My Thesis

Title: BIM and CFD Based Simulation Approach in Reducing Thermal Energy Demand of a Residential Building

Supervised By: Prof. Dr. Md. Robiul Awall, Head, Department of Building Engineering & Construction Management, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET)

Abstract

Countering high energy demand in the average household has become a pivotal step in resilient development. This paper demonstrates how building information modeling (BIM)-based building thermal propagation and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis can help in sustainable building design decisions. Especially with regards to selecting the sets of construction materials and components that help in reducing building energy demand relating to heat loads while considering natural wind flow. Thus, the designer can forecast thermal satisfaction utilizing the bioclimatic chart. The fourth level of a typical five-story residential building in Bangladesh was selected as the case study, since residential building types are responsible for a significant percentage of national electricity demands, especially in June. The case study building was identically replicated on Autodesk Revit, and energy analysis was done utilizing BIM-centric cooling and heating loads calculations, which are dependent on building location, design parameters, and material properties, while CFD analysis for ventilation simulation was done through Autodesk CFD software. Then material modifications of the building's various components were conducted in the BIM model to produce corresponding heating load results to compare the design alternatives with each other and to the initial design. The study explores the various building envelope materials, the different building elements, and their leverage in reducing thermal energy load demands for precise insights to help orient further research toward the selection of materials and building elements holding the most potential for thermal energy management while taking natural ventilation into account.