Life-cycle assessment for construction processes in building construction: a proposed conceptual framework

Abstract

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a powerful tool which can be used to analyse the environmental effects associated with buildings. Even though there are numerous LCA studies carried out on buildings only a handful of studies have concentrated on the construction phase of buildings. The few studies that have considered the construction phase have been reluctant to investigate commercial buildings largely due to lack of data. Most of the studies either ignore or approximate the effects of the construction phase, stating the insignificance of them compared to the total environmental impacts of a building over its life cycle. Many studies have concluded a total effect of 3 to 11percent in the construction phase compared that to the total effects. However, the large impacts at an aggregate level that would concern the designers and the builders have been ignored by these studies. Thus this paper attempts to comprehensively analyse the significance of the construction phase and suggest a methodology for analysing the environmental effects in the construction phase of a building. The outcome of this paper would provide a guideline for the researchers to concentrate on the construction phase in their analyses.