Bim-Based Energy Analysis and Design Tools for Leed Certification

Abstract

Green building rating systems (GBRSs) are developed to assist Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) professionals to measure building performance and fulfill the requirements of sustainable design and construction. Designing high-performance buildings according to GBRSs with the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM)-based energy analysis and design tools promotes sustainable construction, helps reduction of carbon footprint, and overall eases the green building certification process. Although previous studies addressed the use of BIM in LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) certification; limited number of studies focused on using BIM-based tools for examining credits and requirements of LEED v4. The objective of this study is to demonstrate in what ways BIM-based energy analysis and design tools can support project teams in pursuit of LEED certification for residential projects. A literature review and case study were conducted, and Autodesk Revit Green Building Studio, eQUEST, EnergyPlus, and IES-VE tools were examined in terms of achieving LEED v4 Building Design and Construction for Multifamily Midrise rating system credits. Results demonstrate that these tools can perform 17 LEED credits. This study determines the pros and cons of these four BIM-based tools in terms of the LEED v4 BD+C MM rating system. This study also contributes to the AEC industry and literature with four decision-making flowcharts that are developed as guidelines for AEC professionals to conduct BIM-based LEED certification processes more effectively.

Development of a Green Building Assessment System at The Green Building Planning Stage in Indonesia

“…In green building assessment, the variables in the GBRS verify the level of sustainability achieved by a project according to the guidelines set for each standard. The scoring systems of these different types of GBRS differ from each other based on scoring criteria and point allocation, but they are all developed with the common goal of verifying the environmental performance of buildings, using natural resources efficiently, estimating and forecasting the energy performance of buildings and encouraging more energy-efficient building designs (Seyis et al, 2021).…”

“…According to data from the United Nations (UN) 2018, by 2050 it is estimated that 68% of the world's population will live in cities 1 . This fact is an important challenge for the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry which requires new approaches to designing and developing cities, as the building and construction industry is responsible for 40% of gas-related emissions (Romano & Riediger, 2020).…”

“…The principles of sustainable construction development consist of reducing resource consumption, reusing resources, using recyclable resources, protecting nature, eliminating toxins, applying life cycle costing, and focusing on quality (Seyis et al, 2015). (Seyis et al, 2021).…”

Comparative Study for Bim-Based Leed Industrial Building and Non-Leed Industrial Building

“…In one of the similar studies on this subject domain, a 15-storey residential building using LEED v4 BD+C for New Construction rating system and BIM was designed, and performed comparative analyses about water and energy consumption and related costs for the LEED building and non-LEED building (Seyis 2022). Another research investigated the potential of BIM-based energy analysis tools (i.e., Autodesk Revit Green Building Studio, eQUEST, EnergyPlus, IES-VE) for a 4-storey residential building designed according to the LEED v4 BD+C for Multifamily Midrise rating system (Seyis et al 2021). A similar study examined the potential of building energy simulation tools (i.e., Tas, EnergyPlus, IES-VE) for BREEAM v2011 and LEED v2009 certification processes (Schwartz and Raslan 2013).…”