Towards a sustainable built environment: reducing carbon emissions in school buildings through BIM-LCA in Madinah

School buildings in Saudi Arabia have high cooling demands, which contribute significantly to the nation’s overall energy consumption. This underlines the need for holistic optimization of building system design, including material selection, energy sources, and usage strategies to achieve energy-efficient educational infrastructure. This study addresses this challenge by applying a Building Information Modeling – Life Cycle Assessment (BIM-LCA) framework integrated with multi-criteria scenarios to evaluate the environmental impact of school buildings in Madinah, with a focus on carbon emissions reduction. Four sensitivity analyses were conducted within a cradle-to-grave system boundary using the TRACI 2.2 life cycle impact assessment method. Results showed that combining 50% slag as a cement substitute with optimized heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, lighting, and solar photovoltaic systems reduced the total global warming potential (GWP) from 14.37 million kg CO2 to 3.14 million kg CO2, representing an absolute reduction of 11.23 million kg CO2. These findings demonstrate the potential of the BIM-LCA framework and provide insights into substantial GWP reduction for school building design in hot climatic environments such as Madinah, Saudi Arabia.