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Building design is highly complex as it involves numerous professionals and their interactions, hence with diverse tools used and multi-resources and different structured data and information required to be processed. Despite the existing efforts to develop multi-objective decision making tools to support complex design, most of the research face difficulties to provide holistic, dynamic and collaborative knowledge base due to the complexity of the information interoperability issues across different parties and throughout life cycle. This paper developed an automatic data exchange framework that combines only the necessary data from BIM models using semantic web technology to eliminate inefficiencies in data exchange and improve decision-making early in the design stage. The proposed data acquisition method can produce a dynamic knowledge base to connect both static and dynamic information. A multi-objective knowledge base was developed to assist engineers associated with sustainability and cost in comparing different design options based on the existing BIM data. The proposed ontology was developed using a machine-readable format, allowing the ability to add more concepts to it in the future and work with other automated tools. The validated framework could reduce human involvement and errors while providing more efficient ways to leverage diverse information sources together to support holistic decision-making for building design. • An automatic data exchanging framework that combines a data exchange method and semantic web technology is proposed. • A unified data exchange method was developed to extract only the critical information from a BIM model. • A holistic decision-making ontology to consider various aspects was developed to assist engineers in the early design stage. • A data acquisition method was proposed to align the knowledge base and the data exchange method to decrease manual input. • The proposed framework presents a more direct way to work with IFC-based BIM models to evaluate various aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The construction industry is responsible for various negative impacts on the environment leading to an increasing demand for sustainable buildings. There are several Building Sustainability Assessment (BSA) methods that allow designers to assess and optimise the building sustainability level. Due to the potential of Building Information Modelling (BIM), the opportunity for BSA methods to adopt and benefit from BIM arises. Despite the benefits in the approach simplification for assessing building sustainability, so far the method has not been used comprehensively in the evaluation process. This paper analyses how using BIM can contribute to optimising BSA methods, focusing on the SBToolPT-H. BIM applicability is assessed and a framework for a BIM-based application – SBToolBIM – is proposed. BIM is still not oriented to sustainable building, but it has great potential. For the SBToolPT-H, results show that it is possible to directly and indirectly assess 24 out of 25 criteria using BIM. Highlights • The Building Sustainability Assessment (BSA) can be simplified using BIM. • BIM is not oriented to support sustainable building but has great potential. • Different BIM softwares are necessary for BSA. • BIM can be used to assess most of the sustainability criteria of SBToolPT-H. • Further developments are needed for BIM methodology to integrate BSA methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The designs of large-scale building systems, such as Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) systems, undergo spatial changes during design-construction coordination, and as a result, their as-built conditions deviate, in some cases significantly, from their as-designed conditions. Construction engineers need to detect and analyze the differences between as-designed and as-built conditions of building systems promptly for responsive change management. Existing data-model comparison approaches either cannot correctly detect changed objects packed in small spaces, or cannot handle the computational complexity of comparing detailed as-designed and as-built geometries of MEP systems that contain hundreds or even thousands of elements (e.g., ducts). This paper presents a computationally efficient spatial-change-detection approach that reliably compares as-designed Building Information Models (BIMs) and 3D as-built models derived from laser scan data. It integrates nearest neighbor searching and relational graph based matching approaches to achieve computationally efficient change detection and management. A case study using data collected from a campus building was conducted to compare the new change detection approach proposed in this paper against the state-of-the-art change detection techniques. The results indicate that the proposed approach is capable of making more precise data-model comparisons in a computationally efficient manner compared to existing data-model comparison techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern structural design faces new challenges, such as addressing the needs of several stakeholders and satisfying the criteria for achieving sustainability. The traditional design process does not allow resolution of these challenges. The purpose of this project was to investigate the applicability of a Set-Based Parametric Design method to the structural design process of bridges. The focus was on the early design stage, in which the design team evaluates design alternatives against a chosen set of criteria. The main challenge in this stage of design is that the process should be cost- and time-effective while allowing comparison of the different alternatives and their evaluation in terms of the different design criteria. Certainly, structural design is often performed by a discussion between the different stakeholders involved in this process, i.e. the client, contractor, and engineering team. An evaluation of alternatives against criteria requires a more detailed design, which is contradictory to the early design stage when information is scarce. The selected approach was to develop a script that can generate information for decision-making, automate the structural design process, perform common routine design tasks, and control the numerical analysis. The method combined Set-Based Design, Parametric Design, Finite Element Analysis and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis. Three existing bridges were selected to demonstrate the applicability of the developed method. The method was successfully applied and it was observed that it resulted in bridges that were more efficient in terms of material costs and carbon dioxide equivalent emissions compared with existing bridges. By delaying the decisions and developing the sets of alternatives, various alternatives can be assessed and evaluated, in the design stage, against different sustainability criteria. • The paper proposes a method for early structural design of bridges. • The method combines set-based design with parametric design, FE-analyses and criteria-based decision making. • By automation of routine design tasks numerous alternatives are generated. • Alternatives that fulfil the design criteria are evaluated on chosen sustainability criteria. • The proposed method performs better than traditional design methods when compared on real cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopting Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Building Performance Analysis (BPA) is becoming an emerging research area in the application of information technology in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. To investigate the current state of research in the adoption of BIM in BPA, this study performed a holistic review consisting of a bibliometric analysis of existing literature, content analysis of selected studies, as well as follow-up qualitative discussion in BIM integration with BPA. The bibliometric analysis identified 60 relevant studies; the content analysis of these studies revealed the research focuses of BIM-enabled BPA, including interoperability, semantics, and sustainability rating systems; the qualitative discussion further highlighted the learning process throughout project delivery stages and addressed the potential gap between 'as-designed' building performance and 'as-built' performance. Overall, this study contributes to existing research by identifying key input attributes and workflow in BPA, reviewing the state-of-the-art research on BIM integration with BPA, and investigating the major research areas, namely, interoperability issues in BIM-enabled BPA within the context of life-cycle BPA. Unlabelled Image • Reviews the state-of-the-art in the BIM-enabled BPA using bibliometric analysis • Defines the workflow of Building Performance Analysis in building design • Investigates issues of interoperability, semantics, and sustainability rating systems • Identifies key research problems in BIM integration with BPA [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]