Life cycle assessment in buildings: State-of-the-art and simplified LCA methodology as a complement for building certification

Zabalza, Ignacio; Usón, Alfonso Aranda; Scarpellini, Sabina

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2009.05.001

Cited by 574 publications

(190 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…In addition other barriers have been identified to more widespread implementation of LCA as the lack of free databases and also legislative requirements or other incentives, such as the de-linking of the current procedures of energy certification and LCA [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of LCA as a Tool for Building Ecodesign. A Case Study of a Low Energy Building in Spain

et al. 2013

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This paper demonstrates how to achieve energy savings in the construction and operation of buildings by promoting the use of life cycle assessment techniques in the design for new buildings and for refurbishment. The paper aims to draw on the application of a specific methodology for low energy consumption, integrated planning, environmental performance evaluation of buildings, and design for sustainability and LCA techniques applied to buildings. The ENergy Saving through promotion of LIfe Cycle assessment in buildings (ENSLIC) methodology based on LCA for use in an integral planning process has been promoted to stakeholders who require a means to optimize the environmental performance of buildings. Feedback from the stakeholders has facilitated the creation of simplified LCA guidelines, a systematic approach guiding the user through the alternative options regarding software choices, their strengths and weaknesses, the databases available, the usefulness of different indicators, aggregation, definition of limits and options for simplifying the process. As a result, this paper presents the applied results of a case study where this methodology is implemented serving as an energy savings evaluation tool for decision makers, end-users, professionals involved in the different stages of construction, etc. Finally, it is demonstrated how LCA can facilitate comparisons between different buildings, showing the influence of all variables on a building's life cycle environmental impact and showing the potential for energy savings. Removing market barriers to sustainable construction is actually stricter and this is good news for promoting higher energy efficiency in buildings.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of LCA as a Tool for Building Ecodesign. A Case Study of a Low Energy Building in Spain

et al. 2013

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“…As GHG emissions are the only environmental impact analyzed in some of the building LCAs (or just energy requirements as a proxy) (e.g. Zabalza et al 2009;Säynäjoki et al 2011, Asdrubali et al 2013, it is relevant to study if other impacts are related to GHG emissions and if GHGs can thus be utilized as an overall environmental performance indicator. If such a connection exists and the future focus shifts towards other impacts, the whole body of the existing literature and all the future studies concentrating mainly on GHGs and the impact of climate change would actually concurrently produce information about other impacts as well and potentially be of high value.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-use phase LCA of a multi-story residential building: Can greenhouse gas emissions be used as a more general environmental performance indicator?

Heinonen

Säynäjoki

Junnonen

et al. 2016

Building and Environment

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Both the construction and use of buildings cause significant environmental pressures. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions imposed by buildings have been studied rather extensively, but less is known about other impacts. Still, climate change is only one harmful impact driven by buildings. Furthermore, no studies exist about how the other impacts are correlated with GHG emissions in the building context, and thus to what extent GHGs could be utilized as a more general environmental performance indicator. This paper fills these gaps by presenting a life cycle assessment of the pre-use phase of a modern concrete-element residential building with a very comprehensive life cycle inventory (LCI). The focus of the study is on the comparison of the accumulation of different environmental impacts relative to GHGs. The accumulation is analyzed from two perspectives common to building LCAs: building systems and different construction materials. The ReCiPe midpoint assessment method is utilized to reach wide impact category coverage. The study shows how GHGs act as a relatively good indicator for eight impact categories, but not for the others. The study also depicts that a very high coverage in the LCI must be reached to capture the majority of the different impacts. Many materials and building systems are considered non-relevant and are often excluded from building LCAs, which are in fact of great importance in many impact categories.

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“…Additionally, although LCA is a widely used methodology to assess the environmental impact of buildings (Allacker et al 2011;Asif et al 2007;Feist et al 2001), the main focus of LCA studies of buildings has been on energy-related impacts (Passivhaus Institut 2006;Helgeson and Lippiatt 2009;Nemry et al 2010;Valderrama et al 2012;Zabalza Bribián et al 2009). Even in more comprehensive LCA-based evaluations, land use is not included.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land use impact assessment in the construction sector: an analysis of LCIA models and case study application

Allacker

Souza

Sala

2014

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Purpose Land use is a potentially important impact category in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies of buildings. Three research questions are addressed in this paper: Is land use a decisive factor in the environmental impact of buildings?; Is it important to include the primary land use of buildings in the assessment?; and How does the environmental performance of solid structure and timber frame dwellings differ when assessed by distinct available models for quantifying land use impacts? Methods This paper compares several operational land use impact assessment models, which are subsequently implemented in an LCA case study comparing a building constructed using timber frame versus a solid structure. Different models were used for addressing the different research questions. Results and discussion The results reveal that contrasting decisions may be supported by LCA study results, depending on whether or not and how land use is included in the assessment. The analysis also highlights the need to include the building land footprint in the assessment and to better distinguish building locations in current land use impact assessment models. Conclusions Selecting land use assessment models that are most appropriate to the goals of the study is recommended as different models assess different environmental issues related to land use. In general, the combination of two land use assessment methods for buildings is recommended, i.e. soil organic matter (SOM) of Milà i Canals and Eco-indicator 99.

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Life cycle assessment in buildings: State-of-the-art and simplified LCA methodology as a complement for building certification

Cited by 574 publications

References 18 publications

Use of LCA as a Tool for Building Ecodesign. A Case Study of a Low Energy Building in Spain

Use of LCA as a Tool for Building Ecodesign. A Case Study of a Low Energy Building in Spain

Pre-use phase LCA of a multi-story residential building: Can greenhouse gas emissions be used as a more general environmental performance indicator?

Land use impact assessment in the construction sector: an analysis of LCIA models and case study application

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