Process-Based Information Exchanges Mapping for Energy-Efficient Retrofit Projects

Abstract

Access and exchange of building information in a timely and standard manner between construction project teams and applications during design and construction, plays a major role in assuring efficient building energy simulation during retrofitting. Yet, in spite of several efforts in major technological developments in information management, building data and information remains highly fragmented and frequently inaccessible to project teams. This paper presents a table for categorization of information exchanges items and illustrates their dependencies between internal process activities, and between activities of different processes. The paper uses the HVAC design process as a baseline to map-out the information input-and-output relationships of various activities and shows how an information item produced by an activity is consumed by another, thus creating information exchanges dependency. The table can serve as a reference point for project teams and for software developers to understand interoperability requirements of process activities and applications. It will also be beneficial to analyze impact of changes as change to an information exchanges item can impact on other activities where it is required as an input. The paper concludes by formulating a roadmap to utilize the table in order to support development of Information Delivery Manual (IDM) and other information exchanges initiatives. INTRODUCTIONIt is generally believed that exchange of relevant information is extensive and one of the main challenges in design, construction and operations of buildings (Hjelseth, 2010). This is the case for both new and retrofit projects. However, it is more demanding in energy efficient retrofit projects where varying number of simulations and analyses are carried out requiring multiple exchange of information between heterogeneous applications. During this process, several activities are carried out for the design of each building element/system and sequencing these activities is influenced by the information dependency (Maheswari and Varghese, 2005). The activities often interact internally and externally with other building elements/systems design activities. Inadequate exchange of information could potentially impact the analyses adversely.The need to integrate processes and applications seamlessly for building energy simulations during design is colossal. The various domain specific analyses, e.g., HVAC, structural and lighting can very effectively make accurate analysis and energy efficiency related decisions based on effective exchange of information. A major challenge in seamless exchange of information is the information incompatibility problem as different models and formats are used by different actors, thus perpetuating the fragmentation of information flow (Kriphal and Grilo, 2012). Seamless exchange of information of different formats between the specific domains, and how to specify the exchange requirements for the various simulation activities remain challenging. This (i.e., seamless

The operational performance of “net zero energy building”: A study in China

“…Edificaciones de gran altura (Cheng et al, 2015) Intercambio de información entre los equipos de diseño de diferentes edificaciones enfocado a HVAC para mejorar la eficiencia energética de las edificaciones (Jallow et al, 2013) Se realiza una revisión de la literatura y se identifican diferentes metodologías para desarrollar una metodología basada en Objetivos, predictivos y Actualizaciones, en el desarrollo se muestra la propuesta metodológica y el intercambio de información entre los diferentes contratistas y los propietarios de la edificación (Jallow et al, 2013).…”

“…Para los criterios de diseño se recomienda que se tenga como mínimo el índice de kWh/(m 2 *año), y adicionar otros indicadores que consideren de importancia, esto muy de la mano del asesoramiento que se le ha dado al cliente, para mayor profundidad se puede referir al numeral 5.2.1 y el articulo de (Jallow et al, 2013).…”

“…Edificaciones que van a ser dotadas con HVAC que estén en proceso de diseño (Jallow et al, 2013) La tabla muestra, entre otras cosas, elementos de información que incluyen tanto la información consumida como la producida, y las actividades de diseño relacionadas de los elementos de construcción (Jallow et al, 2013).…”