BIM-LCA Integration for the Environmental Impact Assessment of the Urbanization Process

Abstract

The construction sector is one of the most polluting industries, generating between 30% and 40% of the worldwide environmental burden in terms of raw materials, direct and indirect energy consumption, waste, and CO2 emissions. Recent advances in computer science and data management have facilitated the evaluation of present and future impacts, thus improving the sustainability of architectural designs. Powerful software tools, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), allow environmental indicators to be incorporated into the construction elements that make up the project to evaluate it during the design stage. In this work, the state of the art of ecological indicator application through BIM platforms is studied. Barriers and uncertainties are also identified. Subsequently, a model is proposed to evaluate the environmental impact of an urbanization process or a project through several ecological indicators (carbon footprint, water footprint, and embodied energy). To perform this analysis, the most important aspect is to determine the quantities of each construction element and their clear decomposition into subelements, since both aspects add certainty to the analysis. For this purpose, construction cost databases are a good instrument for introducing environmental awareness. The reliability of LCA data, which can be obtained from generic databases or ecolabels such as environmental product declarations, becomes crucial.

Integrating BIM-Based LCA and Building Sustainability Assessment

“…According to Carvalho et al [8], BSA methods exploit the full potential of BIM, since it is necessary a set of multi-disciplinary criteria for their application. The same opinion is shared by Marrero et al [34] for LCA, arguing that BIM allows to incorporate and extract those data from BIM.…”

“…For the past 20 years, different companies and organisations have been developing several building sustainability assessment (BSA) methods worldwide [30,34]. Despite the existence of several BSA methods adapted to each location, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), and Sustainable Building Tool (SBTool) have been recognised as the basis for all the other approaches [35,36].…”

The Budget as a Basis for Ecological Management of Urbanization Projects. Case Study in Seville, Spain

“…In this respect, seven products, out of the 124 BC, handle 85% of the CF, 76% of the WF, and 73% of the EE (Table 3). Comparable results have been obtained using Building Information Modelling in a project that included a car park, a playground, and street construction [31].…”

“…In the third level, assessments are applied to the elements in the project budget, thereby obtaining the incorporated WF, CF, and EE, which together provide an "environmental budget" [29]. These three environmental impacts have also been assessed in urbanization projects [30], and by employing Building Information Modelling [31]. Finally, the results obtained by the calculation methodology allow, based on the technical information reflected in the project budget, the quantification of the environmental impact of the materials that cause the greatest impact.…”

“…The WF, disseminated by the Water Footprint Network [48], is another interesting indicator which determines the amount consumed in the production of goods by following The Standard Calculation Methodology [49] and The Water Footprint Assessment Manual [50]. The combination of the three indicators, WF, CF and EE, have given interesting comparative results in the previous work by the authors [30] by employing Building Information Modelling [31].…”