Building LCA and Carbon Footprint (GWP)

Written by Jamie Casciotta, Sustainable Building Consultant

INTRODUCTION

The following guide aims to address some practical aspects related to the life cycle of buildings. An overview is given at a European level and then insights are developed on the Italian case and the voluntary BREEAM and LEED protocols.

The subject of LCA has existed for many years, but is now the focus of attention due to the increasingly stringent environmental demands linked to the subject of climate change.

Unfortunately, it is still a little known topic, especially in the translation and practical application of the literature. It is also often applied in an ‘unsustainable’ way.

STATE OF THE ART IN EUROPE

The current European situation is quite diverse. Some member states have guidelines on the use of LCA for buildings.

Some actually have numerical limits for carbon footprint and are included in local regulations, either as guidelines or as an obligation.

Others have no indication or refer to general guidance (such as the Level(s) framework).

What is being done is to inform as much as possible and to unify requirements, so as to facilitate comparisons and the achievement of targets on a large scale.

EPBD IV: From Energy to Emissions

With the recent EPBD (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive), there is a shift from the concept of
energy to that of emissions. If before we talked about nZEB as ‘Nearly Zero Energy Building’, or ‘Net
Zero Energy Building’, or ‘Zero Energy Building’, now the focus has shifted and we talk about ‘Zero
Emission Building’.

If you think about it, in the end if one produces a lot of energy from renewable sources (so, simplifying,
let's say one produces it without polluting), why shouldn't one be able to consume it all?
If in a balance sheet we only look at energy consumption without seeing where it comes from and
without having a balance sheet on emissions as well, we might think that a large consumption might
represent something negative.

The subject is complex and there would be many considerations to make. To simplify, let us say that
when planning, one should reduce energy demand as much as possible and that this energy should
then come from on-site renewable sources. If more energy is then produced than consumed, we enter
into a Microgrid or Energy Community discourse, where the objective is to optimise consumption and
reduce waste.