The Effect of Using Nanotechnology in Construction Processes Applied by BIM

: Artificial intelligence, programming, and cloud computing are the focus of attention and direction for students and workers in various applications of science these days. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an example of one of these applications in the field of the construction industry. It has a great revolutionary impact on professionals' way of work, strategy of cooperation between construction parties, and business management. It is a practical approach that can manage the construction projects' life cycle activities and be used by the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction specialists (AEC) to ensure the projects' excellent quality, reduce cost, and facilitate communication among different contractors. And since the emergence of nanotechnology, it was employed in the field of building and finishing materials and has proven its great ability to improve and enhance the efficiency of building performance. Nanotechnology is becoming a future trend that is dreamed of by various participants in construction. The research aims to determine the role of nanotechnology in each stage of the construction project life cycle based on the RIBA plan of work classification. Then specify the degree of importance of each stage. This is achieved by exploring the opinions of field experts using an electronic questionnaire and evaluating the results using the Relative Importance Index (RII) analytical tool. Through this, the most important stages of the project that nanotechnology affects are identified and the role of BIM at these stages is determined to help stakeholders of construction projects using BIM in making decisions and evaluate the importance of project phases.


I.INTRODUCTION
Building design and construction is a complex process that requires a tremendous amount of collaboration, management, and hard work.Building Information Modelling (BIM) is considered a digital revolution in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry.It is the process of utilizing models created by the project team to improve coordination and scheduling while upgrading overall working quality and minimizing project risks [1].It is applied with specific stages (Plan -Design -Construct and Operate) including the project's lifecycle.Each stage has its own requirements and outcomes.In addition to being an inclusive solution to construction challenges, BIM has been presented as a technology and process that can radically digitize the construction lifecycle, from inception to operation of an asset.The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) have adjusted its processes to align with BIM with recommendations of functions needed to be delivered at the various lifecycle phases of facilities and produce (RIBA) Plan of works 2020.
Nanotechnology is the design, characterization, production and application of forms, mechanisms, and systems through controlled manipulation of shapes and dimensions at Nano scale that produces forms and systems with at least one improved or new property [2].It makes changes to some building materials properties to improve current characteristics to be lighter, stronger structural sections, lower maintenance coatings, better cementing materials, and high-quality thermal insulation.For characterizing the engineering controls and for personal protection to reduce the risk to a minimum, nanotechnology must be connected by BIM process [3], [4].This study tends to bridge this gap by introducing BIM definition and process framework, RIBA plan of work and its stages and finally nanotechnology and nanomaterials in the construction sector.Through the study, the mechanism of involving nanomaterials in the construction industry is regulated according to the RIBA classification of project phases.That comes with the aim to define the role of BIM that serves nanotechnology through these phases.

A. BIM Definition and Application Benefits
Building Information Modelling (BIM) is characterized as a process of generation and management of the "building data" during its lifecycle.In BIM, the building is analyzed into separate components including slabs, columns, roofs, walls, openings, etc.These components are defined architecturally and structurally with all needed information and predicted constraints, then shared between project team members [6].Three main missions are provided by the BIM for AEC, visualization, coordination, and prefabrication.
Visualization: is the process which provides a better understanding about what the final product will look like and helps in making decisions about spaces aesthetics and functionality.It also helps in the field of good standard practice for the physical mock-up process and during bidding phase.
Coordination: including cooperation between the project team in the early stages.So that, the two-dimensional drawings provided by the architect are integrated with the threedimensional drawings, especially in the fields of electrical and mechanical engineering and steel fabricators.Design errors are significantly reduced and the work to be done is fully understood better.
Prefabrication: It reduces site labor cost and time and increases accuracy in a good quality construction.BIM can provide this level accuracy by including the specifications, sequence, finishes, and the 3D visualization for each component.Prefabricated beam design would save enormous time, money, and effort compared with onsite beam design.Beams, roof structural tests, curtain wall prefabricated parts are all examples of prefabricated elements that BIM contributes to Pre-design and prefabrication of them [7].

Management
Deals with the management processes details to be adopted on the project through BIM.BIM presented many benefits either economic, environmental, or social to a project which is considered the main asset, and to the AEC sectors.Generally, BIM improves the design and implementation quality through all project phases [8], [9] as shown in Table 1.

B. BIM Process Framework Along Project Lifecycle
Raising the ability to get the right information, at a specific time and in an organized format is a key benefit of using BIM process.The success of this process depends on the performance of four connected parties.These parties include people and their skills, policy, technical, and the BIM core process [10].The integration between The Employer's Information Requirements (EIR), and the BIM execution plan (BEP) helps in generating building information models of planning, documentation, drawings, and manuals as shown in Figure 1.The EIR referred to the needs of the client at each project stage while, BEP referred to the implementation strategy [11], as illustrated in Table 2.

C. BIM and RIBA Digital Plan of Work
For ensuring better information management within the BIM process, (RIBA digital plan of work) can be used.It is a systematic method for arranging works for construction projects during their life cycle.It was created by The Royal Institute of British Architects in 1963 and becomes the most used plan in the UK [6], [12].It brings greater clarity to the different project stages for all stakeholders.RIBA divides the PLC into 8 stages.They can be combined with BIM levels as shown in Table 3 with a detailed clarifying for BIM stages which illustrated in Table 4 [13] and as shown in the successive tables from Table 5 to 12 according to RIBA actions and outcomes for each stage which all referred to Ref. [12], [14].

D. Nano Technology Definition and Scope of Applications
Nanomaterials (NMs) are those materials that have at least one dimension in the scale ranging from 1 -100 nanometers [4].Consequently, these materials have properties or characteristics distinguished from others, where all materials behave differently at the nanoscale.The European Commission (EC) also defines them as materials that contain nanoparticles or nanofibers within their internal tissues.It is a slightly more specific definition than the definition of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which includes any materials that have internal structures on the nanoscale, including the presence of nanoscale holes, pores or nanofilms.It is usually associated with innovative ideas and unfortunately, with health risks.The uses of NMs have extended to the construction industry and have become necessary sometimes to improve the performance of various building elements [3], as shown in Appendix (1).The science that deals with the applications of these materials and supports its development acceleration is nanotechnology [4].It has been approved that by the year 2025, up to 50% of building materials will be nanomaterials [15].These currently used materials are classified into metal oxide nanoparticles and Carbon-based nanomaterials.

E. Nano Technology Through Building Life Cycle
Through buildings life cycle, it has been approved that the impact of nanotechnology appears in several stages like construction, operation & maintenance, and demolition.But the most evident one is the construction phase.Nanomaterials (NMs) are involved in all building systems whether structural, enclosure or mechanical systems as shown in Figure 2.
During these phases, workers are exposed to different nano particles, even MNMs or NEP [5].These materials have an impact on public health and safety.About 75% of workers and employers in construction aren't aware of NMs usage procedures or risks, and the available information about these raw materials is usually lost or get lack as the information travels through the chain of users and different construction phases [5].Consequently, potential Exposure flows and Scenarios (ES) in each process and NMs flow involved in these ES must be identified.

BIM Stage 1: Object-Based Modelling
Create single-disciplinary models for either design (D), construction (C), or operation (O), and exporting basic data such as openings schedules, concrete properties...etc.to apply coordination between 2D documentation and 3D visualizations.

BIM Stage 2: Model-Based Collaboration
Active collaboration and develop performed models after.collaboration applied within one or two PLC phases, like the Design -Design integration of architectural and structural models (DD), or the Design-Operations integration of architectural and maintenance work models (DO).
Note: Facility Management (FM) is an organizational function that integrates people, site, and the building process within the built environment to improving the quality of life.Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) is a modern data format, used to facilitate the handover process to building's owners.Referring to the capabilities and contributions of nanomaterials, the application areas of their usage can be summarized as shown in Figure 3 and Table 13.These applications show the massive correlation between nanomaterials and green architecture as well as sustainability.They have been classified into (1), Develop Initial Planning, (2) Construction and insulation material advancement, (3) safety and security, (4) indoor quality, (5) material surface advancement, (6) energy generation and storage, (7) environmental impact control, in addition to (8) Adding technical values to the project [16].

F. Nanotechnology and BIM Construction Industry
Nanomaterial types and usage which have been identified in the field of construction industry and the coincidence of those uses through the PLC, need an organized tool to support its applications.BIM is going to perform its tasks of visualization, coordination, and prefabrication for these applications.

III. METHODOLOGY
The study was divided into three sections.Through the first section, identifying the BIM scope of work during projects lifecycle according to RIBA plan of work was discussed, after introducing the BIM definition and benefits across different project stakeholders.In the same way, nanotechnology, and its impact on the building construction industry through project life cycle were addressed.This comes after a brief on nanotechnology and its most prominent materials in construction issues.Finally, the research attempted to determine nanotechnology applications through BIM process.
While the second section, as illustrated in Figure 4, includes joining the three triangle vertices to configure nanotechnology applications through BIM project supported by RIBA plan of work.By merging the outcomes from the first section, we can build the next configuration illustrated in Table 14.Determine the need for using nanotechnology in the project according to client's needs"

2
Analysis previous projects to evaluate the effectiveness of nanomaterials impact and study their strategic challenges Stage 1: Preparation and brief

3
Determine the outputs of the use of nanomaterials, whether sustainable or quality outputs, and impact on the surrounding environment.

4
Searching for nanomaterials and products available in the market

5
Classification of products according to their applications or supporting functions and according to public health and safety.

6
Selecting appropriate nanomaterials and products and confirming compatibility with environmental requirements like climate parameters, building style, and lifespan.

7
Incorporating the cost of using nanomaterials into the project budget Visualization, coordination, and prefabrication for nano products 10 Introducing nanotechnology in the concept of design in all parametric design models.

11
Reviewing the structural and architectural design and complementary works after using nanomaterials.

Stage 3: Spatial Coordination 12
Studying the mutual effect between site conditions and the project after using nanotechnology

13
Setting a policy and time for introducing nanomaterials in the construction and finishing stages.

Stage 4: Technical design 14
Completing all detailed project drawings and technical specifications that include nanomaterials as part of it.

15
Completing the risk management plan resulting from the use of nanomaterials and calculating the exposure limits.

16
Announcing the policy of dealing with nanomaterials in the implementation and operation phases to the team members

Build
Comparing potential Exposure flows and Scenarios (ES) with occupational exposure limits and activate protective devices Periodic audits, integration of nano products in COBie as-built models 17 Achieving the main benefits of using nanomaterials listed in Table 3

24
Evaluation of the impact of using nanotechnology on the project (were the expected benefits achieved?)The third section, a baseline survey (electronic questionnaire) was designed based on the previous table to determine the most phases of the project in which the impact of nanotechnology is most prominent according to RIBA plan of work.Results will affect many design decisions while using nanotechnology in projects built with BIM system.
Multidisciplinary stakeholders (30 experts) involved in BIM projects with other architectural design interested in smart and nano materials (S&NM) were selected, then 30 electronic questionnaires were distributed as illustrated in Table 15.
The first part of the questionnaire evaluates the effect of nanotechnology through the four projects life cycle phases (plan, design, construct and operate), while the second part measures that effect according to RIBA plan of work which was classified as shown in Table 14 into 24 factors.
Subsequently, the results of the electronic questionnaire were collected and analyzed.Statistical analysis was applied using Relative Importance Index (RII).It gives weights to input factors and ranked them according to degree of importance using the next formula (1) [23], [24]: where, W is the sum of grades given to each factor by all respondents (ranging from 1 to 5), A is the highest grade (5), and N is the total number of respondents (30).This formula was entered into Microsoft Excel to facilitate final ranking giving the importance level ranges from 0 to 1 as shown in Table 16.
Given grades represent the level of agreement of the question which is measured using "Likert Scale" where:  Coefficient of Variance (CV) is also measured.It is defined as the ratio between the SD and the mean of values, expressing variability of sample dataset entered by respondents [26].Low values indicate to more acceptable results as following: CV<10: very good, 10-20: good, 20-30: acceptable, and CV>30: not acceptable.
All SD values were near to the mean, and average of CV was 12.556, which means that respondents opinions were balanced and homogeneous.

IV. RESULTS
Results of the study is mainly related to the electronic questionnaire as illustrated in Table 17 and Table 18.Where, from the RII statistical analysis, and after verifying correlation and homogeneity of the dataset sample, it was found that the extent of interference of nanotechnology effect going through all PLC phases, as most experts consider that it affects the performance of each substage.The most important affected standard PLC stages and their corresponding RIBA plan of work phases are determined as following:  Plan, design, construction, and operation is the resultant order for the effect of nanotechnology, while in RIBA stages, some details were added to these phases.Stage1 (Preparation and brief) comes first, then Stage 0 (Strategic Definition).Stages 3,4 and 5 come in the middle order, respectively.Finally stage 2 and 7.
 According to global ranking, 50% of stage 0, 75% of stage 1, 50% of stage 3, 33% of stages 4 and 5 were from the top 10 of the affected substages by nanotechnology. Stage 7 totally has the largest part of the last 5 affected substages.

V.DISCUSSION
Regarding the electronic questionnaire results analysis, according to the project stages ranking presented in the last table, the role of BIM is highlighted in most prominent stages as following: Through stage 0: BIM is relied upon to recall project models in which nanotechnology was used, analyze its elements and benefit from it.That gives an indication of the necessity of accurately recording project data and evaluating post-operational performance because it is considered an indicator of success.
Through stage 1: BIM is going to apply the safe design policy to health and the surrounding environment, and through the material data sheet that is recorded, the characteristics of each nanomaterial, operating considerations, maintenance needs, safety measures in case of sudden accidents are identified.In addition to Calculate and evaluate permissible exposure levels.The different uses of nanomaterials and their allocations are analyzed in this stage.The role of value engineering, which is managed and organized by BIM, also emerged.
Through stage 4: It is the most important part for (AEC), especially architectural designers where BIM models are visualized and coordinated including involved nanomaterials from all disciplines according to their field of use.It is the one in which special calculations are made, such as: Natural ventilation system analyses, Thermal comfort analyses, Solar radiation and lighting analyses, Carbon emission analyses, Energy performance analyses and others mentioned in Table 13.
Through stage 5, 6: Risk management plan is activated, exposure levels are monitored and compared to the permissible levels, with the necessary measurements being made at each implementation stage and upon final project submission compared with the COBie.
Through stage 3: Site conditions and determinants are added to the models that will be created in the fourth 4. The average of (Coefficient of Variance) 12.556 Through stage 2: Includes evaluating the risk management plan within BIM.
Through stage 7: Ensuring the efficiency and safety of operation and display maintenance schedules, in addition to recording project details to become a database for another new project.

VI. CONCLUSIONS
Nanotechnology which deals with the smallest material particles and thus affects its properties is no longer a modern technology, it attracts many workers in the construction industry due to its outstanding effect in the field of improving construction and finishes materials, such as raising the capabilities of concrete, steel, insulation materials, paints, finishes, and restoration work for historical buildings.In addition to its distinguished additives in the field of glass, whether insulating light, heat, self-cleaning, fire resistance and breakability.Integration and inclusion of these materials in construction projects require special planning and arrangement of works.It begins with identifying the main needs and usage motivations, applying value engineering, as well as the implementation and operation phases.Therefore, the classification and arrangement of the importance of the role of nanotechnology in the various PLC using the RIBA classification is an effective indicator for all members involved in the construction industry for how to deal with each stage.In the relevant context, BIM supports these stages prominently, where it can also contribute to achieving the desired results of nanotechnology and organize the tasks in which nanotechnology is involved between architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC).Through the research, the importance of nanotechnology was studied in each stage of PLC and the role of BIM in those stages has been identified.The research verified the importance of initial stages represented in planning stage which corresponding with stages from 0 to 4 in RIBA plan of work compared to the design, construction, and operation stages, which reflects the importance of accurate initial data analysis.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Nano Application in construction field through PLC

(Grade 5 -
EI) = Extremely important-(Grade 4-I) = important -(Grade 3-A) = Average-(Grade 2-NI) = Not important -(Grade 1-ENI) = Extremely not important.Global ranking of each factor (24 factors) is also calculated by multiplying the relative weight of the factor by the weight of the calculated weight of the PLC phase.Standard Deviation (SD) is calculated to measure the amount of dispersion of the inputs, low values that tend to approach the mean indicate data closeness and balance [25]. = √ ∑ (  − ̅ )

Table 2 . BIM main data types [10, 11] BIM Information The Employer's Information requirements (EIR) Technical
includes details of software platforms, definitions of levels of detail etc.

Table 3 . Construction Projects Life cycle phases (PLC) according to RIBA plan of work
Determining client needs, financial capacity, feasibility study, previous projects, site capabilities conceptualization, programming, and cost planning construction planning and detailing D2 C2 architectural, structural and systems design construction, manufacturing, and procurement D3 C3 analysis, detailing, coordination, and specification commissioning, as built and handover

Table 6 . RIBA stage 1 and BIM related applications Stage 1: Preparation and brief
-

Table 7 . RIBA stage 2 and BIM related applications
-Undertake Design Reviews with client and Project Stakeholders -Prepare Stage Design Program Outcomes -The architectural concept was approved by the client and matching with the project briefFollow

Table 7 . RIBA stage 2 and BIM related applications BIM
objective -Facilitate communication between the designer and the owner.-Successful visualization of the design to give clear decisions with minimum impact on project budget and duration.-Obtaining information about cost into a concept design parametric model.-Integrate site conditions and supply chain capabilities into the project.-Engaging other design disciplines and engineering requirements into the concept design stage.-Prepare sustainability strategy including energy analysis.

Table 9 . RIBA stage 4 and BIM related applications
Stage 4: Technical Design RIBA Core Tasks -Develop architectural and engineering technical design -Prepare and coordinate design team Building Systems information -Prepare and integrate specialist subcontractor Building Systems information -Prepare stage Design Program Outcomes -All design information required to manufacture and construct the project completed BIM objective (The most complicated stage in the whole project lifecycle, based on the quality of previous stage) -Enriching BIM model with construction non-graphical information about construction sequence and methods.-Engagingconstructionteam in the technical design.-Facilitatethecoordinationbetween procurement plans and construction sequence (4D model).Activities -Integrate construction sequence into BIM model.-ProvidePlatform to enable site team to comment, inquire and navigate through BIM model.

Table 10 . RIBA stage 5 and BIM related applications
-Provide Platform to enable site team to comment, inquire and navigate through BIM model.-3Dlaserscanning of built elements.Deliverables-As-built models.-Simulations of site logistics and construction sequence.

Table 11 . RIBA stage 6 and BIM related applications
Handing over the building in line with the usage strategy plan -Undertake review of Project Performance -Undertake seasonal Commissioning -Rectify defects -Complete initial aftercare tasks including final additions after occupancy assessment Outcomes -Building handed over, Aftercare initiated, and Building Contract concluded

Table 12 . RIBA stage 7 and BIM related applications
BIM objective-Learning from project experience Activities -Extract data from BIM models and CDE records about overall project performance.Deliverables -Quantitative data about cost, time, resources… etc.

Table . 13 Application areas of Nanomaterials and BIM supporting tool. [5,17,18,19,20]
[20] Prevention in selecting materials: Safe by Design for the design of MNMs or NEP[20]Plan Risk Assessment:including sharing information about used MNMs through Material Safety Datasheets (MSDS) and defining potential Exposure flows and Scenarios (ES) with occupational exposure limits .According to Table3and future upgrades and Figure 4. Risk Protection:using protective devices like respiratory protective devices, gloves, protective clothing Design Risk Management Model (RMM) and intergrate it with any management system & choose suitable Toolkit Follow Table.