Impact Infrastructure has unveiled AutoCASE, a new cloud-based tool that enables triple-bottom line business case analysis to become an integrated part of a Building Information Modeling (BIM) project design workflow.
The analysis tool goes beyond exploring only the engineering aspects of a design to embrace an accounting framework with three parts: social, environmental and financial. This makes triple bottom line business case analysis more affordable, easier to produce and more accessible to infrastructure professionals around the world.
AutoCASE is available in two forms: a plug in for Autodesk’s AutoCAD Civil 3D, a key member of the Autodesk Infrastructure Design Suite Premium and Ultimate, and as a stand-alone service accessed via a web browser. The new cloud-based service helps to automate the process for valuing what have traditionally been considered intangible benefits, such as air pollution, property value and recreational space.
This valuation process uses location-specific data for each project. Impact Infrastructure says AutoCASE gives engineers, architects, designers and finance professionals the flexibility and efficiency to provide rigorous analysis through all stages of infrastructure planning and design.
A report by BCC Researchreleased late last year claimed that the global market for zero net energy (ZNE) commercial buildings is expected to grow to $239.7 million by 2018, with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50.6 percent. This shows growth is being driven by a global green building boom, ongoing governmental regulations and regional environmental concerns.
Last April, Honda unveiled its net zero energy "Smart Home" on the University of California, Davis campus. The building, which includes a charging facility for a Honda Fit EV and is intended to demonstrate Honda's vision for zero-carbon living and personal mobility, will on average generate more electricity from on-site renewable energy than it receives from the local utility.