Automated Assessment of Building Carbon Footprint Through the Integration of Material Emission Factor Databases in a BIM Environment

The environmental impact of each new or refurbished building is largely determined by the design decisions made during project development. Therefore, it is crucial for designers and clients to understand the implications of their choices, particularly regarding building materials and systems. Building Information Modeling (BIM) offers valuable insights into a project’s environmental impact from the early stages of design development by providing accurate data on material quantities and characteristics. By integrating the BIM model with a material impact database, an estimate of the building’s total environmental impact based on the current design can be generated. With each iteration and modification, a new estimate is automatically produced, facilitating rapid comparisons and enabling the selection of design solutions with the lowest environmental impact. The result is an algorithm for the automated assessment of building carbon footprint (kgCO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> per m<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> of a building), executed using a visual programming tool. This process involves manipulating and comparing material data provided by the BIM model and emission factors. Automating this type of analysis addresses challenges such as the additional costs and time required for data input into separate software platforms. The ability to generate clear and direct results from environmentally conscious design decisions benefits all project stakeholders by enhancing project value, visibility, and recognition. Additionally, this approach supports the preliminary assessment of green building certification requirements related to life cycle analysis.