VISUALIZING ENERGY: HOW BIM INFLUENCES DESIGN CHOICES

摘要

This paper investigates how the infusion of a parametric object-based Building Information Modeling (BIM) methodology has influenced the design responses of engineering students in architectural design studios. BIM provides students with an opportunity to explore the consequences of design alternatives through three-dimensional representation in addition to two-dimensional abstraction during the schematic design phase. The authors qualitatively evaluate data in the participant observation tradition garnered from two architectural design studios in an architectural engineering program. The purpose is to explore how students respond when offered opportunities to visualize energy performance in concert with architectural design. The results indicate that BIM provides more time for realizing the design idea, thereby inducing a higher level of intellectual behavior where the students visually evaluate multiple conditions of design iterations in a qualitative manner while bringing to life the numerical application and analysis procedures of quantitative theory. The engineering students make relatively sophisticated choices regarding building orientation, passive solar heating, daylighting, and envelope design and materials selection.