water: A fundamental "system principle" of all sustainable practices is to avoid
expending energy (whether naturally occurring or artificially generated) to import a resource
when it can be locally produced. Sustainable design should strive to maximize the resources at
hand, establishing a closed loop as much as possible. This holds true for water as well and to a
greater degree the more arid the site. Potentially useful water should not run off, particularly if it
may have to be imported later. BIM site models need to be static representations of the existing
site, but can be edited to facilitate the design of positive drainage at building edges. Modeling the
site in BIM with consideration is given to controlling drainage, there for offers coordination
advantages. Also, some BIM authoring software the site model can be quantitatively analyzed for
slope conditions. Runoff and impervious cover flow and slope analysis can be done using BIM.
b) Rainwater harvesting: For designers, rainwater harvesting is an opportunity to design more
sustainably. Rainwater fed water can be used for waste transport. Climate data, load calculations
are fed in to the BIM model for roof area optimizing and cistern sizing.
c) Plumbing fixture efficiency: It can be easily done with BIM model which is usually fed with
the plumbing fixture data.

9. Role of BIM for material takeoffs, cost calculation and waste generation for sustainable
building
As BIM is widely used, there is a tendency to emphasize software use for productivity
gains, and interoperability for process efficiencies. And these are worthwhile aspects of the
process. But given that the BIM model inherently inventories all modeled components of the
virtual building, there are several opportunities to quarry the model to better control material
water. Along the way, the designer can help reduce construction cost or at least more accurately
predict it.

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