Life cycle assessment of buildings and services

摘要

Buildings and associated services are responsible for consuming large amounts of energy and producing greenhouse gases. Measures to reduce building energy consumption have often focussed on use of the building at the expense of other parts of the building's life which include material manufacture, construction, maintenance, demolition and final disposal. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool to account for the energy and environmental impacts of buildings over their whole life cycle. Designers of buildings, heating, ventilation and air conditioning can use LCA to incorporate environmental considerations into their design.