Automated Parametric BIM Integration of Embodied Carbon Assessment for Earthen Construction

The building and construction sector accounts for nearly ۳۹% of global energy-related carbon emissions, with embodied carbon from material extraction, manufacturing, and transportation increasingly recognized as a critical obstacle to climate mitigation targets. Life cycle assessment (LCA) provides a standardized methodology for quantifying environmental impacts across a product's life cycle, following ISO ۱۴۰۴۰ and ISO ۱۴۰۴۴ frameworks [۲۱, ۲۲]. For buildings, embodied carbon assessment focuses on cradle-to-gate stages (A۱-A۳). Earthen construction techniques such as rammed earth demonstrate substantially lower emissions than cement-based systems, yet these materials remain under-represented within contemporary digital design workflows. Building Information Modeling (BIM) has become central to geometric coordination and documentation; however, environmental performance assessment typically remains external to the design environment. Current BIM-LCA workflows rely on exporting model data to specialized software or proprietary plugins, introducing manual data handling and delayed feedback. Carbon evaluation thus often occurs after major architectural decisions have already been established, limiting opportunities to explore lower-impact alternatives during early design stages. Furthermore, existing tools operate as black boxes in which emission factors and regional assumptions are inaccessible to designers, constraining reproducibility and adaptation to local construction contexts. To address these limitations, this study embeds a transparent Python-based embodied carbon workflow directly within Autodesk Revit. By integrating cradle-to-gate lifecycle calculations as continuously updated model attributes, environmental performance becomes available during ongoing modeling functioning conceptually like a spell-checker: feedback is provided at the moment design decisions are made rather than after completion. The investigation is guided by three research questions: (RQ۱) Can cradle-to-gate embodied carbon assessment be executed reliably within a native BIM environment without reliance on external LCA software? (RQ۲) To what extent do results produced by a lightweight Python-based workflow align with industry-standard BIM-LCA tools? (RQ۳) Can near-real-time BIM integration support predictive environmental decision-making, including identification of material performance thresholds?

کلیدواژه ها:

BIM ، LCA ، Embodied Carbon ، Real-Time Assessment ، Python Automation ، Sustainable Construction