How BIM Technology is Improving Energy Efficiency in Construction
BIM is a rising trend in the construction industry because it incorporates the need for energy efficiency in construction with the technology available to optimize the building process. Sustainable construction goes beyond everyday efforts such as using LED bulbs or recycling; it entails starting from the source and constructing an entire building to be energy-efficient and cost-effective. The importance of long-term sustainable construction in our current social climate is indisputable. BIM technology is a tool that is being used to help make the construction industry more economically and environmentally sustainable.
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Global Impact of BIM
Throughout the world, there are many efforts in place to remedy climate change. These efforts, mainly focusing on energy efficiency and renewable energy, are gaining popularity and making a significant impact on reducing global waste production. As the push for renewable and energy-efficient construction processes is becoming more prevalent, new technologies are helping make this effort a reality. BIM technology plays a massive role in improving energy efficiency in construction by assisting contractors in visualizing each stage in the construction process, which streamlines the process and reduces waste.
Role of BIM in Sustainable Construction
BIM is a significant rising trend in the construction industry because of its ability to help contractors visualize the construction project throughout its entire lifetime. Sustainability and BIM go hand in hand because BIM uses technology to help create more sustainable construction. For example, if a subcontractor can visualize their part of the project before beginning work, they can accurately estimate how much of a specific material is needed. This visualization capability reduces the amount of wasted time, labor, and materials on a project.
New BIM technologies help make sustainable construction possible, especially when compared to traditional construction drafting tools. These tools (Which are usually 2D) severely limit subcontractors’ ability to see a 360-degree view of the project from start to finish, which sometimes results in delays, budget overruns, and wasted time and materials.
Economics of BIM
Using BIM can help construction firms improve energy efficiency in new projects and renovations and reduces the cost of waste during construction. A construction project designed with BIM helps subcontractors identify areas for energy improvement and usage throughout the building. This helps the planners optimize energy levels to reduce long term costs of running the building. Additionally, energy model capabilities allow subcontractors to perform what-if tests to determine the correct energy and water requirements for the building, helping reduce waste and overall building costs.
According to a study by The Boston Consulting Group, digitizing the building sector by using BIM to conduct a building-wide energy analysis can save up to 20% of energy costs. This number increases when looking at renovations of older buildings because of the traditionally energy-inefficient nature of the buildings. Using BIM energy analysis in these situations helps improve energy efficiency and reduce material waste, creating a more sustainable environment and benefitting everyone involved.
The BIM Digital Model
BIM gives subcontractors the ability to anticipate building behavior and has the benefit of storing critical information about the building. BIM technology uses this information to calculate optimum efficiency levels for energy use throughout the building. With the recent implementation of smart building technology, the BIM digital model has become even more prevalent in the construction industry. Using BIM, things like consumption monitoring and preventative maintenance can be automated in the building to improve long-term performance.
How BIM helps with Efficiency and Transparency
BIM has a significant impact on increasing efficiency during the design and construction phases of a project. Its benefits include speeding up job completion time, reducing the number of errors made, and saving costs by identifying areas to use prefabricated materials. Additionally, using BIM from start to finish on a construction project allows for a higher degree of transparency. In addition to the benefits it holds for subcontractors, it also helps key stakeholders see digestible, day-to-day snapshots of progress on the job site.
These real-time summaries help facilitate communication and minimize the amount of reworking a project requires in the long run. Since all subcontractors on the project can access centralized BIM plans, they can communicate with one another to provide valuable knowledge and insight into the building process. This, in turn, helps ensure a project is sustainable during the construction phase and once it is complete.
Benefits of BIM Technology
BIM technology is both economically and environmentally beneficial to the construction industry. Using BIM is a crucial transitionary tool for firms to move towards sustainable construction methods, and it has a significant ROI in terms of long-term cost. BIM technology helps subcontractors analyze their current building methods and gives them the tools to develop new, more sustainable practices that are tailor-made to each building design to optimize building efficiency.
Conclusion
With the rise of sustainable construction, BIM is becoming more prevalent than ever as a tool to reduce wasted time and materials. There are countless benefits to implementing BIM technology in a construction process, both environmentally and economically.
Environmentally, BIM can help reduce the carbon footprint of a building and optimize the energy consumption of a building. Economically, it is shown to reduce the amount of energy a building consumes and the cost of building and maintaining the structure by up to 20%. Additionally, using BIM technology can help subcontractors visualize the construction project at each phase in the construction process. BIM technology allows subcontractors to improve energy efficiency in the construction process and is a rising trend in the industry because of the countless benefits associated with the new technology.
