Mrs. Juliana Gehlen
Universidade de Brasilia
Brazil
Abstract Title: Enhancing Sustainability in Construction through Building Information Modeling (BIM)
Biography:
Juliana Gehlen is a professional in sustainable architecture, with a Master’s degree in Sustainable Construction from Universidade de Brasília. Her career is marked by key positions as a sustainability consultant and LEED Manager, where she has focused on climate change and sustainable practices. In addition to her consultancy work, Juliana has extensive teaching experience at the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo at Centro Universitário Unieuro. Currently, she is a doctoral candidate in Civil Construction at Universidade de Brasília, concentrating her research on innovative building technologies.
Research Interest:
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is increasingly pivotal in advancing sustainability within the construction industry, offering significant benefits in optimizing efficiency, reducing waste, and promoting sustainable development. This document delves into the integration of BIM with sustainability assessments, emphasizing its critical role in life cycle assessment (LCA) and building sustainability assessment (BSA). BIM facilitates the efficient management of materials and components, thereby promoting circular economy principles and significantly reducing waste. By enabling energy modeling and simulation, BIM enhances decision-making for both new and existing structures, particularly in energy-intensive environments like hospitals. Implementing BIM-based improvements can lead to energy savings of up to 50%, with lighting systems alone contributing up to 13% in savings. The document also discusses the potential of BIM-based tools to automate and streamline LCA and Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analyses in early project stages, providing real-time decision support for evaluating environmental, economic, and functional performance. Despite its transformative potential, the integration of BIM in sustainable construction faces challenges such as non-uniform data formats, insufficient training, and a lack of experts, which remain significant barriers. The study advocates for further research and policy development to address these challenges, aiming for a future where BIM and sustainability are seamlessly integrated. This integration is crucial for enhancing energy efficiency, improving project quality, and managing lifecycle data for green buildings, thereby revolutionizing sustainable construction practices and contributing to global environmental goals.
Keywords: Building Information Modeling, Sustainability, Life Cycle Assessment, Circular Economy, Construction Industry