Enhancing Building Information Modelling (BIM) for Sustainable Construction: Integrating Life Cycle assessment, Carbon footprint Reduction and Green Certification Interoperability

https://doi.org/10.46610/JoRAIS.2025.v010i02.003

Abstract

The building sector has an important role in the sustainability of the world, as it consumes a lot of resources and affects the environment. Over the last few years, Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been a great digital tool that has been used to improve project efficiency, data handling, and visualization throughout the lifecycle of a building. When combined with Lifecycle Assessment (LCA), BIM can go a step further in enabling sustainable construction by giving insights into the environmental footprint of a project from design to demolition. Though beneficial, integration of BIM and LCA is currently limited, particularly in small- to medium-sized projects, and in places like India, where high costs of implementation, poor interoperability, and a lack of local datasets are major bottlenecks. This study examines the capabilities of BIM-LCA integration to drive sustainable construction and achieve international green certification standards, including LEED and BREEAM. The study, through Indian and international case studies, identifies the key drivers, barriers, and solutions to the adoption of BIM-LCA interfaces. The findings indicate that the adoption of BIM-LCA can optimize material selection, energy consumption, and environmental performance throughout the life cycle of a building. The study shows the requirement for increasing interoperability, workflow automation, and the creation of localized datasets to further leverage the potential of BIM-LCA, which can provide substantial environmental and economic gains and ensure the construction industry is aligned with international sustainability targets.