A method for integrating occupational indoor air quality with building information modeling for scheduling construction activities

Abstract

The occupational indoor air quality during construction plays a role in determining workers’ health as construction activities frequently generate airborne pollutants. This paper presents a methodology to predict the concentration of air pollutants during construction activities using building information modeling (BIM) and schedule the activities to limit the pollutant concentration within acceptable limits. This method allows the stakeholders to determine and predict the indoor air quality at the construction site before actual construction work. The proposed method was applied to predict the concentration of PM10 during dry wall sanding in a new residence as a case study. Using BIM technology PM10 concentration was predicted during drywall sanding, which ranged from 12.8 to 29.5 mg/m3. Also the hourly PM10 concentration level and the production rate of the drywall activity was adjusted to reduce the concentration level from 20 mg/m3 to the applicable standard of 10 mg/m3. The unique contribution of this research compared to previous research on indoor air quality and BIM is the development of a new method that integrates occupational indoor air quality with building information modeling for the assessment of the occupational environment for construction workers. More specifically, this paper uses BIM to assess the occupational indoor air quality and schedule construction activities to limit the exposure of workers to prescribed guidelines.