Potential Application of BIM in Cost-Benefit Analysis of Demolition Waste Management

Building Information Modeling (BIM) recently has been recognized as a powerful tool among construction stakeholders. The BIM technology not only enables decision makers access to reliable and accurate information but also facilitates project management processes during bidding, preconstruction, construction, and postconstruction. However, possible applications of BIM technology are less considered for the purpose of the end-of-life operations, such as cost-benefit analysis of demolition waste management. This study aims to identify potential application of BIM in demolition waste management so that decision makers can base their decisions on reliable and accurate information. For this purpose, three most common demolition waste management alternatives are proposed, and the cost-benefit analysis is formulated based on building-related and constant variables. The variables are further categorized based on their data sources into four categories including drawings and onsite survey, literature, official statistics and regulations, and real-life data from surveys. Finally, a case study of a one-story wood-frame residential building is simulated to demonstrate the potential application of BIM in supporting cost-benefit analysis of demolition waste management. The result of this study can be used as the backbone for developing a BIM-based waste management tool.