Evaluation of BIM based LCA in early design phase (low LOD) of buildings

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a convenient tool that is capable of collecting information throughout the whole life cycle of a building in one platform. The evolution in the digital BIM model in early design stages is not standardized, but Level of Development (LOD) is a concept that systematically structures the design processes divided into five levels. LOD is assessed in this paper as an opportunity to enhance the calculation of the environmental impacts in different early design stages more efficiently, using the methodology Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Enlightening the building elements that contribute to highest release of CO2, permits early building material selection. This facilitates a pathway towards sustainable and environmentally friendly buildings. This study evaluates BIM based LCA in early design stages (low LOD) through literature reviews and a case study. This papers' case study executes LCAs at different LOD levels using the LCA software One Click LCA (OCL). Assessments in LOD 200, LOD 300, LOD 350 and an additional LOD 350 were utilized. The additional LOD 350 was deployed when LCA experts had implemented changes within OCL. Moreover, a concretized suggestion where today's unpredictable development of BIM becomes part of a LOD framework is proposed.