BIM, RETROFIT, AND BUILDING PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

WHITE PAPER

The Advantages of BIM for Retrofit Projects

and Building Performance Analysis

Contents
Introduction 3
The Call to Improve Buildings 3
Using BIM to Develop a Building Modernization Program 4
The Correct Amount of Detail 5
How to Create and Use a Basic Model for Building Performance Analysis 5
Step 1: Collect Building Data ................................................................................................. 5
If Paper Plans Are Available ...............................................................................................6
If Existing CAD Files Are Available .................................................................................... 6
If No Plans Exist .................................................................................................................6
Step 2: Create a Basic Energy Model ................................................................................... 6
Step 3: Perform Building Performance Analysis.................................................................... 6
Step 4: Compare and Prioritize Projects................................................................................ 7
The Benefits of Using BIM to Improve Building Performance 7
Reduce Resource Consumption............................................................................................ 8
Energy: Use BIM analysis tools to help analyze heating and cooling requirements,
identify daylighting opportunities, and select major building equipment that may reduce
energy use. Incorporate local weather and electric grid data to estimate building energy
consumption and carbon emissions. ..................................................................................8
Water: Renovate buildings to reduce water usage or to utilize more reclaimed water.
Analyze potable and non-potable supply options for occupants and building processes.
Evaluate storm water systems and simulate the performance of collection systems,
ponds, and culverts. ........................................................................................................... 8
Materials: Select recycled or renewable materials or finishes during building renovations.
Consider incorporating recycling centers and other sustainable practices that cut down
on waste............................................................................................................................. 8
Increase On-Site Renewable Opportunities........................................................................... 8
Build Consensus.................................................................................................................... 8
Review Investment Grade Audits........................................................................................... 8
Increase Public Confidence in Stewardship .......................................................................... 8
Improve Employee Productivity............................................................................................. 9
Conclusion 9

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THE ADVANTAGES OF BIM FOR RETROFIT PROJECTS AND BUILDING PERFORMANFCE ANALYSIS

Introduction
Buildings account for nearly half of all energy consumption and annual greenhouse emissions
in the United States. It is little wonder that improving the resource efficiency of buildings is a
cornerstone of sweeping energy usage reform, sustainability efforts, and economic stimulus
packages.
Because of the vast inventory of buildings, architects and designers have an unprecedented
opportunity to play a leadership role in the stewardship of our natural resources. Deliberate
and cost-effective renovations to existing buildings can generate substantial environmental,
financial, and societal benefits—from reducing energy consumption to creating new jobs.
The sheer number of buildings can make conducting comprehensive building performance
analysis and implementing energy-saving projects a daunting task. Dated or nonexistent
building plans and incomplete energy consumption histories make it difficult to predict future
performance throughout the life of a proposed renovation project or to evaluate and compare
proposals from energy service companies (ESCOs). There are also the political challenges of
garnering stakeholder support and building consensus between legal, procurement, and
finance departments during contract negotiations. To help navigate these challenges, the
Federal Energy Management Program and the Energy Services Coalition provide
methodologies, tools, and best practices to accelerate and improve the overall processes.
Fortunately, new technologies make this once overwhelming prospect more manageable—
especially when compared to traditional 2D drafting tools. When applied to existing buildings,
3D building information modeling (BIM) technologies can help you capture the building
geometry and characteristics needed to conduct various aspects of energy performance
analysis and support contracting processes. For example, you can create a basic BIM model
to support energy and investment grade audits.
This paper will provide an overview of how you can use a basic BIM model and BIM analysis
tools to assess building performance, prioritize investments, and evaluate proposals to help
reduce operational costs, conserve energy, reduce water consumption, and improve building
air quality.

The Call to Improve Buildings

Architects and designers are in a unique position to be leaders in sustainable design and
improving building performance. Every day, buildings use substantial amounts of energy,
water, raw materials, and other natural resources, and generate waste and pollution.
Because of this sizeable environmental footprint, buildings—and building management—are
the focus of a wide range of mandates. The goal of these directives is to increase building
performance and thereby minimize energy consumption, reduce water and wastewater
infrastructure demands, improve air quality, and create smaller overall carbon footprints.
Unlike during the energy crisis of the 1970s, technology now exists to help improve building
performance and help focus limited capital investments on the projects that will generate the
highest environmental and economic return.
Let’s start with a quick review of some of the major legislative mandates, executive orders,
sustainability initiatives, and economic stimulus plans that encourage building operators to
renovate and improve building performance:
• The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005) focuses on energy efficiency, water
conservation, and improving accountability for federal buildings.
• The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007) requires a steep reduction
in fossil fuel energy usage, encourages the use of cost-effective solar hot water heaters,
and extends the lifecycle cost period of capital improvement projects.
• Executive Order 13423—Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation
Management requires agencies to reduce energy consumption by 3 percent per year and

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water consumption by 2 percent per year through 2015 and reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
• Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) evaluates green building criteria in
five major categories: site design, indoor environmental quality, and the efficient use of
energy, materials, and water.
Finally, the economic stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,
singles out improving the performance of government buildings as a way to jumpstart job
creation and long-term growth. The plan aims to modernize more than 75 percent of federal
buildings, saving taxpayers billions of dollars on energy bills over the years. Federal and local
stimulus plans underscore the need to have government building renovation projects identify
and shovel-ready as soon as the funds become available.

Using BIM to Develop a Building Modernization Program

The mandate is clear. But the task of developing a comprehensive and prioritized
modernization plan to convert a substantial inventory of large, dated government buildings
into sustainable, energy-efficient structures can be overwhelming. You need a pragmatic and
cost-effective way to analyze building performance and rank projects and renovations—
across a portfolio of heterogeneous, geographically dispersed buildings—based on economic
and environmental goals. Utilizing BIM with performance analysis tools can help.
BIM allows you to more quickly and easily create a basic building model to help simulate the
performance and cost of renovations. The digital model includes data components that
represent building elements and characteristics—such as materials, weight, thermal
resistance, and other physical properties—that contribute to building performance. With BIM,
you can analyze and assess the energy performance of individual buildings. Then evaluate,
compare, and rank the environmental and financial impact of proposed renovations. With a
more comprehensive understanding of the relative performance of the property portfolio, you
can recommend and prioritize an overall building modernization program, and focus detailed
design efforts and construction on the projects with the greatest impact. BIM is a practical
approach, whether evaluating a single office building, dozens of educational or health care
buildings, a network of 5,000 federal buildings, or defense installations around the globe.
Starting with a basic building model, you can analyze, compare, or audit potential renovation
projects based on your own financial or environmental criteria. BIM technology and analysis
tools allow you to compare renovation options within a building. For example, what generates
a better economic and energy-efficient return: installing higher R-value wall insulation, or
modifying a heating system? BIM can also be used for project comparisons between
buildings, such as determining which buildings in your portfolio would benefit the most from
an HVAC upgrade. Utilizing basic building information, BIM allows you to make evidence
based decisions in a cost-effective manner.
Getting started with BIM is easier than you might think. Use BIM to help improve the energy
efficiency and performance of your buildings by following these five basic steps:
1. Collect basic building information—including wall, floor, roof, and ceiling dimensions—on
each building within the portfolio.
2. Create basic BIM models for each building in the portfolio. You can generate a
comprehensive BIM model—including floor plans, elevations, sections, and 3D views—
from the most basic building dimensions in just a few hours.
3. Analyze building models for environmental and economic performance. Facilitate
smarter, more sustainable performance by analyzing and simulating a wide range of
options. For example, in the area of optimizing solar effects, use BIM models and analytic
tools to evaluate sun position, solar radiation, shading, and daylight alternatives.
4. Compare and then prioritize projects or investment alternatives based on conservation
objectives, such as water or fossil fuel usage, or financial goals. For example, evaluate
the economic and environmental return on upgrades to mechanical, electrical, and
plumbing (MEP) systems.

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5. Select and act on top priority projects.

The Correct Amount of Detail

Creating a building information model is not an overwhelming or onerous task. Even with
minimal up-front effort, you can generate a basic model that represents the form and
geometry of the building and begin analyzing and prioritizing building improvements. In fact, a
relatively simple building information model, created in about two hours, can produce a
surprisingly high level of predictability for your building performance analysis. For example,
Figure 1 shows that even using the least detailed building model, you can attain the results
you need to make better decisions about which measures to pursue for the greatest impact
on reducing your annual energy consumption.
Figure 1: Comparison of results using different levels of model detail.

Further building details and model development are required to support the detailed analysis
and implementation phases.

How to Create and Use a Basic Model for Building

Performance Analysis
Creating basic building information models—using simple roof, wall, floor, and opening
dimensions—for each of your buildings allows you to perform an initial performance analysis.
From this baseline analysis, you can compare alternative measures and develop a
comprehensive plan to improve building performance throughout your portfolio.
The process is outlined in four key steps:

Collecy   Create  a   Perform   Compare  &  

Building   Basic   Building   Prioritize  

Step 1: Collect Building Data

A basic model requires generalized information on quantities, sizes, shapes, location, and
orientation of the building. This includes data points such as windows, exterior doors, and
openings; roof area and geometry; interior core arrangement and zoning; floor-to-floor slabs;
and other major functional spaces, such as parking garages, auditoriums, and atriums. To get
started, you need to collect all available building data.

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Most government buildings will have either paper or CAD construction plans or design files,
but some older buildings may have no documentation at all. Let’s look at how you can create
a basic model in each of these cases.
If Paper Plans Are Available
Most of today’s buildings that require retrofit predate the advent of computer-aided
design tools. There is a strong possibility that a buildings construction drawings only
exist in paper format. By scanning paper drawing to raster imagery, AutoCAD® Raster
Design software will help you convert scanned raster images into intelligent
AutoCAD® vector geometry. The resultant DWG files can be used as a base plan, in
Autodesk® Revit® Architecture software, to develop an energy model.
If Existing CAD Files Are Available
For a building with an existing CAD file, you will need to verify the accuracy of the
files to determine whether to use it or whether to simply start from scratch. Generally
speaking, a CAD file authored by a maintenance crew is not as valuable, complete,
or accurate as a CAD file from construction documentation. The older the CAD file,
the more field verification will likely be required. Conversely, with newer buildings and
current CAD drawings, you can capture much of the data needed to create a model
very quickly. Using a modeling application, your 2D CAD files become a foundation
as you work to extrude the heights in the vertical direction (z-axis) to draw your 3D
building model and then adjust dimensions during field verification.
If No Plans Exist
What if you need to create a model for a building with no plans? There are several
methods you can use to collect the information required to create a building model—
such as a conventional survey, a laser scan, or digital pictures.
The process begins by capturing digital photographs of the existing building. Next,
the photographs are converted into 3D Geometry using photogrammetry technology
in Autodesk® ImageModeler™ software. The resultant geometry is transferred, via
DWG, to Revit Architecture or Autodesk® Revit® MEP software where real world
building components are modeled using the geometry as a guide. Finally, the
analysis data contained in the building information model is transferred, via gbXML,
to Autodesk® Green Building Studio® web service for whole building energy analysis.
Revit data can similarly be moved into other Autodesk analysis tools, such as
Autodesk® Ecotect® software, and to other popular industry tools such as the U.S.
Department of Energy’s eQuest® software.

Step 2: Create a Basic Energy Model

After you gather all available building data, the next step is to create basic models for each
building in your portfolio. Using purpose-built software, such as Autodesk Revit Architecture
as your modeling tool, you can generate a basic model faster and more cost-effectively. With
Revit Architecture, you can create more accurate floor plans, elevations, sections, and 3D
views from the most basic building dimensions. For example, you can create a model from
paper plans for a typical 100,000-square-foot, rectangular governmental office building in as
little as a few hours. The key is to be smart about what you model—selecting essential
elements such as floor, roof, walls, and windows—and precise in the component
measurements. Up-front accuracy is important, as this model will form the basis for your
initial energy analysis as well as detailed performance analysis further downstream in the
review and implementation process.

Step 3: Perform Building Performance Analysis

Using your model, you can facilitate smarter, more sustainable performance by analyzing the
energy efficiency of basic building configurations and systems. Utilize the files created in
Revit Architecture with Autodesk® Ecotect Analysis® software to perform whole building
assessments with the Autodesk Green Building Studio web service or more detailed
exhaustive analysis with the desktop tools. Use these purpose-built building performance
analysis tools to complete scenario―or what-if―modeling to better evaluate materials,

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quantities, sun position, and solar effects, and help identify ways to improve building
performance and meet environmental and economic goals.
Autodesk Green Building Studio is designed to perform whole-building energy, water, and
carbon emission analyses. You can study discrete building forms and systems to better
understand overall building performance before making key decisions on your energy project.
You can also benchmark energy use to the integrated U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
ENERGY STAR® score. Use local weather and electric grid data to help estimate building
energy consumption and carbon emissions. EnergyPlus files can be downloaded for detailed
comfort, natural ventilation, and unique HVAC analysis in Green Building Studio. Apply and
compare manufacturers’ products to the building design and better understand their effects
on energy consumption from the earliest stages of planning.
You can further evaluate selected projects using Autodesk Ecotect Analysis software. This
comprehensive conceptual building performance analysis tool helps simulate and analyze a
wide range of issues, such as solar effects, including radiation, shading, and daylighting.
Address environmental factors, such as thermal, lighting, and airflow, in the early phases of
energy project planning—when your decisions can have a greater impact on achieving
building performance goals. The modeling and visualization capabilities in Ecotect help you
more precisely predict how a building will operate and perform post-implementation, as
illustrated in Figure 2. You can even transfer your Autodesk Revit model to Autodesk® 3ds
Max® Design software to perform more detailed lighting and daylighting analysis to help
identify the best location for building controls.

Step 4: Compare and Prioritize Projects

After your performance analysis is complete, the next step is to compare and prioritize
investment projects or alternatives based on your agency’s objectives, such as water
conservation, fossil fuel usage reduction, or financial return on the investment. You can rank
projects based on government mandated standards or set your own goals.
For example, you can evaluate the economic and environmental return on improvements to
mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems across multiple buildings. This will help you to
identify the buildings in your portfolio that would benefit the most from specific upgrades. BIM
also lets you compare renovation options within a building. For example, what generates a
better economic and energy-efficient return: window replacements, harnessing on-site wind
or solar power, or adding a gray water reclamation system?
At the end of step 4, you will benefit from having a more credible and consistent data set with
which to help you prioritize and select the best investments for performance upgrades.

The Benefits of Using BIM to Improve Building Performance

Applying BIM to analyze existing governmental buildings also helps deliver a plethora of
economic, environmental, and societal benefits—that go far beyond complying with
mandates. Analysis using a BIM model can identify ways to reduce resource consumption,
increase on-site renewable opportunities, build consensus, review investment grade audits,
increase the public’s confidence, and improve employee morale.

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Reduce Resource Consumption

Smart and sustainable building renovations utilize modern, more efficient technology,
systems, and controls designed to reduce the consumption of energy, water, and materials.
Energy: Use BIM analysis tools to help analyze heating and cooling requirements,
identify daylighting opportunities, and select major building equipment that may
reduce energy use. Incorporate local weather and electric grid data to estimate
building energy consumption and carbon emissions.
Water: Renovate buildings to reduce water usage or to utilize more reclaimed water.
Analyze potable and non-potable supply options for occupants and building
processes. Evaluate storm water systems and simulate the performance of collection
systems, ponds, and culverts.
Materials: Select recycled or renewable materials or finishes during building
renovations. Consider incorporating recycling centers and other sustainable practices
that cut down on waste.

Increase On-Site Renewable Opportunities

Changes in temperature, precipitation, and weather patterns can affect rainwater, storm
water, and snowmelt amounts, and alter water supplies from year to year. A coordinated,
consistent BIM model can help design systems that minimize water use, protect existing
wetlands, and focus on net-zero water usage. With more sustainable designs, you can
encourage the use of recycled water for irrigation of landscaping, minimize contaminants in
wastewater, and investigate the feasibility of capturing, recycling, and reusing water on-site—
reducing the costs and impact on your water and wastewater systems.

Build Consensus
Using BIM analysis and visualization tools can greatly increase the impact and clarity of
presenting proposed modifications to stakeholders and decision makers in legal,
procurement, and finance departments. In addition, they enable reviewers to perform virtual
walk-throughs or see the modifications occurring over a timeline, so they can improve their
understanding of the project and build consensus on how to address risks. For example, a 3D
model site plan may quickly help identify whether a building renovation would affect access
roads in a way that makes the proposed renovation impractical. Provide evidence-based
answers to financers to reduce financing costs and improve the project payback.

Review Investment Grade Audits

An energy services company (ESCO) can perform an in-depth analysis of a building or
properties, design an energy-efficient solution, and install the required elements. Energy
savings performance contracts (ESPCs) improve the energy efficiency of government
buildings and commit you to a defined payback period. However, it is still the responsibility of
the government agency or department to perform due diligence on proposals to protect the
constituents’ best interests. Before signing an ESPC, use BIM to perform internal reviews of
ESCO proposals to confirm key predictions and assumptions. For example, use a virtual
walk-through of the proposed renovations—or submit the design into energy analysis tools—
to increase your confidence in predicted performance levels and reduce the uncertainties
associated with these long-term contracts.

Increase Public Confidence in Stewardship

Making smart investments in building improvements increases the public perception of your
ability to act as a good steward of public funds. BIM analysis tools can help you more quickly
identify where limited dollars should be spent, enhancing the integrity and legitimacy of the
process. For example, presenting cost-effective sustainable design alternatives at public
hearings helps generate an understanding of the design and renovation process while
promoting public trust.

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Improve Employee Productivity

BIM can help identify opportunities for increasing the use of natural lighting or flow of fresh air
within the interior spaces of a building. Use BIM to visualize and simulate the impact of a
lobby atrium or better ventilation on building performance—while also taking into account the
positive and intangible benefits these improvements can have on employee morale. For
example, job satisfaction is commonly linked to increased productivity, higher retention rates,
and fewer sick days.

Conclusion
Whether your property portfolio consists of office buildings, conference centers, maintenance
facilities, health care operations, warehouses, storage depots, or aircraft hangars, conducting
building performance modeling and analysis can generate significant benefits. Government
agencies need clear, consistent, and evidence-based building analysis that sufficiently details
predicted performance. By requiring the use of BIM in audit agreements, RFQs/RFPs, and
energy performance contracts, government agencies will more accurately understand
predicted performance and related risks over the multiyear lifecycle of the project.
The ability to create a basic BIM model—and then use the model to help analyze the cost
and benefit trade-offs of proposed projects within a building and throughout the property
portfolio—is key to building performance analysis. Innovative design products support BIM,
helping to make it a cost-effective way to evaluate, prioritize, and audit proposed building
renovations.
For more details on how to create an appropriate BIM model for energy performance
evaluations, review the white paper Creating Models for Performance Analysis on Existing
Buildings available at www.autodesk.com/BIM.

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