Integrated Carbon Waste and Cost Modelling for Design of Low Impact Buildings

Although there are many tools purporting to facilitate the design of low impact buildings, many are expensive and lack the ability to simultaneously predict the impact of design options on multiple performance indicators. They typically address the design and construction process in a piecemeal fashion and do not interoperate with other tools. To address these shortcomings, we have developed the Low Impact Development Explorer (LIDx) tool which allows users to easily develop 3D models of developments and immediately see the implications of their decisions as the design progresses. LIDx offers the real-time display of multiple performance measures; embodied carbon, waste, and cost, on an easy-to-read dashboard. LIDx has been developed as a plugin to the free SketchUp 3D CAD tool from Google, essentially extending SketchUp into a BIM tool. It has been developed to interoperate with software for energy modelling and simulation in real-time using the gbXML standard for green building data exchange. It can also generate BIM data into the Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) spreadsheet format being promoted by the UK Government BIM Strategy Group. A series of 8 short YouTube videos have been produced to demonstrate the end-to-end functionality of the tool. This is available on YouTube (www.youtube.com/user/tsbLIB/videos ) and through the project website (www.lowimpactbuildings.org ). The LIDx software prototype is being made available through the project website and we are soliciting funding for further development.