Selection of Sustainable Materials for Energy Savings of Infrastructure-Transportation Project in Ahmedabad, India Using BIM and FCM

Abstract

This study aims to develop a methodology for the selection of sustainable building materials for the reduction of embodied and operational energy for a complex infrastructuretransportation project, i.e., elevated metro rail station of Ahmedabad, India by applicationof building information modelling (BIM) and factor comparison method (FCM). Evaluation ofthe alternative building materials and designs to obtain the best energy efficiency has beencarried out using Revit Architecture 2018 and Green Building Studio. The achieved averageembodied energy savings is about 73%, which is by the suggested alternative materialsinstead of existing ones. By application of FCM, which is a multi-criteria decision making(MCDM) technique, it has been observed that the polished Kota-stone flooring, stone-floor-tilecladding, toughened fibre-glass ceiling and insulated fibre-glass door appear to be the mostfeasible sustainable material for flooring, wall cladding, ceiling, openings and fenestrations forthe design of the metro rail station box in Ahmedabad, India. This study contributes significantknowledge in the field by highlighting the application of BIM as a tool for sustainabledevelopment and recommends a few alternate building materials and sustainable designswhich would result in the reduction of energy usage for the metro-rail-station and otherbuilding structures leading to a sustainable future