Life Cycle Assessment

Question 1

What is the breakdown of construction sector on the environment?

Answer 1

39% buildings - 28% operational emissions, 11% materials & construction

Question 2

Where are climate impacts from? of lifetime carbon

Answer 2

1. Energy Consumption
2. Construction material manufacturing
3. Construction
4. Repairs
5. Demolition

Question 3

What is a LCA?

Answer 3

A method of compiling and evaluating all inputs, outputs, and potential environmental impacts of a product system

Question 4

Benefits of doing LCA

Answer 4

• Identify emission hotspots
• Enables estimation of cumulative environmental impact
• Help decision makers selection of least environmental impact
• Assist in achieving net 0 carbon targets
• Gives the bigger picture

Question 5

What are the LCA stages?

Answer 5

1. Product stage (A1-A3)
2. Construction Stage (A4-A5)
3. Use stage (B1-B7)
4. End of life stage (C1-C4)
5. Beyond the building stage (D)

Question 6

What does LCA measure?

Answer 6

Global warming (greenhouse gas emissions) (kgCO2 eq)
Ozone Depletion (kgCFC11 eq)
Acidification (kgSO2 eq)
Eutrophication (kgPO4 eq)

Question 7

What are the A stages broken up into?

Answer 7

Raw material extraction
Materials manufacture
Product manufacture
transportation

Question 8

What is an EPD

Answer 8

EPDs (Environmental product declaration)
A document communicating environmental performance or potential impact of any product or material over lifetime.
Used to compare products/materials
Generally only A1-A3
Created by manufacturer (BIAS)

Question 9

What are the impact categories

Answer 9

Human health (decline in health rate)
Ecosystems (death rate of species per year)
Resources cost increase

Question 10

What are the 4 stages of the LCA framework?

Answer 10

1. Goal and Scope definition
2. Life cycle inventory (LCI)
3. Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA)
4. Interpretation

Question 11

1. Goal and Scope definition

Answer 11

Defines the product/process/activity
establish the context
Identify boundaries
Doesn’t have to include every stage of life or environmental impacts
Defining a functional unit so that you can compare across different items

Question 12

2. Life cycle inventory

Answer 12

Identify and quantify all inputs
How much material? Transport distances?

Question 13

3. Impact assessment

Answer 13

Asses effects of product/process/activity
use software - Oneclick LCA

Question 14

4. Interpretation

Answer 14

Evaluate results of inventory & impact assessment to select preferred product

Question 15

Trust in an LCA

Answer 15

product specific vs industrial average
Prepared by someone experienced
Verified by standards
is it 3rd party verified