BIM integration for construction waste reduction meets stakeholder expectations

Why It Matters

This research highlights a critical gap between the potential of BIM and its current application in managing construction and demolition waste (CDW). By understanding and addressing stakeholder expectations, design and construction professionals can more effectively leverage BIM to significantly reduce waste, leading to more sustainable and cost-efficient projects.

Key Finding

Industry professionals expect BIM to facilitate better collaboration for waste management, influence design decisions to minimize waste, track waste across the entire building lifecycle, incorporate advanced analytics, and improve waste-related documentation.

Key Findings

• BIM-based collaboration is expected for waste management.
• Stakeholders anticipate a waste-driven design process and solutions.
• There is an expectation for waste analysis throughout the building lifecycle.
• Innovative technologies for waste intelligence and analytics are desired.
• Improved documentation for waste management is a key expectation.

Research Evidence

Aim: What are the key expectations of construction industry stakeholders regarding the deployment of BIM for the management of construction and demolition waste?

Method: Qualitative Focus Group Interviews (FGIs) followed by a quantitative questionnaire survey with exploratory factor analysis.

Procedure: The study first reviewed existing literature on CDW management tools lacking BIM functionality. Then, focus group interviews were conducted with BIM-familiar professionals to identify expectations. These expectations were used to develop a questionnaire, which was then analyzed using exploratory factor analysis.

Sample Size: 22 factors identified, questionnaire responses not explicitly stated but implied to be sufficient for factor analysis.

Context: Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) management within the construction industry.

Design Principle

Leverage digital modelling technologies to proactively manage and minimize material waste by integrating waste considerations into design, collaboration, and lifecycle analysis.

How to Apply

When developing or selecting BIM software, prioritize features that enable waste tracking, material optimization, and collaborative waste reduction planning. Incorporate waste management KPIs into BIM project workflows.

Limitations

The study's findings are based on the expectations of professionals familiar with BIM; broader industry adoption may reveal different priorities. The specific sample size for the quantitative survey is not detailed.

Student Guide (IB Design Technology)

Simple Explanation: People working in construction want to use BIM (a digital design tool) to help reduce waste from building and demolition. They expect BIM to help them work together better, design smarter to use less material, track waste from start to finish, use new tech for waste data, and have better paperwork for waste.

Why This Matters: Understanding how advanced technologies like BIM can be used to solve real-world problems like construction waste is crucial for developing innovative and sustainable design solutions.

Critical Thinking: To what extent do the identified stakeholder expectations for BIM in waste management reflect current industry capabilities, and what are the primary barriers to achieving these expectations in practice?

IA-Ready Paragraph: Research indicates that integrating Building Information Modelling (BIM) with construction waste management practices is a key expectation for industry stakeholders, aiming to enhance collaboration, inform waste-driven design, facilitate lifecycle waste analysis, leverage innovative technologies for waste intelligence, and improve documentation processes (Akinadé et al., 2018).

Project Tips

• When researching waste reduction, consider how digital tools like BIM can be integrated.
• Focus on stakeholder expectations to ensure your design solutions are practical and adoptable.

How to Use in IA

• Reference this study when discussing the potential of digital tools for resource management and waste reduction in your design project.

Examiner Tips

• Demonstrate an understanding of how technological advancements can be applied to address environmental challenges in design.

Independent Variable: Integration of BIM with construction waste management.

Dependent Variable: Stakeholder expectations for BIM deployment in CDW management.

Controlled Variables: Familiarity with BIM technology among interviewed professionals.

Strengths

• Combines qualitative insights with quantitative analysis for a comprehensive understanding.
• Addresses a practical and timely issue in the construction industry.

Critical Questions

• How can the identified expectations be translated into actionable design and development strategies for BIM tools?
• What are the economic implications of adopting BIM for waste management, and how do they align with stakeholder expectations?

Extended Essay Application

• An Extended research project could investigate the development and testing of a specific BIM module designed to meet one of the identified stakeholder expectations, such as a waste tracking and reporting feature.

Source

Designing out construction waste using BIM technology: Stakeholders' expectations for industry deployment · Journal of Cleaner Production · 2018 · 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.01.022