An Obvious Choice for Sustainable Design and Construction
Concern about the world’s environment is encouraging the use of materials and designs that improve the environmental performance of building construction and operation. As well as leaving a lighter footprint, green structures are often healthier for occupants and more cost efficient to operate.
Studies show wood outperforms other materials when considered over its lifetime using measurable indicators such as global warming potential, resource use, pollution and solid waste. Current thinking in the green building movement has shifted toward an emphasis on this kind of measurable performance. Life cycle assessment is a means to this end because it allows the impartial comparison of materials and assemblies, over the course of their entire lives, based on quantifiable indicators of environmental impact.
LCA is used to assess building materials from extraction and processing through manufacturing, transportation, use, maintenance and disposal or recycling.
Life cycle assessment clarifies the environmental trade-offs associated with choosing one material over another and, as a result, provides an effective basis for comparing alternate designs.
In North America, there are two tools that provide life cycle assessment results for whole buildings and assemblies, both offered by the Athena Institute. The ATHENA® Impact Estimator for Buildings is capable of modeling 95% of the building stock in North America, including industrial, institutional, office and residential designs, and simulating more than 1,000 assembly combinations. The ATHENA® EcoCalculator for Assemblies provides instant life cycle assessment results for common assemblies based on detailed assessments previously conducted using the Estimator.