LCA in the building sector: methodological problems and practical solutions based on the Dutch experience. SBO7-8 June 2007, Turin - Italy

Transcription

1 SB07 Friday 8 th June: LCA Buildings LCA in the building sector: methodological problems and practical solutions based on the Dutch experience SBO7-8 June 2007, Turin - Italy Leo Breedveld 2B LCA & buildings: methodological issues LCA is complex tool buildings are complex products 1

2 LCA & buildings: methodological issues Functional unit? System boundaries? Local impacts? Data availability? Allocation? 1. Life-time of a building is long and unknown 2. Buildings are site specific and many of the impacts are local 3. Buildings consist of many components: data problem 4. Manufacturing processes are site-specific (construction phase) 5. Behaviour of the users is difficult to predict (use phase) 6. End-of-life is country specific (demolition phase) 7. Multi-functionality of buildings >> functional unit 8. Conflict between environmental impacts and indoor living environment (heating, ventilation, lighting, etc.) 9. How to assess urban infrastructure (roads, pipes, wires, green space, treatment facilities). Building design >> infrastructure 10. How to assess building adaptability? Dutch experiences in the building sector Environmental relevance: Environmental priority in NL together with agriculture and mobility Support of the Ministry of the Environment: Dubo: Dutch programme to support ecodesign in the building sector Support of assessment tools in the building sector (e.g. Eco-Quantum, Greencalc) Eco-confusion nineties: Conflicting views and information on environmental issues (eco-preferability of products, ecolabel type 1) 2

3 Potential and limits of LCA LCA is primarily an ecodesign tool and to a lesser extend a tool to select the best alternative. LCA does not provide absolute answers, it is a tool to support eco-decisions in a specific context MRPI: Dutch EPD system MRPI: certified environmental information of building materials (EPDs): Initiative of the building sector Ecolabel type 3 Based on LCA Driving force of MRPI: Conflicting information is bad for the sector Participation of the sector (> 100 materials) Main stakeholders: Association of the building sector (NVTB) Ministry of the Environment, certification bodies 3

4 LCA databases for building materials MRPI >> NEN 8006:2004 (>> CEN TC 350) VLCA Ecoinvent v1.3 v2 IVAM LCA database CEN/TC 350 The programme of work within CEN/TC 350 will provide with a standardised voluntary approach for the delivery of environmental information on construction products, and to assess the environmental performance of buildings, and more generally the integrated performance of buildings in a framework document. The objective is to cover all kinds of building products and all kinds of buildings, new and existing buildings, and possibly other construction works, if appropriate. The programme work will ensure taking into account the existing standards, particularly the ISO existing standards from ISO/TC 59/SC 17, ISO/TC 59/SC 14 and ISO TC 207 through: the development of a set of standards for environmental product declarations (EPD) for building products, including the implementation of the ISO/TC 59/SC 17 standard ISO as EN ISO, and the development of an European Product Category Rule (PCR), the development of a standard on the environmental performance of buildings, and the development of a technical report describing processes and scenarios related to the building life cycle in order to complement the whole concept. The work is organised in the following way: AHG Framework directly managed by the TC in charge of the framework document WG1 Environmental Performance of buildings in charge of projects related to the assessment of the environmental performance of buildings and the use of EPD WG2 Building life cycle description in charge of the project related to description of building life cycle WG3 Products level in charge of projects related to: European PCR; Communication format; TR on generic data The set of standards is planned to be available by

5 LCA tools for the building sector BEES ATHENA ENVEST BREEAM EcoHomes etc. University of Karlsruhe materialien/tools/mindmap.html Dutch tools for the building sector Eco-Quantum Greencalc GPR Toolkit

6 Eco-Quantum: scope What is Eco-Quantum? A tool to calculate the environmental impact of a building, applying the LCA method (from cradle to grave) Goals: Eco-design tool for architects Policy tool for local authorities Users and applications: Architects and private companies in the building sector in order to support and implement ecodesign Municipalities and other local authorities to support green building initiatives Eco-Quantum: impact assessment Global warming Nutrification Hazardous waste Acidification Smog Human toxicity Energy Ozone depletion Abiotic depletion Aquatic toxicity Non hazardous waste Materials Emissions Energy Waste Eco-indicator 6

7 Need for harmonisation: PRESCO project 1. Consistent life span 2. Consistent data collection 3. Transparency and simplicity are important criteria for the end-user Need for harmonisation: Dutch initiative The same buildings give different results with different tools; Common project of Dutch tool developers to harmonise 1 method and 1 dataset to calculate the environmental impact of buildings (co-financed by VROM); Stepwise approach: materials >> buildings; Small but flexible project organisation consisting of key stakeholders (tool owners and the sector). 7

8 Conclusions: lessons learned The Dutch example shows that the development of a tool like Eco-Quantum is feasible MRPI is an important input for tools like Eco- Quantum Flexibility is more important than the banning of certain building products (preferability of products) Environmental performance of buildings and associated norms, can be measured by tools like Eco-Quantum After a long experience in the assessment of building materials (MRPI >> NEN 8006:2004), NL is now working hard on the harmonisation of tools for the assessment of buildings How to reach a broader public? Tools should meet the needs of non-experts! (Non-experts need some education) 8

9 Thank you for your attention! Leo Breedveld 2B / For further information, please feel free to contact me in Mogliano Veneto 9