Energy consumption and carbon emission of conventional and green buildings using building information modelling (BIM)

Abstract

PurposeUsing building information modelling (BIM) technology, a conventional structure in this study was converted into a green building to measure its energy usage and CO2 emissions.Design/methodology/approachDigital images of the existing building conditions were captured using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and were fed into Meshroom to generate the building’s geometry for 3D parametric model development. The model for the existing conventional building was created and converted to an energy model and exported to gbXML in Autodesk Revit for a whole building analysis which was carried out in the Green Building Studio (GBS). In the GBS, the conventional building was retrofitted into a green building to explore their energy consumption and CO2 emission.FindingsBy comparing the green building model to the conventional building model, the research found that the green building model saved 25% more energy while emitting 46.8% less CO2.Practical implicationsThe study concluded that green building reduces energy consumption, thereby reducing the emission of CO2 into the environment. It is recommended that buildings should be simulated at the design stage to know their energy consumption and carbon emission performance before construction.Social implicationsOccupant satisfaction, operation cost and environmental safety are essential for sustainable or green buildings. Green buildings increase the standard of living and enhance indoor air quality.Originality/valueThis investigation aided in a pool of information on how to use BIM methodology to retrofit existing conventional buildings into green buildings, showing how green buildings save the environment as compared to conventional buildings.