BIM-based life cycle assessment framework for infrastructure design

This paper presents the development of a framework for performing real-time BIM-based life cycles assessment (LCA) analysis during the design process. The framework allows designers to perform an automated LCA analysis at any moment of the design stage and immediately assess the Environmental Impact Score (EIS) of their design choices. A prototype is developed and tested on a case study to indicate the feasibility of the proposed framework. The framework is assessed in terms of functionality, ease of use, scalability and contribution to raising sustainability consciousness through a workshop with experts. It is shown that the framework is able to quickly provide designers with accurate information about the potential environmental impact of all objects in infrastructure design projects. The workshop with experts showed that the tool clearly makes it easier to perform the EIS calculations compared to the existing, highly fragmented, process. This allows the design team to use this assessment on the same level as other design parameters in the decision-making process.