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The early stages of building design involve the consideration of different design variants and their assessment regarding various performance criteria including energy consumption and costs. During the design process, the involved experts from different disciplines frequently exchange building information to develop a design that satisfies the proj...
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... Thus, these earliest steps are still made before any analytical feedback becomes available [14]. In early design stages, BIM models also bear the risk of falsely suggesting precision and certainty e.g. of energy or structural calculations, leading to incorrect evaluations of the results [15]. ...
The planning and construction sector is one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters and has shown the lowest increase in productivity among economic sectors over the last century. Increasing complexity and performance requirements in building projects require the collaboration of ever more interdisciplinary project teams, but conventional planning tools often do not facilitate a tangible knowledge exchange between project stakeholders from different fields of expertise. This is most notable in early project phases when fundamental design decisions are made. To address this challenge, we introduce a flexible and expandable digital workflow using a single 3D-model to integrate and moderate expertise from multiple project stakeholders such as architects, structural engineers, energy planners, contractors, and future users. This workflow creates a “rubber band” between different interdependent design goals and constraints, offering an opportunity to negotiate and optimize design parameters early-on. The framework is an addition to conventional planning tools whose complexity and costs often prevent stakeholders in the building industry from embracing the potentials of the digital transformation.
... The consideration of uncertainties in BIM models across varying levels of development has been overlooked for a long time. To address these aspects, Abualdenien and Borrmann (2020) propose multiple methods for visualizing geometric and semantic uncertainties of building elements during early design phases. Among the various approaches, they find that combining color value and transparency to quantify the reliability of semantics resulted in a relatively high level of intuitiveness and acceptance (Abualdenien et al., 2020). ...
... To address these aspects, Abualdenien and Borrmann (2020) propose multiple methods for visualizing geometric and semantic uncertainties of building elements during early design phases. Among the various approaches, they find that combining color value and transparency to quantify the reliability of semantics resulted in a relatively high level of intuitiveness and acceptance (Abualdenien et al., 2020). ...
... The third research question is about three different visualization strategies of uncertainties, for which their intuitiveness is evaluated using a questionnaire. The three approaches include using transparency in the model viewer according to the findings of (Abualdenien et al., 2020), gradient color ranges for the different variants and box plot diagrams. ...
... These tools are limited by their dependence on a deterministic set of concise inputs that rely heavily on designers' prior knowledge. Thus, a crucial element is missing: the dynamic potential for design space exploration (DSE) (Østergård, Jensen and Maagaard, 2017) integrated into the design process; Second, current methods are not sufficiently equipped to provide assistance throughout various building development levels (BDLs) (Abualdenien et al., 2020). Such as recommendations as interactive assistance are required to consider qualitative and implicit aspects that are difficult to formalize (Geyer, 2009); Finally, many of these tools are primarily based on pure knowledge-based processes or first-principles simulations. ...
Nowadays, sustainability objective has risen to the most attention in building engineering scenarios. Multi-objective optimization techniques can act as assistance in supporting decision-making in a trade-off of various considerations in an interdisciplinary manner. In this study, we propose a recommendation system to alleviate the difficulty of informed decision-making regarding the rapid potential design space exploration, optimal design solution analysis, and dynamic interaction aligned with ongoing processes. To illustrate how the recommendation system is organized to help designers or engineers approach the general sustainability objective, an early design phase case study based on a real-world, massive energy performance certification dataset is conducted. The generated results conform to interpretations based on domain knowledge, which validate the effectiveness of the system assistance.
Demo: https://designaid-for2363.streamlit.app/
... Dealing with uncertain parameters contained in design variants, Rezaee et al. proposed a statistical approach to quantify the uncertainties in how a design variant will evolve [19]. Anchoring to the multi-discipline nature of architectural design, Abualdenien et al. proposed an adaptive detailing strategy collaborating with different practitioners by virtue of a consistent model and machine-readable communication protocol [20]. Meanwhile, demanding domain knowledge was made available by knowledge formalization approaches to advance manufacturing-aware design. ...
... Different research efforts have provided a practically defensible foundation to introduce knowledge formalization, claiming the benefits of fostering manufacturable design and increasing overall productivity for off-site production [22,55]. Additionally, protocol-based, cross-disciplinary communications are deemed contributors to decision-making under multiple design variants [20]. If we apply these to future additive construction projects, the profits will be multifactorial. ...
The construction industry has long been labor-intensive, with slow productivity growth and a significant environmental impact. In this regard, the ever-increasing practices of additive manufacturing (AM) in construction have presented a variety of advantages and are deemed one of the critical technologies for the concept of Construction 4.0. Building information modeling (BIM) as an enabler for the digital transformation in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) domain provides a framework for considering novel AM methods during the early stages of architectural design. It is known that decisions during early design stages significantly impact the subsequent planning and construction phases, whereas missing AM knowledge by architects and engineers could in turn impede the adoption of AM technologies when the early determination of appropriate manufacturing methods needs to be made. Meanwhile, the early stages of architectural design are characterized by vagueness, uncertainty, and incompleteness, which have to be clarified iteratively by both architects and domain experts. To this end, this paper introduces a knowledge-driven design decision support prospectively coupled with a feedback mechanism under the BIM methodology. As such, architects can be assisted in choosing appropriate construction methods during the early stages of architectural design.
... En consecuencia, estos aspectos dentro de las variantes desarrolladas se evalúan en términos de cumplimiento de los requisitos de los propietarios, rendimiento del edificio y los costos. Una vez que se selecciona una variante, su geometría y semántica se detallan gradualmente(Abualdenien et al., 2020).Como el diseño de un edificio involucra a cierto número de expertos de diferentes dominios, se requiere un desarrollo iterativo, interactivo y colaborativo del diseño, que incorpore un intenso intercambio de información entre los expertos de cada una de las disciplinas que intervienen en los sistemas de una edificación(Martínez, Rodríguez, Cisneros, Flores, & Chávez, 2020). Hoy en día el término Modelado de Información de Construcción (Building Information Modeling, BIM) describe el proceso de desarrollo de un modelo de construcción digital donde es posible monitorear; el diseño, la construcción y la operación de una edificación y es sinónimo de metodología de diseño integrativo(Hollberg, Genova, & Habert, 2020). ...
Al segon any de l'esdeveniment mundial de pandèmia 2021 i amb restriccions encara vigents, aprofitant les oportunitats que les tecnologies de la informació (TIC) brinden a l'activitat docent, es va organitzar un projecte acadèmic innovador denominat Setmana de la Tecnologia en Arquitectura (STArq) , que va comptar amb la participació de professors de tres universitats, la Universitat Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas UCA a El Salvador, Amèrica Central, La Universitat Nacional de La Plata a Argentina i la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya a Espanya. L'objectiu de STArq ha estat motivar l'alumnat a un desenvolupament integral i innovador d'un projecte d'arquitectura vertical amb un enfocament de sostenibilitat, però sobretot contribuir al desenvolupament de la capacitat de síntesi per exposar les idees en un àmbit internacional, a mitjançant metodologia basada en projectes ABP i metodologia de disseny integratiu.
In the second year of the global pandemic event 2021 and with restrictions still in force, taking advantage of the opportunities that information technologies (ICT) provide to teaching activity, an innovative academic project called Technology week in Architecture (STArq) was organized, which was attended by professors from three universities, the Central American University José Simeón Cañas UCA in El Salvador, Central America, The National University of La Plata in Argentina and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Spain. The objective of STArq has been to motivate students to an integral and innovative development of a vertical architecture project with a focus on sustainability, but above all to contribute to the development of the synthesis capacity to expose their ideas in an international scope, through methodology based on ABP projects and integrative design methodology.
En el segundo año del evento mundial de pandemia 2021 y con restricciones aún vigentes, aprovechando las oportunidades que las tecnologías de la información (TIC) brindan a la actividad docente, se organizó un proyecto académico innovador denominado Semana de la Tecnología en Arquitectura (STArq), que contó con la participación de profesores de tres universidades, la Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas UCA en El Salvador, América Central, La Universidad Nacional de La Plata en Argentina y la Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña en España. El objetivo de STArq, ha sido, motivar al alumnado a un desarrollo integral e innovador de un proyecto de arquitectura vertical con un enfoque de sostenibilidad, pero sobre todo contribuir al desarrollo de la capacidad de síntesis para exponer sus ideas en un ámbito internacional, a través de metodología basada en proyectos ABP y metodología de diseño integrativo.
... This study is part of the project EarlyBIM [10], recognizing the potential for performance improvement of future buildings during early phases in a digital design process. Such a design process based on building information modeling (BIM) and the related richness of information contained in building models, offers the opportunity to evaluate design alternatives at an early point, when changes can be implemented at low cost and effort. ...
To make use of the great opportunities for emission reduction in early building design, future emissions need to be calculated when only geometric, but no detailed material information about a building is available. Currently, early design phase life cycle assessments (LCAs) are heavily reliant on assumptions of specific material choices, leading to single point emission values which suggest a precision not representative for an early design stage. By adding knowledge about possible locations and functions of materials within a building to life cycle inventory (LCI) data, the EarlyData knowledge base makes LCA data sets accessible and more transparent. Additionally, “generic building parts” are defined, which describe building parts independently of precise material choices as a combination of layers with specific functions. During evaluation, enriched LCI data and generic building parts enable assessment of a vast number of possible material combinations at once. Thus, instead of single value results for a particular material combination, ranges of results are displayed revealing the building parts with the greatest emission reduction potential. The application of the EarlyData tool is illustrated on a use case comparing a wood building and a concrete building. The database is developed with extensibility in mind, to include other criteria, such as (life cycle) costs.
... However, throughout the design process, far more knowledge about the client's requirements is gathered compared to the beginning. Furthermore, construction projects are multidisciplinary, involving diverse domain experts, where each has their own perspective and interest (Abualdenien et al., 2020). In many cases, the interests of these experts contradict each other. ...
The process of designing a building involves producing design concepts while fulfilling various requirements and regulations. Furthermore, during the project's life-cycle, multiple experts from multiple domains collaborate in developing the different partial models, including architectural, structural, and HVAC among others. Accordingly, clearly communicating the rationale behind design decisions is crucial for developing regulatory compliant designs that also fit the owner's needs. The developed designs are the main deliverables exchanged and handed over. However, these deliverables do not include any explanation of design intentions or documentation of design decisions. Communication among parties and reuse of knowledge are hindered by the absent explanation of existing design. To overcome this deficiency, this paper proposes a methodology for digitally documenting design decisions, incorporating their intention and rationale. Architectural concepts and evaluation criteria are represented in the form of explanation tags as well as spatial and semantic constraints, which are assigned to the individual model elements and properties. Additionally, to document how design decisions fulfill owner requirements and regulatory documents, natural language processing (NLP) is employed to facilitate querying those documents and then the individual requirements are linked to specific elements, properties, and constraints. To evaluate the proposed methodology, a prototype was implemented as a plugin inside a BIM-Authoring tool and multiple real-world use cases are discussed.
... Building design processes usually follow similar workflows with different stakeholders and interdisciplinary design teams incorporating their personal domain knowledge. To improve the holistic performance of building designs, e.g., considering economic and environmental qualities, design decisions based on simulations and analysis in early phases significantly impact the resultant design (Abualdenien et al., 2020). At the same time, early design phases of building projects are those, which are most complex to understand, carry out and manage (Knotten et al., 2015). ...
... Only through shared constraints for individual FIM modeling can cross-component functional areas and a seamless assembly of the individual parts be realized. Mechanisms that enable such a linkage have not yet been implemented for FIM but have been investigated in the context of multi-level of development (LOD) models (Abualdenien and Borrmann 2019;Abualdenien et al. 2020;Chindanonda 2019). Thus, linking different FIM projects is possible (cf. ...
Digital manufacturing methods have been successfully used in different industries for years and have since had a positive effect on the development of their productivity. These methods offer significantly greater design freedom and make it possible to develop shape-optimized and function-activated components. In the construction industry, however, these technologies are only being used reluctantly, even though additive methods could make resource-efficient construction possible. The possibly decisive disadvantage of these methods is that a significantly higher granularity of product and process information is required, thus significantly increasing the planning effort. A circumstance that the framework described in this study, fabrication information modeling (FIM), could significantly mitigate by linking digital fabrication and BIM-based digital building design via a digital chain. For this purpose, FIM provides a methodology with which the information of a digital building model can be detailed, component by component, in a fabrication-aware manner. Based on the open exchange data format IFC, the FIM framework integrates seamlessly into the BIM context and enables automated detailing of the design information.
... Even if the amount of information in a data model varies greatly according to the planning phase during which it was produced [67], acoustic analysis requires minimum, in particular, the design of the junctions. The extent to which the IFC standard can contain this information is restrained. ...
Timber construction is associated with a low carbon footprint and offers a high degree of sustainability. However, it poses challenges considering sound insulation. Acoustic analyses, which could require major expensive and time consuming changes in the building design, are typically performed once the design is already in the detailed stage. By using building information modelling (BIM), it is possible to shift the planning of the building physics, including acoustic analysis, to earlier phases. To make this possible, building models must include all the information necessary to perform acoustic analyses. One important part of acoustic analysis is identifying junctions between elements and map them to the junction types in standards. Until now, this investigation involves tedious manual processing for extracting multiple topological dependencies between different elements. Hence, this paper presents a framework for a seamless workflow between building models and acoustic analysis tools, based on an analysis of data models. The framework extracts and analyzes the element types, their geometry, and the connections of the individual elements in relation to each other. Through topological reasoning, along with a set of logical rules, the proposed framework identifies fifteen types of junctions, which can be distinguished acoustically for timber construction. The approach was evaluated in a prototypical implementation using a real-world model based on Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) as an example, in which the potential connection types were successfully extracted. This paper shows that junction analysis can be done with a geometric analysis to fill in missing semantic information about junctions of elements from the original data model.
