Xu, J; Teng, Y and Pan, W (2021) A BIM-LCA integrated method for enhancing efficiency of embodied carbon estimation of prefabricated high-rise buildings. In: Scott, L and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 37th Annual ARCOM Conference, 6-7 September 2021, Online Event, UK.
Abstract
The integration of building information modelling (BIM) and life cycle assessment (LCA) has been increasingly underlined in recent years to simplify the data acquisition in LCA processes. Although BIM can facilitate establishing the bills of quantity (BoQ) for carbon estimation, a great deal of manual work is still needed in current BIM-LCA integrated methods for choosing appropriate LCA databases and assigning corresponding emission factors to construction materials. This research aims to develop an automatic BIM-LCA method to estimate embodied carbon emissions for prefabricated buildings based on a five-level analytical framework, i.e., material, component, assembly, flat, and building. SimaPro was adopted as the LCA platform and three successive modules were conducted, namely, establishment of BIM model, industry foundation classes (IFC)-enabled data transfer between BIM and LCA, and development of BIM-aided LCA model. A case study using a typical floor of a prefabricated high-rise public residential building in Hong Kong was adopted to validate the proposed method. The developed BIM-LCA integrated method achieved automated data extraction from BIM as well as automated data input and update in SimaPro, resulting in an 80% time saving in this case compared with the traditional labour-intensive process. The paper thereby contributes to smart embodied carbon estimation and facilitates quick feedback of embodied carbon emissions during the design phase to support building design efficiency.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building information modeling; embodied carbon emission; life cycle assessment; prefabricated building |
| Index terms: | bills of quantities, estimate, analytical framework, high-rise building, prefabricated building, data acquisition, integration, construction material, industry foundation classes, module, design phase, time saving, life cycle assessment, database, estimation, Hong Kong, efficiency, residential building, embodied carbon, building design, building information modelling, case study, platform |
| Subjects: | financial and cost management, architectural design, professional practice, data analysis and analytics, building materials, environmental impact, data collection methods, computational design, construction type, information systems, time analysis, building construction, organizational analysis, data management, digital design, Geography, performance management, architectural elements |
| Topics: | Construction Technology, Sustainability, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Cost Management, Organizational Design, Time Control, Quality Management, Design Practice, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
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