An Investigation into the use of BIM in green building construction project management: A comparison between UK and China

The decentralisation and lack of integration in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry pose significant challenges to project management in green building construction. To address these challenges, many construction companies have turned to Building Information Modelling (BIM) as a means to coordinate and optimise the management of green building projects. However, research on the successful adoption and use of BIM in interdisciplinary teams working on green building projects is limited. Additionally, it has been recognised that different countries and regions are influenced by various factors in the adoption and implementation of BIM, although certain factors are common across contexts. For example, motivation, technical deficiencies, and skills are regarded as important factors in both China and the UK. However, existing research lacks a detailed exploration of how these factors are successfully adopted and utilised in interdisciplinary projects involving BIM. Moreover, most case studies have been confined to a single country or region, resulting in a lack of comprehensive comparisons. Therefore, this research conducts a novel investigation through case studies in the UK and China to explore the key factors that affect the use of BIM in project management for green building construction. Data is collected through semi-structured interviews with professionals in the construction industry, and analysis is performed using inductive thematic analysis with Python-based frequency analysis of interview data to identify five key themes from the UK and China cases, namely, Communication, Data environment, Motivation, Project members, and Policy and regulation. The Python-based frequency analysis results show ‘Project members’ and ‘Motivation’ exhibit significant importance in the UK and China cases, respectively. However, an overarching insight from the entire analysis suggests that cultural and political systems considerably shape the perceived value and practical execution of BIM between the UK and China. As a result of this study, while the global appreciation and potential of BIM are evident, its assimilation, perceived value, and real-world application are deeply rooted in the cultural and political of individual countries. Through its UK-China perspective, this study illuminates this complexity.