الفهرس 
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Abstract
The use of Value Engineering (VE) methodology in construction industry has grown significantly, mainly in view of its extensive benefits. The current economic conditions have entailed the use of rational methods, techniques, research and application of new techniques by utilizing advancements in technology in the field of production as well as in every field. Since its creation, the use of the Value Engineering (VE) process has extended to construction industry as a way to maximize the value. Scrutinizing the project well and considering all possible alternatives particularly in design stage are important for achieving optimum cost. The final decision to choose alternative is based on the evaluation of a number of alternatives in terms of a number of criteria. This problem may become a very difficult one when the criteria are expressed in different units or the pertinent data are difficult to be quantified. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is an effective approach in dealing with this kind of decision problems. The AHP has attracted the interest of many researchers mainly due to the mathematical properties of the method and the fact that the required input data are rather easy to obtain. The AHP is a decision support tool which can be used to solve complex decision problems. It uses a multi-level hierarchical structure of objectives, criteria, sub criteria, and alternatives. The pertinent data are derived by using a set of pairwise comparisons. These comparisons are used to obtain the weights of importance of the decision criteria, and the relative performance measures of the alternatives in terms of each individual decision criterion. Limited work has been carried out for automation of this process but yet without adequate visualization for the components being considered and without utilizing BIM technology.
The objective of this thesis is to develop a model that integrate Building Information Modeling (BIM) and value engineering in construction projects. This thesis is carried out with a focus on automating the process of data extraction from BIM, processing the extracted data to evaluate specific criteria and automating AHP methodology to support value engineering decision making process. The developed model consists of two main frameworks; one is for data extraction from BIM and the other for data analysis, processing and automated AHP algorithms calculation. Data extraction is carried out using the Revit SDK and Revit APIs to communicate with Autodesk Revit Software. The developed model makes full use of 3D BIM to provide visualization and pertinent information of activities time and cost. 4 and 5D BIM will be generated automatically based on built-in resources database, which will be linked to 3D BIM model by categorizing project items using masterFormat. The developed methods and algorithms are implemented in prototype software. The developed model consists of three tier standalone architecture (AHP+) which is designed to analyze and process all project captured data. The developed model, methods, algorithms and software constitute a step ahead of current value engineering applications and expand upon automated alternatives and criteria evaluation and visualization-information technologies use in construction. The model has been applied to case projects to demonstrate and verify its use and capabilities. The model evaluates and ranks alternatives in its automated report in a timely manner. The model had been verified and tested through two projects composed of three real case studies to validate application sequence, relations and calculations.