scholarly journals Taking Advantage of Collective Intelligence and BIM-Based Virtual Reality in Fire Safety Inspection for Commercial and Public Buildings

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (23) ◽  
pp. 5068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daxin Zhang ◽  
Jinyue Zhang ◽  
Haiming Xiong ◽  
Zhiming Cui ◽  
Dan Lu

Commercial and public buildings are more vulnerable to fires because of their complex use functions, large number of centralized occupants, and the dynamic nature of the use of space. Due to the large number of these types of buildings and the limited availability of manpower, annual fire inspections cannot ensure the continuous compliance of fire codes. A crowdsourcing application, iInspect, is proposed in this paper to harvest collective intelligence in order to conduct mass inspection tasks. This approach is supported by building information modeling (BIM) based virtual reality (VR) and an indoor real-time localization system. Based on the International Fire Code and 27 fire inspection checklists compiled by various local authorities, a generic list of inspection items suitable for iInspect is proposed, along with a reputation-based monetary incentive model. A prototype of iInspect was created for Android mobile phones, and a case study was performed in an office building in Tianjin, China, for verification of this crowdsourcing inspection approach.

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (14) ◽  
pp. 3128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinyue Zhang ◽  
Jianing Guo ◽  
Haiming Xiong ◽  
Xiangchi Liu ◽  
Daxin Zhang

Many research studies have focused on fire evacuation planning. However, because of the uncertainties in fire development, there is no perfect solution. This research proposes a fire evacuation management framework which takes advantage of an information-rich building information modeling (BIM) model and a Bluetooth low energy (BLE)-based indoor real-time location system (RTLS) to dynamically push personalized evacuation route recommendations and turn-by-turn guidance to the smartphone of a building occupant. The risk score (RS) for each possible route is evaluated as a weighted summation of risk level index values of all risk factors for all segments along the route, and the route with the lowest RS is recommended to the evacuee. The system will automatically re-evaluate all routes every 2 s based on the most updated information, and the evacuee will be notified if a new and safer route becomes available. A case study with two testing scenarios was conducted for a commercial office building in Tianjin, China, in order to verify this framework.


Author(s):  
F. Banfi ◽  
R. Brumana ◽  
A. Aljishi ◽  
N. Al Sayeh ◽  
M. Santana Quintero ◽  
...  

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> The innovation in Digital Cultural Heritage (DCH) shows an emergence of innovative methods and initiatives for the generation of complex historical models to which are linked useful information for specialists of architecture, construction and engineering, but also user community interested in cultural heritage. This paper presents an improvement in Historic Building Information Modeling (HBIM) turned into models for mobile apps based on virtual reality (VR) addressed to enhance the communication of Architectural Heritage. The opportunity of a collaboration with the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA) experts under the coordination of the Carleton University in a training project aimed at improving documentation skills for conservation and preventive maintenance of built heritage provided the availability of an extraordinary richness of data and surveying on the Shaikh Isa Bin Ali House. The case study of the Shaikh Isa Bin Ali House is an outstanding example of Bahrain architecture and one of the oldest surviving building in Muharraq, listed under the UNESCO sites, now transformed in a Museum, where the visit does not allow to perceive the richness of the traditions of the constructions, beside the beautiful architecture. The building was the seat of the ruler of Bahrain from 1869 until his death in 1932 and represented an interesting response to local building materials and climate. This vernacular architecture solved not only the climate problems but combined the solution with beauty, physical and social functionality. This research carries out digital preservation through HBIM and switches to Cloud and VR platforms to allow users to enter a 3D immersive scene, using models as a vehicle of content information.</p>


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4100
Author(s):  
Mariana Huskinson ◽  
Antonio Galiano-Garrigós ◽  
Ángel Benigno González-Avilés ◽  
M. Isabel Pérez-Millán

Improving the energy performance of existing buildings is one of the main strategies defined by the European Union to reduce global energy costs. Amongst the actions to be carried out in buildings to achieve this objective is working with passive measures adapted to each type of climate. To assist designers in the process of finding appropriate solutions for each building and location, different tools have been developed and since the implementation of building information modeling (BIM), it has been possible to perform an analysis of a building’s life cycle from an energy perspective and other types of analysis such as a comfort analysis. In the case of Spain, the first BIM environment tool has been implemented that deals with the global analysis of a building’s behavior and serves as an alternative to previous methods characterized by their lack of both flexibility and information offered to designers. This paper evaluates and compares the official Spanish energy performance evaluation tool (Cypetherm) released in 2018 using a case study involving the installation of sunlight control devices as part of a building refurbishment. It is intended to determine how databases and simplifications affect the designer’s decision-making. Additionally, the yielded energy results are complemented by a comfort analysis to explore the impact of these improvements from a users’ wellbeing viewpoint. At the end of the process the yielded results still confirm that the simulation remains far from reality and that simulation tools can indeed influence the decision-making process.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7990
Author(s):  
Suman Paneru ◽  
Forough Foroutan Jahromi ◽  
Mohsen Hatami ◽  
Wilfred Roudebush ◽  
Idris Jeelani

Traditional energy analysis in Building Information Modeling (BIM) only accounts for the energy requirements of building operations during a portion of the occupancy phase of the building’s life cycle and as such is unable to quantify the true impact of buildings on the environment. Specifically, the typical energy analysis in BIM does not account for the energy associated with resource formation, recycling, and demolition. Therefore, a comprehensive method is required to analyze the true environmental impact of buildings. Emergy analysis can offer a holistic approach to account for the environmental cost of activities involved in building construction and operation in all its life cycle phases from resource formation to demolition. As such, the integration of emergy analysis with BIM can result in the development of a holistic sustainability performance tool. Therefore, this study aimed at developing a comprehensive framework for the integration of emergy analysis with existing Building Information Modeling tools. The proposed framework was validated using a case study involving a test building element of 8’ × 8’ composite wall. The case study demonstrated the successful integration of emergy analysis with Revit®2021 using the inbuilt features of Revit and external tools such as MS Excel. The framework developed in this study will help in accurately determining the environmental cost of the buildings, which will help in selecting environment-friendly building materials and systems. In addition, the integration of emergy into BIM will allow a comparison of various built environment alternatives enabling designers to make sustainable decisions during the design phase.


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 323
Author(s):  
Vachara Peansupap ◽  
Pisal Nov ◽  
Tanit Tongthong

The kingpost was a vertical element that was used to support the structural strut in the deep excavation. The structural kingpost was commonly arranged by experienced engineers who used two-dimensional construction drawings. Thus, it was still time-consuming and error-prone. Currently, an available construction program has been developed to arrange the structural kingpost by identifying the clash problems in the 3D environment. However, they have a limitation for detecting the clash that was unable to visualize the concurrent clashes between kingpost and many underground structures. Then, the engineer cannot see all the clash incidents with each kingpost and move the kingpost to avoid the clashes successfully. Since the kingpost arrangement was still an inefficient practice that was limited in the visualization aspect, this research used engineering knowledge and advanced construction technology to detect and solve the clashes between kingposts and underground structures. The methodology used engineering knowledge of kingpost arrangement to develop the system modules by using a rule-based approach. Then, these modules were developed into the system by using visual programming of Building Information Modelling (BIM). To test the system, an underground structure from building construction was selected as a case study to apply the developed system. Finally, the finding of this study could overcome human judgment by providing less interaction in the kingpost arrangement and visualization improvement of clash occurrences in the 3D model.


Author(s):  
Kieu-Trang Pham ◽  
Duc-Nghia Vu ◽  
Phuc Le Hieu Hong ◽  
Chansik Park

Temporary safety facilities (TSFs) are an essential support system providing necessary protection to workers during construction activities, which are targeted towards preventing the occurrence of incidents and accidents at the construction site; however, the schedule and location of installation and demolition of TSFs continue to rely on labor experience, and are often omitted from formal drawings or documents. This results in thousands of accidents in the construction industry, especially in construction small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) because of their several limiting factors; therefore, this study proposes automatic workspace planning for TSFs based on construction activities, which is a systematized approach for construction SMEs to practice occupational health and safety (OHS). By using building information modeling (BIM) and add-in algorithm, safety facilities can be simulated and visualized to integrate into the designated workspace. The developed system was implemented utilizing 4D-BIM for TSFs installation and validated with a case study on a residential building project. The result revealed that the visualized TSF produces a better understanding of safety measures with regard to project schedule. Additionally, TSFs workspace planning provides an affordable approach that motivates safety practices among the SMEs; consequently, the effectiveness of construction safety measures and their management is enhanced appreciably.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 507-513
Author(s):  
Carles Serrat ◽  
Sebastian Banaszek ◽  
Anna Cellmer ◽  
Vicenç Gilbert ◽  
Anna Banaszek

The aim of the paper is to explain the basic principles of carrying out an inventory and follow-up of buildings and their condition assessment, by using the Full Interactive Visualization Method for Building Condition Assessment platform. It is a platform enabling the implementation of construction inventory based on the remote cooperation of many specialists in the field of, among others: building construction, architecture, civil engineering, photogrammetry, CAD, UAV. This type of cooperation is of particular importance especially in the context of the current epidemiological situation related to COVID-19. The idea of the presented platform fits into the broadly understanding of Building Information Modeling. After introducing the methodology, stages of the inventory and follow-up process carried out within the platform are illustrated and discussed on the basis of a case study. Based on the obtained results it can be concluded that the proposed methodology creates a convenient, efficient and inexpensive tool for massive inspection of building resources in large areas. The inventory is based primarily on high-quality photo and video material obtained from the deck of an unmanned aerial vehicle and the expert knowledge of the inspector conducting the inspection. By combining digital images data (photos, 3D model, orthophotos) with substantive data (facade element classification tables, wear / defect classification tables), we get a platform that allows intuitive access to viewing, classification, editing and analysis of selected data.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-34
Author(s):  
Pratheesh Kumar M. R. ◽  
Reji S. ◽  
Abeneth S. ◽  
Pradeep K.

Defect management in civil construction work is crucial. This work is aimed at analyzing the conventional method of construction defect management and to bring out a framework for integrating 5D building information modeling with mixed reality. This work is divided into three parts. The first part is the integration of 5D building information modeling with augmented reality that helps to understand the architectural concepts and visualize the workflow onsite. The second part of the work is to develop a user-defined target-based marker-less augmented reality to send screenshots of augmented models and exact progress of work from construction site to engineers working in other locations. The third part of the work is to integrate virtual reality to enable virtual tours of the real site that will be useful for the customers to visualize the building virtually and for the builders to promote sales.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 2409-2427
Author(s):  
Honglei Liu ◽  
Jiule Song ◽  
Guangbin Wang

PurposeWith the increasing attention acquired from researchers and practitioners in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, building information modeling (BIM) has fundamentally changed the approach we design, construct and delivery, as well as operate and maintenance of buildings and civil infrastructures. This study tries to provide an innovative perspective on BIM research. This study aims to analyze the necessity and feasibility of BIM user satisfaction research and define what BIM user satisfaction is, and then to develop a quantitative method for the measurement of BIM user satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachAs it is indicated in the content, BIM user satisfaction is measured by the sum of the user's weighted reactions to a set of factors. To be specific, the entropy method was adopted to calculate the “weighting” of the factors, and the triangular fuzzy number (TFN) method was selected to compute the “scoring” of the factors. Through the literature review, methodology and tool development, as well as case study and discussions, this paper was generated sequentially.FindingsThis study found that the proposed tool for the measurement of BIM success is valid and reliable; it formerly translated the conceptual definition of BIM user satisfaction into an accurate measurement instrument. It also indicated that many factors are affecting the BIM users' satisfaction, and each of the factors inherited various importance and score, and the findings are expected to improve the performance and effectiveness of BIM management.Originality/valueThrough the translation of the conceptual BIM user satisfaction into a valid quantitative measurement instrument, this research provides an excellent framework for the management of BIM from the user's perspective, and it could help to stimulate user's acceptance of BIM in the AEC industry in future.


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