Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and its role in improving decision making for sustainable development

There is growing interest in life cycle thinking and the whole life sustainability of buildings. The 2011 UK Low Carbon Construction Action Plan identifies the need for clarity on the definition of life cycle “zero carbon” impact as there are various methods of assessment. How do we educate on the various methods? LCA is an established tool that is currently in use to assess this total life cycle impact; however there is no one LCA method that has universal acceptance. For the sustainable development professional this causes a problem as they are unsure as to which particular method they should use. This paper explores the common methods used to examine the life cycle of a building, focusing on the practical stages to consider for first year through to postgraduate students. What journey should we take the students on to help them understand the importance of LCA and its applicability to sustainable development? Ultimately, we need to educate to enable students to begin work or postgraduate studies with the knowledge and confidence to enable them to improve decision making. Through this paper, an exploration of how we can align a degree program to include LCA is investigated; considering the key stages to be taught at the relevant level

Stepping up on savings

The UK government remains committed to the Climate Change Act 2008, which mandates an 80% reduction in CO2 from 1990 levels by 2050. As part of the strategy of achieving this reduction, all new homes from 2016 will be required to be zero carbon. The 2008 definition required all CO2 emissions to be reduced to zero through on-site means, covering both regulated emissions from heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting and unregulated emissions from household appliances. Embodied carbon from the construction of the building was excluded. In 2009 the concept of Allowable Solutions was introduced, which permits developers to pay for carbon saving achieved elsewhere. For example a developer may offset CO2 emissions against an approved ‘on, near or offsite’ scheme, such as a local energy storage solution or an investment into low carbon electricity generation. In 2011, a further major change removed unregulated emissions from the definition

Gathering Data

In 2012, RICS developed a methodology to calculate the embodied carbon of construction materials issued as an information paper. A guidance note is due for release later this year, with a Code of Practice and practice statement also likely to be published. This RICS guidance will then become mandatory. In Construction Journal April/May, we considered embodied carbon and carbon accounting. Here we investigate how the existing guidance could be expanded on to assess the true carbon cost of new sustainable technologies. It is considered that between 85% and 97% of the buildings in existence within the UK in 2006 will remain in use in 2050. To meet the government’s demanding carbon reduction targets set for that year, the majority of these buildings will need to consider sustainable refurbishment of some form or other. In an ideal situation, all buildings would take a ‘fabric-first’ approach and apply passive design rather than relying on technical solutions. In reality, a large number of buildings will require an ‘embodied carbon intensive’ technical solution. How significant is this stage, and can the new RICS guidance be expanded on to include all sustainable technologies

Costing Carbon

In 2010, the UK government’s Low Carbon Construction Innovation and Growth Team report recommended that the Treasury Green Book require whole-life carbon appraisal of proposals before public funds are committed. In response, RICS developed a methodology to calculate the embodied carbon of construction materials. After a 2012 information paper, a guidance note is due for release in April 2014 (see page 25) with a Code of Practice and Practice Statement likely to follow, on which this RICS guidance will become mandatory. Is this the precursor for placing a cost on carbon