Integration of Emergy Analysis with Building Information Modeling

Suman Paneru, Forough Foroutan Jahromi, Mohsen Hatami, Wilfred Roudebush and Idris Jeelani
Additional contact information
Suman Paneru: M. E. Rinker Sr. School of Construction Management, University of Florida, P.O. Box 115703, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Forough Foroutan Jahromi: School of Architecture, College of Design, Construction and Planning, University of Florida, P.O. Box 115702, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Mohsen Hatami: M. E. Rinker Sr. School of Construction Management, University of Florida, P.O. Box 115703, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Wilfred Roudebush: School of Built Environment, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA
Idris Jeelani: M. E. Rinker Sr. School of Construction Management, University of Florida, P.O. Box 115703, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-16

Abstract: Traditional energy analysis in Building Information Modeling (BIM) only accounts for the energy requirements of building operations during a portion of the occupancy phase of the building’s life cycle and as such is unable to quantify the true impact of buildings on the environment. Specifically, the typical energy analysis in BIM does not account for the energy associated with resource formation, recycling, and demolition. Therefore, a comprehensive method is required to analyze the true environmental impact of buildings. Emergy analysis can offer a holistic approach to account for the environmental cost of activities involved in building construction and operation in all its life cycle phases from resource formation to demolition. As such, the integration of emergy analysis with BIM can result in the development of a holistic sustainability performance tool. Therefore, this study aimed at developing a comprehensive framework for the integration of emergy analysis with existing Building Information Modeling tools. The proposed framework was validated using a case study involving a test building element of 8’ × 8’ composite wall. The case study demonstrated the successful integration of emergy analysis with Revit ® 2021 using the inbuilt features of Revit and external tools such as MS Excel. The framework developed in this study will help in accurately determining the environmental cost of the buildings, which will help in selecting environment-friendly building materials and systems. In addition, the integration of emergy into BIM will allow a comparison of various built environment alternatives enabling designers to make sustainable decisions during the design phase.

Keywords: emergy; sustainability; environment; building information model; energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:14:p:7990-:d:596070

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