BIM-Based Assessment of the Environmental Effects of Various End-of-Life Scenarios for Buildings

Abstract

Accurately and rationally quantifying the environmental impact of construction and demolition waste (CDW) management is paramount, especially the environmental impact of different waste disposals, and more effective policies should be implemented to manage CDW. However, previous research on CDW disposal has typically ignored the potential for energy recovery and focused on a single environmental impact category. Therefore, this study aims to develop a conceptual framework to assess the environmental impacts under different CDW management scenarios (including reuse, recycling, energy recovery, and landfill), quantifying the global warming potential and resource consumption impacts under different scenarios. This framework incorporates Building Information Modeling to accurately collect data for feedback to the Life Cycle Assessment. The results indicate that Scenario 3, which considers the circular economy strategy, efficiently reuses metals, plastics, glass, and wood, generates recycled aggregate from concrete and cement, recycles bricks and tiles, and uses the remaining waste for energy recovery. This CDW management scenario, which prioritizes reuse and recycling, is the most effective in mitigating carbon emissions, resulting in a reduction of 6.641 × 105 kg CO2 eq. Moreover, it significantly conserves resources and prevents the energy consumption of 4.601 × 107 MJ. Among them, metal reuse saves 42.35% of resources, and plastic reuse saves 31.19% of resources. In addition, increasing the reuse rate and recovery rate can directly avoid carbon emissions and cumulative exergy consumption, effectively alleviating environmental issues. This study can provide new ideas for the treatment of CDW, which can provide a basis for the relevant government departments to formulate CDW management policies.