Building information modelling and green buildings: Challenges and opportunities

The advent of building information modelling (BIM) is revolutionising the conventional practices of the construction industry and has reinforced the impact of the design process on the building project’s overall life cycle. The industry is also moving towards sustainability through owners being committed to having green rated buildings and infrastructure. However, green buildings and their rating systems face several obstacles and shortcomings that hinder their sustainability. Several studies have considered BIM for sustainability aspects, but these were not connected directly with such obstacles. This paper is a literature review that links the obstacles and shortcomings faced in green buildings and their associated rating systems with the potential capabilities of BIM. The limitations of BIM in the green building industry was also addressed. The main obstacles and shortcomings faced are high upfront costs and delays, design complexities and documentation requirements, superior performance enhancement requirements, and skewness towards environmental sustainability. The paper was written from a realisation that a more consolidated future research direction is needed in academic studies that address the quest for sustainability though BIM. Findings indicate future areas of BIM technology research include fully automating BIM-rating system integration, collaboration and intellectual property issues, and the unaccommodating contractual approaches for multiple party involvement needed in a BIM platform.