Enabling a BIM-based Embodied Energy Calculation Tool
Abstract
Nearly 48% of annual energy supply is depleted through building construction and operation processes. The entire life cycle energy consumption of a building is constituted of operating energy and embodied energy. To optimize the whole building energy use, both embodied energy and operating energy should be targeted. While significant efforts have been made to optimize and quantify the operating energy, inconsistency which exists in embodied energy calculation makes embodied energy quantification very complicated. Although there are tools, such as Tally, that integrate life cycle assessment data with Building Information Modeling (BIM) systems and calculate the embodied energy, their databases are not certain according to the literature. While Tally could address issues such as BIM integration, early design phase implementation, and user-friendliness, its capability in suggesting material alternatives for optimum embodied energy is limited. Tally also does not expose its embodied energy database to the user, and therefore, user preference in selecting a database is limited. This study presents a data exchange model between a BIM tool and a customizable database.
The data exchange model enables a BIM-based embodied energy calculation tool for architects and designers. The tool tackles current issues existing in Tally and other embodied energy calculation methods. Finally, the results of the application of the proposed tool and that of Tally on a BIM model are compared.
Citation
Moosavi Tabatabaei, Seyed Farshid (2019). Enabling a BIM-based Embodied Energy Calculation Tool. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /187937.