TITLE:
Integrating Universal Design Standards and Building Information Modeling at the Conceptual Design Stage of Buildings
AUTHORS:
Vafa Rostamiasl, Ahmad Jrade
KEYWORDS:
Building Information Modeling (BIM), Universal Design, Accessible Design, Aging in Place, Computer Integration and Automation
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Civil Engineering,
Vol.12 No.4,
December
27,
2022
ABSTRACT: A
projection of the Canadian population shows that in 2024 one in five Canadians
will be over 65 years old. This shift forces designers to consider the entire
lifetime of occupants during the design of new buildings. Universal Design (UD),
which is a design that accommodates all people to the greatest extent possible
and aging in place design that is deeply rooted in the principles of UD, aim to
house people irrespective of their age, ability, and chronic health conditions.
Building Information Modeling (BIM) significantly helps advance the
development of the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry
in a more collaborative and automated way. Integrating BIM and UD allows designers
to incorporate UD standards easily and efficiently at the conceptual design
stage of buildings by using the functionalities and capabilities of BIM tools.
Therefore, this study presents the development of an automated computer model
to facilitate the adoption of UD standards and processes. The novelty
highlighted in this model resides in the creation of an automated method that
employs a newly created plug-in and databases to assist designers to incorporate UD standards at the conceptual stage in a timely and
cost-effective manner. Furthermore, the study introduces the methodology
consisting of collecting, categorizing, and storing data from various universal
design and accessible design guidelines in the developed databases and
developing new plug-ins in BIM tool to link the developed databases in order to
automate the process of retrieving necessary information and components to help
designers and owners select optimal design alternatives based on their
predefined criteria.