The study of LCA in various fields is shown in Fig. The publication of LCA articles on building materials and construction has been growing steadily since 1994, and its intensity has grown since 2013.įig. It is interesting to the researcher that the number of studies on LCA and construction is increasing dramatically. The framework of LCA modified from the ISO 14040 standard
Applications of LCA are treated in separate publications from the standard organization the LCA framework operates with four different phases, Goal and scope definition, Inventory analysis, Impact assessment, and Interpretation.įig. 1, the ISO standard distinguishes the methodological framework of LCA from its different applications, which are multiple such as product development, Ecolabelling, carbon footprint, and other footprints. BREEAM, DGNB) by incorporating cradle-to-grave thinking while these systems, in turn, have contributed significantly to further development of LCA standards and methodologies.Īs illustrated in Fig. The application of LCA methodologies to buildings has strengthened building sustainability assessment systems (e.g. Either the comparison is made with the potential impacts of alternative design solutions, or the results are evaluated against a benchmark performance of the specific type of building and use. LCAs within the building sector are mainly used to compare different choices of shape, design, or material at a single building level. This development of buildings towards increasingly complicated products coupled with relatively long product service lives makes LCA a prominent part of the environmental evaluation of buildings. Increasing regulatory requirements on the energy performance of buildings have taken the building design to ever more sophisticated levels where additional materials and technologies are used to reduce the energy consumed in operating the building and in providing for the needs of the users. When moving up to the city level, the impacts are more substantial: an estimated 70% of greenhouse gas emissions and over 66% of global electricity use emanate from urban activities. According to UNEP’s Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative, buildings account for 40% of global energy use, 38% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and 40% of the solid waste streams in developed countries. In terms of the scale of this resource use and environmental degradation, the contributions of buildings, and the built environment to global totals are significant. Since the oil crises in the 1970s, a significant concern within building design and operation has been to limit the need for operational energy and hence the demand for oil-based heating and electricity. By: Morteza Nikravan, Water & Environment Specialist, EDGE Expert
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