Marcello Deel, BIM engineer at BOS Installatiewerken:
‘Stabicad for Revit stands out not only for its user-friendliness, but also for its capabilities.’
BOS Installatiewerken is a family business specializing in the design, construction, renovation, and maintenance of installation and roofing technologies. Both in residential and non-residential construction. While installation work covers all indoor installations, from climate control to gas, electricity, water, and sewage, roofing technology includes flat roof covering, roof insulation, gutters and rainwater drainage, zinc and lead work, and solar systems. “In short, we focus on all the technologies that make a building livable and comfortable,” summarizes Marcello Deel, BIM engineer at BOS Installatiewerken. “Our focus is on a healthy and sustainable living and working environment. We are happy to help make buildings more sustainable. The high-rise renovation in the Overvecht district of Utrecht is an excellent example of this.”
“We like to get involved at an early stage of the project so that we can optimally coordinate architectural details, sustainability, and user comfort,” emphasizes Deel. "The digital Building Information Model (BIM) plays a crucial role in this. We now develop a large proportion of our projects in BIM. By actively collaborating with all construction partners in a single model and regularly comparing notes, surprises and failure costs during implementation are kept to a minimum. In addition, lead times are shortened, while overall quality improves. It is no coincidence that BIM is seen as the standard for the future. We are happy to go along with that."
One complete and user-friendly system
As a BIM software package, BOS Installatiewerken uses Stabicad for Revit, which Deel considers an essential tool for designing fully integrated installations. “Stabicad for Revit stands out not only in terms of user-friendliness, but also in terms of capabilities,” he says. "We can draw, calculate, and generate material lists in one complete system. What's more, designs and modifications are immediately visualised. Implementing the system is very easy. Two three-day training courses were enough to master the program and its most important functionalities and get started independently. Any questions were answered quickly and effectively by the helpdesk staff, who also provided some valuable tips. For example, it is more efficient to divide long pipe runs with many bends and T-pieces into smaller sections and connect them later, because the calculation module can then calculate this more easily."
“Stabicad for Revit stands out not only in terms of user-friendliness, but also in terms of capabilities” - Marcello Deel
From energy-guzzling apartment to energy supplier
The first project that BOS Installatiewerken developed in Stabicad for Revit is the high-rise renovation in Utrecht. With the ‘Inside Out’ project, the Utrecht-based installer demonstrates its openness to new systems and technologies, for example in the areas of sustainability and energy efficiency. “With the ‘Inside Out Prototype Test Flat,’ we are developing and testing a complete and modular renovation system to make high-rise flats energy-efficient,” says Deel. The project is being carried out on behalf of the Bo-Ex housing association. "One of the main reasons for this pilot is the Climate Agreement, which stipulates that by 2030, the first 1.5 million existing homes must be energy-neutral and gas-free. Housing associations in particular—which own approximately 30% of the homes in the Netherlands—are facing an enormous task. High-rise flats such as those on Henriëttedreef are a huge challenge for them, because they have many homes under one roof and offer only limited space for energy generation. Our Inside Out renovation system responds perfectly to this challenge. The system combines smart and multifunctional facades that heat and ventilate the homes sustainably with sustainable energy generation. This allows the apartment building to generate its own energy for electricity consumption, hot water, ventilation, and space heating. The remaining energy can be used to charge electric vehicles.
Making high-rise flats and utility buildings more sustainable on a regular basis
All installation components, including heating, ventilation, and insulation, are brought together in three multifunctional building components, which are fully prefabricated and placed on the outside of the apartment building. Hence the name “Inside Out.” “Thanks to the modular approach, renovation inconvenience for residents is kept to a minimum,” says Deel. “What's more, the concept offers opportunities for standardization, which will come in handy when it comes to making approximately 250,000 similar flats in the Netherlands more sustainable on a large scale. In addition, with a few adjustments, the system can be adapted for use in non-residential construction, which also offers great opportunities. We therefore have high expectations for this concept.”
Unique low-temperature system
The high-rise apartment building on Henriëttedreef is set to become the first energy-producing apartment building in the Netherlands. “By insulating the building properly, energy demand is kept to a minimum,” says Deel. "However, the most important role in the renovation project is played by the installation technology. The apartments in the high-rise building have been disconnected from the district heating network and connected to a low-temperature system with heat pumps. In addition, all old radiators have been replaced by smart heat sources, including heat recovery. A large number of solar panels have also been installed, which generate enough energy to completely eliminate the use of gas."
Design in BIM for optimal integration
To ensure seamless integration of all installation techniques, BOS Installatiewerken developed the complete installation design in Stabicad for Revit. "Thanks to the calculation modules, we were able to calculate the required pipe diameters very easily and quickly. In addition, it quickly became clear how much space the various installation components would take up. Thanks to the link with the MEP content library, we were able to easily generate material lists that specified exactly how many meters of piping, how many and which pipe bends, how many T-pieces, etc. we needed to order. This offered enormous advantages in work preparation. After all, we no longer had to translate our design content into orderable products."
'Inside Out' is a concept developed by BOS Installatiewerken and implemented in collaboration with chain partner Alkondor Hengelo. The modular renovation system was co-developed by Mex Architects, LomboXnet, Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht University, and Bosch Thermotechniek, under the leadership of the Utrecht Sustainability Institute. The Inside Out Prototype Test Flat is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2021.
