Bueno, C; Pereira, L M and Fabricio, M M (2018) Life cycle assessment and environmental-based choices at the early design stages: An application using building information modelling. Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 14(5), pp. 332-346. ISSN 1745-2007
Abstract
Despite the apparent simplicity of existing BIM-LCA tools, there is a lack of integration with the main BIM software, and the double-effort of design development and parallel simulations is a barrier to their implementation in the design process. Moreover, simplifications on these tools may provide misleading results to the designer. The main aim of this research is to develop an integration interface of manufacturer-based LCA data into a BIM platform by combining applications of existing and consolidated tools (namely, Autodesk Revit and Dynamo, and Microsoft Excel), in order to obtain environmental profiles for decision-making in the initial design stages, requiring less time, effort and ad hoc experts. The methodological procedures were aggregated into the following system development and testing phases: (a) input data organization, (b) creating new parameters on BIM software, (c) visual programming, (d) results analysis for decision-making and (e) simulation of social housing. The results of the developed tool provided complete results automatically, not requiring the designer to make changes in the software or interfaces. Some limitations were identified during development and application, due to the lack of LCA data availability by manufacturers, the complexity of data programming importation and extraction on BIM software for different construction subsystems, and the complexity of LCA results analysis and understanding encountered by non-experts. Regarding the latter, the research concluded that broad knowledge dissemination is still necessary to improve awareness regarding this environmental assessment methodology, in addition to determining the most advantageous environmental performance parameters, as a reference point for comparison.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building information modelling; decision-making; environmental simulation; life cycle assessment; visual programming |
| Index terms: | design development, simplification, implementation, social housing, knowledge dissemination, testing, environmental assessment, early design stage, complexity, integration, methodology, decision-making, design stage, programming, life cycle assessment, designer, building information modelling, environmental performance, manufacturer, platform, design process |
| Subjects: | contractual arrangements, professional practice, practitioner, design methods, programming, environmental impact, profession, research dissemination and communication, systems engineering, information systems, decision analysis, organizational analysis, housing and residential development, design process, digital design, research methods, sustainability assessment, management |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Risk Management, Sustainability, Procurement, Business Strategy, Engineering Principles, Information Management, Research Practice, Organizational Design, Urban Studies, Digital Applications, Design Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here