Building Information Modeling and LEED: a review on the possible integration methods

Nowadays, there is an increasing demand for sustainable buildings. Therefore, the construction industry needs integrated tools to optimize the selection process of materials, technical solutions, architectural choices, equipment, and systems. For this purpose, Building Information Modeling (BIM) can facilitate designers in making decisions that have a great impact on the life cycle of sustainable buildings. Since BIM allows for multi-disciplinary information to be superimposed within one model, it creates an opportunity to make accurate and efficient design decision on building sustainability compared to traditional methods. The aim of this paper is to analyze the existing literature on the synergies between BIM and green building certification systems by focusing on the different integration methods between LEED and BIM. Third-party software information exchange, cloud-BIM approach, and plug-in development by using Application Program Interface (API) are considered as possible integration methods at the early design stage. This paper can be helpful for both designers and researchers in improving the sustainability criteria since the early design stage of green buildings and in developing more advanced methods to integrate LEED into BIM software to speed-up the documentation and certification process. By evaluating the advantages of integrating BIM and LEED and pointing out the current limits, it is possible to identify the next directions for this research on this topic.