BIM Enabled Approach for Performance-Based Design

A significant amount of energy is consumed by buildings due to ineffective design decisions with little consideration for energy efficiency. Yet, performance parameters should be considered during the early design phase, which is vital for improved energy performance and lower CO2 emissions. BIM, as a new way of working methodology, can help for performance-based design. However, it is still infancy in architectural practice about how BIM can be used to develop energy efficient design. Thus, the aim is to propose a strategic framework to guide architects about how to do performance-based design considering the local values and energy performance parameters. The research adopts a multi case study approach to gain qualitative and quantitative insights into the building energy performance considering the building design parameters. The outcome is a new design approach and protocol to assist designers to successfully use BIM for design optimization, PV technology use in design, rules-based design and performance assessment scheme reflecting local values.

The Effects of Adoption of 3D Printing Technology on the Operational Performance of the Companies of Cross Border Entrepreneurs

This article examines the effects of the adoption of 3D printing technology (3DPT) applications on the operational performance of entrepreneurs' companies in terms of time, cost, quality, competitiveness, and management processes. For this purpose, a study model based on the relevant previous studies was proposed. The data for this research was collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire given to 161 respondents. The target respondents were those employed in entrepreneurial companies in Jordan, and the data was analysed using multiple regression techniques. The findings indicate that the extent of 3DPT being adopted by entrepreneurial companies in Jordan should be considered moderate at this stage. Further, all integrated operational performance indicators (time, cost, quality, competitiveness, and management processes) were significantly influenced by the adoption of 3DPT; the most important performance indicators were found to be time, cost, and quality due to the business environment context found in Jordan.

Multi-Criteria Decision Methodology for Supplier Selection in Building Industry

The current paper proposes a multi-criteria decision methodology to determine the most reliable supplier for green buildings. The selection of a supplier for the construction of green buildings should meet different criteria due to the specifics of the materials used, a predetermined budget, and fixed deadlines. The proposed methodology is based on localization of possible suppliers around the building project up to an acceptable distance. The methodology can use different methods based on utility function to perform the selection. This methodology could be integrated as a separate module for logistics in the determination of supplier selection.

A Review of BIM Adoption in Turkey

BIM has been initiated in developing countries in recent years. It is a fact that adopting BIM has a large cost from the initiation of the implementation of the projects. This is the main reason that, in the company perspective, BIM methodology is not well-known at the beginning of a project, during the adaptation stage. Therefore, the transition to such a new system is quite costly, especially in terms of software licenses and personnel training. On the other hand, after some period of time, BIM starts to impact the progress of the projects in a positive way, such as the project becomes more transparent and more visible, as well as more manageable and controllable. So, the main outcome is the company starts to complete projects within a shorter duration and lower cost by using BIM. At the initial stage, BIM implementation investment is quite high, however in later stages these costs become more affordable. The main issue is quantifying effects and inserting to the evaluation of the investment. In this study, we proposed an interview analysis to conclude the keypoints of BIM adoption.

Digital Elevation Modeling Analysis for Investigation of Gravity Hill Phenomena

This article presents an investigation of the gravity hill phenomena by analysing its geospatial data. Wadi Al Baida located in Al Madinah, Saudi Arabia has been taken as a case study. Wadi Al Baida is listed as one of the sites in the world where the said phenomena exists, but the site has been famous for any sort of magnetic force because the vehicles move uphill and on flat road without any engine power on. The topography of the valley is studied by using the geospatial data of the area and by creating Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) based on Point Kriging method of gridding. The results show that the area has natural slope and there is a significant difference in the elevations of the start and the end point of the valley. A longitudinal profile is also generated to validate the results obtained by DEMs and it is found that the road has an average slope of 2.6% which makes the vehicles and rolling objects move on their own due to the force of gravity. Also, the concept of gravity hill has been explained with the help of a diagram which is easy to understand by the readers.

Potential of Using BIM for Improving Hong Kong's Construction Industry

Given sizable capital projects in Hong Kong are using BIM from January 2018 on and site safety continues to be a concern for the local construction stakeholders. It is timely to investigate the potential of using BIM for construction safety. This research reveals the potential of using BIM for site safety is strong (85% supported), indicating Hong Kong should engage specific projects to test effectiveness of using BIM for safety, including implementation of safety management system and/or process of risk assessment.

CityGML LOD1 Model Development and Disseminating Through Region Based OGC WFS Requests

3D city model construction adopting OGC standards is the need of the hour for many countries. Research is heading towards effective methods for data collection for the 3D city model development process and disseminating all 3D city objects data of a specific user choice of region, through OGC web services. The current research work aims at building 3DCity LOD1 models using 2D geospatial data, disseminating the 3DCity objects information through OGC web services for a geographic region, building an ADE for modelling critical infrastructure such as electric lines, water pipes, etc., and modelling 2D critical infrastructure data in 3D CityGML model using the ADE. Models can be visualized using any CityGML visualizer like FME, Aristoteles, etc. The CityGML model is validated using OGC CityGML schema validator. Sample region based WFS results are shown along with the WFS performance test using a web services benchmark. CI ADE is validated through writing powerlines geospatial feature into CityGML model.

Comparative Analysis of Bridges Construction Methods Using Bridge Information Modeling

Bridge information modeling (BrIM) has widely become an efficient tool in the bridge engineering and construction industry. It has been used in pre-fabrication, obtaining accurate quantity surveys, and creating accurate shop drawings. This article presents the utilization of bridge information modeling (BrIM) in determining the optimum construction methods of concrete bridges in bridge projects in Egypt using systematic procedures taking into account: bridge physical properties, construction cost, and site conditions. Bridge information modeling (BrIM) has proven to be an effective tool in determining the optimum construction methods of concrete bridges. The proposed BrIM approach is capable of obtaining feasible construction methods and associated construction costs based on bridge physical characteristics.

Detection and Location of Buried Infrastructures Using Ground Penetrating Radar

This article proposes an approach to improve the deployment of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in the field to detected and locate urban infrastructures. It consists of exploiting geographic data layers, database management systems, and a WebGIS, allowing users to handle GPR data within a georeferenced environment is developed based on a platform called GVX, providing users with four features, being (1) map integration, (2) geo-annotations and points of interest interaction, (3) radargram georeferencing, and (4) georeferenced slice visualization. Experiments with two categories of users, expert and non-expert GPR practitioners, have been performed. Based on the users' evaluation, the approach is valuable and can significantly improve GPR deployment. It helps users when discovering unmapped underground objects, delimiting the survey area, and interpreting GPR complex datasets. Overall, the approach optimized time and facilitated the spatial notion between GPR profiles and 3D meshes with map resources, allowing users to produce reliable maps, conforming to geospatial standards (CityGML).

Distributed Agency Between 2D and 3D Representation of the Subsurface

Although severely altered, the urban subsurface is the base of the natural system, and is crucial for a stable, green, healthy, and liveable city. It is also the technical space, the engine room of the city where vital functions such as water, electricity, sewers, and drainage are located. This hybrid state needs to be recognized when designing resilient and durable (subsurface) infrastructure within urban renewal projects, so as to properly employ the parameters of both natural and technical systems. Interdisciplinary work is needed in order to be able to link natural systems (a) the water cycle, (b) soil and subsurface conditions, (c) soil improvement technology, and (d) opportunities for urban renewal (e.g. urban growth or shrinkage) in an efficient way. The importance of implementing “boundary spanning” when doing interdisciplinary work that deals with the effects of climate change is a widely recognized method, and has been an object of study in the city of Rotterdam in the past decade. The particular need for a “distributed agency” became clear during several research projects dealing with climate change, because it enables different actors to contribute to the development of the project at different phases. The representation of the city as both a natural and technical construction has been tested through the use of 2D and 3D information, which has played a significant role in enabling designs to incorporate the dimension of the subsurface. 2D and 3D information needs to anticipate different scales of specific planning and/or design phases, and they must also address various topics of the subsurface. For each phase of urban development, the distributed agency between 2D and 3D information is investigated and reflected upon. Conclusions are then drawn on the relationship between 2D and 3D information, and how it could relate in a productive, boundary spanning act that is inclusive of the subsurface. Based on these potential connections, the design of a new concept which implements boundary spanning as a facilitator is presented.