Life-Cycle Assessment
Life-cycle assessment, or LCA, is the science of quantifying environmental impacts through the entire process of creating, transporting, using, and disposing of a product or material. The methods are well developed, but there are blind spots.
The creator of life-cycle assessment famously stated, “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” That’s important to keep in mind as you attempt to compare the impacts of two different building designs or two different products.
These resources about LCA help explain:
-
what types of data are usually reliable in an LCA
-
how to get the info you need from an environmental product declaration
-
where LCA can go wrong
- the politics of LCA and how it relates to product and building certifications
Life-Cycle Assessment
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
-
The Product Transparency Movement: Peeking Behind the Corporate Veil
Feature Article
Manufacturers are offering more product information than ever, but how can we know what to trust?
-
What’s an EPD? Environmental Product Declaration FAQs
Feature Short
We answer FAQs on EPDs, which allow manufacturers to disclose a product’s carbon footprint and other impacts.
-
Wood, Concrete, and Steel—And Their Incomparable EPDs
Feature Short
Don’t expect the turf battles over sustainability of structural systems to be settled anytime soon by EPDs.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
-
Life-Cycle Assessment: Tracing a Product's Impacts
Primer
Life-cycle assessment-accounting for all of the environmental impacts of a product from its manufacture to its disposal-is a simple concept, but using it to compare products in practice can be difficult.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
-
Study Vets Materials for Entire Wall Assemblies
News Brief
When you look at the whole assembly, it can change how you see the materials. Here XPS and fiberglass come out ahead, and SPF behind.
-
Cladding Industry Agrees to One Rulebook for Conducting LCAs
News Brief
One set of rules, called PCRs, now governs environmental reporting for all cladding products, regardless of whether they are wood, vinyl, or metal.
-
New Thinkstep Launchpad for Sustainability Apps Bolstered by LCA Data
News Analysis
Rebranded as thinkstep, the life-cycle assessment firm PE International promises a new platform to integrate product data and more.
-
Vinyl Roofing Membrane EPD Details Cradle-to-Grave Impacts
News Analysis
More trade groups are publishing industry-wide environmental product declarations to meet LEED v4 requirements.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
- Check if your spelling is correct, or try removing filters.
- Remove quotes around phrases to match each word individually: "blue drop" will match less than blue drop.
- You can require or exclude terms using + and -: big +blue drop will require a match on blue while big blue -drop will exclude results that contain drop.
Learning Resources
A wide range of education options, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
-
The Product Transparency Movement: Peeking Behind the Corporate Veil
Feature Article
Manufacturers are offering more product information than ever, but how can we know what to trust?
-
The Urgency of Embodied Carbon and What You Can Do About It
Spotlight Report
Building materials emit massive amounts of carbon long before the lights go on. Here’s how thoughtful design can reduce global warming impact.
-
Whole-Building Life Cycle Assessment: Promises and Pitfalls
Webcast
Whole-building life-cycle assessment (WBLCA) promises improved performance with reduced environmental impacts. Yet in practice it can bog projects down with confusing or even conflicting priorities, complicated by mountains of data.
BuildingGreen has arranged for four widely respected practitioners to share their LCA expertise, taking you from big-picture questions—Why should I worry about embodied impacts?—to practical details—How can I get good data on my building's concrete mix?