Considering the vast and rapidly growing area of buildings, LCA research is being led in numerous different areas ranging from building materials and components level to whole building analysis. This review aims to explore the application of LCA to the various areas in the buildings sector. The areas of embodied energy and building certification systems have seen the maximum growth in the most recent years. Related challenges and research opportunities from these and other areas that require research are discussed. This paper also reviews the use of LCA in buildings industry and reports the associated developments and future research opportunities. The research areas identified include, comparison issues of LCA studies, difference in calculated and actual impacts, refurbishment analysis for whole buildings, system boundary selection procedure, standard data collection procedure, missing data, embodied energy indicator, deconstruction analysis, implementation of dynamic LCA, use of LCA in industry and difference in results from LCA integrated certification and LCA of buildings.

Recent developments, future challenges and new research directions in LCA of buildings: A critical review

Critical review of bim-based LCA method to buildings

Circular economy in the construction industry: A systematic literature review

Developments in life cycle assessment applied to evaluate the environmental performance of construction and demolition wastes.

A systematic literature review on the circular economy initiatives in the European Union

Comparative LCA study of different timber and mineral buildings and calculation method for substitution factors on building level

This study demonstrates life cycle assessment (LCA) on a reference wooden building according to the latest normative standards: EN 15978, EN 15804 and EN 16485. Global warming potential and primary energy balance over the reference building were assessed in a case study. Through the assessment, the application of the standards was studied. In addition, possible points for development in the standards, especially concerning wood products and wood construction, were discussed from a practical perspective. The lack of proper data is a critical issue in conducting the assessment in compliance with the standards. Since LCA is a data-intensive method, the preparation of data for the building assessment according to the standard is certainly required. This paper also raises questions about the life cycle modules defined in the standards and the importance of the communication system used for the assessment results. It would be of importance to develop the communication system in such a way as to stimulate environmental consciousness in society. In order to develop a relevant communication system, further discussion and case studies would be important and feedback from such practices should be incorporated into the development of the guideline for the assessment.

/pdf/life-cycle-assessment-of-wood-construction-according-to-the-46ypfx6xon.pdf

Life cycle assessment of wood construction according to the normative standards

This article highlights the interdependencies of carbon storage and material efficiency in timber buildings. These elements appear contradictory in regard to environmental factors. Following a general literature review of environmental aspects of timber buildings and their components, building elements are analyzed in regard to their relevance for both issues. Particular advantages for material efficiency and carbon storage in regard to specific building elements are discussed. The first section summarizes what currently qualifies as the state of art in environmental standards of timber buildings on building level, looking at influence on the sector and on the competition on wooden material for material or energetic use. Calculations on carbon storage of exemplary timber buildings are shown in the following section. A factor for material efficiency of wooden use is hereby introduced. The interdependencies of carbon storage and material efficiency are discussed on the level of building elements and according to necessary requirements. Results show that there is no “best” timber construction that fulfills all requirements, as each building and with that each specific construction needs to fulfill varying circumstances. It is thus demonstrated that it is not enough to only focus on one of the issues. It is important to keep these interconnections in mind for climate discussions in regard to timber buildings and to further optimize timber constructions and buildings to meet both targets.

Environmental aspects of material efficiency versus carbon storage in timber buildings

Today, both resource efficiency in general and the efficient use of natural resources specifically in the building sector are major political issues Recent studies on resource efficiency have found the “anthropogenic stock” of the building sector to outweigh natural resource stocks To make the anthropogenic stock accessible, material quantities with their individual composition need to be estimated and extrapolated to regional level A geographical information system (GIS) is used as tool to handle the building specific data and combine them on regional level to calculate the anthropogenic stock The resulting resource cadaster reflects the material quantities, divided into sixteen material fractions, of a specific residential district in the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area—a typical urban area in Germany The case study area was weighted in total between 1035 kt and 93 kt, depending on the dataset This paper offers a step-by-step description of this approach, whereby a consistent dataset was created throughout the process of data collection and validation In order to demonstrate the broader application of the resource cadaster, the results were extrapolated to the residential building sector of the entire federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia In highly concentrated areas, like the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan area, both area-wide classification of material quantities and their regional localization are necessary to make the anthropogenic stock accessible Information about toxic substances, however, also needs to be included in the process of data collection This method of mapping could thus provide the foundation for future (re)uses of this stock This study offers some concrete steps in the direction of achieving a circular economy

https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/7/2/45/pdf

Creating a Resource Cadaster—A Case Study of a District in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area

In order to reach carbon neutrality, GHG emissions from all sectors of society need to be strongly reduced. This especially applies to the construction sector. For those emissions that remain hard ...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00038628.2021.1896471

Annette Hafner

Papers

Comparative LCA study of different timber and mineral buildings and calculation method for substitution factors on building level

Life cycle assessment of wood construction according to the normative standards

Environmental aspects of material efficiency versus carbon storage in timber buildings

Creating a Resource Cadaster—A Case Study of a District in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area

How can carbon be stored in the built environment? A review of potential options