Building information modeling for sustainable design and LEED® rating analysis

Today, there is a high level of demand for sustainable buildings. The most important decisions regarding a building's sustainable features are made during the design and preconstruction stages. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) is the most widely adopted sustainable building rating system in the United States. For projects pursuing LEED® certification, designers have to conduct in-depth sustainability analyses based on a building's form, materials, context, and mechanical–electrical–plumbing (MEP) systems. Since Building Information Modeling (BIM) allows for multi-disciplinary information to be superimposed within one model, it creates an opportunity to conduct these analyses accurately and efficiently as compared to the traditional methods. In this exploratory research, a case study was conducted on Salisbury University's Perdue School of Business building to demonstrate the use of BIM for sustainable design and the LEED® certification process. First, a conceptual framework was developed to establish the relationship between BIM-based sustainability analyses and the LEED® certification process. Next, the framework was validated via this case study. The results of this study indicate that documentation supporting LEED® credits may be directly or indirectly prepared using the results of BIM-based sustainability analyses software. This process could streamline the LEED® certification process and save substantial time and resources which would otherwise be required using traditional methods.