Implementing climate impacts in road infrastructure in the design phase by combining BIM with LCA

Abstract

Building information modelling (BIM) software is increasingly being used in as a visual road design tool and offers real-time information on material demands as designs change. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool that is used to measure the lifetime environmental impacts of systems, materials and processes. LCA data sets are organized according to process or product, which is ideal for implementation as a parameter in BIM. This paper seeks to explore how BIM and LCA can be used together in road design by analysing existing literature, creating a Norwegian test case on a road designed in a BIM model and adding LCA data to the model before comparing to a standard LCA study of the same road. Challenges such as including machinery emissions, uncertainty, data availability, and other insights gained will be discussed. The goal of this paper is to present a path forward for road builders to combine LCA and BIM to promote simplified LCA calculations.