BIM-Aided Prefabrication for Minimum Waste DIY Timber Houses

BIM-Aided Prefabrication for Minimum Waste DIY Timber Houses

Ostrowska-Wawryniuk, Karolina

Article:

The continuous housing shortage demands efficient ways of design andconstruction. In the context of rising construction standards and shrinkingmanpower, one of the possible answers to the problem is prefabrication orientedtowards do-it-yourself (DIY) construction methods, which could contribute to thelow and middle income housing supply in the market. The article covers theprocess of developing an experimental tool for aiding single-family housingdesign with the use of small-element solid timber prefabrication, suitable for DIYassembly. The presented tool uses the potential of BIM technology adapting atraditionally-designed house to the needs of prefabrication and optimizing it interms of waste generated in the assembly process. The presented experiment wasrealized in the Autodesk Revit environment and incorporates custom generativescripts developed in Dynamo-for-Revit. The prototype analyzed an input modeland converted it into a prefabricated alternative based on the user- andtechnology-specified boundary conditions. The prototype was tested on theexample design of a two-story single-family house. The results compare theautomated optimized model conversion with manual adaptation approach. Theimplemented algorithm allowed for reducing the construction waste by more than50%.

The continuous housing shortage demands efficient ways of design andconstruction. In the context of rising construction standards and shrinkingmanpower, one of the possible answers to the problem is prefabrication orientedtowards do-it-yourself (DIY) construction methods, which could contribute to thelow and middle income housing supply in the market. The article covers theprocess of developing an experimental tool for aiding single-family housingdesign with the use of small-element solid timber prefabrication, suitable for DIYassembly. The presented tool uses the potential of BIM technology adapting atraditionally-designed house to the needs of prefabrication and optimizing it interms of waste generated in the assembly process. The presented experiment wasrealized in the Autodesk Revit environment and incorporates custom generativescripts developed in Dynamo-for-Revit. The prototype analyzed an input modeland converted it into a prefabricated alternative based on the user- andtechnology-specified boundary conditions. The prototype was tested on theexample design of a two-story single-family house. The results compare theautomated optimized model conversion with manual adaptation approach. Theimplemented algorithm allowed for reducing the construction waste by more than50%.

Palavras-chave:

DOI: 10.5151/proceedings-ecaadesigradi2019_177

Referências bibliográficas

• [1]

Como citar:

Ostrowska-Wawryniuk, Karolina; "BIM-Aided Prefabrication for Minimum Waste DIY Timber Houses", p-251-258. In: Proceedings of 37 eCAADe and XXIII SIGraDi Joint Conference, “Architecture in the Age of the 4Th Industrial Revolution”, Porto 2019, Sousa, José Pedro; Henriques, Gonçalo Castro; Xavier, João Pedro (eds.). São Paulo: Blucher, 2019.
ISSN 23186968, DOI 10.5151/proceedings-ecaadesigradi2019_177