Abstract
The construction sector is a major contributor to global environmental impacts. This is one of the reasons why there is a political trend towards a “greener” sector. One indicator of this trend is the progressive application of life cycle thinking approaches and life cycle assessment of products, assemblies and buildings. The digitalization of construction projects, namely the use Building Information Modelling (BIM), can constitute a support to the automation of the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) at the building’s design stage. However, besides the complexity of LCA model and results interpretation, BIM models usually lack LCA data that allow environmental impacts calculation. Currently, few publications explicitly relate the integration of LCA and BIM with the specificities of distinct development stages in the design and construction process or Levels of Development (LOD) of BIM objects. This paper summarizes the possible sources of LCA information to include in BIM models and discusses the complexity of LCA information needed for distinct BIM objects’ LOD. A parametrization of environmental information is proposed, to be included in BIM objects, based on an evolutionary level of detail in LCA information for increasing LODs.
Highlights
The construction sector is determinant in the European economy, but it is responsible for important environmental impacts
This paper summarizes the possible sources of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) information to include in Building Information Modelling (BIM) models and discusses the complexity of LCA information needed for distinct BIM objects’ Levels of Development (LOD)
Concerning the possible ways to integrate LCA information in BIM, Antón and Díaz [5] propose two alternative approaches: Direct access from the LCA tool to the BIM model: the LCA tool extracts information from the BIM project and allocates it to the available Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) databases, to calculate the LCA of the building. One disadvantage of this approach is that each change in BIM model implies a new LCA independent calculation; Environmental properties included in BIM objects – this allows an automatic calculation of LCA of the building
Summary
The construction sector is determinant in the European economy, but it is responsible for important environmental impacts. A detailed characterisation of the different types of LCA information was completed and included: LCA data specificity, i.e., the level to which data relate uniquely to a particular product or production site, or it represents average results for several sites of the same producer or average European data; The number of parameters or environmental impact categories to express LCA results and the complexity it adds to the interpretation of results; The level of aggregation of environmental information (e.g., the use of weighted single scores that combine several environmental impact categories versus the use of complete disaggregated information) This analysis allowed the development of the proposed parametrisation of environmental information to be included in BIM objects, according to their LOD, and respective detail and reliability of this information. LCA methodology and sources of LCA information for building materials and assemblies LCA is a complex and data-intensive method that quantifies resources consumption, relevant emissions, and the related environmental and health impacts associated with any goods or services throughout their life cycle [12] It is usually applied by research or consultancy experts and not directly by the production companies. ISO 14040 [12] describes the principles and framework for LCA, including its four main stages: the goal and scope definition of the LCA, the Life Cycle Inventory Analysis, the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA), and the life cycle interpretation stages
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