Nordic harmonisation of life cycle assessment – Digitalising LCA

BIM4LCA project is part of the Nordic harmonisation of life cycle assessment work at the Nordic Sustainable Construction programme https://www.nordicsustainableconstruction.com/work-packages/nordic-harmonisation-of-life-cycle-assessment.

OBJECTIVE
The main objective of the project is to support regulatory harmonisation and create best practice guidelines for BIM-based building LCA and material declaration.

RESULTS
The BIM4LCA project produced several results, which are here shortly summarised:
1) a generic description of the BIM to LCA process supporting the calculation and reporting of normative LCA in building construction projects https://www.nordicsustainableconstruction.com/knowledge/2024/september/bim-for-building-lca
2) generic guidelines for reliable BIM-based material inventory (bill of materials): specifications for information needed for modelled building components, data transfer from BIM tools to LCA tools, and iterative design and analysis workflow between BIM and LCA tools
3) a pathway towards automated BIM-based LCA for instant feedback and low-carbon design solutions
4) two example buildings with native BIM models for practitioners to learn BIM-based building LCA https://www.nordicsustainableconstruction.com/knowledge/2024/august/bim4lca-files
5) educational videos on BIM-based LCA https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKuMoWj9yd7Ww3rne-uU3iq-LM2IypfE9&jct=zFxiyDdah8WJ_MAxaWlYEA

IMPLICATIONS
The BIM4LCA project highlights the need for Nordic authorities to set BIM requirements for climate declaration and support information harmonisation in the construction sector. The project emphasizes the importance of integrating BIM and LCA processes to achieve sustainable construction goals.