BIM-based environmental and microclimate analysis from UAV imagery and laser scanning for agrifood building management

This study presents a comprehensive framework for evaluating the structural and environmental performance of food related buildings, validated by applying it to an olive mill (OM) as a case study in southern Italy. The methodology employed Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery and laser scanning to generate a precise Building Information Model (BIM) of the structure, that was the base on which a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was carried out to evaluate the environmental impact at first level, then a microclimate evaluation was also conducted to study the interaction of the building with its close external environment. The results show that the proposed framework illustrates an efficient methodology for evaluating structures within the food sector through the integration of UAVs, laser scanning, BIM, and environmental analysis software. Through this study, OM buildings have been proved to be also impactful to the environment along with the agricultural and production phases of the olive oil production cycle, underscoring therefore the important need to integrate structural performance into sustainability evaluations. Significant embodied emissions associated with construction and maintenance have been identified by the LCA, while substantial heat island effects were reported by microclimate evaluation. The obtained results also were compared to a previous evaluation of the same building by the LEED green building assessment tool and the results revealed inconsistencies between both evaluations, underscoring the need to integrate digital technologies and advanced modeling into green building assessment frameworks.