# A Systematic Review of the Role of BIM in Building Sustainability Assessment Methods
## 5 Discussion  
From the performed analysis, it is possible to validate previous conclusions [22] about the most addressed BSA method. Between 2011 and 2019, 22 papers were published about the practical  
Figure 7: Applied software to assess LEED criteria. evaluation of LEED criteria, making it the most-preferred scheme for authors. Only five publications were found regarding BREEAM and one about a BIM-based framework for SBTool. Despite the research period that was set between 2009 and 2019 (the past 10 years), no publications about the topic were found in 2009 and 2010, including review articles. A clear publication trend is noticed in the past years (Figure 8). Until 2015, the subject of BIM integration in BSA methods was still with low general interest, with a couple of publications per year. However, in 2016 the interest peak was witnessed with the publication of eight related papers. Despite the publication decrease in the following years, since 2018 an increased interest was again noticed, with a positive forecast for the next years. As BIM platforms and tools are continuously being developed, new approaches and processes are created to support building sustainability assessment. Furthermore, the global concerns about environmental impacts will also promote research about building sustainability, supporting the positive prediction for the subsequent years. According to the Web of Science database, in 2019, five articles were published about the practical assessment of BSA methods with BIM. From those five articles, three were regarding LEED, one about BREEAM and one concerning SBTool. Regarding the preferred journals, _Automation in Construction_ stands out with six publications (Figure 9)--three on LEED, two on BREEAM and one on SBTool--representing 23,1% of the authors' choices. As some of the most recognised and cited BIM-related articles (such as [9; 13; 18]) belongs to this journal, new researchers tend to try publications within this journal. Papers in conference proceedings have provided four related articles, representing 15,4%. A significant increase in these types of publications is expected in the following years. Papers that address only one or two criteria are usually insufficient for journal publication. _Journal of Cleaner Production_ and _Journal of Architectural Computing_ are the following ones, both with two publications each (7,7% each). All the other 12 identified journals had one related publication within the research period (3,8% each). Figure 8: Total articles published per year (LEED, BREEAM and SBTool). The most commonly assessed categories are materials and energy-related ones, both covered by the BREEAM and LEED versions, as presented in Figure 10. Twelve of the selected articles have addressed, at least, one criterion from those categories. Site-related and indoor environment-related categories are the following ones, approached in 10 and 8 papers, respectively. Overall, these are the most commonly assessed categories with BIM for both schemes. The identified articles have also evaluated the design, water and region-related criteria for LEED and BREEAM. Operation-related criteria were only assessed for the BREEAM method. This type of results was expectable since the existence and development of several BIM energy analysis tools adapted to region-specific contexts (data for energy and indoor environment-related categories). Material-related categories (quantitative data) are usually assessed through schedules, with the support of Microsoft Excel both for LEED and BREEAM. Site-related categories (majority assessed for LEED in eight publications) can benefit from the use of the LEED Sustainable Sites software. It allows designers to perform a full and concise assessment of the Sustainable Sites category from LEED. Figure 10: Commonly assessed categories (BREEAM and LEED). Figure 9: Preferred journals (BREEAM, LEED and SBTool). In total, 33 different software types have been used in LEED and BREEAM publications (25).