BIM Enabled Optimisation Framework for Environmentally Responsible and Structurally Efficient Design Systems

A parametric optimisation framework has been explored and established to perform and analyse both a structure’s efficiency and its environmental performance as part of a holistic BIM approach. Normally, this methodology is achieved through coupling various simulation tools. However, in the current study it is integrated into a single platform, in which all design variables can be manually controlled. A key component of the developed methodology is the custom RobOpt application, which is implemented to perform all of the structural design operations and the Eurocode verification. RobOpt is the multifunctional structural plug-in that has been established using the Application Programming Interface (API) of Robot and the .NET framework of C♯, and it inherits several structural functionalities based on Robot Finite Element Method (FEM) engine. RobOpt allows for a rapid manipulation of input parameters in order to analyse different cases, and it provides feedback via integrated visualisation analysis results and a 3-dimensional representation of the structural model.