Towards BIM-integrated, resource-efficient building services

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Session 6 Paper 3, University College London, 16-17 April 2015

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Recent research has highlighted the importance of increasing the resource efficiency of building services. In this paper, a literature review of life cycle assessment and embodied carbon studies clearly signposts the need for more research on the embodied impacts of building services. Theoretical and practical challenges are identified in the use of LCA methods in construction along with possible solutions compatible with BIM-led design. A case study of horizontal, ducted fan coil units demonstrates that variations in embodied carbon of similar units could be associated with variations in total cooling capacity. This raises the possibility that metrics could subsequently be devised to predict embodied carbon for a generic class of fan coil units. Implications of these results are explored and recommendations made for future studies.