Abstract
PurposeThe construction sector is increasingly engaged to explore the potential application of building information modelling (BIM) for the sustainability of the buildings. BIM can be applied conjugated to certification methods to evaluate the sustainability of the buildings, and it is known as building sustainability assessment (BSA). This article aims to explore applications of BIM in the sustainability analysis of buildings, including five types of BSA.Design/methodology/approachA literature review from 2009 to 2020 considering a combination of search terms related to BIM and BSA complemented the analysis. The bibliometric analysis indicates an increase in the number of publications on this topic of study in the last five years. A peak occurred in 2015 and 2020, with 51 and 66 publications, respectively.FindingsThe results showed that BIM contributes to achieving part of the sustainability requirements from BSA, especially quantitative requirements that are related to material and resources. However, a complete analysis between BIM and BSA is still a challenge since part of BSA's have a lack information in their requirements and BIM softwares present interoperability problems that difficult an integrated analysis to extract information directly from the software to attend BSA's requirements.Originality/valueThe results contribute to analysing the evolution of studies about BIM and to understand the limitation in the applicability with sustainability rating systems. Future directions of research indicate the necessity to improve the use of BIM in the sustainability analysis of the buildings, but with a good perspective regarding the application of BIM in material and resources requirements, and waste management in construction sites.
Highlights
IntroductionOne of the most promising innovations in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry is building information modelling (BIM), a set of processes, tools and technologies that improve production, use and update the information of the building in a virtual model (Succar, 2009; Eastman et al, 2014; Machado et al, 2016).At sustainability BIM is applied in studies related to energy efficiency, life cycle analysis, waste management and sustainability assessment systems known as “Green Building Assessments (GBA)”, “Sustainability Rating Systems (SRS)”, or “Building Sustainability Assessments (BSA)” (Krygiel and Nies, 2008; Berardi, 2012; Soust-Verdaguer et al, 2017; Ansah et al, 2019).Building sustainability assessments (BSAs), the term adopted in this article, are types of environmental certifications to evaluate the sustainability of the buildings (Haapio and Viitaniemi, 2008; Kamaruzzaman et al, 2016)
This article proposed a literature review considering the academic database Scopus and a combination of search terms to explore the main applications of building information modelling (BIM) and building sustainability assessment (BSA), in the period of 2009–2020, and five commercial BSAs most popular in Brazil and Portugal
Through the literature review it was possible to identify the main applications of BIM in sustainability assessments and which requirements were better met by BIM information
Summary
One of the most promising innovations in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry is building information modelling (BIM), a set of processes, tools and technologies that improve production, use and update the information of the building in a virtual model (Succar, 2009; Eastman et al, 2014; Machado et al, 2016).At sustainability BIM is applied in studies related to energy efficiency, life cycle analysis, waste management and sustainability assessment systems known as “Green Building Assessments (GBA)”, “Sustainability Rating Systems (SRS)”, or “Building Sustainability Assessments (BSA)” (Krygiel and Nies, 2008; Berardi, 2012; Soust-Verdaguer et al, 2017; Ansah et al, 2019).Building sustainability assessments (BSAs), the term adopted in this article, are types of environmental certifications to evaluate the sustainability of the buildings (Haapio and Viitaniemi, 2008; Kamaruzzaman et al, 2016). New technologies like BIM have been adopted in construction projects to reduce the impacts of construction activities and improve the sustainability of buildings (Jrade and Jalaei, 2013). BIM contains multidisciplinary information that can support the credit assessment of BSA. This combination requires the integration of tools and adequate criteria to effectively contribute to the sustainability of the buildings (Jrade and Jalaei, 2013; Wong and Zhou, 2015; Lu et al, 2017; Maltese et al, 2017; Ansah et al, 2019)
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