DOI: 10.3390/buildings16132640 ISSN: 2075-5309

Parametric Multi-Criteria Sustainability Assessment of Building Renovation Elements: A BIM-Based Three-Pillar Framework

Maria Grazianova, Andrea Hrubovcakova, Ivana Halaszova, Peter Mesaros

The building renovation sector is under growing pressure to balance environmental responsibility, economic efficiency, and occupant well-being simultaneously. Existing evaluation approaches are predominantly finance-driven, marginalising ecological and social dimensions. This study develops and validates a parametric multi-criteria assessment framework for building renovation elements, structured around the three pillars of sustainability: environmental, economic, and social. A dataset of 33 renovation elements—encompassing green façade systems, extensive and intensive green roofs, interior wall, floor, and ceiling solutions, and exterior envelope and site components—was compiled and digitized as BIM objects in ArchiCAD 26, enriched with non-graphic parameters including cost, lifespan, recyclability, eco-index, maintenance effort, and qualitative social descriptors. Parameters were aggregated using type-specific logic: additive summation for economic indicators, minimum-value selection for lifespan, arithmetic mean for environmental indicators, and descriptive consolidation for social attributes. Five renovation scenarios (A–E), each composed of nine elements, were evaluated to demonstrate how the sustainability profile changes with selection priorities. Scenarios A, B, and C confirmed single-dimension dominance (environmental, economic, and social, respectively), Scenario D achieved a balanced three-pillar profile, and Scenario E revealed a latent economic bias in an apparently random element selection. The framework is scalable and extensible, and its data structure may provide a basis for future exploration of integration with BIM environments.

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