A BIM-based workflow concurrently generating quantitative and qualitative output — a focus on energy performance and architectural representation

The integration of quantitative building energy performance simulation with qualitative architecture representational 3D data can facilitate performance-based decision making in the early phase of building design process. However, there are some problems that delay decision making until the late stages of design. Many interrelated parameters can affect building energy performance. Unlike design options conventionally created based on offered values of ASHRAE 90.1 or NECB, design alternatives with lower energy consumption can be suggested through the configuration of various parameters. A systematic strategy is needed to support performance-based quantitative evaluation. Due to the complexity of integration of interrelated energy simulation parameters with qualitative architecture representations, this approach is not being adequately accomplished in current architecture/energy-performance practices. There is a lack of an effective integrated workflow between architects and engineers to simultaneously represent visual qualitative 3D data related to quantitative energy performance-based data of each design alternative. In addition, exchanging data between the architectural model and the energy model in large-scale evaluations is a time-consuming and error-prone process. Collaborative platforms are not sufficiently being used in current practices to facilitate geometric and physical data-sharing through a single environment. In this regard, there is no clear integrated design workflow between architectural needs and engineering needs. The objective of this research is to propose a workflow to facilitate decision-making at the early design phase by automatically generating the quantitative energy performance data and qualitative visual representations of each design alternative, in order that architects and engineers can collaborate within a common platform of communication. This proposed workflow will be implemented through the utilization of a case study, within the collaborative platform of Building Information Modeling (BIM). Numbers of 1296 quantitative energy-performance results and their related qualitative 3D designs have been generated automatically through the BIM platform. These results support architects and engineers with a variety of “best performance-based design solutions,” while involving them simultaneously in the design process from the early phase without needing to perform the error-prone and time-consuming process of energy model data re-entry