Introduction

The construction industry has been largely modified due to the use of latest software like building information modeling (BIM) and tools like Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in recent years. The ability of the increased quality of projects, accuracy of scheduling, and reduction in total costs of product in construction projects are some important benefits of latest technology advancements. On the other hand, due to fast depletion of world building resp8urces and environmental protection issues. The aspect of sustainable construction practices is also on rise. There has not been large number of studies performed o the role of BIM and LCA in sustainable practice s of construction in UK.

Aim of the Research

The aim of this proposed research is to evaluate the impact of latest technological advancements in sustainable developments; investigating the role of computers aided systems such as BIM and tools such as LCA in providing support in establishing environmental sustainability in construction projects. The Sheffield UK, area construction projects are selected to conduct this research.

 Objectives

The main objectives of the proposed research are as follows:

1. To determine the current trends of utilization of technology solutions in future development of sustainable construction industry.
2. To investigate the application of BIM and LCA in modern construction practices with reference to the sustainable designs and features
3. To assess the environmental protection issues related to the rapid and mega scale construction activities in Sheffield, UK and how the awareness of these issues have changed the perceptions of stakeholders.
4. To estimate the challenges and difficulties faced by construction companies in incorporating BIM and LCA techniques in sustainable projects to avoid environmental hazards.
5. To determine the specific stage and level of BIM and LCA in which they provide optimal solution to sustainable design development in construction

Context

Sustainability concerns in the field of construction is aimed at developing win-win solutions to manage the clients’’ requirements as well to adapt to the climate changes and resources conservation requirements. The technology advancement in the society also demands a better environment protection due to ever high challenges posed for global environment. In this wake, the role of construction companies is substantial and construction industry is the largest 8user of Earth materials and minerals (Shen et al., 2010). According to Rockström et al (2013), The base of Earths’ natural resources provision is not infinite, on the other hand, European Commission (2011) stated in the report that due to the rapid functioning of global and European economy, the pressure on utilization of Earth’s resources keep on increasing. Also, Yan et al (2010) argued that the transportation, building activities, and manufacturing of construction material consumes large amounts of energy. The studies conducted by OECD (2003) also declare that construction sector is one of the largest consumers of energy and has drastic impacts on environment.

In this context, the sustainability and environment protection issues are become significant for global and European construction industry. Hence, there is a dire need for the action of construction sector in UK as well to show its contribution to protection of environment and address the sustainability issues in building projects (Ofori 1992). Another reason of concentration on sustainable environmentally protected projects is the underlying opportunities of Life Cycle assessment (LCA) and sustainable procurement to increase the project life. In view of all these factors affecting on the sustainable construction in UK, the proposed research will address the following question:

1. What are the impacts of latest technological advancements in sustainable developments of construction industry, and how do the computers aided systems like BIM and tools like LCA are successful in providing support to establish environmental sustainability in construction projects?

Rationale

One of the recent computer aided system developments are Building information modeling (BIM) in construction sector to assist the design, architecture, and building functions. The software provides a virtual building environment that assist in adaptations and incorporations of new design and construction elements. Though, it is a relatively new development, yet many studies are performed to check its viability in construction projects. Similarly, the use of LCA (life cycle assessment) tools in designing o buildings has proved a remarkable development of project simulations. On the other hand, there is not enough research studies are conducted to check the viability of BIM and LCA in building sustainable projects or green buildings (Finnveden and Moberg, 2005).   The research is proposed due to the genuine interest of the author in suitability issues of construction projects and their drastic impact s on environment. Also, the important of environmental protection initiatives in construction industry are also a motivation factor to this research. The Sheffield area is selected to conduct this research die to availability of large number of new construction protects and increasing awareness of sustainability aspects of environment protection in common people.

 This research is intended to identify the potential capabilities of BIM software in relation to sustainable construction practices. Additionally, the increase in population and rise in economic development in European countries and globally put a strong pressure on conservation of material and energy in construction projects. According to Bribian et al (2011), nearly 60% of the total material extracted from the earth is consumed on global building and infrastructure construction projects. Furthermore, the ration of consumption of this material is very high in developed countries like USA and UK. Hence, this research is viable to explore different opportunities and challenges posed by the use of BIM and LCA system and tools to deign sustainable designs and infrastructure in construction projects.

Literature Review

The literature review section of the proposed research will contain the review of the studies conducted on the role of BIM and LCA in developing sustainable designs and infrastructure in global construction industry. According to the study of Krygiel and Nies (2008), a BIM computer aided systems comprised on the actual constructions and assemblies’ plans of buildings as compared to the traditional CAD based building designs. This study is based in the analysis of concerns related to use of BIM in the sustainable construction design practices. Another study of Popov et al. (2008) explained the basic aspects of BIM and considered it as an ability to develop building plan strategies for construction and maintenance. Similarly, Khemlani (2007) proposed the features of BIM utilized in construction sector as a support to the work process distribution, basic design modeling, and assisted in designing the large projects simultaneously.

 Apart from these studies on the implications of BIM in construction, many studies are also found on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). According to Finnveden et al (2003), LCA tool is used to analyse the impacts of environment and the effective use and disposal of available resources. In another study of Li et al. (2010), the progress in environmental sensitive movements EIA model in construction procedures is primarily based on the methodology of LCA. The EIA model  roil is to assist the construction contractors  in selecting environmental friendly plans. The other studies of OECD (2003) and EU (2011) also consider the sustainable of material required in construction processes.

Another aspect to be discussed in literature review is the implication of sustainability in building practices to increase the efficiencies in economic, social, and ecological areas. Bowyer, (2008) deduced that sustainability in construction is important to minimize wastages and promotes effective usage of energy and materials, persuade recycling and reusability of construction materials, and derive an element of human satisfaction. The ‘Green Building Movement’ is also one of the popular aspects of sustainability in construction processes to support efficient energy, material, and human resource utilization in environmental friendly ways. Moreover, the study of Lam et al., (2010) demanded the need of environment priority practices in construction to effectively respond the sustainability issues.

Methodology and Research Design

The methodology selected for this proposed research is based on descriptive framework positivism philosophy. According to Saunders et al (2012), positivism school is the objective and scientific mode of problem solving that considers factual and logical information flow. On the other, as the problem statement is clearly defined and the premises are selected to perform the research, therefore, a deductive approach will be more suitable to collect the data. The Interpretivism philosophy is not found suitable as it is based on detailed and subjective methods of data collection and analysis.

Research Methods

The survey method is found suitable to collect quantitative data from building contractors, consultants, and project managers on construction sites in Sheffield, UK. The sampling technique is also important to select representative sampling. Due to unavailability of total database of construction professionals, a non probability based sampling technique, convenience sampling will be used. The proposed sample size is 50 participants for personally administered survey questionnaire.

The questionnaire will be based on the derived objectives of the research and contains sections on the issues and challenges of the sustainable construction practices, and the viability of BIM and LCA tools in assuring sustainability in commercial and residential buildings. The Likert scale will be used to find the opinions on a 5-point scale.

The collected quantitative data will be analysed with the help of SPSS software and the techniques of correlation and regression will be suitable to calculate the relationships of defined variables. These results will be used to answer the raised research questions of effectiveness of BIM and LCA in designing of sustainable buildings. The discussion section will provide a comparison of the calculated results with the findings from the literature review of previous studies in this area.

Anticipated outputs

The expected results of the research are the outlines of specific challenges and application of BIM and LCA in building projects and the level of their effectiveness in establishing sustainability in real life construction projects. Also, the research will be able to recommend some strategies to increase the awareness and implication of latest technology to increase the environmental sensitivity of project designs and building practices in UK.

 Contingency arrangements

The availability of concerned professionals on constructions sites and the arrangement of their surveys is an important aspect of the research, Therefore, prior appointments and conformation of presence on site will be assured before start of the survey process. The access to the extensive literature review and secondary research data will also be important to arrange proper means beforehand. Use of university library services and internet browsing help needs to be assured in the whole data collection and analysis time. Also, there are chances of data lost from malfunctioning of computer devices; therefore, data backup plans will be important throughout the research period.

Health and Safety Issues and Plan

As the research is intended to collect personally administered survey data, therefore, actual visits to the construction sites will be involved, Therefore, use of precautionary measures are important to save the author from any injuries

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