Optimized early-stage life cycle assessment of buildings -Developing a tool enabling early-stage parametric life cycle assessment
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Industrial ecology (MPTSE), MSc
Publicerad
2021
Författare
Tjäder, Maria
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
In the early stages of a building project, there is low quantity and quality of data
regarding building materials while the ability to influence the environmental
impact is high. Easy ways of assessing environmental impact of materials in
these stages can make a big difference and shift buildings’ contribution to global
warming towards a more sustainable track.
The aim of the thesis project was to develop a parametric tool enabling earlystage
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of buildings. The tool focus at guiding the user
in lowering the embodied carbon from buildings by assessing building materials
and building shapes. The tool also seeks to be educational about the climate
impact from the production phase of buildings, and the intended user group is
architects. The method of the thesis followed three steps:
requirement definitions based on interviews and a tool and literature
review
tool development
case studies for validation
The interviews were a crucial step to inform the later tool development and to
make sure the tool is usable by the intended target group. From the interviews it
was found that important features of an early-stage LCA tool are to use national,
generic data, show the results in a visual way and make it fast and easy to use.
Additional results from the interviews are identified industry needs and
challenges.
The case studies included user tests and numerical tests. The developed tool fills
most criteria set by the interviewees; however, further validation of the loadbearing
concepts is asked for. The tool manages to balance a high level of detail
and a user-friendly interface, and the calculated results are within a 15%
accuracy. The thesis project shows that the integration of the users' needs and
expectations from the very beginning of the development of assessment tools
will ensure the tools’ applicability in the design process.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Life cycle assessment, early-stage design, optimization tools, climate impact, sustainable architectural design