The construction industry faces a significant challenge due to the lack of digital tools and collaborative platforms for managing recycled materials and fostering a circular economy (CE) throughout a building's life. This study aims to mitigate the environmental impact of the construction industry by integrating Building Information Modeling (BIM) with CE principles.
In this research, Python and Microsoft Visual Studio were used to introduce a bidirectional data-sharing process and integrate Material Passports (MPs) within the Autodesk Revit framework. A case study was conducted to check the efficacy of the developed prototype in a real-world project of NEOM City. Twelve industry experts have validated the developed prototype named BIM-Circular Economy System (BIM-CES) through a demonstration, followed by a semi-structured interview, and further analyzed using Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA).
The prototype demonstrated a framework for using wood material-related MP within a BIM model. IPA revealed that BIM-CES effectively addresses key issues of lack of collaboration, technological solutions, technical skills and circular design, ranking high in importance and performance.
For the industry, BIM-CES is a game-changer, providing a key dataset that simplifies the reuse, recycling and refurbishment of materials, making collaboration and data sharing in CE easier and more effective. Academically, this research is a steppingstone, opening exciting new paths for exploring sustainable construction and digital solutions in future studies of CE
Very meager research has been carried out to utilize BIM in support of CE in the construction industry. BIM-CES, developed in this study, represents a novel approach to bridging the gap between BIM and CE, introducing a new method for digitizing MPs and enhancing collaboration among BIM designers.
