Principles of Professional and Cognitive Skills

Question: Discuss about the Principles of Professional and Cognitive Skills. Answer: Introduction: Here in this report a hot water unit is selected with the help of the principles of Building Information Modelling ( BIM ). The hot water unit is going to be built in a place where a two storey house is situated at present. The building is known as 9 Montclair Ave Brighton the area of the location is about 300 square meters. This building is going to be demolished and a dwelling is going to be built in the same place. Here the owners have decided that a hot water unit of high efficiency is going to be built in this place, but they have not decided the type of the hot water unit. Here in this report first of all the problems regarding the selection of the hot water unit and the problems regarding the timing of the flow of the information are solved. Selection of hot water unit through Building Information Modelling ( BIM ) principles: Before selecting the hot water units, first of all the different types of hot water heater must be known. Generally there are five different types of hot water heaters and these are known as indirect water heaters and tank less coil heaters, solar water heaters, heat pump water heaters, demand type or tank less water heaters, and conventional storage water heaters (Energy.gov, 2016). The conventional storage water heater provides a water storage tank or reservoir which is ready for pouring water. In case of the demand type water heaters or tank less water heaters, water is directly heated and used and in this case no reservoir or storage tank is used (Energy.gov, 2016). On the other hand in case of heat pump water heaters, water is heated in a kinetic motion i.e. the source of heat is moved from one place to another. In case of the solar water heaters, no artificial source of heat is used. The heat of the sun is used to heat the waters. Finally, in case of indirect water heaters an d tank less coil, the space heating system of a home is used for heating the water (Energy.gov, 2016). While selecting the best hot water unit using the principles of Building Information Modelling ( BIM ), the most effective and efficient unit can be chosen. As the BIM helps to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the system (The Cad Room, 2016), therefore, the hot water unit that is going to be selected and built with the principles of Building Information Modelling will also be efficient and effective. According to the principles of BIM, a system must be energy efficient, eco friendly, and cost saving. BIM also helps to integrate and co ordinate all the activities performed in a particular work. It also helps in time management. BIM is also helpful in managing the information flow along with the activity schedules (The Cad Room, 2016). At the time of selecting the type of hot water unit there are different factors and criteria that are to taken care. Among many important factors, four factors are chosen as the most important factors that must be taken care while selecting a hot water unit. These four factors are known as costs, energy efficiency, size of space, and fuel type (Energy.gov, 2016). Now it has been found from the research that, fuel types or the source of the energy that will heat the water is capable of making an impact on the operational costs ( annual operation cost ) of the hot water unit. Apart from this, it depends on the size and the energy efficiency (Energy.gov, 2016). In order to make the efficiency of the process at the optimal level, the size of the water heater and the storage unit must be suitable to each other. If the optimal amount of energy can be used, then costs can be saved significantly (Energy.gov, 2016). The fuel type is another factor that must be taken care while selecting a hot water unit. The heat can be generated by electricity, fuel oil, geothermal energy, natural gas, solar energy and propane (Energy.gov, 2016). From the research it has been found that the solar water heater is the most efficient and effective water heater and it saves a lot of costs ( annual operating costs ). It is shown with the help of a table given below: Existing Replacement Annual Savings Gas instantaneous High efficiency gas instantaneous $ 46 Gas boosted solar $ 120 Gas storage High efficiency gas $ 60 Gas boosted solar water heater $ 190 Electric storage system High efficiency gas instantaneous $ 356 Gas boosted solar water heater $ 510 Table 1: (Sustainability.vic.gov.au, 2016) From the above table it can be seen that all the existing heating system can be replaced with new systems and all the new systems are very efficient. The degree of efficiency can be understood from the amount of annual saving given in the above table. Gas boosted solar water heater is found to be the best water heater and the hot water unit related to this heater will be the most effective and efficient (Sustainability.vic.gov.au, 2016). Conclusion: From the above report, it can be concluded that solar hot water unit must be built in the location. As the design is to be made according to the principles of Building Information Modelling ( BIM ), the most cost saving, energy efficient and eco friendly unit must be chosen. Therefore, the solar hot water unit is chosen among different types of hot water unit. In case of solar hot water unit, no artificial heater is used and this system is very simple. Therefore, it will be easy to integrate all the activities and manage the information flow. Thus, by choosing this hot water unit both the problems can be solved. References Energy.gov. (2016).Selecting a New Water Heater | Department of Energy. [online] Available at: https://energy.gov/energysaver/selecting-new-water-heater [Accessed 14 Sep. 2016]. Sustainability.vic.gov.au. (2016).Energy Efficient Hot Water Systems - Sustainability Victoria - Sustainability Victoria. [online] Available at: https://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/services-and-advice/households/energy-efficiency/at-home/hot-water-systems [Accessed 14 Sep. 2016]. The Cad Room. (2016).The 7 Principles of BIM | CAD BIM Services. [online] Available at: https://www.thecadroom.com/7-principles-bim-level-2/ [Accessed 14 Sep. 2016].