Life Cycle Engineering from the perspective of an engineering consultancy

摘要

The environmental impact of human activities has been a concern for engineers and architects for centuries, from limitation of energy and raw materials to predicting future energy and resource demands. This study assesses how life cycle engineering (LCE) through life cycle assessment (LCA) can be used to support design decisions in the built environment. Examples are given on how the industry uses LCA in combination with an integrated design process and as a tool for decision making from single products to individual buildings over large scale urban areas. In most projects, a detailed LCA is not beneficial in the early design stages, due to scarcity on time and information. This results in the use of simple LCA studies in the early phases. Through an experienced integrated design process and simple LCA tools and calculations the life cycle approach can be embedded in the project from the very early design stages as well as throughout the planning process. By understanding the benefits and the challenges related to LCE in the industry on various scales it is the hope that more practical methods and tools can be developed.