Building information modeling for sustainable design and LEED® rating analysis

Today, there is a high level of demand for sustainable buildings. The most important decisions regarding a building's sustainable features are made during the design and preconstruction stages. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED (R)) is the most widely adopted sustainable building rating system in the United States. For projects pursuing LEED (R) certification, designers have to conduct in-depth sustainability analyses based on a building's form, materials, context, and mechanical-electrical-plumbing (MEP) systems. Since Building Information Modeling (BIM) allows for multi-disciplinary information to be superimposed within one model, it creates an opportunity to conduct these analyses accurately and efficiently as compared to the traditional methods. In this exploratory research, a case study was conducted on Salisbury University's Perdue School of Business building to demonstrate the use of BIM for sustainable design and the LEED (R) certification process. First, a conceptual framework was developed to establish the relationship between BIM-based sustainability analyses and the LEED (R) certification process. Next, the framework was validated via this case study. The results of this study indicate that documentation supporting LEED (R) credits may be directly or indirectly prepared using the results of BIM-based sustainability analyses software. This process could streamline the LEED (R) certification process and save substantial time and resources which would otherwise be required using traditional methods. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.