Publications / 2017 Proceedings of the 34rd ISARC, Taipei, Taiwan

Integration of Structural Health Control in BIM for Current and Future Residential Buildings

Filip Fedorik, Rauno Heikkilä, Tomi Makkonen and Antti Haapala
Pages 134-139 (2017 Proceedings of the 34rd ISARC, Taipei, Taiwan, ISBN 978-80-263-1371-7, ISSN 2413-5844)
Abstract:

Currently the structural engineering and construction technologies go through substantial paradigm shift and development between energy conservation, health and living cost issues. Increasing energy consumption for e.g. heating and cooling and the constant effort to energy preservation in all forms promotes the manufacture of sustainable low-energy or near-zero energy houses, often with some independent energy production capability included. As a subtheme in controlling the building performance and energy uses, there has been interest in applying Building Information Model (BIM) to building designs to store, optimize and use building- related information during its entire life-cycle. The BIM methodology is mostly limited for new buildings as the needed open access data on generic structures and materials is most often not available. Similarly, health considerations in current buildings are also poorly controlled and more detailed knowledge on the content and conditions of thermal transport, air exchange and moisture control would benefit the energy efficiency and sustainability of the buildings. Common issues with moisture entrapment leading to microbial growth and indoor air quality related respiratory illnesses are a practical, and extreme, example of insufficient understanding of structural design and control issues also in in public buildings. Our study presents some of the recently discussed possibilities and efficiency of BIM utilization in the context of current and future residential buildings. In addition, hygro-thermal monitoring and modelling tools that have recently been made available to analyze the structural health of the buildings will be highlighted.

Keywords: BIM, Building physics, Hygro-thermal analysis, Mould, Interoperability