From design to decarbonisation: a BIM-based comparative analysis of embodied carbon in buildings

Abstract

The construction industry is a significant contributor to global carbon emissions, with embodied carbon accounting for a growing proportion of building life-cycle emissions. Comparative analyses that assess various structural systems within a single, controlled building design remain limited, despite increasing interest in building information modelling- life cycle assessment (BIM-LCA) integration. This study addresses this gap by providing a BIM-based assessment framework that quantifies and compares the embodied carbon of three structural systems (steel, reinforced concrete, and timber) applied to an identical conceptual two-storey residential structure in the UK. Material quantities were extracted from a parametric Revit model and integrated with emission factors within a cradle-to-gate (A1-A3) system boundary. The results indicate that total embodied carbon amounts to 104,165 kgCO₂eq for a traditional steel house, 84,640 kgCO₂eq for a traditional reinforced concrete house, and 51,255 kgCO₂eq for a traditional timber house. By employing low-carbon material alternatives, embodied carbon is reduced by 40.4% in the steel house, 32.2% in the concrete house, and 19.7% in the timber house, respectively. Thus, encouraging early-stage sustainable design decisions can make a substantial contribution to the decarbonisation of the built environment.