Environment as an aspect of life cycle assessment towards sustainable buildings

Abstract

There is no doubt that climate change is the biggest threat to humanity; and vice versa - humanity is the biggest threat to the planet. The concentration of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere is on the rise and there is enough scientific evidence that highlights the threat and the potential of climate change. The building sector accounts for up to 25% of globally available resources. Furthermore, it has been estimated that the building sector is responsible for up to 33% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. These are mainly the reasons why environment is chosen as one of the three main parameters in the Active House Design. The Environmental category is then divided into three subcategories: LCA Evaluation (Environmental Impact), Freshwater Consumption and Sustainable Sourcing. An Active House aims to have a positive impact on the environment through several different strategies that are presented in this paper. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a method that is being increasingly used to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of products and services and their resource consumption. LCA is also being used in the building sector as a crucial part of the assessment of buildings environmental sustainability. The aim of this paper is to develop an example of a Life Cycle Assessment on a case study building in order to define the environmental impact of the designed building. Life Cycle Assessment is being performed through surveying of all inputs and outputs linked to the building’s life cycle. Potential environmental impacts are being analyzed and calculated on the basis of different key factors, such as consumption of resources, emissions etc. All the impacts are being analyzed for each stage of the building’s life cycle., while the LCA is performed according to EN 15804. The results presented in this paper are being calculated through a selected range of measurable indicators