Streamlining the Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings by Structured Under‐Specification and Probabilistic Triage

Summary Life cycle thinking plays an important role in sustainable development in the building sector. However, the complexity of data collection and scope definition limits life cycle assessment (LCA) applications. Even if the inventory data have already been collected, tabulated, and indexed, the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of industrial ecology 2019-02, Vol.23 (1), p.268-279
Main Authors: Tecchio, Paolo, Gregory, Jeremy, Olivetti, Elsa, Ghattas, Randa, Kirchain, Randolph
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acidification
Buildings
Climate change
Data collection
Eutrophication
Global warming
Houses
Housing
hybrid models
industrial ecology
Life cycle analysis
Life cycle assessment
Life cycles
probabilistic triage
Residential areas
Smog
Specification
Specifications
streamlined life cycle assessment
Streamlining
Sustainable development
Triage
uncertainty
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Summary:Summary Life cycle thinking plays an important role in sustainable development in the building sector. However, the complexity of data collection and scope definition limits life cycle assessment (LCA) applications. Even if the inventory data have already been collected, tabulated, and indexed, the method is still time‐consuming, which may be discouraging for designers. This study demonstrates how the LCA of buildings can be robustly streamlined using structured underspecification of impact data combined with an effective and efficient triage of the data collection. Tests were conducted with a series of building typologies that were analyzed with a cradle‐to‐gate approach. The probabilistic triage approach was tested to identify selected activities requiring detailed specification because they contribute most to total impact, thereby reducing data gathering effort. Impacts such as global warming, acidification, eutrophication, and smog creation were assessed, and results showed that 40% to 46% of the bill of materials components represent 75% of total impacts of single‐family houses and multifamily buildings. By specifying only a prioritized subset of the bill of materials to the highest level of specificity, results proved to be reasonably accurate and obtainable with less effort.
ISSN:1088-1980
1530-9290
DOI:10.1111/jiec.12731