Level 8

BIM Technology in Improving Sustainability 

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has led the whole construction industry into a digitalization era by doing a phenomenal job solving a great number of practical problems, such as helping to enable better planning, improving collaboration, generating better cost estimation, and conducting more efficient construction. It has transformed the way projects are planned, designed, and executed. Meanwhile, there is also a heated discussion going on about what the wide implementation of BIM has brought to our world on a broader scale. Among the countless number of answers, the most outstanding one is BIM’s significant role in improving sustainability by providing energy efficiency improvements, optimized control systems for construction processes and better management during the operation phase.

The building industry is responsible for 40% of carbon emissions annually, consuming nearly half of the world’s resources and over 30% of energy (Graham). It becomes apparent that the underlying environmental goals to be pursued are reduction in energy consumption, material use, and waste production. As concerns about climate change and resource depletion grow, the construction industry will need to prioritize sustainability. Fortunately, through sustainable practices brought by BIM technology, it is very possible that achieving these goals is just around the corner.

Firstly, BIM can be used to help identify opportunities for energy efficiency improvements. BIM can perform energy analysis during the design phase of a project to help reduce energy consumption and carbon emission. As described in the article “Enhancing Energy Efficiency and Building Performance through BEMS-BIM Integration,” tools can be simply integrated into the BIM platform to enable this function, which helps identify the most energy-efficient design options and inform decisions about building orientation, envelope design, and HVAC system selection. With the energy model analysis, the energy consumption of the design can be estimated and predicted. The carbon footprint and the environmental impact of the project can also be evaluated. Additionally, by simulating the embodied energy and global warming potential of different materials being utilized in a certain project, BIM helps choose products with a smaller ecological footprint (Kozlovska). This is very valuable as energy efficiency and being carbon-neutral is of utmost importance in sustainable construction. By using BIM to optimize energy performance, project owners can reduce operating costs, minimize carbon emissions, and improve energy efficiency.

Additionally, BIM enhances construction sustainability by helping boost the construction productivity with an optimized process control system of the construction. The 3D virtual prototypes generated by BIM software can be conveniently shared and used for real-time collaboration. This transparency of information allows all the relevant personnel to plan the construction and the later operations effectively in both time and cost-efficient methods (“6 Reasons Why Real-Time Data Is Relevant in Construction”). Most importantly, from estimating and takeoff to layout and on-site project management, every step in the design and construction workflow can be reviewed and enhanced by BIM. BIM saves time and labor in every step of the process. Eliminating unnecessary waste of materials, improving efficiency, enhancing design and reducing errors all provide a valuable opportunity for the building's environmental impact to be reduced over the lifespan of the building.

Last but not least, BIM can bring long-term support for sustainable facility management during the operational phase. In the past, once a construction project was finished, instead of construction professionals, the job was mostly left to the owner or the facility manager until repairs or retrofitting work became necessary. According to Mark Oden, the CEO of BIM Designs Co., in the article “The Benefits of Using BIM for Facilities Management and Operations,” with the details of the 3D models created by BIM, the operational data can be passed from the construction team in the building phase along to the project owner and the facility manager to use during the life-long span of the project, maximizing their possibility to run the building at its greatest potential. With the BIM model including data of the building's systems and equipment, the facility managers will be able to obtain more efficient use of resources and better long-term planning for maintenance. They are able to identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce energy use, and optimize maintenance practices. BIM can also help verify if the building is operating towards the intended sustainable goal by tracking energy use, water consumption, and waste generation. As a result, more construction professionals start to realize environmentally-conscious operational benefits that BIM could bring to their completed projects.

The construction industry accounts for a large percentage of energy consumption and carbon emissions which has intrigued increasing concern all over the world. While BIM can help construction professionals take a more holistic and life-cycle perspective of projects to make more sustainable decisions by providing energy efficiency improvements, optimized organization of construction processes and better management during the operation phase, undoubtedly it will have a promising potential contributing to the shared responsibility and goal of all mankind – improving world sustainability and protecting the planet. 

Written by: Caroline Hu

Works Cited

“6 Reasons Why Real-Time Data Is Relevant in Construction - pro CREW SCHEDULE.” Https://Procrewschedule.com, 9 Mar. 2022, procrewschedule.com/6-reasons-why-real-time-data-is-relevant-in-construction/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

Graham, Sarah. “What Is Sustainable Construction? | Holcim Foundation Sustainable Construction.” www.holcim foundation.org, www.holcimfoundation.org/sustainable-construction. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

Kozlovska, Maria, et al. “Enhancing Energy Efficiency and Building Performance through BEMS-BIM Integration.” Energies, vol. 16, no. 17, 1 Jan. 2023, p. 6327, www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/17/6327, https://doi.org/10.3390/en16176327.

Oden, Mark. “The Benefits of Using BIM for Facilities Management and Operations.” Www.bimdesigns.net, 29 Sept. 2020, www.bimdesigns.net/bim-designs-inc-blogs/the-benefits-of-using-bim-for-facilities-management-and-operations. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.