COLLABORATIVE DESIGN OF PARAMETRIC SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE

misbe2011 Tracking Number 116

Sustainable architecture is complex. Many aspects, differently important to many stakeholders, are to be optimized. BIM should be used for this. Building Information Modelling is a collaborative process where all stakeholders integrate and optimize their information in a digital 3D model. Sometimes it is called Green BIM. But what exactly is that? Is the International Standard Organization IFC standard useful for this? And is it compatible with new developments in parametric design? Based on two years of feasibility studies for his design of one of the first sustainable office designs in the Netherlands, six years of directing the Union of Computer Using Architects, ten years of research and education at Delft University of Technology, where his dissertation was about collaborative architectural design in virtual reality, the author gives his vision on BIM from the point of view of architects. Advantages and disadvantages of BIM are listed. Full parametric design is needed because it keeps the design flexible and open for changes until the end of the design process. However it is not compatible with IFC; only object parametric design is. A possible way out of this paradox could be the use of scripts that only create objects if they are not already in the BIM database and otherwise only adapt their properties. An example of parametric sustainable architectural design explains the mentioned issues. Keywords: Sustainable architecture, BIM, collaborative design, parametric design, IFC.