Method to Enable LCA Analysis through Each Level of Development of a BIM Model

• Published in: Procedia engineering Vol. 196; pp. 857 - 863
• Main Authors: Dupuis, M., April, A., Lesage, P., Forgues, D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 2017
• Subjects: automated LCA calculations; building information modeling; level of development; life cycle assessment; sustainable buildings; level of development; sustainable buildings; automated LCA calculations; building information modeling; life cycle assessment
• ISSN: 1877-7058; 1877-7058
• DOI: 10.1016/j.proeng.2017.08.017

Whole Building life cycle assessment (LCA) calculations are increasingly done using building information modeling (BIM) data exports, but some challenges need to be overcome. BIM models lack data for a whole building LCA analysis. To counter this lack of detailed information, manual inputs are often required when using a static BIM model and cannot easily consider recalculations over the duration of the project. This paper presents a method to automatically perform LCA calculations early, at the first level of a BIM model's development (i.e. the LOD100 level), and to allow for easier updates of the calculation throughout the evolution of the BIM model. To achieve this goal, a novel data layer and format is proposed. This data layer fills the information gap between extracted BIM data and existing LCA data provided by common LCA databases such as ecoinvent.