Life-cycle assessment of buildings

As building energy efficiency improves and energy use in operation of buildings is reduced, it is increasingly important to take into account other phases of the building life cycle. A consistent methodology needs to be applied for evaluating impacts of products used through the building whole life cycle, including their manufacturing, transport, installation, use, maintenance and substitution, and end of life. This life-cycle perspective serves to evaluate if the environmental benefits of reducing building energy use are not outweighed by environmental impacts from other building life-cycle phases. The methodology can also integrate cost and even social indicators to provide a wider life-cycle sustainability performance evaluation.