The construction industry is considered one of the key pillars for the economic growth of any nation. It accounts for USD 1.7 trillion worldwide and, in most countries, it impacts 5–7% of the total gross domestic product (GDP), meaning it contributes significantly to the national GDP, in effect, making it essential to socio-economic and economic growth, and the development of countries [16,17]. All construction activities in terms of operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition are considered to be a significant cause of air pollution, and water depletion, responsible for 36% of the world’s energy consumption, 35–40% of global CO₂ emissions, and 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions [17,18].

Sustainable construction processes prioritize environmental conservation, human rights, and social and economic equity [19]. Hence, sustainable building is a process that balances ecological, financial, and social considerations throughout the structure’s life cycle [20]. Moreover, there are many innovative technologies for achieving the aim of sustainable construction. One such innovative approach is BIM. The United States National Building Information Model Standard Project Committee defines BIM as “A digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. A BIM is a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decision during its life cycle; defined as existing from earliest conception to demolition” [21]. BIM is a database of data collected at various stages of a building’s life cycle (from planning to deconstruction) that may be used to make informed decisions. Sustainable building practices can be implemented at every stage of the building life cycle (from design to construction to maintenance and decommissioning) with the help of BIM [22,23]. Specifically, green design, which involves creating and maintaining a safe and environmentally friendly structure, is at the heart of sustainable BIM implementation [24,25]. Regarding environmental sustainability, BIM allows for more eco-friendly choices to be made across the construction’s entire lifespan, cutting down on adverse environmental impacts in areas like resource depletion, waste disposal, and carbon emissions. In addition to supporting the economy long-term, economic sustainability also facilitates the early diagnosis of possible conflicts and the making of more informed engineering decisions. In contrast, BIM promotes social sustainability by making towns more habitable by enhancing wastewater treatment and air quality in buildings, noise pollution, construction site health and security, and requiring fewer disruptions to public infrastructure [23]. Therefore, this demonstrates that BIM has the potential to be used as an instrument for green building, linking the people, planet, and profit tenets of sustainability.

According to Evans and Farrell [26], the implementation of BIM in the construction industry is driven by the need to overcome substantial challenges in the sector. For example, to facilitate the use of alternative energy by analyzing the efficiency and endurance of solar panels. A previous study by Wong and Fan [27] found that the proper implementation of BIM can provide vital information for improving the design, design optimization, integrated project delivery, and building performance, contributing to improving the performance of a construction project’s life cycle. Another study by Ahmad and Thaheem [28] perceived BIM as a tool for creating a sustainable built environment through practical building projects and a contributor to holistic designs and modeling approaches essential for achieving economic competitiveness, such as generative design approaches using BIM tools.

However, the limited evidence on the contribution of BIM to the sustainability and economic competitiveness of buildings poses a challenge to establishing its actual contribution to a country’s economic development [28]. Regardless, Olawumi et al. [29] argue that the economic significance of BIM is founded on its contribution to better design and multi-design alternatives, increasing a building’s usefulness. Similarly, other researchers [13,30,31,32] have shown that using BIM in the building business helps with model-based cost planning, which reduces hazards and expenses. The National BIM Council of Ireland found that using BIM for building projects can reduce construction expenditures by no less than 20%, which would have a beneficial financial effect. Moreover, Amuda-Yusuf [6] affirms that using BIM successfully enhances the reliability of a construction project, allowing for adequate cost-saving planning.

Conspicuously, D. W. Chan et al. [2] highlight that the social benefits of BIM use in building projects can be evaluated. To this end, well-implemented BIM will increase a construction project’s quality by facilitating enhanced interaction and cooperation between the various parties involved in the building process. Additionally, Fei et al. [33] mentioned that BIM causes building projects to yield economically quantifiable improvements in quality. As a result, businesses and economies benefit from a resolution to a long-standing problem. BIM supports economic development throughout all echelons of society by representing buildings at a micro level, considering the economic demands and desires of a given location [34]. In contrast, Khahro et al. [35], critics of BIM, have said that it is difficult to determine how much it contributes to GDP development because it requires factoring in things like a building’s carbon footprint and operating expenses.

Implementing BIM has numerous positive effects, including its contribution to sustainability. Secondly, sustainable building materials have been chosen using building information modeling and have boosted the sustainability metrics related to buildings, such as reducing carbon emissions, increasing clean energy, and creating more environmentally friendly communities. Further, BIM has the potential to enhance sustainable procedures for building initiatives, such as the administration and assessment of energy consumption in buildings, according to various publications [36]. Another method through which BIM aids in sustainable development is by creating a program to evaluate the deconstructability of a project’s layout, to reduce waste and maximize material efficiency [37]. Sustainable development and the creation of green buildings, made possible in part by the use of BIM in building projects, will enhance individual wellness, owner work efficiency, organizational brand recognition, and eco-friendly communities by minimizing the adverse effects of properly constructed structures on the social and environmental realms. Despite the usefulness of BIM software for simulating sustainability characteristics, most programs limit themselves to environmental considerations. Only a small percentage of people have considered BIM’s advantages in light of the three tenets of sustainability [36].

Despite the benefits of BIM in sustainable construction, its implementation in this context presents challenges. A significant barrier, particularly relevant in developing nations, is the addition of costs to a construction project due to the need for a greater understanding of the advantages of sustainability [20]. Another obstacle is the fear of higher investment costs for sustainable buildings versus conventional buildings. Unanticipated costs are frequently cited as challenging for sustainable buildings [25]. The proper strategic direction to promote the application of BIM in sustainable development is a further difficulty identified by Manzoor et al. [20]. To meet such cost challenges the potential profit needs to outweigh the implementation costs [23]. As seen in the literature, the major challenge for BIM implementation in sustainable construction is cost.

Critical success factors in BIM are considered to be of emerging importance in the construction industry, due to their effect on harnessing automation in the industry while reducing errors and mistakes [38]. Low efficiency in the construction industry has caused many problems for projects’ three constraints of time, cost, and scope, thus creating a BIM framework will reduce the error levels significantly [12,38]. Furthermore, a case study in the UK concluded that many construction organizations using a BIM tool ranked training and previous experiences with the technology higher as a CSF, which indicates that a better understanding of BIM implementation requires adding team members with prior experience and existing know-how on the subject matter [13]. On the other hand, ref. [2] utilized [12] CSFs in interviews with professionals from Hong Kong and found that they all supported the CSFs obtained from the latter. Yet, the perception of CSFs differed for top management support as an indicator of successful BIM implementation.

Many CSFs have been identified as human-related, industry-related, project-related, policy-related, and resource-related [12]. In addition, as previously noted there are limited to no studies conducted on the CSF for BIM implementation from a sustainability perspective. However, ref. [30] explored the available relevant literature on sustainability with BIM and noted the significance of integrating the former with the latter as a tool to reach the goal of sustainability. As such, BIM itself was described as a tool to pursue the goal of sustainability, but apart from this tool was the project life cycle holding potential added value in pursuit of sustainability; thus, life cycle assessment requires further research to uncover the potential significance [30]. In the literature, many CSFs have been identified for the effective and successful implementation of BIM in the construction industry. Yet, no CSFs specifically applicable to BIM implementation as a sustainability practice have been found.