November 06, 2017
Whole-building LCA benchmarking white paper open for comment
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a powerful tool for finding environmental hot spots in a product and exploring improvements. To quantify improvements, set performance targets and inspire smart choices, benchmarks are needed: something to compare results against.
As whole-building LCA is increasingly included in green building programs and sustainability policy, the need for a robust benchmarking system will become self-evident – programs and policy must have a credible baseline if they intend to set performance targets and to measure effectiveness.
Creating a system for whole-building LCA benchmarking requires resolution of multiple complex issues to ensure comparability between a building of study and a benchmark. In the white paper, we lay out a framework for whole-building life cycle assessment benchmarking and provide a goal-and-scope document for a “building materials database”, the key technical infrastructure component to enable benchmarks. We are seeking stakeholder feedback on the proposed methodology.
