FS Engineering, in partnership with the CoreLab at the University of Salento and the ENEA spin-off Ecoinnovazione, pioneered the BIM for Rail LCA project. Financed under the Sustainable Growth Fund via the 'Smart Factory' call for proposals (issued by the Ministry of Economic Development, now the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, by Ministerial Decree No. 279 of 20 November 2018), the initiative secured over €2 million in research and development funding.

The primary objective was to natively embed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) workflows into Building Information Modelling (BIM) design environments, in order to allow engineering teams to compare different design solutions for selecting the most sustainable options throughout the project design lifecycle.

FS Engineering has thus been able to establish a new benchmark for railway infrastructure design, seamlessly blending environmental sustainability, digital workflows, and engineering innovation. 

This approach directly underpins our corporate business plan while positioning the company to capture the opportunities offered by emerging markets.

The project commenced in 2020 and ran for 36 months, concluding successfully in November 2023.