Digital Technologies and Sustainability Assessment: A Critical Review on the Integration Methods between BIM and LEED

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

- A very interesting work that initially addresses a major bibliographic review existing in the renowned literature, of the different integrations between LEED and BIM methods, in the context of sustainability, in the projects, construction and management of green building. Introducing a summary table (Table 1) of relevant publications that associate integrations between BIM and LEED;

- In the third part, API-Application Program Interface was applied, as an integration strategy to automate LEED certifications with BIM;

-the work is well organized and initially described by a detailed flowchart;

-Several renamed references are presented on the subject addressed, being appropriate and adequate. The authors made self-quotations of their work, but all were relevant and within the context of the work.

 

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Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear author,

I have reviewed the manuscript entitled A Critical Review on BIM and LEED Integration at the Early Design Stage for Sustainable Constructions. This is a well-structured review article with a clear logic. The manuscript systematically describes the different approaches to integrating LEED and BIM in the early design phase. The authors suggest that the limitations can be addressed through a visual programming language. This has implications for the early design of sustainable buildings and facilitates designers and researchers. The paper needs minor revisions on the following issues before acceptance for publication.

In general:

1. In the introduction section should be more quickly to the topic, I think the author can adjust the structural order of the appropriate manuscript.

2. The screening of literature needs to be strengthened. As a review article, I think more literature citations are needed. For example, in section1, section 4.2 , and the section 5, etc.

3. The conclusion section seems a little redundant and needs further refinement of the article's ideas.

4. The language of the manuscript is relatively fluent, but there are still some details that need to be corrected and the author should check them again.

Grammar problem:

1. Page 1 line 14 : "to evaluate" needs to be replaced with "to evaluating".

2. Page 1 line 21 : " informatic " needs to be replaced with " informatics".

3. Page 1 line 21 : " third party " needs to be replaced with " third-party ".

4. Page 3 line 105: " the following research questions raised up " needs to be replaced with " were raised up ".

5. Page 11 line 501: " business process " needs to be replaced with " business processes".

 

 

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

The manuscript provides an in-depth analysis of the current and prospective status of the integration of BIM at the early design phase with LEED certification / assessment system, which grades the project according to a series of categories.

There are just minor changes that I recommend to improve the clarity and readability of the work:

1) In Table 1 I don't think that a mention of the journal where the papers were published is meaningful. I would replace that information with more details on the integration that was implemented, the software involved, the case study type, the novelty of the work, etc. The same with the text preceding Table 1, it seems that the number of papers related to BIM-LEED integration in each scientific journal is a relevant indicator or something to discuss.

2) Figure 1, flowchart: All symbols are alike, and represent distinct elements of the workflow: data and methods/operations should use different symbols. Moreover, the sequence at the end on the right side is confusing.

3) IFC should be defined the first time this acronym appears. Same with IGBPM.

4) Cloud-BIM has been emerging as a trend in the architectural business reinforcing the collaborative environment. The same path has been explored for environmental certification / assessment tools. It seems a very promising path, as described in the main part of the text, but some conclusion is missing at the end of the manuscript, where plug-in tools are highlighted as the problem-solving path.

 

 

 

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 4 Report

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the possible integration techniques between LEED and BIM, along with their constraints, advantages, and upcoming research developments. The paper suggests that third-party software data exchange, cloud-BIM method, and plug-in development using API are potential integration techniques that can be used at the early design phase. It is recommended to accept the manuscript before publications. The detailed comments are as follows: 

1.The manuscript is titled "A Critical Review on BIM and LEED Integration at the Early Design Stage for Sustainable Constructions", which can not accurately summarize the research work done. It is suggested to modify the title. 

2.The abstract part is so long that it is suggested to be further summarized. 

3.As a review paper, it needs a large number of authoritative references as support. It is suggested to supplement more research data and results. 

4. The project case based on BIM and LEED Integration could be expanded to discuss its sustainability and economy. 

5.It is suggested to add some research status and future progress of integrated BIM and LEED.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx