ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT The building industry is a traditional sector, with high environmental impacts and low productivity compared to other industries. Current research in digital fabrication is beginning to reveal its potential to improve the sustainability of the sector. However, evaluation methods are needed to quantify the actual reduction of environmental emissions compared to conventional construction. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method is commonly employed for environmental evaluation of buildings. However, research on the integration of LCA in CAD and BIM software are only partially applicable to digital fabrication, because of differences in the design process. This study presents a design-integrated method for simplified LCA with the aim of integrating environmental criteria in the decision-making and optimization of digitally fabricated architecture. Finally, the paper presents the evaluation of the case study “Mesh Mould”. The results prove the applicability of the method and highlight the environmental benefits that digital fabrication can provide.
