Data Transfer Reliability from Building Information Modeling (BIM) to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)—A Comparative Case Study of an Industrial Warehouse

The automation of environmental assessment processes aimed at reducing the ecological footprint of industrial facilities, buildings, and infrastructure is one of the main challenges currently faced by the construction sector. In this context, Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a comprehensive methodology that enables the creation of digital models, facilitating the analysis of environmental performance throughout the life cycle of built assets. In addition to the capabilities offered by BIM, specialized tools for environmental impact analysis implement the standardized life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. However, one of the current limitations is the integration of BIM models and LCA tools. Few software solutions enable automated data transfer, complicating the environmental assessment process. The objective of this study is to evaluate the reliability of data transfer from BIM models to LCA tools, using an industrial warehouse as a case study. The research compares two LCA tools: Athena Impact Estimator, specialized in the construction sector, and SimaPro, a professional tool with advanced capabilities. This study is structured in two phases: (i) the development of a BIM model in Revit, including the definition of structural and functional components and the export of data to LCA tools, and (ii) the execution of the life cycle assessment in compliance with ISO 14040 and EN 15804 standards. The results show methodological and interoperability differences between the two tools, highlighting their strengths and limitations in terms of the precision of the results, resource consumption, training and expertise requirements, scope of environmental impact calculations, and adaptability to the construction sector in the integration of an LCA with a BIM model.