Use of building information modelling to reduce the carbon emissions of housing in Zambia

The construction sector adds to one-third of global carbon emissions. Developing countries such as Zambia, have an elevated environmental impact because of their high construction rate. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a digital tool which can assess the carbon footprint of designs early in the design process. This study examined the use of BIM to reduce Zambia’s housing carbon footprint. The study used a concurrent triangulation mixed methodology. It used 49 construction professionals as questionnaire participants, and five practicing faculty from the construction department of a prominent university for semi-structured interviews. The results show that construction professionals know the importance of BIM for reducing carbon footprint as it makes sure that all stakeholders are involved in the design, which can help minimise the carbon footprint. The interviews show that professionals mostly use BIM for reducing production time of drawings and construction process but rarely use it to reduce carbon footprint due to cost, availability and insufficient policies. Currently, BIM is not mandatory in university curricula, however, the questionnaires depicted that it is often used for easier project management (59%). Half of the questionnaire respondents used it to assess carbon footprints. It is clear from the results that BIM should be introduced early in the design stages to maximise its effectiveness. This study encourages the early use of BIM in the design process by construction professionals in Zambia to reduce the carbon footprint of housing.