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Although a large number of studies on Building Information Modeling (BIM) have been conducted in the past decade, a lack of consensus remains among researchers and practitioners regarding the applications of BIM for the development of green buildings, the activity of making buildings in a way that protects the natural environment. As the usefulness of BIM has been widely recognized in the building and construction industry, there is an urgent need to establish an up-to-date synthesis on the nexus between BIM and green buildings. After an in-depth review of hundreds of journal articles published from 1999 to 2016 and 12 widely used types of BIM software, this study provides a holistic understanding and critical reflection on the nexus between BIM and green buildings, which is systematically illustrated by a “Green BIM Triangle” taxonomy. The proposed taxonomy indicates that the nexus between BIM and green buildings needs to be understood based on three dimensions, namely project phases, green attributes and BIM attributes. Following the proposed taxonomy, this paper systematically illustrated 1) the applications of BIM in supporting the design, construction, operation, and retrofitting processes of green buildings; 2) the various functions of BIM for green building analyses such as energy, emissions, and ventilation analysis; 3) the applications of BIM in supporting green building assessments (GBA); and 4) research gaps and future research directions in this area. Through critical review and synthesis of BIM and green buildings based on evidence from both academic research and industrial practices, this paper provides important guidance for building researchers and practitioners to better align BIM development with green building development in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract China has been the largest contributor to global carbon emissions since 2008, with its building and construction industry considered as one of the most significant sources. However, few studies have been conducted on analyzing the influencing factors of the carbon emissions following a life cycle perspective. This study aims to evaluate the carbon emissions of this industry from a life cycle perspective, including the extraction, manufacturing, construction and construction-related transportation, and building operation, using Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index. The key findings are: 1) the extraction and manufacturing of raw materials, and building operation are the two biggest contributors to the life cycle carbon emissions of the building and construction industry, accounting for 58% and 40% respectively; 2) the most effective strategies to reduce carbon emissions in the construction stage from 2000 to 2015 are to improve energy efficiency and lower emission factor; and 3) the most effective strategies to reduce carbon emissions in the building operation stage from 2000 to 2015 are to increase development density, improve emission factor, energy structure and industry structure. This study provides useful scientific evidence for policy makers to establish appropriate emission targets and relevant reduction strategies that are relevant to China's building and construction industry. Highlights • The carbon emissions of China's building and construction industry is calculated. • Extraction and manufacturing of materials contributes 58% of the carbon emissions. • Building operation contributes 40% of the carbon emissions. • Better energy efficiency is effective in reducing construction emissions. • High development density is effective in reducing building operation emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanization poses a significant challenge of accommodating the poor, particularly in developing countries such as China where affordable housing has only been initiated a few years ago and will continue to be developed in the coming years. Two major considerations in affordable housing programs are cost and time, as the ability to meet the needs of low-income households is the main target of these programs. However, it is not a common strategy to address affordable housing shortage by means of incorporating sustainability features. One of critical issues is the lack of sustainability framework to integrate sustainability in affordable housing. This paper aims to identify the key sustainability performance indicators (KSPIs) which are useful to guide the development of affordable housing. A preliminary list of 42 key sustainability performance indicators of affordable housing was identified through an extensive literature review. This was followed by a questionnaire survey to solicit the professional views from three stakeholder groups, namely government, developers and academics in the Chinese construction industry. Via the fuzzy set theory and variance analysis, 24 KSPIs were finally highlighted. These findings provide useful references for policy makers as well as industry practitioners to develop affordable housing programs in a sustainable manner. This helps to achieve the sustainable development at the regional scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]