Exploring Capabilities of BIM Tools for Housing Refurbishment in the UK

Abstract

Currently whole-house refurbishment for substantial energy efficiency improvement of existing housing stock is needed to achieve the targeted 80% CO2 emission reduction. As whole-house refurbishment requires a larger capital investment for lower CO2 emission, the simultaneous use of Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodologies are recommended to generate affordable refurbishment solutions. However, two methodologies are difficult to use due to a lack of proper LCC and LCA datasets. As a response to the current problems, many researchers explore potentials in Building Information Modelling (BIM) to improve current construction practice. As a result, a BIM tool - IES IMPACT (Integrated Material Profile And Costing Tool) - has been introduced to the UK construction industry for simultaneous calculation of LCC and LCA. Thus, this research aims at examining the capability and limitation of the IES VE/IMPACT as a BIM tool for whole-house refurbishment. This research reveals that the IES VE/IMPACT is feasible for whole-house refurbishment by providing LCC and LCA information simultaneously for informed decision on refurbishment solution selection. This research shed lights on the current problems lying on the data exchange between two different BIM tools. It is revealed that additional efforts from construction professionals and industry are required to make reliable BIM objects library with LCC and LCA datasets.