How does Revit help in creating Sustainable Buildings?

How does Revit help in creating Sustainable Buildings?

The construction industry from its usage to emissions has a huge impact on the environment. In fact, it accounts for an incredible 36% of worldwide energy usage, and 40% of CO2 emissions. When the amount of buildings is only going to increase in the near future, it is imperative that the construction industry aims to reduce its impact on the environment and preserve the health of the planet for the future generations.

There are a variety of ways in which construction industry can leave a positive environmental footprint from using renewable and recyclable resources, making efficient use of energy, water, and other resources to reducing trash, pollution, and degradation of the environment when the building is in construction. However, the architects and engineers are realizing that they can make changes in the designing phase itself which can go a long way in reducing the buildings environmental footprint. BIM Services, significantly Revit has been at the forefront of green designing offering various data and collaboration tools as well as various energy analysis capabilities which help them achieve their sustainability goals.

Below we look at the five ways in which Revit, can be used to create sustainable buildings:

1. Virtual Exploration:

Revit makes it possible for the architects and engineers to virtually explore the building design from nearly every angle and location. It also makes it possible for them to interact with key performance indicators, benchmarks and specifications ensuring that the design is efficient and error free. Today, by merging the 3D model with virtual simulation it is also possible to check how the design alternatives will impact the buildings energy performance, enabling the key stakeholders to make informed design decisions. Moreover, another indirect advantage is in terms of client satisfaction, as realistic viewing means that they can make any changes they wish in the pre-designing phase and reduce waste of resources.

2. Daylight Analysis:

Revit allows the simulation, calculation and visualization of key daylighting metrics, for instance daylight spatial autonomy and annual sunlight exposure. It means that by using Revit Architectural Services, the designers and architects can better understand and quantify the amount of sunlight a particular space will receive. This ultimately helps them reduce electric lighting loads and introduce more natural daylight.

3. Heating and Cooling:

With Revit it is also possible to visualize heating and cooling loads so that architects and designers can understand which areas of the building or house will be susceptible to higher loads. Insight is a tool by Autodesk which enables the creation of energy efficient buildings by advanced simulation engines and by integrating the buildings performance analysis data in Revit. Thus, the reports generated by Revit allows to know how much energy is needed to heat or cool a building so that any excess energy is not consumed.

4. Solar Radiation:

With Revit it is also possible to quantify the amount and intensity of solar radiation that is going on the Revit model surfaces. Solar Analysis considers shading by adjacent objects such as surrounding buildings or vegetation on a given object to maximize designs. Along with allowing to calculate solar analysis, Revit also allows to estimate incident solar radiation per building surface and measure Photovoltaic potential and payback period on solar models which is important to install solar panels, solar power plants etc.

5. Integrated energy analysis workflows:

 Another added advantage of Revit is the Autodesk 360 Energy Analysis powered by Green Building Studio. By integrating energy analysis into your existing workflows Architects, designers and engineers can see what building features are having the greatest impact on energy use and implement necessary design changes to reduce the overall energy consumption.  

Conclusion:

On top of the above advantages the very process of virtual design and construction is beneficial for the environment. It streamlines onsite construction, reduces the waste of resources as a result of errors, saves a lot of paper which would have been used for modification etc. When sustainability is one of the biggest concerns worldwide, by using Revit in the designing phase the AEC firms can deliver better performing building, faster.

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