When the global spotlight in construction is highlighting sustainability, can BIM (Building Information Modelling) be far behind? Using the functionality of Revit families, residential BIM modelling and other BIM modelling services can make designing sustainable homes easier, while incorporating more sustainable homebuilding materials.

Understanding Revit families and their role is important. Autodesk Revit offers libraries of Revit families, which are essentially ready-made digital objects representing architectural or MEP components and they can be customised for each project. Technically, a family is an element with common parameters which is graphically represented in Revit. Revit families for architectural planning can also be created separately and distributed to stakeholders. These kind of Revit families are called loadable families, as they can be developed as an RFA file and loaded from an external source into the project. In-place families are customised for a specific project. Host-based families consist of components that host system families, such as walls, ceilings or floors.

Architectural Revit families include:

Staircases, railings

Shelving

Doors, windows

Lighting fixtures

Cabinets, counters, tables, chairs, beds, headboards

Structural Revit families include

Columns, foundations

Retaining walls, trusses

Structural framings, structural rebars

Each Revit family will have its own reference planes, parameters, and there are formulae to create any new, complex architectural or structural family, as and when required. When a Revit family has components throughout the project with different sizes, materials and other variables, the family is said to have multiple types. When one type of family is modified, it is modified parametrically throughout the project, wherever that type occurs. For example, when the dimensions of a door type are changed, then all doors of that type are changed accordingly.

Now, to get back to sustainable homebuilding, what do we mean by sustainability in homebuilding and how can it be determined?

In a nutshell, sustainable homebuilding produces minimum impact on the environment. An environmental impact monitor can determine how a completed building can affect the environment.

Environmental Impact Monitor

How does it work?

The shadow price and carbon footprint are calculated and put in a database. The Environmental Impact Monitor links this data to the 3D BIM model in real time. The shadow price considers human toxicity, ozone depletion and acidification. The carbon footprint is influenced by the type of architectural components that are used in homebuilding.

Architectural components that exhibit good thermal performance in the building envelope, namely building insulation, can help save energy. Other factors that contribute to component sustainability include the following:

Recycled Material

Construct Recyclable Buildings

Part of a building can be recycled, using design for disassembly

Use fasteners that can be undone, eg. screws, not nails

Use minimum different kinds of material

Use large assemblies

Reused Materials

Save natural resource

Reduce processing

Reduce manufacturing

Easier to use with design for disassembly

Sustainably Harvested Material

Harvesting resources at the same rate or slower than it can replenish, or regrow

No net depletion of the resource, eg. sustainable forestry for wood

Rapidly Renewable Material

Local Materials

Therefore, fulfilling these parameters, sustainable building materials include:

Sustainably harvested wood
Flax linen
Linoleum
Sisal (for ropes and mats)
Sheep wool
Coconut
Panels made from paper flakes
Wood fiber plates
Clay
Calcium sandstone
Vermiculite (for fire protection insulation)
Locally stone and rock
Paper manufactured from forest wood
Bamboo, strong and fast-growing woody plant
Vegetative cover or shield over building envelopes
Recycled denim, cellulose or blown-in fiber glass insulation

Other recycled materials, especially from demolished buildings, include:

So, how does residential BIM modelling incorporate these sustainable components while designing sustainable homes?

Using BIM technology, designers are able to avail of detailed data that can ultimately help them quantify how systems and materials impact the environment. In addition, BIM technology facilitates integrated building design. Revit, as a BIM-enabled software, and Revit families play a critical role.

A 3D model is created as part of the BIM process which includes a substantial amount of detail, which designers can utilise to analyse the architectural components of the building and its form and type. The BIM model’s precise detailing and the properties of Revit families for different kinds of sustainable materials, along with building geometry data, can be a marriage made in Autodesk for sustainable homebuilding. Using BIM technology, designers can design sustainable homes more effectively.

For homebuilders looking for experienced partners to help them develop high-quality residential Revit BIM modelling, it may be advantageous to consider offshore firms. Along with years of experience and technically qualified personnel, offshore CAD/BIM companies may provide BIM modelling services, including residential BIM modelling, that can be delivered within time and budget.