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Building Information Modeling and Green Design
This summary is a shortened, condensed version of the Full Article.
Executive Summary
Architectural design programs and building performance analysis programs have been widely used as separate tools since the 1980s, but recent developments are beginning to integrate design software with tools to simulate and predict daylighting, energy and water use, heating and cooling needs, and airflows in buildings. This article discusses that integration of tools, called building information modeling (BIM).
Early-stage energy modeling can increase building efficiency by providing architects with predicted performance results before a design is fully developed. A Web-based service from Green Building Studio (GBS) is the pioneer among energy modeling programs for conceptual designs. GBS simulations use DOE-2, the U.S. Department of Energy’s energy analysis software. A forthcoming plug-in for Google SketchUp will also serve this need.
This article also examines three major full-fledged BIM tools, Revit MEP, ArchiCad, and Bentley Sytems. Revit MEP runs heating and cooling load analyses, as well as transferring data via gbXML to IES Virtual Environment for additional analyses, including daylighting. ArchiCAD links to the EcoTect performance-modeling package. Because of its gbXML export data format, ArchiCAD is compatible with many performance analysis programs. Unlike Revit MEP and ArchiCAD, the Bentley Systems design tool is not linked to any specific modeling package, instead exporting data in the IFC format that is compatible with a wide rage of specialized modeling tools.
BIM offers capabilities beyond performance modeling by simplifying take-offs estimating, and offering a potential avenue for instant feedback on the ecological functions of a design. BIM is a methodology as much as it is software, centering on models embedded with information that designers can use for a variety of purposes.
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