BIM for Historical Buildings in the UK Focused on Using Sustainability Tools

GARETH SEWELL: Hello and welcome to the Autodesk University 2023 class, BIM for Historical Buildings in the UK Focused Using Sustainability Tools. Before we begin, we will just read out the safe harbor statement. The statements are not intended to be a promise or guarantee of future delivery of products, services, or features, but merely reflect our current plans which may change. We will be making forward-looking statements today about planned or future development efforts. Therefore, any purchasing decisions should be made on what the offering is today and not based purely on what you are seeing in this demonstration.

Before we begin, I thought it would be good to describe the word "historical." Building Definitions defines it as, "a historical building is generally considered to be a building or structure that has some kind of historic value, i.e. People in the present are connected to it via past events in some way." However, with the sustainability pressures of today and the climate change impacts, we now need to look at these buildings and apply this term to any completed building so that we now start to look at the retaining the building and reusing and repurposing of these buildings in a much more different approach than the general historic term.

So I work for Purcell Architects. We are an award-winning team of architects, master planners, and heritage consultants. The world's largest team of heritage specialists, we unlock opportunities to sustain and enhance historical places. We have been doing this for over 75 years and have helped major clients care for and enhance their buildings and landscapes.

As I said, I work for Purcell. I am the head of BIM and a fellow chartered architectural technologist with over 38 years experience in the built environment. I've worked across multiple sectors. I have been involved in technology for the vast part of my career, and for the last 25 years have been using AutoCAD products. I'm interested in how technology can be used to improve all aspects of our daily life. I will now ask our co-presenter Corina to introduce herself.

CORINA MARINESCU: Hi, everyone. I'm Corina Marinescu. I'm a senior product owner at Autodesk where I coordinate the development of the next generation of Insight with a focus on total carbon. And I'm doing this through the lenses of a senior architect and BIM manager. I'm interested in bridging the data gap in BIM workflows to support designers to create a sustainable built environment where we can all thrive. Thank you, Gareth.

Thank you, Corina. A little bit about today's class. So what are we going to discuss? We would like to look at the capture of energy and carbon and the results on historic buildings and how we can evaluate that. How can these tools be used to explain to a wider audience how the built environment is responding to the climate challenge? How do we implement a process that will assist in explaining how these tools can deliver tangible results and data? Why capture of this information will assist with future developments, and could also assist with future digital twin outputs. I will now hand over to Laura Baron, our head of sustainability, who would like to give a little talk about these key points.

LAURA BARON: Thank you, Gareth. Hello. My name is Laura Baron and I am an architect and head of Sustainability at Purcell. This year has seen record-shattering heatwaves, the hottest temperatures ever recorded, wildfires and floods destroying lives across every continent. The internationally-agreed target to prevent the world's average temperatures exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times aims to prevent the worsening and potentially irreversible effects of climate change.

This target is slipping out of reach with carbon dioxide levels the highest they have ever been. The need for rapid action across every sector of society could not be more urgent. Every tenth of a degree in warming that's prevented can be crucial in limiting the extent of future damage. And as a sector, the built environment is responsible for almost 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, 50% of extracted materials, and one third of global waste streams.

A report released in June this year estimates that in a business as usual scenario, the EU and the UK construction sector will exceed its allocated carbon budget for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees in 2026. It concludes that in order to avoid reaching a tipping point in one of the planetary boundaries, we have three years to act. And that action is drastic.

The environmental crisis is a design crisis. It is the consequence of how things are made, buildings are constructed, and landscapes are used. In 2020 the amount of anthropogenic human-made mass exceeded the weight of all global living biomass. We need to acknowledge that we have enough stuff. We need to nurture our natural resources rather than destroying them, and we can't solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

We need to move away from our linear economy of take, make, and throw away towards a circular economy where materials and assets are kept in use for as long as possible at their highest value. In the built environment, that means setting the default as refurbishment of existing buildings rather than demolition, designing out waste, using resources more efficiently, and finding the value in what we already have.

Let's take joy in mending and caring for and prolonging the life of things that already exist. By embracing the flaws and imperfections, we can create something that is more resilient, more beautiful, and more unique, and we need the innovation and tools to help us achieve this. Thank you. Back to Gareth.

GARETH SEWELL: Our first part of the class today is capture of results and how we should do this. We already work with built assets, but what we need to do is capture information about those assets. Obviously we can go and capture the physical form. We go and do a point cloud survey and we translate these into models. What we really need to start capturing is embedded carbon information about that construction and other aspects that we will need to drive decision-making.

There are several ways we could do this. We physically open up the building elements to see what it was built from. Obviously there are very sensitive historical buildings and heritage buildings out there that that would be a rather extreme process to undertake. We could try and find some historical records. But again, that is not necessarily easy. I'm certain that some of you have come across the situation where there are no records. Trying to find anything is almost impossible.

Or we start creating a global database. We start to put information into this database. We allow it to be available on the internet, and it provides the data for other people to build upon. The example here is showing a typical model of what was Norfolk County Hall. This was created from a point cloud. Whilst the model looks amazing, we have no usable data to inform our designers of any energy or carbon usage of it.

We even have the model that shows us the existing services. Looks amazing again. But again, we have no data. So what is this model going to help us do? We need to be able to show existing energy usage, and we are looking at that from using the Insight tools. As we already work with built assets, one of the key issues is, how do we capture information?

Obviously as far as the physical form, we can use that point cloud. We can translate those models, we can put all of this together, and we can see there are several ways of achieving this. Now that we have these models, what we would like to do is translate these across to work with the Insight tools. Now the conventional method of working with Insight tools is to start with a mass element approach, then add walls, floors, and roofs. We're actually one step ahead of that by having physical models made.

What we need to now do is look at a reverse workflow. How best can we take and convert back from that 3D model that's been generated back into tools that will work with Insight and be of benefit? So can we imagine taking rooms and convert them into masses by using Dynamo? What about the floors and roofs? What do we do with complex shapes? Buildings are not generally very simple. They can be very complex. How would we handle that?

These are some of the questions that we are asking you and that we are asking of Autodesk as well. We need to ensure the tools are easy and user-friendly. We need to model, create a simple mass, generate the energy assessment model, upload it into Insight, and then continue the workflow to explore results-- configuring the dashboards, conveying design decisions. For more information on the Revit analytical model approach, please go and review the AU class, Using the Revit Energy Analytical Model for Total Carbon Analysis, which is from concept to detail.

So we now have our models. However, unlike conventional methods of working by placing mass elements and then adding walls, floors, and roofs, we have gone straight into that model phase. How do we deliver on this? How do we get moving forward with this? We have phasing going on here. What can we do with that phasing? How best can we use that to deliver and explain outputs to clients, to other team members about what is going on and what is the best way of dealing with this? Again, questions. What is the best way of working with this?

So we have captured that information, but how would we like that information to be displayed? What is it we are trying to show, and what would be the best way of embedding this and reporting this information? How can we obtain any information from the client? How will we get additional data? Corina, I believe you have an idea here of what we can do.

CORINA MARINESCU: Well the question is, is it enough to start with an assumption that can guide us in the right direction, or do we need to input all the detailed information up front? Something to think about. Back to you, Gareth.

GARETH SEWELL: Thank you. Corina. The next part of what we're talking about today is explaining the results. We are looking at it from a visual output. Here we have some information that was presented to us by Norfolk County Council. On the right-hand side it's showing a 10-year electrical profile report. That looks interesting, potentially, but also quite boring. But how can we take that information and how can we place that into a more visual output that hopefully will engage with the client, hopefully will engage with decision-making people about this?

Here we are. Would this be a sort of output that would be sufficient to pass that through? We don't know, but we're proposing that as an approach. Here is part of a decision-making process that possibly could have assisted with things such as the Marks and Spencer's head office on Oxford Street at the moment. That has recently been refused permission to be demolished and rebuilt as a new build.

The reason for that was that they had failed to take into account that the energy grid had not been sufficiently decarbonized, and that was the reason for refusing the building. But again, should we not be providing a more visual output of information that can inform people of that decision-making? We also need to start understanding that it is not just a tear it down, rebuild it approach. We can reuse, we can repurpose, but we need to provide information to make those decisions more efficient and more effective and hopefully get us moving forward in the right direction.

What we want to do using that data is demonstrate to the clients that you have the opportunity to make decisions about your building, and you can see those decisions instantaneously. So we could take here for example the Norfolk County Council building where here was your existing building, here is a proposal to retrofit, remake it, reimagine it, and here we go. We can show you the different outputs of energy and carbon that will be occurring on that, and therefore a more informed decision is being made by our clients. And we are offering a reimagining service which will probably be better for the environment in generally.

So these are some questions that we're now going to pass over to you. Do you think visual outputs are the right tool? How would you see these being presented? Can we show other issues such as overheating-- not just carbon and energy usage? Can we use these outputs to answer questions about statutory regulations compliance such as thermal performance, ventilation, and so forth? And could we look at this decision-making and these visual outputs as an on-the-fly approach, showing clients and designers decisions that they make there with instant feedback?

These are prompts that we're asking you to think about and provide and discuss, and let's have a good discussion about it.

Using the results-- the decision-making. As probably everyone is aware, there are lots of different carbon tool databases out there. There's a couple shown up here on the screen. One is the EC3. These are all interlinked into Insight tools. The Insight tools can also connect to other databases, but with each of these databases sometimes you get differing answers. Well, that can be a little bit confusing.

What we're saying is here why can we not look at and why can we not consider a more global approach to these databases? Let's get a global database connected. Let's give people access to this information so that the whole world is making informed decisions. We need to improve our existing assets. We need to deliver better ones when required, but we need to ensure that these existing buildings meet today, tomorrow, and the future's requirements and reduce the impact we are having on the climate and on general overall lifestyle of people.

As you can see on the slide there, it says the building industry is responsible for 39% of the global energy related to carbon emissions, and we provide 28% for operational emissions. And as Laura alluded to earlier, we don't have enough time to fix this, but we need to really start now as quickly as possible to reduce those figures. Corina, I believe you have something to say as well about the libraries?

CORINA MARINESCU: Yes, Gareth. So we've seen the pallet of tools out there that offer connected data, but some companies are starting to create their own tools and libraries of data. Is this the right path to take? How can we be truly connected if we have custom-made data? So here's a question for the audience. Back to you, Gareth.

GARETH SEWELL: Thank you, Corina. And again, that would be a very good question that the audience could and should respond to, please. So as we move forward with interconnected data, we need to start understanding what we're going to do with this data and how we're going to use it. Can we take live data, link it to our models, and provide better responses?

Again looking back at Norfolk County Hall here for a minute, we have demonstrated with their existing data how their current building is performing. Can we show how the enhancements to their building would impact on that data? Could we have given them opportunities to trial different designs, to see the impact of that?

Norfolk County Council are committed to reducing their energy resource and reducing waste over the next 10-year period. They are decarbonizing and doing the best that they can on it. Having the ability to show that visually to them would be an absolute amazing task to achieve. And again, could we then use that data? Could we then help assist the government? Could we then help assist other companies in making right decisions about their buildings?

In the UK, the UK government has one of the largest built asset portfolio around. So again, this data could really help in moving that forward. What we would like to do here is-- wouldn't it be great that these on-the-fly decisions told you about carbon, told you about your energy? You could update them in real time, especially with fluctuations in pricing costs of energy and so forth.

And imagine that you're sitting in that design team meeting. You're making those decisions, and that client is being presented with these decisions there and then. They can actually make the decisions. There's no delay. There's no waiting a week, two weeks for an answer.

But when we do this, we need to ensure that it works for both experienced people and novices. I'm very much a novice on energy. We need to make certain the client can actually use it. They're the engaged companies. We need real-time world results. And as we're saying there it's got to be easy to use. Everyone should be able to do it.

I would like to now hand over to Corina who is going to assist a little bit on future uses. I'm going to explain a couple of things here, but she will jump in a few spots here. So we are looking at better outcomes. How can we use these tools that enhance our engagement? Having a global database and arena. That database will probably assist you in what your tools are doing hopefully as well.

Using this technology to help reduce the energy and carbon from existing buildings, as well as any new asset that's coming forward. And we must be carbon neutral, and the best carbon neutral asset is the one that you've already built that's existing. We need to break a cycle. And this is a bit of a hard example, but we cannot build, we cannot demolish, we cannot rebuild, we cannot demolish, we cannot rebuild. We need to build once, and we need to repurpose and reimagine the use of the building.

So looking forward with Norfolk County Council and what they're doing, we only have one planet at this moment in time. We need to use the technology to improve what we are doing at the built environment and its approach to historic assets. And as I said, that is a building that is actually built today. Let's actually challenge the norm. Let's start with a reuse-repurpose approach first.

Everything should be able to be reused. Imagine we are almost like a kit of LEGO that would be the best way of doing it. You can always reimagine LEGO in different ways and create a true global energy carbon data set that informs everyone, from those who are most privileged to those who are not as privileged. Let's give everyone the same advantage. I'd like to hand over to Corina now, who's now going to go through the Insights part of this and explain what they are providing.

CORINA MARINESCU: The upcoming segment of the industry talk won't provide all the answers. In fact, I aim to inspire more questions for our discussion as we look at several concepts aimed to help shape the talk. Let's look at Insights tracking key outcomes. So there is no right answer. You can't have one size that fits all. Every building is unique. Each design has a concept. Every design decision helped accomplish something for the building owner, the people using the building, and the community around the building.

Whether it's reduced cost, lower energy consumption, carbon offset, faster execution time, as designers we always have a story to tell. The right answer could be the one that helps you provide the rationale behind specific design decisions because it's important to clearly communicate everything from key inputs and assumptions in order to build trust, set clear targets, assess trade-offs-- between design options, and track overall progress, just like Gareth presented earlier.

Now while existing tools excel in raw data analysis, they often conceal the inner workings of data processing like a black box, or a washing machine in this case. Assumptions, formulas, and supplementary data points may not always be transparent or customizable, which yields outputs that specialists must interpret for conveying insights. This frequently results in an iterative exchange among specialists, designers, and clients.

To address this and to help democratize sustainability analysis to broader audiences, Autodesk is developing next-gen Insight with currently available as a technology preview. What if you could define what is relevant to your analysis, display data from connected sources, factor in what's relevant as a design decision to take, and explore the effect it has on key design performance metrics to see if you're moving closer to the target or not?

Now this screenshot is just a prototype, but you can imagine how it would be useful for a project like Norfolk County Hall having this the ability to create a simple overview, containing the key sustainability metrics, account for project specific factors such as percentage of reused interior partitions, percentage of roof photovoltaic coverage, landscape carbon sequestration? Then all of these different metrics, factors, and design options could be brought together in one place and used to explore and explain decisions on the fly.

How do we enable the comparison between major design options? What is the carbon cost of refurbishing versus replacing the building with a new one? How much carbon was saved by choosing to refurbish the building? What are the most relevant metrics we want to compare and contrast across scenarios? Which factors have the biggest impact on the metrics, and how do we want to visualize the data?

For those tuning in online, please scan the QR code currently visible on your screen and join the conversation on Carbon Insights forum. And if you want to test the tech preview for yourself as we expand the functionality that was presented, please scan the QR code to get involved and help shape the ongoing development.

Now here is a list of other sustainability classes we think you'll enjoy. The ones that are highlighted have been referenced in Gareth's presentation earlier in the QR codes. We appreciate your participation in our industry class, and trust that you have gained valuable insights from this session. Thank you.