Integration of LEED Indoor Environmental Quality Credits into BIM Software to Design Educational Buildings with Enhanced Quality Indoor Environment A Proposal by Kanishk Sharma Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Chair of Committee, John Nichols Committee Members, Lesley Feigenbaum Kevin Glowacki Head of Department, Joe Horlen May 2015 Major Subject: Construction Management Copyright 2015 Kanishk Sharma ABSTRACT A poor indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in educational buildings can have a significant negative impact on the performance and comfort of the building occupants and given the fact that a large population spends its time indoor in educational buildings, indoor environmental quality cannot be ignored. LEED IEQ credits established by United States Green Building Council (USGBC) provide a guideline through which quality of indoor environment can be improved. However, achievement and evaluation of LEED credits is a challenging task due to the complicated instructions for achieving each credit and involvement of tiresome documentation procedure. This study aims to make the evaluation of the LEED IEQ credits easier by developing a
Furniture: Is all furniture inside the classroom in good repair and suitable for the size of the user. This will ensure that pupils are able to sit comfortable when working , maintain good postures and are not hunched over small tables. Permanent fixtures need to be taken into account, are they in good condition and securely fastened, eg cupboards, display boards, shelving. Hot surfaces such as radiators also need to be protected where necessary, to prevent the risk of burns to pupils.
In 2004 The Home Depot’s (THD) Eco Options program began in their Canadian locations and on Earth day of 2007 in the United States. The program was created to create environmentally friendly products to consumers that would support the environment while helping consumers save money on their monthly energy bills. The programs successful audience is a combination of two groups. The first group is involved in supporting the environment while living an ecofriendly lifestyle while the other group is mostly concerned about the money saving aspect of using the products. In contrast, there is a broad audience that THD EO’s program is not successfully reaching which is made up of mainstream consumers who care about the environment but don’t bother to inconvenience themselves with adjusting to using ecofriendly options. Consumers of the programs are middle aged people who are in the market for appliances. They need home improvement needs and appliances.
According to the author of “Taking the Lead” Felice Silverman, “the introduction of LEED v4 represents the next step in the evolution of sustainable design, but it’s interesting to note that as we learn more about creating green spaces, new concerns continue appear”. The example she gives deals with encouraging people as designers to see products earn third-party certifications, and designers should remember to look at more than just the single-attribute benefits of products. Designers need to be able to arm themselves with the best information on sustainability there is, and continue to review process, systems and products that could potentially cause harm to the environment and the people
Being environmentally friendly isn’t merely a trend. After thousands of years of using the earth’s resources, we have finally come to realize that we are destroying this beautiful gift we were honored with. Architects play an influential role in trying to preserve this gift by encouraging a multitude of strategies that can be more cost efficient in the long run, be more comfortable for its users, and most importantly, have a lower carbon footprint. Strategies can include drastic changes to heat and air systems, construction material selections, or even specific design details to the architecture of a building that would reduce the amount of energy it consumes.
Building information modeling is a coordinated set of processes which is supported by technology for digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of places. It is a process that relies on information rich models to help owners and Architectural/Engineering/Construction (AEC) service providers to more efficiently plan, design, construct and manage building and infrastructure projects. Building information modeling is now becoming more popular and transforming the global AEC industry. The usage of BIM now is on high rise because it provides greater
Another aspect of creating an enabling environment is the indoor environment. Rich indoor environments have a positive impact on the children's learning and development. An enabling indoor environment is a place where children who spend their time their feel comfortable, interests them and is appropriate for the children's age. It is important that practitioners plan the indoor environment carefully so that it is flexible and accommodates the children's interest and their needs. Also practitioners should make sure that the resources that they are providing are interesting, attractive and to a high quality standard. Practitioners should also make sure that all resources such as building blocks, colouring pens and pencils, dressing up clothes,
Interior design is a profession that is undertaken academically just like other professional careers. It mainly involves the development and imparting of skills, knowledge and attitudes that pertains the activities undertaken in the building and construction industry. The profession of interior designing goes beyond designing how a structure will look because it incorporates environmental issues especially aesthetic value of the structure to be constructed, the ergonomics, local fire codes and besides studying fundamental design issues and practice in the building and construction industry (Guerin & Thompson, 2014). Even though the profession is not as old as some of the established professions, the fact remains that the fundamentals of design
Today’s Designers, Architects and Constructors have a duty of care to strive to produce energy efficient and energy saving buildings. Where possible the sustainability of resources / materials and techniques must be a primary concern in the decision making process.
LEED, also known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, “is a rating system devised by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to evaluate the environmental performance of a building and encourage market transformation towards sustainable design”. The building has a LEED-EB Certification. People installed high-efficiency lighting systems. The purpose was to improve its controls to reduce the building’s energy consumption. Overall the building uses less water and energy which helps them save money.
There are four different levels of certification that you can achieve. These are: Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Each level has its own special incentives to it. To gain a higher ranking you must accumulate credits. To accumulate credits you must have certain standards in your projects that benefit the environment. These consist of sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality (GBCI, 2008).
During concept design and developed design stages, BIM technology and processes were used to develop and establish building performance and the basis of design in accordance with the client’s standards. The models were required to be interoperable with analytic tools for, including but not limited to, building envelope, orientation, daylighting, energy consumption, Building Management System (BMS), renewable energy strategies, life cycle cost analysis, and spatial requirements (Andrian X Sanchez 2015). Thus the main stakeholders of the PCH project established a series of BIM-related objectives:
Inventory analysis is the data collection portion of a LCA and includes a quantified list of all inputs and outputs involving the entire life cycle of the concerned system. LCI involves estimating the energy and materials consumed by the system, the energy efficiency of the system’s components, and the emissions to air, land, and water by variant processes and components of the system. The process of data collection is the most time-consuming and resource-intensive step of the LCA. The reuse of data from other studies can simplify the work; however, assuring the data are representative is essential. LCI can be utilized to discover improvement opportunities and determine life cycle stages that present the most and least detrimental impacts [4].
The aim of this Literature Review is to gain an understanding of what Building Information Modelling (BIM) is, what SMEs are, establish the importance of BIM, why BIM should be implemented and to explore the key issues associated with the adoption and implementation of BIM by SMEs in a live construction environment.
Environmental – With regards to the environmental factors such as the air, noise, and water, inspections are implemented to ensure the company provides corrective actions within the stipulated time. The environmental inspection is part of the legal documentation and environmental authorities as the business operations are on-goings and maintains the competence. Room & Board own most of its locations and searched out freestanding sites with ample parking and easy access for customers. It renovates its store with a particular environment.
The introduction of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and tools into the construction industry made a rapid revolution in this field. BIM can bring a complete digital representation of a building with a fully analyzed data. Introduction of this models are very much helpful in construction of the real building. By creating a BIM