I think this area of research has immense potential for the building sector and has a lot of relevance to civil engineers/architects as they are able to observe how selecting materials and design changes the structural integrity of buildings.
This is a very important topic.
The following articles may be useful - the first looks generally at BIM and sustainability and the second and third describe technical models to combine BIM with LCA.
http://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/BIM_–_it’s_about_the_Planet
http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/5859/
http://www.engineering.nottingham.ac.uk/icccbe/proceedings/pdf/pf82.pdf
There are also challenges to combining BIM with LCA, around theory, methods, data, tools and practical barriers associated with policy and market drivers. To take just one, building services components composed of multiple raw materials are not usually found in LCI databases (eg Ecoinvent), so even if the LCI database is linked directly with the BIM, there will be gaps in the data on embodied impacts for building elements that have been produced by the most energy-intensive manufacturing processes.
Much research was performend in Switzerland on LCA. A main result is a data base of building materials and energy agents (attached).
A piece of software is able to compute energy needs of buildings and also performs LCA. See www.lesosai.com
You might want to look at e-tool from the Australian context which attempts to do this. Not sure if they have any research you could draw upon though.
http://etool.net.au/
Dear researchers,
There are also a lot of work being done currently in France. The Scientific and Technical Centre for Buildings (CSTB) has developed enegy and LCA software (ELODIE) which is linked to a BIM software (eve-BIM ELODIE).
Basically you can from a BIM project connect the different elements to an LCA data and then export to ELODIE to conduct the full LCA study.
Have a look at these online tools (an english version is available): www.elodie-cstb.fr)
This is a very important topic.
The following articles may be useful - the first looks generally at BIM and sustainability and the second and third describe technical models to combine BIM with LCA.
http://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/BIM_–_it’s_about_the_Planet
http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/5859/
http://www.engineering.nottingham.ac.uk/icccbe/proceedings/pdf/pf82.pdf
There are also challenges to combining BIM with LCA, around theory, methods, data, tools and practical barriers associated with policy and market drivers. To take just one, building services components composed of multiple raw materials are not usually found in LCI databases (eg Ecoinvent), so even if the LCI database is linked directly with the BIM, there will be gaps in the data on embodied impacts for building elements that have been produced by the most energy-intensive manufacturing processes.
Details on the TSB funded research project, which the 2nd paper Mike Medas refers to above is based on, can be found by following the link below, including a link to a presentation on the outcomes of the project delivered at EcoBuild.
http://www.openbim.org/case-studies/interoperable-carbon-information-modelling
Thanks Jane
I also have a paper on this topic: 'Towards bim-integrated resource-efficient building services' - click on my publications to download
something on the spot:
"Integration of lice cycle assessment in a BIM environment"
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705814018918
They use a similar approach as Tally (chosetally.com), extending the semantics to cover the entire set of parameters necessary to perform a LCA and the applying it directly on the BIM model (hence, the data and results become implicit for the BIM).
Good luck!
Hello from Australia,
The Australian Research Centre for Construction Innovation published many papers on this subject now in the CIB library. Search on LCADesign to find the range. If interested I have author copies and presentations on file here in Australia. LCADesign software was launched the week that the Global financial Crisis hit world markets. We still use it but it requires bug fixing. Since 2008 LCADesign global LCI databases have been updated continuously with 3rd party certified building supply chain data developed for building material and product Type 1 ecolabels and Type 3 Ecolabel Environmental Product Declarations. The LCI is specific for building element specifications and functionality.
Happy to Help.
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