Correlation between building size and material intensity in residential buildings.

• We applied a Dynamo script to Revit BIM models to conduct a Monte Carlo analysis of the material take off lists. • Single-family houses have the largest variance of construction materials per unit of area except for concrete. • The largest variance of concrete use per square meter was found in medium-sized apartment buildings. • All typologies exhibit a strong correlation between size and concrete use. • As building size increases, the average concrete per square meter tends to decrease. Material stock analyses of buildings and infrastructure are proliferating in Industrial Ecology literature. One popular approach to calculating material stocks is multiplying the number of buildings present in the study area by their average material content, a parameter often termed material intensity. However, existing studies have primarily focused on tailoring material intensities to specific building typologies without exploring the variability of material intensities within a given typology. The present work addresses this knowledge gap by generating 3D models of five typical residential building archetypes based on Italian housing data. By randomizing their size and material components, we generate summary statistics that highlight the variance of material intensities. Results show a strong correlation between concrete usage and building size, while other materials exhibit significant variation across sizes and typologies. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]