|
Excelink Pacific "Enriching Global Relationships" |
|
|
|
|
LCADesign Software for Automated Eco-efficiency Assessment of Commercial Buildings Use of LCADesign (Life Cycle Analysis of Design) will enable building design professionals to make informed decisions on the environmental impact of commercial buildings by providing detailed environmental and cost measures for different materials, products and designs, automatically from their 3D CAD drawings. It will meet a growing need from designers and regulators for real-time appraisal of design performance of built assets against an emerging set of sustainability criteria.
Advanced Features in LCADesign The LCADesign concept is a significant advancement on current tools in that the LCADesign approach: Obtains building data direct from CAD Is objective rather than subjective assessment Includes economic and environmental impacts Provides a variety of performance measures Can compare full life cycle performance of components Provides repeatable evidence based environmental reports Makes weighting of environmental impacts transparent to the user Evaluates impacts at a detailed product specific level Quantitatively computes absolute values rather than relative values Is aimed at compliance for standards, codes and performance based tests Calculates totals from building components not just the whole building Assesses a building using comprehensive databases of environmental impact of building components and materials Is applicable to evaluation at both sketch design and detailed design stages Facilitates assessment of tradeoffs Benefits of LCADesign Include: Automated environmental assessment direct from 3D CAD drawings Choice of environmental impact and performance measures Detailed design evaluation Comparative ratings of environmental impacts of alternatives at all levels of design analysis Comprehensive graphical and tabular outputs LCADesign has been specifically designed to: Drive innovative and eco-efficient building design through an automated environmental impact assessment design tool for building design professionals Audit and assess current and future building codes and standards Harmonise with simpler checklist and other environmental rating tools Provide a method for environmentally conscious design which aligns with the International Standards Organisation framework for assessment of building environmental performance. Environmental Profiles
Buildings consume significant amounts of resources including water and energy, and contribute to pollution of our air, water and soil, but remain an essential part of the world we live in. The ability to readily assess their impact and to design alternatives to reduce that impact is the core purpose of LCADesign. Assesment measures include a range of environmental impacts as defined through international standards, covering such topics as: Resource depletion Air pollution Water pollution Solid waste Economics Human impact
Life Cycle Assessment Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a technique for assessing environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a product by: Compiling an inventory of relevant inputs and outputs of a product system Evaluating potential environmental impacts of those inputs and outputs Interpreting the results of the inventory and impact assessment in relation to the objectives of the study (ISO 14043 2000) For buildings, the inventory includes resource acquisition, transport, manufacture, construction, maintenance, final demolition, removal processes and recyclability of building products. Environmental Assessment LCADesign is fully automated from the completion of the 3D CADdrawing of a building to viewing of calculated environmental impacts resulting from building construction. The automated take-off provides quantities of all building components made of products such as concrete, steel and timber. This construction information is combined with the life cycle inventory to estimate key nternationally recognised environmental indicators. 3D CAD and IFC Technology Modern 3D, object-oriented CAD files contain a wealth of building information. LCADesign accesses this detail through utilising Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs) - the new international standard file format for defining architectural and constructional CAD graphic data as 3D real-world objects allowing interrogation of intelligent objects by construction professionals. Life Cycle Inventory Database The life cycle inventory database includes details of resource consumption and environmental emissions generated during the manufacture of building materials, including embodied pollution and water as well as energy. The individual environmental indicators are nested under three major categories of impact: resource depletion, degradation of the physical environment, and harm to human population. LCADesign has the capability to drill down into the source of environmental impacts by material category, individual material, building assembly or component. Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation The Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation is a national collaboration involving 19 industry, government and research partners and has been made possible through a $14 Million federal government grant to the Cooperative Research Centre program. The Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation is developing LCADesign to facilitate a paradigm shift to eco-efficient design, construction and management within the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector, both in Australia and internationally. International Alliance for Interoperability IFCs have been developed by the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI), a non-profit, global alliance of the building, construction and software industries with over 650 member organisations in 20 countries. Interoperability enables participants to share common project information across disciplines and technical applications. www.iai-international.org For details or demonstration contact - Excelink
Pacific International or Level 41, Emirates Towers Sheikh Zayed Road Dubai United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates TEL (9714) 319 9919 International + 61 2 8213 3225 or Mobile + 61 417 244 600 Sydney 02 8213 3225 Melbourne 03 9017 6862 Brisbane 07 3137 1607 Perth 08 6364 3651 Fax (+61 2) 9997 7122 Skype richardtoneill excel@excelink.com.au
|
Send mail to
team@excelink.com.au with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
