A BIM-Based Framework for Life Cycle, Cost, and Circularity Data Integration in Environmental Impact Assessment

Sophia Silvia Pibal (), Rene Bittner and Iva Kovacic
Additional contact information
Sophia Silvia Pibal: Integrated Planning and Industrial Building, Institute of Building and Industrial Construction, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria
Rene Bittner: Integrated Planning and Industrial Building, Institute of Building and Industrial Construction, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria
Iva Kovacic: Integrated Planning and Industrial Building, Institute of Building and Industrial Construction, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-37

Abstract: The AEC’s resource consumption and environmental impact necessitate a shift towards sustainable, circular practices. Building information modeling, powered by information technology, serves as a key enabler in this transition, offering life cycle data management capabilities from design to deconstruction. However, current BIM models lack embedded life cycle and circularity data, limiting their effectiveness for sustainability integration. This study addresses this gap by proposing a BIM object library framework that embeds life cycle, cost, and circularity data into objects and aims at enabling informed, sustainability-driven decision making. Through a proof of concept, this research demonstrates how embedding LCA and CE metrics into BIM objects enhances environmental and circular impact assessments. The framework aligns with standards such as ISO 14040 and EN 15804, EU Level(s), and United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Limitations such as manual data integration and the need for specialized expertise occurred. However, this framework provides a scalable foundation for future research, including automating data integration, enhancing metric calculations, and developing interactive circularity dashboards to improve as a decision-support tool. This study advances circular BIM adoption, integrating sustainability principles into digital design workflows from the object level, while serving as a centralized repository for sustainability-driven decision making.

Keywords: BIM; LCA; circular economy; BIM object library; sustainable construction; environmental impact assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/6/2656/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/6/2656/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:6:p:2656-:d:1614225

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().