Svetlana Olbina

Building Information Modeling in Support of Sustainable Design and Construction

AbstractThe use of building information modeling (BIM) has provided a means of increasing total project quality, providing accurate quantity take-offs, and improving scheduling, consequently diminishing total project contingencies and costs. Although BIM is a recent development, a lot of research has been conducted in order to further enhance the capabilities of BIM in design and construction. However, there has been very little research done so far on the effect that BIM has on sustainable construction practices. Hence, the goal of this research is to investigate the perceptions of the use of BIM for sustainable design and construction among designers and constructors. A survey was developed and administered through the Internet to determine the existing trends of BIM application in general as well as its use as a tool in sustainable design and construction. The survey results indicated that although the majority of the respondents believed that sustainable design and construction practices were of impor...

Empirical Analysis of the Learning Curve Principle in Prestressed Concrete Piles

The principle of learning curves can be applied in construction for the prediction of the time/cycle of future work, work performance levels, and other performance measures. Learning curve principles can be effectively utilized in litigation cases where production is compromised by delays. The objective of this study was to determine if learning curves could be used to accurately predict the production efforts of future units by applying the principles to the prefabrication and driving of prestressed concrete piles. The individual time to cast each of the concrete piles was recorded and used to compute the cumulative average time ( CATN ) to fabricate the concrete piles. The data were used to compute the learning rate (ϕ) and the theoretical time to complete the first unit ( Kc ) . From this information, predictions were made as to the amount of effort to fabricate future piles. The results showed that the pile fabrication crew improved its learning throughout the pile fabrication effort, but this improve...

Use of Building Information Modeling in Design to Prevent Construction Worker Falls

AbstractThe construction industry has incurred the most fatalities of any United States industry in the private sector in recent years. Whereas many factors may contribute to this statistic, one likely cause is due to designers who often lack design for construction safety knowledge, which results in many safety hazards being built into project designs. Therefore, there is a compelling need for tools that can put the safety-in-design concept into practice. To improve the current situation, a prevention through design (PTD) tool based on computer software was developed. Construction safety best practices were compiled into computable rules so that the PTD tool can automatically conduct compliance checking. Particular emphasis was placed on fall accidents since falls are the most frequently occurring cause of fatalities on construction sites. This tool efficiently makes PTD suggestions available to designers and constructors. With this PTD tool, it is possible for project participants to work together to op...

Implementation of Building Information Modeling into Accredited Programs in Architecture and Construction Education

There are many benefits of building information modeling (BIM) to the construction industry when compared to the traditional approach to design and construction. To properly prepare students, many schools are introducing BIM in their coursework as a response to the current and future needs of the construction industry. The aim of this research was to evaluate the current implementation of BIM and to identify trends in the teaching of BIM in architecture and construction academic programs. A survey that investigated the implementation of BIM into accredited programs in architecture and construction education was sent to architecture and construction schools in the U.S. The survey results indicated that most architecture and construction schools either have an interest in or have already implemented BIM into their curriculum. The majority of the schools expected students to have a basic knowledge of BIM upon graduation; perceived BIM as important to industry; and planned to fully integrate BIM into their curriculum. The results show that more architecture than construction schools have implemented BIM into their curriculum. Construction schools were more likely to use four-dimensional (4D) and five-dimensional (5D) models in teaching construction scheduling and estimating when compared to architecture schools.

Validation of Autodesk Ecotect™ accuracy for thermal and daylighting simulations

Autodesk Ecotect™ is an environmental analysis software which according to the U.S. Department of Energy, has not been validated yet. Therefore, the objectives of this research were to validate accuracy of Ecotect™ for thermal and daylighting simulations of buildings and provide recommendations to the Architecture, Engineering and Construction community on application of Ecotect™. Analysis of thermal performance of an institutional building was conducted for one year while the daylighting performance was studied from January to September. The thermal loads and illuminance levels of the building were first measured in the field. The field measurements were then compared to the simulated thermal loads and illuminance levels obtained by Ecotect™. The validation results showed that Ecotect™ underestimated thermal loads in all the analyzed cases and overestimated illuminance levels in 98% of the analyzed cases. Therefore, these findings show that Ecotect™ cannot be used for accurate simulations of thermal loads and illuminance levels.

Environmental Performance Analysis of a Single Family House Using BIM

Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are major indicators of environmental performance of any building. In the recent years, the need for much-improved energy efficient performance in the housing sector has substantially grown due to serious energy concerns in the United States. According to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, energy use for buildings in the Unites States is appreciably higher than in other regions, and this is likely to continue. The lack of a structured approach to planned use of the sustainability features like post occupancy evaluation, benchmarking against similar projects, or setting performance targets has made the situation grimmer. For the past 50 years, a wide variety of building energy simulation programs have been developed, improved and are in use throughout the building energy community. With the advancement in Building Information Modeling (BIM) and simulation technology, the environmental performance of buildings can be assessed before their actual construction. The primary goal of this research was to analyze annual energy consumption and CO2 emissions in a single family house in Florida occupied by a defined type of household using BIM. The secondary goal was to compare the results with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data published in the Building Energy Data book (DOE 2009) for validation purposes and to establish the importance of BIM and its use in simulation. This research has shown that BIM when used in conjunction with computer-aided building simulation is a very valuable tool in the study of energy performance, design and operation of buildings. Using energy simulation technology at the design stage of dwellings facilitates the sustainability decision making process.

Radiance-based Model for Optimal Selection of Window Systems

Daylighting performance is one of the primary metrics used for evaluation and selection of window systems. Radiance is one of the most accurate software tools for lighting simulations of buildings. However, it is difficult to use Radiance in the early stages of the daylighting design because of the complexity of the tool and uncertainty and variability of the design parameters. Repeated modifications of different design parameters are required in order to select appropriate design. As a result, simulation runtime is significantly increased. To solve the conflict between accuracy and length of simulation runtime, this research proposed a two-phase model for selection of window systems that can be used in the early design stages. The model uses Radiance for daylighting simulations and calculates the daylighting metrics by utilizing the optimization methods. A case study was conducted to illustrate the application of the model. This model not only provided relatively accurate daylighting simulation results but also reduced the overall simulation runtime.

Guidelines for Using Building Information Modeling (BIM) for Environmental Analysis of High-Performance Buildings

Building Information Modeling (BIM) efficiently integrates environmental analysis into the design and delivery of high-performance buildings. Building Energy Modeling (BEM), a subset of BIM, employs various simulation tools for predicting the environmental performance of buildings. As the demand for high-performance buildings has increased, BEM has facilitated the delivery of buildings that meet expected performance requirements. The research objectives were to: 1) evaluate various BEM tools, and 2) develop guidelines for using BEM tools in design and delivery of high-performance buildings. Twelve BEM tools were evaluated using four criteria: interoperability, user-friendliness, available inputs, and available outputs. The top three programs (Autodesk Ecotect, Autodesk Green Building Studio, and IES ) were selected based on this evaluation. Each of these selected BEM tools was used in the case study to simulate energy consumption, daylighting performance, and natural ventilation for two buildings, one LEED certified and one non-LEED certified. The results of the case study were used to compare the environmental performance of the two buildings and to develop guidelines for using BEM tools to analyze building environmental performance.

Validation of building energy modeling tools: ecotect™, green building studio™ and IES ™

Building energy modeling (BEM) helps architects, engineers and green building consultants in designing increasingly energy-efficient buildings. When used in conjunction with Building Information Modeling (BIM), integration of energy modeling into the design process allows the environmental ramifications of design decisions to be tested in a relatively seamless way. While energy modeling has proven useful as a design tool, there is a need to validate the accuracy of BEM tools. A case study was conducted to compare the results of energy simulations obtained by three BEM tools (Ecotect™, Green Building Studio™, and IES<;VE>™) against measured data for two academic buildings located in Gainesville, Florida. A LEED Gold-certified building and a non-LEED-certified building were investigated in the case study. Research findings showed that the three BEM tools were not able to accurately predict actual building energy consumption in the majority of analyzed cases.

Drug testing practices in the US construction industry in 2008

Drug testing is an effective way to improve jobsite safety, productivity and profits. Since drug use impairs the abilities of construction workers, many construction companies have implemented drug testing policies. The research aim was to identify the current drug testing practices of construction contractors. The research objectives were to determine: (1) the extent of the implementation of drug testing; (2) testing practices being used; (3) testing methods being used; (4) the most frequently drugs used; and (5) the use and prevalence of adulterants to cheat on drug tests. In 2008 the data were collected through surveys sent to US construction firms that were randomly selected from the Blue Book of Building and Construction. The results show that drug use continues to be a concern although the extent of drug use has declined in recent years. Most of the firms conduct both pre-employment drug screening and random drug testing. Marijuana and cocaine are the primary drugs used. Urine analysis continues to be the most common drug test used, while other testing methods are being explored with some hesitance. Cheating on drug tests appears to be a major concern. The results show that there is a statistically significant relationship between drug usage and safety performance.