Posted on June 5, 2008 - by Pete

LEED meets BIM

Those of us who keep abreast of changes in the construction industry have been tracking two major trends over the last year or two. One has been the move of “Green Building” from the fringes of the industry into the mainstream. While not every project is going for US Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification, most of BJG’s clients are, at a minimum, talking about what it would take to get their project “Certified”. Once that conversation starts, the entire project team can, as a group, can make rational decisions as to whether the LEED Certification effort is economically or otherwise justifiable.

The other major trend BJG | Architecture + Engineering has been tracking is the move toward Building Information Modeling (BIM). BJG has taken a very proactive approach to BIM. All of our projects are currently drawn in a three-dimensional information based modeling system (REVIT). This program differs from standard CAD systems in several significant ways. The primary difference is that models are not constructed by drawing lines. Instead, models are built by compiling objects with properties. For instance, every door has properties associated with it, such as a specific hardware group (door knob, lockset, hinges, closer, etc) and a swing direction. Other information that can be linked to an object includes material origin, delivery date, thermal performance, recycled content and price. In addition, the subcontractor responsible for installing the object can be identified, etc. In fact, there is virtually no end to the data that can be tracked within a BIM Model.

At BJG, we discovered that we can use BIM for our REVIT model, to help us determine appropriate strategies for achieving Green Design or LEED Certification. Through proper manipulation of the model, we can provide real time feedback on the cost and payback period of a variety of potential LEED Strategies including water use, insulation efficiency, glazing performance, etc.

When we decided to put the effort into moving into the BIM world, we hoped to be able to provide better coordinated drawings; calculate material quantities and budget pricing; generate construction schedules; and provide real time visual analysis of changes to the design program. Once we started down this path however, it occurred to us that we could also calculate recycled material content, water use, storm water runoff and perform energy analysis. Once the right data is associated to the model, the model will tell us what the cost to increase roof insulation would be and what the energy savings from the change will be. We are really excited by this combination of what we thought were two separate initiatives into a coordinated effort to improve our design and the opportunity it has provided us.

Technorati Tags: BIM, construction, Green, innovation, innovative, LEED, Revit, USGBC