BIM-based building performance assessment of green buildings - A case study from China

In China, traditional buildings have begun to exhibit a range of issues, such as elevated levels of energy consumption and pollution. Consequently, these concerns have led to substantial resource inefficiency and environmental degradation. The evaluation and examination of green buildings are of utmost importance in promoting sustainable development. The current green building assessment framework is intricate and lacks sufficient development in terms of visual representation. Developing a green building strategy during the initial design phase is a multifaceted process that necessitates substantial allocation of human, material, financial, and temporal resources. In this study, we propose an assessment framework that incorporates a 15 s-level and 45 three-level green building indicator system, along with a 4-level classification standard. This framework is developed based on the most recent Chinese Assessment Standard for Green Building and the utilization of a Building Information Modeling (BIM) database. Furthermore, the integration of BIM with Pathfinder software is employed to assess the safety aspects of green buildings. On top of that, the combination of BIM with Ecotect software is utilized to evaluate the environmental aspects of green buildings. In this study, we performed a case study on a teaching building located at a university in central China, specifically focusing on the simulation of green building practices. The sequential calculation involves determining the duration of personnel evacuation, assessing the lighting conditions, evaluating the thermal conditions, analyzing the sound conditions, and examining the wind conditions. In addition, efforts were made to optimize the indicators requiring enhancement in order to enhance the efficacy of green buildings.