BIM-Based Discrete Event Simulation for Embodied Carbon Assessment

The urgent need to reduce carbon emissions within the building and construction industry has underscored the importance of embodied carbon assessment. Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Discrete Event Simulation (DES) emerge as promising tools for enhancing this assessment process, offering detailed data extraction capabilities and dynamic simulation for energy consumption quantification. While previous research has explored the potential of BIM-DES integration, this paper addresses existing gaps by identifying and incorporating essential information requirements into BIM models for more effective DES-based embodied carbon assessment. This paper thus develops a BIM-based DES method for cradle-to-site embodied carbon assessment by (1) developing an integrated ontology to identify data requirements, (2) enriching BIM models with the necessary information for DES modeling based on the ontology, and (3) building the DES model based on the data extracted from the enriched BIM-related file and implementing scenario-based analysis. This integrated approach facilitates efficient and comprehensive analysis of cradle-to-site embodied carbon. The synergy between BIM and DES enables stakeholders to make informed decisions early in the project lifecycle, optimizing carbon reduction strategies through scenario-based analysis.