Authors : Saad Khalifa Rashid Al-Shahoumi; Faisal Alyamani

Volume/Issue : Volume 10 - 2025, Issue 7 - July

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/5n6btxe7

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/mwa45ds9

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/25jul181

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Note : Google Scholar may take 30 to 40 days to display the article.

Abstract : This paper presents a comprehensive environmental assessment of a residential building in Kuwait, employing a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach integrated with Building Information Modelling (BIM). A detailed 3D model of a single-family villa was created in Autodesk Revit, with environmental impacts calculated using the Tally plugin, which connects BIM data to life cycle inventory datasets. The analysis covers the entire life cycle—from raw material extraction to disposal at the end of the building's 60-year lifespan—adopting a cradle-to-grave perspective. Key indicators, such as Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Primary Energy Demand (PED), were carefully examined. Results show that operational energy, especially cooling, accounts for approximately 87.4% of GWP and 91.1% of PED, highlighting the significant influence of climate and energy sources on building sustainability in hot, arid areas. Beyond operational energy, represented emissions from construction materials—particularly concrete and steel—also play a major role in the building's overall environmental impact. Scenario analysis indicated that reducing concrete use by 30% and integrating renewable energy sources at a 50% level could reduce GWP and PED by approximately 47%. These results emphasise the importance of integrating Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) early in the design phase, along with the use of low-carbon materials and energy-efficient systems. Overall, this study supports ongoing efforts to encourage sustainable building practices in hot climates and offers a flexible, clear methodology that can be applied to future research and policy development.

Keywords : Environmental Assessment, Residential Building, Life Cycle Assessment, Building Information Modelling, Global Warming Potential, Primary Energy Demand, Low-Carbon Materials, Energy-Efficient Systems.

References :

1. S. Guignot, S. Touzé, F. Von der Weid, Y. Ménard and J. Villeneuve, “Recycling construction and demolition wastes as building materials: a life cycle assessment,” Journal of industrial ecology, vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 1030-1043, 2015.
2. R. E. Amaral, J. Brito, M. Buckman, E. Drake, E. Ilatova, P. Rice and Y. S. Abraham, “Waste management and operational energy for sustainable buildings: a review,” Sustainability, vol. 12, no. 13, p. 5337, 2020.
3. Y. L. Li, M. Y. Han, S. Y. Liu and G. Q. Chen, “Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by buildings: A multi-scale perspective,” Building and Environment, Vols. 240-250, p. 151, 2019.
4. B. Plank, J. Streeck, D. Virag, F. Krausmann, H. Haberl and D. Wiedenhofer, “From resource extraction to manufacturing and construction: Flows of stock-building materials in 177 countries from 1900 to 2016,” Resources, Conservation and Recycling, vol. 179, p. 106122, 2022.
5. R. Muigai, M. Alexandra and P. Moyo, “Cradle-to-gate environmental impacts of the concrete industry in South Africa,” Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering Joernaal van die Suid-Afrikaanse Instituut van Siviele Ingenieurswese, vol. 56, no. 1, p. 108, 2014.
6. N. Heeren and S. Hellweg, “Tracking construction material over space and time: Prospective and geo‐referenced modeling of building stocks and construction material flows,” Journal of Industrial Ecology, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 253-267, 2019.
7. G. Heravi and M. M. Abdolvand, “Assessment of water consumption during production of material and construction phases of residential building projects,” Sustainable Cities and Society, vol. 51, p. 101785, 2019.
8. X. Zhao, R. Webber, P. Kalutara, W. Browne and J. Pienaar, “Construction and demolition waste management in Australia: A mini-review,” Waste Management & Research, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 34-46, 2022.
9. T. Alajmi and P. Phelan, “Modeling and forecasting end-use energy consumption for residential buildings in Kuwait using a bottom-up approach,” Energies, vol. 13, no. 8, p. 1981, 2020.
10. V. G. Ram, K. C. Kishore and S. N. Kalidindi, “Environmental benefits of construction and demolition debris recycling: Evidence from an Indian case study using life cycle assessment,” Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 255, p. 120258, 2020.
11. X. Cao, X. Dai and J. Liu, “Building energy-consumption status worldwide and the state-of-the-art technologies for zero-energy buildings during the past decade,” Energy and Buildings, vol. 128, pp. 198-213, 2016.
12. I. Poderytė, N. Banaitienė and A. Banaitis, “Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Buildings: A Scientometric Analysis,” Buildings, vol. 15, no. 3, p. 381, 2025.
13. S. Barbhuiya and B. B. Das, “Life Cycle Assessment of construction materials: Methodologies, applications and future directions for sustainable decision-making,” Case Studies in Construction Materials, vol. 19, p. e02326, 2023.
14. R. Al-Sammar and E. Aleisa, “Life Cycle Assessment of Fiberglass Building Materials in Kuwait.,” Journal of Engineering Research, pp. 2307-1877, 2023.
15. X. Zhong, M. Hu, S. Deetman, B. Steubing, H. Lin, G. Hernandez, C. Harpprecht, C. Zhang, A. Tukker and P. Behrens, “Global greenhouse gas emissions from residential and commercial building materials and mitigation strategies to 2060,” Nature Communications, vol. 12, no. 1, p. 6126, 2021.
16. S. Tafesse, Y. Girma and E. Dessalegn, “Analysis of the socio-economic and environmental impacts of construction waste and management practices,” Heliyon, vol. 8, no. 3, 2022.
17. A. Alsulaili, M. Al-Matrouk, R. Al-Baghli and A. Al-Enezi, “Environmental and economic benefits of applying green building concepts in Kuwait,” Environment, Development and Sustainability, vol. 22, pp. 3371-3387, 2020.
18. M. El Mostafa, “The Life Cycle Assessment of Concrete Manufacturing in Kuwait,” Cambridge, MA, 2013.
19. M. K. Alenezi and M. H. Alrashidi, “Investigating the Barriers to Adoption of Renewable Energy Systems in Residential Buildings in Kuwait,” Academic Journal of Research and Scientific Publishing, vol. 6, no. 69, 2025.
20. M. E.-K. H. Alomari and A. Topal, “Analysis of energy conservation behavior at the Kuwaiti academic buildings,” International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 219-232, 2021.
21. I. Barbero, Y. Rezgui, T. Beach and I. Petri, “Social Life Cycle Assessment in the construction sector: current work and directions for future research,” The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, vol. 29, no. 10, pp. 1827-1845, 2024.
22. B. Moutik, J. Summerscales, J. Graham-Jones and R. Pemberton, “Life Cycle Assessment Research Trends and Implications: A Bibliometric Analysis,” Sustainability, vol. 15, p. 13408, 2023.
23. R. Di Bari, N. Alaux and M. Saade, “Systematising the LCA approaches’ soup: a framework based on text mining,” Int J Life Cycle Assess, vol. 29, p. 1621–1638, 2024.
24. M. Popowicz, N. Katzer and M. Kettele, “Digital technologies for life cycle assessment: a review and integrated combination framework,” Int J Life Cycle Assess, 2024.
25. K. Wytti, F. Handayani and S. Setiono, “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analysis with BIM-Based LCA Method Using Tally Plugin (Case Study: Construction of a Satpol PP Building),” Sustainable Civil Building Management and Engineering Journal, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 1-14, 2024.
26. A. Mohammed, I. Elmasoudi and M. Ghannam, "Life cycle environmental impact assessment of steel structures using building information modelling," Innovative Infrastructure Solutions, vol. 10, no. 1, p. 36, 2025.
27. S. Zhou, “Climate-based Energy Analysis for BIM Residential Models,” in Proceedings of the 2024 International Conference on Smart City and Information Systems, 2024.
28. S. Sobhkhiz, H. Taghaddos, M. Rezvani and A. Ramezanianpour, "Utilisation of semantic web technologies to improve BIM-LCA applications," Automation in Construction, vol. 130, p. 103842, 2021.
29. S. Mohammadi and A. Bahman, “ Towards Energy-Autonomous Buildings in Kuwait: A Case Study.,” 2023.
30. T. Echenagucia, T. Moroseos and C. Meek, “On the tradeoffs between embodied and operational carbon in building envelope design: The impact of local climates and energy grids,” Energy and Buildings, vol. 278, p. 112589, 2023.
31. R. Monnier, P. Schalbart, C. Roux and B. Peuportier, “Integrating effects of overheating on human health into buildings’ life cycle assessment,” The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, vol. 29, no. 11, pp. 2137-2150, 2024.
32. M. Alwetaishi, “Towards sustainable residential buildings in Saudi Arabia according to the conceptual framework of Mostadam rating system and Vision 2030,” International Journal of Energy Production and Management, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 1-13, 2021.
33. T. Echenagucia, T. Moroseos and C. Meek, “On the tradeoffs between embodied and operational carbon in building envelope design: The impact of local climates and energy grids,” Energy and Buildings, vol. 278, p. 112589, 2023.
34. L. Chen, Y. Hu, R. Wang, X. Li, Z. Chen, J. Hua, A. Osman, M. Farghali, L. Huang, J. Li and L. Dong, “Green building practices to integrate renewable energy in the construction sector: a review.,” Environmental Chemistry Letters, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 751-784, 2024.
35. J. Drouilles, S. Aguacil, E. Hoxha, T. Jusselme, S. Lufkin and E. Rey, “Environmental impact assessment of Swiss residential archetypes: a comparison of construction and mobility scenarios,” Energy efficiency, vol. 12, pp. 1661-1689, 2019.
36. F. Mneimneh, H. Ghazzawi and S. Ramakrishna, “Review study of energy efficiency measures in favor of reducing carbon footprint of electricity and power, buildings, and transportation,” Circular Economy and Sustainability, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 447-474, 2023.