The use of Building Information Modelling in the circular economy context: Several models and a new dimension of BIM (8D)

The use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) to improve projects’ efficiency, starts to be a well-known practice, advocated by many governments. Despite the increasing interest among researchers in the use of BIM for managing end-of-life (EOL) activities, practitioners are still doubtful. Moreover, the potential of BIM to facilitate circular economy (CE) adoption is a research area still in its infancy. An extensive literature review was conducted to explore how BIM is used throughout the asset lifecycle and what are the various BIM dimensions. Then, an inductive and qualitative survey, using semi-structured interviews was conducted. The aim of this research was to present the various BIM models developed throughout the asset lifecycle in the context of CE and to define what the content of the deconstruction information model (DIM) could be. Based on the qualitative analysis of the data, three types of findings present the practitioners' views. First, a process illustrates the sustainable EOL in the context of BIM and CE. Secondly, the three models created throughout the asset lifecycle are presented. Lastly, the content of the model proposed for the management of the EOL activities is detailed. Conclusively, an eighth dimension is proposed associated with the EOL activities and further areas of research are suggested.