BIM methods and CDE in professional education for sustainable Design and Production

Implementing Building Information Modelling (BIM) methods in education to support lecturing, consulting, and decision-making cooperates in shaping an environmentally conscious student’s design approach. Within KEA’s bachelor in Architectural Technology and Construction Management (ATCO), the didactic supports digitalisation for building design and production. About the design aspects, for instance, in the 4th semester, 3D virtual digital building models are developed via BIM software with engineered timber load-bearing structural system, parametric formulas for embodied CO2 volumes calculation, thermal requirements, envelope design, light transmittance, low energy consumption, adequate acoustic conditions, and good indoor climate conditions. These factors can play an essential role in actual and future carbon-neutral buildings. Regarding production, environmentally friendly buildings use sustainable materials and efficient operational solutions and handle the BIM data and metadata in the corresponding Common Data Environment (CDE). In this fashion, production, operation and maintenance phases can be run appropriately. As a study case, we bring the KEA ATCO’s 4th semester mandatory joint assignment based on a combination of students’ group and individual work. The assignment requires BIM methods and CDE to control sustainability parameters related to the manufacturing and the site operation.