Verification of Energy Demand in Early Stage Design Using BIM Methodology

Improving building energy efficiency has become a necessity in construction industry over the
last few years. Building Information Modeling (BIM) methodology is a very powerful option
to achieve this goal in which the energy demand reduction can be considered in early stage
design. Nevertheless, most of building energy simulation software recognized by Spanish
government is not integrated in BIM. In consequences, external software is necessary to be used
in order to achieve this aim. This process significantly increases the time and computational
cost because the interoperability between BIM modelling software and energy analysis software
causes several problems during the information exchange.
For the purpose of checking compliance in early stage design, this research has developed a
new tool using BIM methodology to check the thermal parameters of vertical building envelope,
as set out in the Spanish building regulation. In order to achieve this aim, it has been developed
using Python programming language integrated in Dynamo and Autodesk Revit software. This
technique provides a set of algorithms of thermal transmittances and compares the results with
the established values. All the results are showed in a graphical display and reported as
numerical data set schedule. This paper reports the experimental results using a single family
detached house in which the parameters of the building envelope are managed in early stage
design.