Building Information Modeling (BIM)-Based Building Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Using Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) File Format

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Advantages:

The methodology is detailed and clear, the process is clear, easy to understand and operate;
Based on BIM technology, it can quickly and accurately obtain the design and material information of the building, which is convenient for the subsequent LCA calculation;
The open IFC file format enables easy data exchange and sharing with other software and databases.
The results are highly interpretable and can visually show the environmental impact of buildings in different life cycle stages.

Cons:

The research object is only a three-floor education building, and the scope of application is limited.
Compared with other existing BIM-LCA methods, this method does not mention specific experimental data and comparison results, so it is difficult to directly prove its superiority.
Other influencing factors, such as socio-economic costs, were not involved.

Rigorous, scientific and innovative evaluation:

The research method and process of this paper are rigorous, in line with the standard process of LCA, and combined with the advantages of BIM technology and IFC file format, with certain scientific and innovative. However, due to the lack of specific experimental data and comparative results, the superiority of this method cannot be fully proved.

Conclusion:

According to the above evaluation, I think this paper has certain academic value, but it needs to further improve the experimental design and data analysis to enhance its credibility and persuasiveness. It is suggested that the author should strengthen the collection and analysis of experimental data and add more comparisons with other methods in order to better demonstrate the advantages and innovations of this method. Therefore, I suggest a major revision of this paper before considering employment.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,
Thank you for your recommendations to improve the academic value of our article. We agree with your comments. Our response is presented in the attached document.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear author,
I found your article on ‘BIM-based Building Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) in IFC file format’ very interesting. It is really very impressive what developments are possible in the field of data acquisition automation if you have the appropriate programming skills. 

- I noticed a small but correctable error. You seem to have removed tables 2 and 3. In any case, Table 4 is directly after Table 1 in the manuscript, but you correctly refer to the tables in the text. Perhaps you could correct this and make the numbering consistent?
- As I have already carried out LCA assessments myself (with the SPHERA software), I would be interested to know whether you also carried out consistency checks on your data during the calculation, as I have not read anything about this. These checks always help me when certain data is not available but is necessary for a calculation. In addition, the LCA data is quite different, depending on the ‘energy mix’, for example, in the production of a cement at the respective production site or how far the respective component had to be transported until it was installed. 
- I really liked your discussion and the conclusion. They could have emphasised more that early LCA assessments during the construction and planning phase could perhaps avoid or at least reduce detrimental eco-developments.   

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,
Thank you for your valuable review!
Comments 1: "I noticed a small but correctable error. You seem to have removed tables 2 and 3. In any case, Table 4 is directly after Table 1 in the manuscript, but you correctly refer to the tables in the text. Perhaps you could correct this and make the numbering consistent?"
Response 1: We appreciate your attentive feedback on our paper.
Tables numbering in the document was indeed wrong for some reasons so we fixed it.

Comments 2: "As I have already carried out LCA assessments myself (with the SPHERA software), I would be interested to know whether you also carried out consistency checks on your data during the calculation, as I have not read anything about this. These checks always help me when certain data is not available but is necessary for a calculation. In addition, the LCA data is quite different, depending on the ‘energy mix’, for example, in the production of a cement at the respective production site or how far the respective component had to be transported until it was installed."
Response 2: As soon as the goal of our study is to establish a BIM-based LCA method and to verify its workability, generic environmental data was taken. Accent was more on a process of assessment development than on analyzing the quality of input data. We didn’t consider specific material manufacturers and EPDs, so didn’t we look for the most correct set of materials environmental data.
You are absolutely right - data consistency is crucial for applying the proposed method in practice and it makes sense to add data consistency check step as a part of a method (within inventory analysis stage).

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This paper presents an innovative approach to integrating Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to assess and reduce the environmental impact of buildings. The authors successfully demonstrate how  IFC format files enhances data interoperability. The study is validated through a consistent case study. Moreover, study is aligned and conducted under LCA standards, thus, making the research contribute to the standardization of sustainability assessments in construction.

Despite its strengths, the study has some limitations. Reliance on Python programming and IFC file processing may limit accessibility for industry professionals without advanced technical skills. The authors acknowledge these limitations and suggest future improvements, such as dynamic real-time mapping between LCA databases and BIM elements and the development of a user-friendly interface to facilitate adoption.

This research is highly relevant in the context of the European Green Deal and the global push for sustainable construction. As the construction sector accounts for a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions, tools that facilitate efficient environmental impact assessments are essential for achieving decarbonization targets. The methodology has the potential to advance green building certification systems such as LEED and BREEAM by integrating LCA into BIM workflows. 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

A thorough review of english is required, as well as check the formatting, use of capital letter and grammar 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,
Thank you for your valuable review!
Comments 1: "A thorough review of english is required, as well as check the formatting, use of capital letter and grammar"
Response 1: We appreciate your careful review of our paper. We have corrected the table numbering, as it was previously incorrect. Additionally, we thoroughly checked the manuscript for proper use of capital letters, formatting, and grammar.