Integration of Durability Data of Construction Elements Within a BIM-Based Environment

Abstract

In the unavoidable way to achieve more sustainable buildings, it is essential to provide the architects with data on the environmental impact and the durability of the different components of the building, and make it available in the format they are using in the design phase. In this regard, the use of the building information modelling (BIM) tools has arisen as a new trend in the construction industry to improve the sustainable assessments of buildings in the design phase. In order to improve an existing tool developed by the Valencian Institute of Building in cooperation with the Valencian Regional Government, on providing the characteristics of the most common construction elements within a BIM-based environment, a database of durability and environmental impact data of construction elements and materials has been developed for integration within the tool. The reference service lives database has been created from a multicriteria study consisting in the analysis of sixty service life data bases published in recent decades. The work developed allows the architects working in Spain to have the durability required data of the construction elements from the design phase, for the integration and information exchange within a BIM-based environment to be able to use the existing BIM-based LCA/LCC.