Starting point: 

What challenges are faced by designers implementing higher Level of Detail Building (LOD) Information Modelling (BIM), and how can they be overcome to enhancing sustainability and integrating building systems? 

This topic may include: consideration of how BIM supports sustainability and building systems integration; analysis of LOD requirements for residential and commercial projects; identification of designers’ challenges implementing LOD and BIM and exploration of technology’s role in alleviating these challenges; identification of BIM benefits and drawbacks for facility management, and definition of effective strategies for communicating value. 

Project Summary: 

Farrukh’s research proposes the creation of an innovative framework designed to seamlessly integrate real-time Building Information Modelling (BIM) data from a variety of sources into open-source databases. This data is then mapped to Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) CAD files, facilitating comprehensive analysis through various software tools. The research focuses on the construction of optimized IT systems and the development of necessary software plugins, aiming to automate the acquisition and processing of live data for application in a range of practical BIM workflows.  

Objectives:  

• To design an adaptable hardware stack that interfaces with diverse IoT and LiDAR technologies for data acquisition.  
• To create a software stack that transforms raw data into formats compatible with opensource databases.  
• To establish a robust pipeline for syncing database content with IFC CAD files.  
• To develop an optimized IT system capable of exporting data from IFC files to a selection of BIM analysis tools.  

Methodology:  

• Data Acquisition: Utilize IoT sensors and 3D LiDAR scanning to gather pertinent environmental and structural data.  
• Data Processing: Formulate algorithms for converting and standardizing data to fit a SQL database schema.  
• Software Development: Engineer a software interface that aligns SQL data with IFC files, ensuring broad compatibility with BIM software.  
• Hardware Integration: Assemble a hardware framework that complements and supports the software tools, promoting efficient data transfer.  
• Export Mechanism: Implement a system to convert IFC files into various formats that meet the demands of diverse BIM analysis applications.  

Expected Outcomes:  

• A streamlined stack enabling the smooth transition of data from acquisition through to analysis.  
• BIM models augmented with real-time data, reflecting current environmental and structural conditions.  
• Enhanced compatibility among different BIM analysis tools, fostering a cohesive approach to data management within the BIM framework.  

Impact:  

The anticipated outcome is a highly automated system transforming how BIM data is aggregated, integrated, and analysed, impacting numerous aspects of the building industry including design, construction management, operations, and the lifecycle assessment of structures. The scalability of the system holds the potential for city-wide management applications.