A new study from Loughborough, Sheffield, Newcastle and Beijing University of Technology shows how open BIM data can help designers compare embodied carbon and circularity early in building design. The workflow reads IFC files directly, extracts component quantities and materials, and evaluates whole-building configurations without relying on a proprietary BIM application. In a reference building, the method narrowed 150 wall, floor and roof combinations down to 12 Pareto-optimal candidates. Timber roofs tended to score better on carbon, while aluminium roofs scored higher on circularity, which highlights the trade-offs involved in material selection. The results were stable across weighting, threshold and uncertainty checks, though the study is a proof of concept. It does not yet cover cost, structural performance, fire resistance, moisture, operational energy, or verified EPD coverage. More testing on real projects and multiple authoring platforms is needed before field deployment.
