Combining Building Information Model and Life Cycle Assessment for Defining Circular Economy Strategies

Annie Guerriero (), Federico Busio, Michael Saidani, Calin Boje and Nico Mack
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Annie Guerriero: Luxembourg Institute of Science & Technology, 4362 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Federico Busio: Luxembourg Institute of Science & Technology, 4362 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Michael Saidani: Luxembourg Institute of Science & Technology, 4362 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Calin Boje: Luxembourg Institute of Science & Technology, 4362 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Nico Mack: Luxembourg Institute of Science & Technology, 4362 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-22

Abstract: Although the construction industry has the potential to implement circular economy (CE) principles, the sector suffers from a veritable lack of initiatives to develop circular and regenerative design principles. However, existing buildings intended to be demolished could be considered as material banks for future constructions, with the aim to exploit anthropogenic resources, extend material/product efficiency, and reduce the extraction of natural resources. This concept of buildings as material banks is being studied more and more in the scientific literature, but it still requires the existing building stock to be fully digitalized, thus making materials reusable in new buildings starting from the architectural design stage. Moreover, the decision process regarding CE strategies requires the consideration of the environmental impacts of the deconstruction and end-of-life processes, which is essential in CE implementation. This paper introduces a digital platform for generating materials inventory and supporting the definition of reuse strategies. Then, by using digital tools in combination with life cycle assessment (LCA) studies of the deconstruction process and output of materials and components inventories, a method is defined and tested on a pilot building in Luxembourg.

Keywords: circular economy; life cycle assessment; building information modeling; material reuse; construction industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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