Sustainability assessment framework based on MABAC-BIM index

Digital construction’s sustainability potential remains underexplored, this study proposes a novel framework integrating the Multi-Attributive Border Approximation Comparison (MABAC) method with Building Information Modelling (BIM) to assess building sustainability across multiple criteria. The framework facilitates a comprehensive, quantitative evaluation of sustainability, encompassing environmental, economic, and social dimensions. By automating the generation, integration, and processing of material sustainability data within the BIM environment, the approach streamlines the estimation of key sustainability indicators. Additionally, the Best-Worst Method (BWM) was employed to determine the relative weights of sustainability criteria. At the same time, the MABAC method enables aggregating diverse criteria units into a unified sustainability index. A case study application of the proposed framework revealed that alternative A2 outperformed all other options in terms of economic performance. achieved a 55% reduction in global warming potential, and led to an 18% decrease in costs. The analysis also identified the wall category as having the highest environmental impact, followed by the slab and column categories. The developed framework enables the implementation of various types of building sustainability assessments using different indicators. The integration of a functional database into a BIM environment, combined with scripts developed with Dynamo tools, enables automated calculation of specified sustainability criteria. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of the Architectural Institute of Japan, Architectural Institute of Korea and Architectural Society of China.