Kieran Timberlake and PE International have developed Tally, a new analysis tool to help BIM users keep better score of their projects’ complete environmental footprints. When used alongside other critical studies like daylighting simulation and energy modeling, BIM tools like Tally can help construction professionals move towards data-driven analysis for whole building life cycle assessment, writes TriplePundit.com.
Kieran Timberlake explains Tally:
Quantifying environmental impact typically involves performing a Life Cycle Assessment, which is a relatively new and confounding practice for most architects. Currently, no efficient means exists to evaluate environmental impact of materials during the design and planning process, when it can have the most influence on design decisions and building performance. An architect needs this impact data at the time of material specification, but the laborious process required for calculating embodied environmental impact across a broad range of design decisions prevents this from happening at crucial moments in the design process.
In principle, Building Information Modeling (BIM) ought to enable architects to acquire this information, but in practice, projects are not modeled to a sufficient level of detail to account for all of the materials in a building at their actual volume. In order to address these challenges, we invented Tally™, a Revit app that allows users to imbue each assembly with information about the architectural products it contains. Tally™ quantifies embodied energy along with other environmental impacts and emissions to land, air, and water. It can be used for whole-building analysis or for comparative analyses of various design options, and it can account for the diverse range of material classes defined in a BIM model, as well as materials that are not modeled explicitly.
For more on Tally, visit: http://kierantimberlake.com/pages/view/95/tally/parent:4.
Related Stories
| Dec 3, 2013
‘BIM for all’ platform pays off for contractor
Construction giant JE Dunn is saving millions in cost avoidances by implementing a custom, cloud-based BIM/VDC collaboration platform.
| Dec 3, 2013
Historic Daytona International Speedway undergoing $400 million facelift
The Daytona International Speedway is zooming ahead on the largest renovation in the Florida venue’s 54-year history. Improvements include five redesigned guest entrances, an extended grandstand with 101,000 new seats, and more than 60 new trackside suites for corporate entertaining.
| Dec 3, 2013
Creating a healthcare capital project plan: The truth behind the numbers
When setting up a capital project plan, it's one thing to have the data, but quite another to have the knowledge of the process.
| Dec 3, 2013
Architects urge government to reform design-build contracting process
Current federal contracting laws are discouraging talented architects from competing for federal contracts, depriving government and, by inference, taxpayers of the best design expertise available, according to AIA testimony presented today on Capitol Hill.
| Dec 3, 2013
Construction spending hits four-year peak after rare spike in public outlays
An unusual surge in public construction in October pushed total construction spending to its highest level since May 2009 despite a dip in both private residential and nonresidential activity.
| Nov 27, 2013
BIG's 'oil and vinegar' design wins competition for the Museum of the Human Body [slideshow]
The winning submission by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and A+ Architecture mixes urban pavement and parkland in a flowing, organic plan, like oil and vinegar, explains Bjarke Ingels.
| Nov 27, 2013
Retail renaissance: What's next?
The retail construction category, long in the doldrums, is roaring back to life. Send us your comments and projects as we prepare coverage for this exciting sector.
| Nov 27, 2013
Pediatric hospitals improve care with flexible, age-sensitive design
Pediatric hospitals face many of the same concerns as their adult counterparts. Inpatient bed demand is declining, outpatient visits are soaring, and there is a higher level of focus on prevention and reduced readmissions.
| Nov 27, 2013
Exclusive survey: Revenues increased at nearly half of AEC firms in 2013
Forty-six percent of the respondents to an exclusive BD+C survey of AEC professionals reported that revenues had increased this year compared to 2012, with another 24.2% saying cash flow had stayed the same.
| Nov 27, 2013
Wonder walls: 13 choices for the building envelope
BD+C editors present a roundup of the latest technologies and applications in exterior wall systems, from a tapered metal wall installation in Oklahoma to a textured precast concrete solution in North Carolina.