BIM

Indoor air quality (IAQ) plays an intrinsic role in occupant comfort, and should be evaluated as a key building performance indicator of early design phases. However, IAQ is very complex due to a plethora of chemical compounds in the indoor air and also depends on the activities in the building. Therefore, IAQ assessment is often not comprehensively considered, or applied only during late project phases. This study reviewed how Building Information Modeling (BIM) could be applied for IAQ performance analysis, to provide a more holistic design process.

In the design of a commercial kitchen ventilation system, it is very important to maintain the capture efficiency of exhaust hoods and ensure smooth removal of heat, moisture, and odor. The capture efficiency is affected by the kitchen ventilation system and the cooking appliance usage condition. To identify an appropriate ventilation system design method for commercial kitchens in Japan, surveys were conducted as follows. 

Use of Demand Controlled ventilation (DCV) can potentially save more than 50% of energy use for ventilation purposes compared to constant air volume (CAV) ventilation. Correct and updated calculation of preset minimum (Vmin) and maximum (Vmax) airflow rates are important to maximize energy saving and to ensure good indoor quality. Furthermore, earlier studies have shown that controlling units' ability to actually handle V min is lacking and causes instability in the DCV systems 

The European Commission’s Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME)  manages parts of the Horizon 2020 framework programme for research, innovation and market uptake (2014-2020), including for energy efficiency in the buildings sector. The Agency supports projects under this programme and ensures that their results are fed to policymaking teams within the European Commission.  

The U.S. National Institute for Building Sciences (NIBS) started the development of the National Building Information Model Standard (NBIMS). Its goal is to define standard sets of data required to describe any given building in necessary detail so that any given AECO industry discipline application can find needed data at any point in the building lifecycle.