Life-Cycle Assessment

Photo: Duncan Rawlinson. License: CC BY 2.0

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. Environmental impacts assessed include things like embodied carbon, smog-creation potential, and fossil fuel consumption.  

For building professionals, LCA comes into play in two main ways. To understand the impacts of specific products, look to an environmental product declaration (EPD). To understand the impacts of an entire building, a whole-building LCA is required. Specialized tools are used to perform whole-building LCA.

Life-Cycle Assessment

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  • The Missing Embodied Carbon Link: Construction

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  • The Urgency of Embodied Carbon and What You Can Do about It

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    Building materials emit massive amounts of carbon long before the lights go on. Here’s how thoughtful design can reduce global warming impact.

  • Better Steel, Lower Impacts

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    Steel’s reputation for high embodied energy and carbon emissions are well documented, but improvements in processing, product selection, and end use can minimize these impacts.

  • Engineering a Wood Revolution

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    Engineered wood products are challenging concrete and steel in structural applications while proffering a lower environmental footprint.

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