Scoping Ecological Influences of the Built Environment: Developing the Biodiversity Lifecycle Impact Assessment for Buildings (BLIAB) Framework

Aysu Kuru¹, Thomas Parkinson¹, Arianna Brambilla¹, Eugenia Gasparri¹, Thomas Astell-Burt^1,2

1. The University of Sydney
2. Population Wellbeing and Environment Research Lab (PowerLab)

Published in Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE 2024), edited by Ali GhaffarianHoseini, Amirhosein GhaffarianHoseini, Farzad Rahimian and Mahesh Babu Purushothaman. Springer Nature, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, volume 591, 2025, pages 1412 to 1423. DOI 10.1007/978-981-96-4051-5_135.

Abstract

Buildings negatively impact species wellbeing by contributing to land use and biodiversity loss. Assessing these impacts is complex and requires a synergistic approach to environmental assessment, ecological indicators and lifecycle thinking. This study aims to develop a scoping approach for ecological influences for the biodiversity lifecycle impact assessment of the built environment. We adapt and combine the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA) and ReCiPe Lifecycle Impact Assessment methods to the Australian context. The combined method involves (1) obtaining the input data for species, land and ecology; (2) defining the characteristics, values and conditions of biodiversity, land cover, habitat and ecosystem; (3) assigning ecological and habitat scores to these characteristics, and (4) determining the biodiversity, land use and habitat impact assessment outputs. We demonstrate this approach using selected areas of Greater Sydney as a case study. Findings inform a framework to define and collect data for a biodiversity lifecycle impact assessment of a building. The outcomes help develop a biodiversity assessment method for buildings and expand ecological values mapping of the natural environment to include the built environment. Implementation of the study findings could help to minimise species loss in urban environments.

Keywords

Session

Presented in Track J, Saturday 9 November 2024, 11:00 to 13:00, room WA 224 B, Auckland University of Technology. Session chair Dr Eziaku Rasheed.

How to Cite

Kuru, A., Parkinson, T., Brambilla, A., Gasparri, E., & Astell-Burt, T. (2025). Scoping Ecological Influences of the Built Environment: Developing the Biodiversity Lifecycle Impact Assessment for Buildings (BLIAB) Framework. In A. GhaffarianHoseini, A. GhaffarianHoseini, F. Rahimian, & M. B. Purushothaman (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE 2024) (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, Vol. 591, pp. 1412–1423). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-4051-5_135

About the Conference

Presented at SASBE 2024, the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, held in Auckland from 7 to 9 November 2024 and chaired by Professors Ali and Amirhosein GhaffarianHoseini, founders of GDI Academy. The version of record is published by Springer Nature; this page is the conference archive record kept by GDI Academy.