Blue-Green Sustainability Framework for Building Assessment based Multifunctional Analysis of Regions through Input-Output (MARIO)

The concepts of building and construction are central in the development of national economies all over the world. Along with this growth in national economies, however, there is increasing concern over the high environmental impact caused by the building industry. A growing body of published work provides evidence that buildings globally contribute to 40% of greenhouse gas emissions, 50% of energy and consumption, and 15% of drinking water usage. To date, there is a current lack of studies of evidence-based literature specifically relating to the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) extended Multi Region Input-Output (MRIO) approach for building sustainability assessment. This paper describes the design and implementation of a framework to assess the blue and green footprint at building level-based Multifunctional Analysis of Regions through Input-Output (MARIO) tool and Building Information Modeling (BIM) for building system analysis. The study set out to investigate the impact of structural and Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) systems in a sample building. Finally, the framework was tested in the dwelling sector to assess the growing demand by 2030 in Mexico. Results presented an easy path for sustainable assessment for regions with lack of tools. However, future research must be developed to fill the gap in the blue footprint domain.