Cost Feasibility of Retrofitting Grey Water Technology using Building Information

Modelling in Existing Buildings in Singapore

Building Information Modelling(BIM) is a technology that enhances productivity and unifies

works from multiple disciplines involved in the entire construction value chain. (BIM) is used

all over the world for building and construction purposes, [1] especially in Singapore where

the government is pushing towards maximisation of BIM potential in the built environment.

[2] In recent years, the industry has been moving towards sustainability by encouraging

builders to incorporate environmentally friendly initiatives into their new, upcoming

structures. This is done through the promotion of Green Mark awards for new and old

buildings. [3] Looking into the category of old buildings under resource stewardship, water

consumption is huge criterion for the Green Mark award. [4] This indicates the importance of

water conservation in contributing to building sustainability.

Past research has highlighted the feasibility and water conservation benefits of recycling grey

water. [5,6] There are many instances where grey water systems are implemented around the

world, with a positive impact towards the society around them. [7] However, retrofitting an

existing building with these technologies require analysis into a building’s blueprint, which

can be made easy with the integration of BIM into existing buildings.

The BIM world now has majority of research effort in the sustainability arena is focused on

design, construction, product and material usage as well as energy efficiency. Relatively few

of those academic papers investigate sustainability in demolition and refurbishment of

buildings. [8] Furthermore, the cost of current data capturing techniques used to translate a

building’s feature into digital form is expensive. [9] Building owners are unlikely to be

willing to adopt these sustainability features unless it provides cost benefits in the long run.
Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the cost feasibility of using BIM to

retrofit a grey water system into an existing building in Singapore

References:

[1] Jung, W, G. L. (2015). The Status of BIM Adoption on Six Continents. International

Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering 9(5): 512 - 516.

[2] Building Construction Authority. (2013, August 1). International Experts: More Benefits

can be Reaped from Building Information Modelling [Press release]. Retrieved September

23, 2018, from https://www.bca.gov.sg/newsroom/others/pr01082013_IPE.pdf

[3] Building Construction Authority. (2018, May 20). BCA Green Mark Awards: More are

Riding the Green Building Wave [Press release]. Retrieved September 23, 2018, from

https://www.bca.gov.sg/newsroom/others/PR_GMA2018.pdf

[4] Authority, B. C. (2017). GM ENRB: 2017.

[5] Proença, L. C., & Ghisi, E. (2012). Assessment of Potable Water Savings in Office

Buildings Considering Embodied Energy. Water Resources Management, 27(2), 581-599.

doi:10.1007/s11269-012-0203-1

[6] Zadeh, S., Hunt, D., Lombardi, D., & Rogers, C. (2013). Shared Urban Greywater

Recycling Systems: Water Resource Savings and Economic Investment. Sustainability, 5(7),

2887-2912. doi:10.3390/su5072887

[7] Munoz, Natalie J.(2016) "What Is The Economic Feasibility Of Implementing Grey

Water Infrastructure At The Citywide Level?". Master's Projects and Capstones. 353.
[8] Chong, H.-Y., Lee, C.-Y., & Wang, X. (2017). A mixed review of the adoption of

Building Information Modelling (BIM) for sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142,

4114-4126. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.09.222

[9] Volk, R., Stengel, J., & Schultmann, F. (2014). Building Information Modeling (BIM) for

existing buildings — Literature review and future needs. Automation in Construction, 38,

109-127. doi:10.1016/j.autcon.2013.10.023