Building information modeling for smart built environments

Date
2015-01-26
Authors
Zhang, J
Seet, BC
Lie, TT
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI AG
Abstract

Building information modelling (BIM) provides architectural 3D visualization and a standardized way to share and exchange building information. Recently, there has been an increasing interest in using BIM, not only for design and construction, but also the post-construction management of the built facility. With the emergence of smart built environment (SBE) technology, which embeds most spaces with smart objects to enhance the building’s efficiency, security and comfort of its occupants, there is a need to understand and address the challenges BIM faces in the design, construction and management of future smart buildings. In this paper, we investigate how BIM can contribute to the development of SBE. Since BIM is designed to host information of the building throughout its life cycle, our investigation has covered phases from architecture design to facility management. Firstly, we extend BIM for the design phase to provide material/device profiling and the information exchange interface for various smart objects. Next, we propose a three-layer verification framework to assist BIM users in identifying possible defects in their SBE design. For the post-construction phase, we have designed a facility management tool to provide advanced energy management of smart grid-connected SBEs, where smart objects, as well as distributed energy resources (DERs) are deployed.

Description
Keywords
Building information modelling (BIM) , Design verification , Energy management , Smart built environments , Smart grid
Source
Buildings 2015, 5, 100-115; doi:10.3390/buildings5010100
Publisher's version
Rights statement
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.