A data structures for purpose of the BIM-based Life Cycle Assessment: A review and theoretical background

Abstract

The article deals with the data structure for the purpose of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of buildings using the Building Information Model (BIM). Construction industry produces a significant amount of waste and on the other hand the capacities of landfills are almost filled. It is necessary to deal with the effective use of materials that have already been used and have potential to be reused again. LCA is a method that can be used to demonstrate the suitability of proposed materials, structures or buildings in terms of their whole life cycle and its environmental impact. BIM includes, in addition to geometry, the information part. This data can be used for life cycle inventory (LCI) and then for the assessment itself. The aim of the article is to analyse previous approaches and define which data structure is necessary to be obtained from the BIM model for the LCI purpose of a specific material. The proposed methodology of the data recognition and selection is based on data structure of non-graphical database called SNIM, which was developed for the Czech construction environment. The article is also focused on the theoretical background of the newly developed classification system Construction Classification International (CCI).