Zeerak Waryam Sajid

Infill materials play a pivotal role in determining buildings’ life cycle costing (LCC) and environmental impacts. International standards prescribe LCC and life cycle assessments (LCA) to assess materials’ economic and environmental sustainability. The existing methods of LCC and LCA are tedious and time-consuming, reducing their practical application. This study sought to integrate LCC and LCA with building information modeling (BIM) to develop a swift and efficient approach for evaluating the life cycle performance of infill materials. The BIM model for a case study was prepared using Autodesk Revit®, and the study included four infill materials (lightweight aggregate concrete block (LECA), autoclaved cellular concrete (AAC), concrete masonry and bricks). LCC was conducted using Revit® and Autodesk Insight 360® to estimate costs incurred across different project phases. LCA was conducted using “One Click LCA®,” a BIM-based platform featuring a comprehensive material inventory. Carbon emissions, acidification, and eutrophication were chosen as environmental impact factors for LCA. LECA was the preferred choice due to its lower cost and environmental impact. Its lifetime cost of $440,618 was 5.4% lower than bricks’, with 2.8% lower CO₂ emissions than AAC’s, which were second-place options, respectively. LECA had 6.4 and 27% lower costs than concrete blocks, and AAC’s carbon emissions were 32 and 58% lower than concrete blocks and bricks, respectively. BIM has been employed for life cycle analysis in existing literature, but its efficacy in evaluating the lifetime costs and environmental impacts of infill materials remains unexplored. The current study presents a BIM-based approach for conducting LCC and LCA of infill materials, facilitating informed decision-making during the planning phase and promoting sustainable construction practices.

In the era of the global drive for sustainability in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), sustainability measures are encouraged to be taken at all levels. This study explores a novel mix design integrating Reclaimed Asphalt (RAP) with waste Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) to enhance pavement performance and sustainability. It adopts a holistic approach by investigating the technical, economic, and environmental aspects of the proposed mix to assess its sustainability. Industry experts emphasize the necessity of mitigating the resource intensiveness of pavement construction to foster sustainable infrastructure. RAP enables resource-efficient pavement construction by promoting asphalt recycling. However, increasing RAP quantity in the mix compromises asphalt structural stability, making it more susceptible to moisture damage and rutting. In this study, PET-modified Bitumen (PMB) is incorporated in higher RAP quantities in the asphaltic mix without compromising asphalt’s structural performance and durability. Various PMB amounts (2% to 10% by mass of mixture) were tested with 40% RAP (by mass of mixture), evaluating performance in terms of moisture damage, Marshall stability, rutting, etc. Optimal results were achieved with 6% PET and 40% RAP, showing a 7%, 57%, and 23% improvement in moisture resistance, rutting resistance, and Marshall stability, respectively, compared to unmodified asphalt (technical aspects). The novel asphalt mix demonstrated a 17% reduction in material cost (economic aspect) and a 53% decrease in CO₂ emissions (environmental aspect) using Building Information Modeling (BIM). This study devises a prospective solution for the construction of resilient, resource-efficient, cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and sustainable pavements in line with UN SDGs and circular economy goals.

Modular construction (MC) is a promising concept with the potential to revolutionize the construction industry (CI). The sustainability aspects of MC, among its other encouraging facets, have garnered escalated interest and acclaim among the research community, especially in the context of climate change (CC) mitigation efforts. Despite numerous scholarly studies contributing to the understanding of MC, a holistic review of the prevailing literature that systematically documents the impact of utilizing MC on CC mitigation remains scarce. The study conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) of the pertinent literature retrieved from the Scopus repository to explore the relationship between MC and CC mitigation. Employing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol, the SLR was conducted on 31 shortlisted articles published between 2010 and 2023. The findings of the study reveal that MC can mitigate the climate crisis by reducing GHG emissions, curtailing resource intensiveness by enabling a circular economy (CE), fomenting energy efficiency, and fostering resourceful land use and management in the CI. A conceptual framework based on the findings of the previous literature is proposed in this study, which outlines several strategies for CC mitigation that can be implemented by the adoption of MC in the CI. The current study is a humble effort to review various offerings of MC to help mitigate CC in the era of striving for global sustainability. For industry practitioners and policymakers, this study highlights the viability of leveraging MC for CC mitigation, aiming to inspire better decision making for sustainable development in the CI. Similarly, for researchers, it presents MC as a potential tool for CC mitigation that can be further explored in terms of its associated factors, and focused frameworks can be developed.