Optimising Embodied Energy and Thermal Performance of Thermal Insulation in Building Envelopes via an Automated Building Information Modelling (BIM) Tool
Insulation systems for the floor, roof, and external walls play a prominent role in providing a thermal barrier for the building envelope. Design decisions made for the insulation material type and thickness can alleviate potential impacts on the embodied energy and improve the building thermal perf...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-11-01
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| Series: | Buildings |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/10/12/218 |
| _version_ | 1827701338083950592 |
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| author | Zixuan Chen Ahmed W. A. Hammad Imriyas Kamardeen Ali Akbarnezhad |
| author_facet | Zixuan Chen Ahmed W. A. Hammad Imriyas Kamardeen Ali Akbarnezhad |
| author_sort | Zixuan Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Insulation systems for the floor, roof, and external walls play a prominent role in providing a thermal barrier for the building envelope. Design decisions made for the insulation material type and thickness can alleviate potential impacts on the embodied energy and improve the building thermal performance. This design problem is often addressed using a building information modelling (BIM)-integrated optimisation approach. However, one major weakness that lies in the current studies is that BIM is merely used as the source for design parameters input. This study proposes a BIM-based envelope insulation optimisation design tool using a common software Revit and its extension Dynamo to find the trade-off between the total embodied energy of the insulation system and the thermal performance of the envelope by considering the material type and thickness. In addition, the tool also permits data visualisation in a BIM environment, and automates subsequent material library mapping and instantiates the optimal insulation designs. The framework is tested on a case study based in Sydney, Australia. By analysing sample designs from the Pareto front, it is found that slight improvement in the thermal performance (1.3399 to 1.2112 GJ/m<sup>2</sup>) would cause the embodied energy to increase by more than 50 times. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T14:31:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-87c7319372b24d52ac244807d26fb575 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-5309 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T14:31:12Z |
| publishDate | 2020-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Buildings |
| spelling | doaj.art-87c7319372b24d52ac244807d26fb5752023-11-20T22:35:50ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092020-11-01101221810.3390/buildings10120218Optimising Embodied Energy and Thermal Performance of Thermal Insulation in Building Envelopes via an Automated Building Information Modelling (BIM) ToolZixuan Chen0Ahmed W. A. Hammad1Imriyas Kamardeen2Ali Akbarnezhad3School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, NSW 2052, AustraliaSchool of Built Environment, University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, NSW 2052, AustraliaSchool of Architecture & Built Environment, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3217, AustraliaBoral Ltd., North Sydney, NSW 2060, AustraliaInsulation systems for the floor, roof, and external walls play a prominent role in providing a thermal barrier for the building envelope. Design decisions made for the insulation material type and thickness can alleviate potential impacts on the embodied energy and improve the building thermal performance. This design problem is often addressed using a building information modelling (BIM)-integrated optimisation approach. However, one major weakness that lies in the current studies is that BIM is merely used as the source for design parameters input. This study proposes a BIM-based envelope insulation optimisation design tool using a common software Revit and its extension Dynamo to find the trade-off between the total embodied energy of the insulation system and the thermal performance of the envelope by considering the material type and thickness. In addition, the tool also permits data visualisation in a BIM environment, and automates subsequent material library mapping and instantiates the optimal insulation designs. The framework is tested on a case study based in Sydney, Australia. By analysing sample designs from the Pareto front, it is found that slight improvement in the thermal performance (1.3399 to 1.2112 GJ/m<sup>2</sup>) would cause the embodied energy to increase by more than 50 times.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/10/12/218BIMinsulation designbuilding envelopemulti-objectiveoptimisationpareto-front |
| spellingShingle | Zixuan Chen Ahmed W. A. Hammad Imriyas Kamardeen Ali Akbarnezhad Optimising Embodied Energy and Thermal Performance of Thermal Insulation in Building Envelopes via an Automated Building Information Modelling (BIM) Tool Buildings BIM insulation design building envelope multi-objective optimisation pareto-front |
| title | Optimising Embodied Energy and Thermal Performance of Thermal Insulation in Building Envelopes via an Automated Building Information Modelling (BIM) Tool |
| title_full | Optimising Embodied Energy and Thermal Performance of Thermal Insulation in Building Envelopes via an Automated Building Information Modelling (BIM) Tool |
| title_fullStr | Optimising Embodied Energy and Thermal Performance of Thermal Insulation in Building Envelopes via an Automated Building Information Modelling (BIM) Tool |
| title_full_unstemmed | Optimising Embodied Energy and Thermal Performance of Thermal Insulation in Building Envelopes via an Automated Building Information Modelling (BIM) Tool |
| title_short | Optimising Embodied Energy and Thermal Performance of Thermal Insulation in Building Envelopes via an Automated Building Information Modelling (BIM) Tool |
| title_sort | optimising embodied energy and thermal performance of thermal insulation in building envelopes via an automated building information modelling bim tool |
| topic | BIM insulation design building envelope multi-objective optimisation pareto-front |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/10/12/218 |
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