Tightening the Circular Economy Model by Utilization of BIM at Early Stages of Building Projects

Jerabek, Simon ; Vassova, Michaela ; Pacak-Vedel, Dawid

4. Semester

Construction Management and Building Informatics, MSc.

2021

The building sector is one of the most polluting and waste-generating industries, making an urgent shift from resource-heavy to more environmentally friendly economic models essential. This thesis focuses on combining Circular Economy (CE)—keeping materials in use and reducing waste—with Building Information Modelling (BIM), which uses digital building models and data to plan and manage projects. Although research clearly shows the benefits of linking CE and BIM, widespread industry adoption remains limited. The thesis examines where current practices and workflows fall short on circularity and identifies state-of-the-art BIM tools with the potential to support these processes. The analysis is based on a systematic literature review and interviews with industry professionals. From this, the thesis defines five pillars to support BIM-based circular practices: CE knowledge, BIM expertise, collaboration techniques, a focus on early design, and standardization. As a practical solution, it proposes a process map that describes a new workflow for the early design phases to steer projects toward circularity. Key elements are elaborated, including a Material Bank (MB) for both existing and new buildings, and the transitions between design phases. The main outcome is a standardized project approach that enhances effective collaboration and knowledge management by integrating BIM and CE.

Byggebranchen er en af de mest forurenende og affaldsskabende sektorer, så der er akut behov for at skifte fra ressourcekrævende til mere miljøvenlige økonomiske modeller. Denne afhandling fokuserer på at kombinere cirkulær økonomi (CE), som handler om at holde materialer i kredsløb og reducere affald, med bygningsinformationsmodellering (BIM), som er digitale modeller og data, der bruges til at planlægge og styre byggerier. Selvom forskningen tydeligt viser fordelene ved at koble CE og BIM, er den brede implementering i branchen stadig begrænset. Afhandlingen undersøger, hvor nuværende praksisser og arbejdsgange halter i forhold til cirkularitet, og identificerer avancerede BIM-værktøjer med potentiale til at støtte processerne. Grundlaget er en systematisk litteraturgennemgang og interviews med branchefolk. På den baggrund opstilles fem hovedsøjler, der kan understøtte BIM-baseret cirkulær praksis: viden om CE, BIM-kompetence, samarbejdsteknikker, fokus på den tidlige designfase og standardisering. Som løsning præsenteres et proceskort, der beskriver en ny arbejdsgang i de tidlige designfaser for at styre projekter i en mere cirkulær retning. Centrale elementer uddybes, herunder en materialebank (MB) for både eksisterende og nye bygninger samt overgange mellem designfaser. Resultatet er en standardiseret projekttilgang, der fremmer effektivt samarbejde og videnshåndtering ved at integrere BIM og CE.

[This apstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]

Construction industry ; Circular Economy ; BIM ; early design ; standardization ; collaborative framework

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