Project Description & Outline: How BIM will impact Thermal Comfort

My topic is how BIM will impact Thermal Comfort within a building. This topic is of general interest to me.  Everyday that I worked at my past two co-ops I would have to dress warmer in the office in the summer and the opposite in the winter. The conditioning of my office was not ideal or efficient. Essentially, cool air was just poured into the space and not conditioned. This led me to being uncomfortable and affected my productivity.  As the days passed, I noticed other coworkers experiencing the same uncomfortable attitude that I expressed.  Several individuals utilized space heaters and others wore sweaters to stay warm. I noted my observations of how a thermal deficient the space was and researched how to improve the environment. This experience inspired me to write my seminar research paper and now it’s inspiring me to research how BIM addresses these concerns and how much more efficient BIM is than traditional HVAC systems that require an engineer to adjust the environment.

This topic relates to intelligent buildings because an intelligent building has the ability to adjust its indoor environment based on the portions of the building being in use/inhabited. This adaptive ability is what separates BIM from all other building technology. Some challenges I expect are potential disadvantages to using BIM instead of traditional methods. In addition, finding information regarding what training the engineer requires may be difficult to find. Examples of buildings using this technology may also be difficult to locate to provide supporting evidence.

Topic: How BIM Impacts Thermal Comfort

1.    Importance of Thermal comfort

a.     How it affects a business

                                               i.     Production output

                                              ii.     Revenue

b.     How it affects the work environment

                                               i.     Productivity

                                              ii.     Performance

2.    Thermal Comfort

a.     What dictates being “comfortable”

                                               i.     Definition of “comfort”

                                              ii.     What causes discomfort

1.     Discomfort factors

b.     Thermal comfort vs. pleasantness

                                               i.     Definition of each

                                              ii.     Explanation of the difference between the two

c.      What building factors affect thermal comfort

3.    BIM Systems and Thermal Comfort

a.     How does BIM change indoor environment

                                               i.     Sensors used

                                              ii.     New HVAC equipment used

b.     What information is gathered from the building

                                               i.     Solar heat gain

                                              ii.     Occupancy rate

                                            iii.     Occupancy load

                                            iv.     Space use

                                              v.     Internal heat gains

c.      Process in which BIM changes the indoor environment

d.     Other functionality that contributes to thermal comfort

4.    Advantages of BIM compared to HVAC systems now

a.     Energy efficiency

b.     Cost savings

c.      Reduction in Absenteeism

                                               i.     Examples/research studies

5.     Potential Disadvantages

a.     Replacement of parts/components

6.    Conclusion

a.     Reiterate value of BIM and its higher efficiency

b.     Examples of BIM use

c.      Timetable of when this will become a standard

Comments:
Ryan Taylor's Blog

You have a thorough outline on how you will address your project. I like the level of detail that you want to incorporate into your project. The challenges you foresee in the design of your house seem more difficult than they appear, however, I would definitely like to see the full capabilities of Revit and how energy efficient a home can be when designed with BIM.

Stephen Bartal's Blog

This is a really cool topic coming from one sports fan to another. I'd suggest looking into what cities want to build a new stadium in the future. Im certain some sports will eventually expand and create new teams. Cities without stadiums that acquire a new team will definitely be looking into future stadium design.

David Barbalace's Blog

Your outline is very thorough. I like how you have a section of your outline dedicated to who would want this technology and why, and where would it be the best suited. I'd also like to see if how long it would take a print a house.