BIM application in design and evaluation acoustic performances of buildings

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a process with an increasing diffusion in the construction market that leads to considerable savings in realization times and building management costs. The BIM also allows interchange of data for interoperability between various computer applications for the most varied purposes and uses (management, monitoring, performance calculation). Consequently, application of Building Performance Modeling (BPM), that is the use of BIM models for calculating the performance of the building, is becoming an important aspect of building design. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the information contained in BIM data structure that can be used to design or to evaluate, through field measurements, compliance with acoustic classes or, in general, the acoustic performances of a building. Nevertheless, the analysis of IFC (Industrial Foundation Classes) data format, developed by BuildingSMART and associated with BIM as open standard for sharing data, highlights some benefits and some shortcomings for application in building acoustic field. In this work the BIM process for the design and performance evaluation of a building made according to the CLT construction system is shown, pointing out the potential and the limitations of this method. Finally, field measurements were carried out to verify the calculated acoustic performances and to evaluate the reliability of these tools for supporting acoustic design of buildings