Buildings environmental impacts' sensitivity related to LCA modelling choices of construction materials

Ian Frederic Häfliger; Viola John; Alexander Passer; Sebastien Lasvaux; Endrit Hoxha; Marcella Ruschi Mendes Saade; Guillaume Habert

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.04.052

Buildings environmental impacts' sensitivity related to LCA modelling choices of construction materials

Ian Frederic Häfliger, Viola John, Alexander Passer, Sebastien Lasvaux, Endrit Hoxha, Marcella Ruschi Mendes Saade, Guillaume Habert^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

125 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The assessment of the environmental performance of buildings is now commonly using a life cycle approach, based on a growing number of databases and methods in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Recent studies have, however, highlighted the problems related to uncertainties in the LCA results. The aim of this study is to assess the sensitivity of construction materials to the different modelling choices in order to highlight their consequences at the building scale. In particular, we focused on the different modelling options in terms of database choices, system boundary definitions and replacement scenarios of building materials during the whole service life of the buildings. The assessment of uncertainties was conducted at two levels: the material or element level and the building level. The results clearly show the importance of these modelling choices. Variations on the overall assessment of buildings are significant, but the details at the material scale show that not all materials are similarly sensitive to these choices. We identified those materials that have a large contribution to the environmental impact of the buildings and which are also sensitive to different modelling choices. This can help for a better understanding of these modelling choices and can be used in upcoming regulations or public policies.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Cleaner Production
Volume	156
Pages (from-to)	805-816
Number of pages	12
ISSN	0959-6526
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.04.052
Publication status	Published - 10 Jul 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to the CSTB for providing the detailed database on effective service lives of building products. The association of the Swiss Cement Industry, Cemsuisse, is acknowledged for the financial support they have provided to perform this study, as well as for the constructive comments and remarks they have made all along the project. The Authors also thank the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) for providing financial support for the international short visit of Prof. Alexander Passer to collaborate within the project under the grant IZK0Z2_154373.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

Environmental product declaration
LCA
Module D
System boundary
Uncertainty

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title = "Buildings environmental impacts' sensitivity related to LCA modelling choices of construction materials",

abstract = "The assessment of the environmental performance of buildings is now commonly using a life cycle approach, based on a growing number of databases and methods in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Recent studies have, however, highlighted the problems related to uncertainties in the LCA results. The aim of this study is to assess the sensitivity of construction materials to the different modelling choices in order to highlight their consequences at the building scale. In particular, we focused on the different modelling options in terms of database choices, system boundary definitions and replacement scenarios of building materials during the whole service life of the buildings. The assessment of uncertainties was conducted at two levels: the material or element level and the building level. The results clearly show the importance of these modelling choices. Variations on the overall assessment of buildings are significant, but the details at the material scale show that not all materials are similarly sensitive to these choices. We identified those materials that have a large contribution to the environmental impact of the buildings and which are also sensitive to different modelling choices. This can help for a better understanding of these modelling choices and can be used in upcoming regulations or public policies.",

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note = "Funding Information: The authors are grateful to the CSTB for providing the detailed database on effective service lives of building products. The association of the Swiss Cement Industry, Cemsuisse, is acknowledged for the financial support they have provided to perform this study, as well as for the constructive comments and remarks they have made all along the project. The Authors also thank the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) for providing financial support for the international short visit of Prof. Alexander Passer to collaborate within the project under the grant IZK0Z2_154373. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 Elsevier Ltd",

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AU - Habert, Guillaume

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Buildings environmental impacts' sensitivity related to LCA modelling choices of construction materials

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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