Sustainable assessment of concrete structures using BIM–LCA–AHP integrated approach

Abstract

Recently, sustainability has become one of the most critical goals to be accomplished in the construction industry to mitigate its environmental impacts, energy consumption, waste, and cost. Therefore, this research aims to assess the sustainability of concrete structures using the Building Information Modeling and Life Cycle Assessment (BIM–LCA) approach. It can aid to rank and select the type of concrete based on sustainability criteria including CO2 emissions, embodied energy, and cost using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method. One-Click LCA tool has been used for the recognition of the distinctions in the LCA results by adopting different environmental product declaration databases. HBERT is used as a verification tool for One-Click LCA results. A comparative study is applied to a multi-story car park concrete structure using both traditional concrete and green concrete that includes supplementary waste materials. Three different models of concrete that have the same compressive strength are selected: traditional concrete, green concrete using 30% fly ash, and green concrete using 50% ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS). The results showed that using 50% GGBFS in the concrete mix is the most sustainable alternative in terms of CO2 emissions and embodied energy. Finally, it is concluded that using BIM–LCA–AHP integrated approach can help engineers to design computerized models that improve the sustainability of construction by evaluation based on sustainable objectives.

An Integrated Building Information Modeling and Life-Cycle Assessment Approach to Facilitate Design Decisions on Sustainable Building Projects in Canada

“…In this regard, BIM was employed as a powerful tool for designing buildings using available material choices. This tool can provide a precise estimation of the properties and quantity of the materials used in a digital environment with a high accuracy and in minimal time [9,10]. Subsequently, for conducting a life-cycle assessment, the outputs of the models generated by the BIM tool were utilized again, and with the assistance of LCA plugins, such as One Click, a detailed assessment of the defined criteria can be presented.…”

“…Abdelaal and his team [9] demonstrate the effectiveness of the BIM-LCA-AHP approach in concrete structure design and sustainable building evaluation. By considering the CO 2 emissions of different types of concrete, the energy consumption, and construction cost, the approach helps stakeholders make better selections of the construction material to reach sustainability goals.…”

“…However, the decisions of engineers and designers often require deeper insight into the importance of design criteria and material choices. Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) is a possible method to fill this gap, e.g., assessing structural materials against multiple sustainability criteria supported in a BIM-LCA integrated assessment environment [9]. Therefore, the existing integrated BIM-LCA method can be further augmented by MCDM methods to add insights to the comparison of multiple design criteria and solutions.…”

“…Methods like the AHP are particularly valuable in environmental decision-making, where it is essential to balance conflicting socio-economic and environmental criteria [16,17]. By integrating BIM, LCA, and AHP, engineers and decision-makers are empowered to systematically assess and compare the long-term environmental, economic, and social impacts of their decisions, thereby enhancing the sustainability of construction projects [9]. In the study [15], researchers utilized a similar approach to propose a decision-making framework for construction professionals and researchers to select suitable materials for buildings.…”

A comparative assessment of the capabilities and success of the wood construction industry in Slovakia and Ukraine based on life cycle assessment certification standards

“…One Click Life Cycle Assessment (Abdelaal et al, 2023;Almroth and Rehnberg, 2023;Athibaranan et al, 2023;Rana et al, 2023) allows to assess the life cycle of a product. In particular, the construction of a house from various building materials.…”