ITcon Vol. 26, pg. 427-440, http://www.itcon.org/2021/23

Using Building Information & Energy Modelling for Energy Efficient Designs

DOI:10.36680/j.itcon.2021.023
submitted:December 2020
revised:April 2021
published:July 2021
editor(s):Kirti Ruikar, Ketan Kotecha, Sayali Sandbhor, Albert Thomas
authors:Mohamed K. Watfa, Full professor
Faculty of Engineering & Info. Sciences, University of Wollongong, Dubai, UAE
MohamedWatfa@UOWDubai.ac.ae

Amal E. Hawash, Engineer
Faculty of Engineering & Info. Sciences, University of Wollongong, Dubai, UAE
Amal.e.Hawash@gmail.com

Kamal Jaafar, Associate professor
Faculty of Engineering & Info. Sciences, University of Wollongong, Dubai, UAE
KamalJaafar@UOWDubai.ac.ae
summary:The construction industry has a huge impact on the environment in terms of noise, water and land pollution, traffic congestion and waste disposal. Another aspect of the construction industry impact on the environment is the increasing energy consumption. According to published research, buildings energy use is expected to increase by 32% by the year 2040. As a result, efforts have been directed toward improving green building awareness and the application of sustainability concepts in the design, construction and building management processes. In this research, using extensive simulations, the integration between Building Information Modeling methodology (BIM) and Building Energy Modeling (BEM) methodologies in order to effectively minimize the overall energy consumption of a residential building in the UAE is investigated by studying several design factors including: building orientation and windows type, size and distribution on the overall building energy consumption. Results show that to increase the modelled building’s energy and financial efficiency, recommended changes to the initial design have to be done including changing the distribution of the southern façade and the type of windows glazing used. More specifically, there was a peak energy reduction of: 8% with a 180 degrees building orientation angle, 2% with a window to wall ratio of 15%, and 2% when double glazing windows were used. This work validates that the combination of BIM and BEM allows to enhance the overall building energy consumption efficiency and to further establish the needed sustainability goals through a generated 3D model.
keywords:BIM, BEM, Sustainability, Energy Efficiency, Simulation, Sustainable Construction
full text: (PDF file, 0.859 MB)
citation:Watfa M K, Hawash A E, Jaafar K (2021). Using Building Information & Energy Modelling for Energy Efficient Designs, ITcon Vol. 26, Special issue Next Generation ICT - How distant is ubiquitous computing?, pg. 427-440, https://doi.org/10.36680/j.itcon.2021.023
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