Integration of Life Cycle Assessment in a BIM Environment

Currently, the construction industry is turning towards sustainability. Nevertheless, in order to achieve a sustainable performance, a balance between environmental, social and economic criteria has to be created. There are already different tools available which have the potential to reach this goal. It is necessary to identify them as such and find out how they can be integrated to obtain synergies and contribute to sustainable construction. These tools have to be implemented in early design phases so as to add value to the project. In the present paper, two powerful methods, namely BIM and LCA, will be highlighted. Such methods can be of great assistance in the context of sustainability. On the one hand, BIM supports integrated design and improves information management and cooperation between the different stakeholders throughout the different project life-cycle phases. On the other hand, LCA is a suitable method for assessing environmental performance. Both LCA and BIM should be integrated in the decision-making process at an early stage with a view to achieving a holistic overview of the project, including environmental criteria, from the beginning.