FYPs/Thesis/Journal from Higher Education Institutions in Hong Kong

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Institution Title Type Date Author(s) Abstract Link
HKUST Social BIMCloud – A Distributed Cloud-based BIM Framework for Object-based Lifecycle Information Exchange and Supply Chain Integration Thesis 08/2015 Moumita DAS Due to its fragmented and multi-domain architecture, the AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) industry faces the issues of data transfer efficiency and data consistency while exchanging large BIM files. In this thesis, a cloud based BIM framework, called Social BIMCloud is presented for building design and management of lifecycle activities. Social BIMCloud addresses the issue of data transfer efficiency by reducing the size of the BIM files being exchanged through dynamic splitting and merging mechanisms. Data consistency is also improved by hosting a common integrated BIM model which is updated partially instead of generating a new BIM file for every new change, which usually leads to data duplicity. This collaborative framework, Social BIMCloud is termed “Social” in particular, as it captures and manages the formal and informal social interactions that take place in a construction project. The methodology for capturing and managing social interactions through Social BIMCloud has been demonstrated in this thesis by integrating it with popular BIM software, Autodesk Revit.

Social BIMCloud provides the scope for extending and integrating it with external planning and analysis applications in a plug-and-play manner for lifecycle integration. In this thesis, methodologies and demonstrations have been presented for extending and integrating Social BIMCloud for – (1) construction supply chain (CSC), (2) green building design, and (3) construction site layout planning. For CSC integration, an ontology based web service framework is presented. Ontologies incorporate data semantics in the information exchanged. Therefore, the information exchanging parties, i.e. software applications in the case of automatic information exchange, comprehend the meaning of the information and therefore facilitate smooth flow of heterogeneous information. Two example ontologies have developed by studying the CSC and those ontologies have been used to enrich the data model of Social BIMCloud for accommodating and supporting CSC integration.

Popular energy simulation software were studied to design and extend the schema of Social BIMCloud in order to integrate it with standard simulation and analysis engines through a web service based framework. Social BIMCloud has also been extended for managing construction logistics by integrating it with a construction site layout planning (CSLP) engine. For this integration, the data model of Social BIMCloud has been extended for construction schedule information like activity start date, end date and the relation of each activity with one or more building elements and the vice versa. Finally this thesis discusses the scope of future extensions and improvements on Social BIMCloud for facilitating smooth flow of information in the construction industry.
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HKUST Automatic transformation of different levels of detail in 3D GIS city models in CityGML Journal 07/2015 Deng, Y., and Cheng, J.C.P. 3D Geographic Information System (GIS) models are increasingly used for planning and analyses on a city level. Defining 3D GIS city models in different levels of detail (LoD) is often needed to browse and handle large models more efficiently. In this paper, a methodology framework for automatic transformation of different LoDs in CityGML is presented and illustrated. A new exterior shell extraction algorithm was developed from the Ray Tracing algorithm for classifying building surfaces as interior or exterior. A transformation framework among each LoD was developed based on the new exterior shell extraction algorithm. The transformation framework also includes an additional LoD called LoD3.5 that the authors proposed in this paper. The new LoD can satisfy the needs of applications which require information about interior rooms while maintaining a small data storage. The results show that the new exterior shell extraction algorithm can help achieve an automatic derivation of LoDs in CityGML. Link
HKUST A review of the efforts and roles of the public sector for BIM adoption worldwide Journal 07/2015 Cheng, J.C.P., and Lu, Q. Building Information Modeling (BIM) adoption is spreading through the public sector (including government bodies and non-profit organizations) around the globe in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. The public sector plays a key role in supporting and encouraging the adoption of BIM in the industry. Currently there is no comprehensive study on the efforts and roles of the public sector for BIM adoption. In this paper, different kinds of the efforts that the public sector has put for BIM adoption worldwide are reviewed to highlight the successful implementations of BIM and to identify the gaps in some countries. The countries covered in this paper are grouped into four regions - the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australasia. In each region, efforts of the public sector in different countries to BIM implementations including establishment of BIM programs and committees, organization of BIM activities and seminars, setting up of different BIM goals and promises, and preparation of BIM guidelines and standards are described and compared. This paper also identifies six major possible roles of the public sector for BIM adoption. The roles played by the public sector in each selected country are summarized and evaluated. Link
HKUST Developing a Building Information Modeling Framework for Infrastructure Facility Management FYP 06/2015 LO Tsz Fung
TAM, Siu-hung
There is a global trend of green buildings in recent years. The BEAM Plus green building standard developed by the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) in 2009 has certified over 200 projects in Hong Kong. Green buildings have utilized various design features and operation technologies to reduce energy, waste and water consumption, improve indoor environmental quality and increase building performance.

Facilities Management (FM) is the total management of all services that support the core businesses of an organization in a building. Nowadays, the design and structure of buildings are getting increasingly sophisticated and the need for specialization in management and maintaining them at high quality is vital. Facility managers have to acquire, integrate, edit, and update diverse facility information ranging from building elements, data, operational costs, room allocation, contract types, to maintenance. However, FM professionals have to face challenges resulting in cost and time related to productivity, efficiency and effectiveness losses. Building Information Modeling (BIM) seeks to integrate building lifecycle, provide improvements and help to overcome such those challenges.

Thus, the aims of this project is to explore how BIM can contribute to and improve the FM profession and develop a BIM-based framework that facilitates the facility operations and management process of civil infrastructure facilities. To explore the technical feasibility of the proposed approach, It aim the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Jockey Club Institute for Advance Study (IAS) as a target to implement and test, which is one of the world’s leading centers of research and intellectual inquiry, aiming to drive major advances and discoveries with its inter-disciplinary research locally and worldwide and establish itself as an international centre for excellence. For this purpose, the FM’s key tasks for indoor environmental quality improvement of green building features are identified and evaluated and a BIM model for the IAS building is developed and experimented by the FM tasks. As a result, such simulation helps shaping the vision, direction and policy for future energy and aviation systems.
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HKUST Analysis and Evaluation of Green Building Features Using Building Information Modeling FYP 06/2015 LO Lok
Kwok Hoi Ling Helen
The number of green buildings is growing rapidly worldwide and the construction of green building can be facilitated by Building Information Modeling (BIM), which also becomes popular in recent years. At the same time, increasing number of new and current buildings are getting certified as green buildings by energy codes.

The project aims to study the green features of the HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) building as it is designed to reduce energy consumption with daylighting. Lighting and space cooling are the two major annual electric consumption by while spacing heating is the major annual fuel end use. The energy simulation results reveal that similar simulation engine generates similar results.

Alternative designs are created to further improve the energy saving efficiency of the IAS building and are compared with the original IAS building. The best orientation for the IAS building is to be rotated 150o clockwise from the original position. The building should also have occupancy and daylighting sensors and controls installed. The curtain walls should be replaced by translucent wall panels (U-0.10, SHGC 0.06, Tvis 0.04). The results agrees with the potential energy chart which indicates window glass as the building features that has the greatest energy saving potential. It is recommended that to modify the IAS building with all three aspects to maximize energy reduction.

LEED and BEAM Plus Compliance are checked with alternative designs. Only the case with the IAS building model having translucent wall panels (U-0.10, SHGC 0.06, Tvis 0.04) and the combined case earn LEED EA 1 credits; whereas all cases mentioned above are eligible for BEAM Plus Section 4.1 EU 1 credits.
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HKUST BIM Application for Construction and Demolition Waste Minimization Report 06/2015 TAO Jiali Nowadays the construction industry is under pressure to explore effective and efficient techniques and tools to decrease its escalating waste production. Many countries have taken initiatives to reduce the construction and demolition waste. However, the current approaches, techniques and tools focus on separate projects onsite and limited effort is invested to put attention on pre-construction waste generation related to supply chain management issues and procurement, design and tender stages.

Therefore this study aims to develop the BIM-based approaches for C&D waste in the aspect of waste estimation, 3R, prefabrication and clash detection. Besides, this study will also demonstrate and validate the developed approaches for C&D waste minimization using example scenarios. All in all, the application of BIM in C&D waste minimization can be better realized. C&D Waste estimation via the quantity takeoff tool and waste index can clearly show the accurate amount of the waste before the commencement of the works. Classifying the different construction material in BIM model and set up suitable C&D waste management planning definitely improve the efficiency of the waste management. Providing accurate information of precast units ahead of time and assisting the supply chain management can be achieved in BIM model. Visual clash detection reduces rework to some extent.
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