LlFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF BUILDING ELEMENTS FROM THE BROAD PERSPECTIVE OF PLANNERS DESIGN-CONSIDERATIONS

Clemens Deilmann, Karin Gruhler lnstitute of Ecological and Regional Development, Dresden, Germany

ABSTRACT
The ecological evaluation of building elements has to deal with uncertainties in knowledge and application. The complexity imposed by al1 the different demands on building elements and the different perspective of builders, ptanners and producers impede the development of just one specific information and evaluation mode1 to cover al1 the different perspectives. The research carried out at the lnstitute of Ecological and Regional Development in Dresden wanted to find out how far the Life-Cycle-Assessment (LCA) is suitable for the evaluation of building elements and how far modifications are necessary. ln the study, the overall methodical framework was developed towards a specific assessment-method for building elements. It became obvious, that the result of an ordinary input-output LCA is in some way or the other usefull to the planner, but in oder to support decision-making, the evaluationmethod must include furthermore economical, functional, technical and health aspects.
1

LCA CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITIES

The LCA is an instrument to analyse, assess and evaluate the environmental impacts and the material flow which are associated with the life-cycle of products. One believes that the LCA's might be able to show the environmental impacts exactly and clearly because ,,numericalc'quantitativ datas on material and energy can be produced. But, beside al1 efforts for standardizations, LCAs are still characterized by uncertainties in method and especially in setting the framework of the study (scope: criterions, aspects, bounderies). Because LCAs depend by definition on the interests of the user and the product, the framework can not be defined for each LCA in the same way. The framework and so the rnost important criterions and aspects depend on the product and the interests and goals of the user. Although LCAs exist for different building materials and buildings, they are only to a certain extent a support for the planner in his decision-process. For comparisons between building products of the same function it is first of al1 necessary to make sure that the boundaries of LCAs (life cycle phases, life cycle criterions, spatial bounderies, time periods) are the same within a specific and clearly defined framework. Otherwise it is difficult to find out the most favorable variation within the given variations. Second, the LCA gives primarily informations about environmental impacts associated with the lifecycle of a product. But the planner requires beside ecological informations those about functional, technical, economical and health issues. Thus it is necessary to define a specific framework (assessment-frarnework) which allows to describe a specific building product (here example: external wall) from a broader perspective of a planner. On basis of such an assessment-framework it should be possible, to evalue and compare al1 the different variations of the building element ,,externa1 wall" in a closer link up with the decision taking process of the designer.

ASSESSMENT METHOD FOR BUILDING ELEMENTS

The here presented investigation towards an assessment-method for building elements concentrated on methodical questions. The investigation consists of three steps. In the first step the question was to be answered, which assessment-approach is suitable for buildung products. The second step illustrates on basis of the defined assessment-approach the derivation of a suitable assessmentframework. In the third step variations of an external wallconstruction are used as an assessmentexample.

2.1

Selection of the specific assessment-approach

Within the scope of ecological evaluation the analysis of assessment tools shows, that there is a wide variety of possible assessment-approaches, from material-related, product-related, process-related to production-related or environmental accounting [DeMan95; Corino95; Wagner92; Mller-Wenk921. The differences between the several assessment tools reflect the different objectives and the dependency on the object of investigation itself with al1 the consequences on the setting of bounderies and calculation principals. Fundamentally one distinguishes between two assessment tools, the product-related assessment (LCA) and the environmental accounting. 1. The product-related assessment (LCA) includes and values the environmental impacts associated by a product ,,from cradle to grave". This is a ,,piece-work assessment". Because the life of products is ,,ramblingU,an exact specification of the location can not be made and the setting of the geographical bounderies is rather complicated. 2. The environmental accounting values the environmental inputs and outputs of a producer for a fixed period of time. This is a ,,period assessment". Because the production plant has a clear site, also the environmental inputs and outputs are easier to determine in time and space. To determine the right assessment-approach for a building element, the characteristic of the buildings themselves must be taken into consideration. Building elements and buildings are not consumer goods but products which are continously used. That means, they offer the plattform for the realization of a certain function (housing). They can be interpreted as the hardware of ,,housing". Compared with other products (,,fast food products) they have to guarantee a long phase of use. The expenditures for maintenance and repair during the phase of use (running expense) can be fairly high in comparison to the expenditure for first setting up (construction). These running expenses substantially depend on the decision for building materials and details taken during the planning phase [Kohler,Klingele95]. On basis of the methodical investigations about assessment-approaches and the spezific issues related to buildings, it becomes clear, that building elements can be evalueted as a product but the perspective of the assessment must include aspects of an environmental accounting (fig. 1).
Input
The material and energy flows from the production are treated as a "stock" (existing hardware of "housing").

Production
lnput

O
Material and energy flow from the disposal Material and energy flow from the production
b

U A of a product d~ ( p i B C 8 d . M M . d ~

environmental accounting "period assessrnet"

LCAofa pmduct ) mpieceiivork assessrnent

&

k
Fig. 1:

@ - LCA of building elementr

-H

Specific assessment-approach (building elements)

The assessment must be able to adapte to the different characters of on one hand the production/disposal and one the hand the usage. Production and disposal as parts of the poduct-line of building elements are treated in a product-related assessment. Not so the use. Because buildings have a long lifespan the use must be recorded by other principles of assessment. During the phase of use expenditures for maintaining the function of the building (e.g. heating) as well as expenditures for maintenance and reconstruction (e.g. cleaning or repair) arise. The later is of importance for the LCA. These expenditures must be documented with regard to their ecological effects and impacts and evalueted by an environmental accounting. Thus the assessment for a building element is a productrelated assessment (LCA), but always one, that is extended by the aspects which will occure by environmental accounting.

2.2

Definition of the specific assessment-framework

On basis of a product-related assessment-approach and an integrated environmental accounting a suitable assessment-framework had to be found, which is appropriate for the specific aspects of the ,,externa1wall" as well as for the interests and perspective of the planner. Two partial investigations were necessary in oder to classify the objectives:

1. The goal, scope and operational steps of product-related assessment resp. environmental accounting and the consequences for making an assessment for a building element. [EN 18014.040/97; Mller-Wenk92; Rubik,Teichert97] 2. The relevant and very specific aspects of the building element ,,externa1 wall" and the special interests of the planner [Al-Diban,Gruhler96; Blum,Deilmann97], in order to define the appropriate criterions for the describtion of the complete life cycle within the bounderies of the assessment-framework. The specific assessment-framework was designed on bases of the results of these steps of investigation (fig. 2).

11 p

LIA

Minimum requirernents

Designqualities

LIA

Materiais, energy

LIA

LIA
Health

Cos&

Qualitative
difference
differences

Qualities of function

Expenses 1 effects

Fig. 2:

Specific assessment-framework ,,externat walls"

22

Within the design process of buildings the planner is interested at first in informations about function and costs and secondly in ecological aspects. Through the selection of the ,,right" building materials and types of construction the planner determines the later functional, economical and ecological impacts. He takes responsibility for the long term effects. Function The production and the functioning of the building elements and the building itself and the running expenditures (heating, maintenance, repair, reconsruction) produce material and energy flows. When a building presents a poor performance or one that undergoes fast aging (short cycles of maintenance, reconstruction), when mistakes in planning and construction come to surface or when changes in interests of user (function, aesthetics) need modifications, then the maintenance, repair, reconstruction, reorganization, conversion will produce great flows of materials and energy. These steps of change and modification are reflected in further consumption of material and energy. So the design and function of building elements will prove their efficiency mainly in the phase of use. The phase of use proves the design ,,in situ'' at a very late moment in time. But the impacts of the decisions taken during the design-phase should be reviewed more carefully at the beginning by a description of functional aspects like durability, easy repair, easy cleaning, heat gaps, risk for planing mistakes, building mistakes or design constraints.
Health Furthermore the planner is interested not only in environmental effects and impacts. Questions related to health (indoor aire quality, working conditions, risks) are of great importance, because the builders as well as the users of the building are directly affected.

Costs After al1 the cost aspect plays an important role. In this context it is not only important to reduce building costs, but for example to what extent high-quality construction necessarily is more cost producing, to what extent the running costs are effected (assessment of the costs - ,,from cradle to grave"). In this sense information about costs should try to integrate a total cost accounting. This could play an important role within the scope of assessment, not only for the planner but as well for the customer. To help the planner in the decision-process the LCA for buildings must be broadened by these aspects. Among informations about materials and energy it must contain also informations about function, technics, health and costs (fig. 2). Because the design determines the running expenditures, the environmental accounting of the phase of use should be moved more into the centre.

2.3

Assessrnent exarnple

In the following example the evaluation of the building element external wall was tested. Basis is the defined assessment-method (combination of specific assessment-approach and specific assessmentframework). Variations of the building element external wall can only be compared, when the several individual constructions fullfill the same basic functional conditions, and when the assessment along a set of criterions will follow always the same operational steps. The specific assessment-framework (formed by different, relevant criterions which describe the life cycle) sets identical basic conditions and enables therefore comparative analyses of different building element-constructions. The practicability of the assessment-method was tested with the help of four different external wall-constructions. Seven criterions were selected to the describe the areas function: easy repair, heat-gaps, health: indoor quality, working conditions, materialslenergy: human toxicity, eutrophication and costs: costs of production

(fig. 3).

Easy Repair

-EW
-EW-2
"

-1
EW-3
EW - 4

,
Quality

Eutrophication

Best Value

Extemal wall - 1: brickwork and thermal insulation plaster (EW-1) Extemal wall - 2: brickwork and Stone wool thermal insulation (EW-2) External wall - 3: lime-sand-stonesand polystyrol thermal insulation (EW-3) Extemal wall - 4: wooden frame and cellulose thermal insulation (EW-4) Fig. 3: Relative assessment - netgrafic In oder to compare the impacts of different criterions (heat-gaps, eutrophication, costs of production, ...) it was necessary to invent operation points with the same calibration. In each case the most favorable external wall-construction was determined for each criterion (either smallest or biggest impact). This level was set as value ,,lu (,,best value"). The deviations of the other external wall-variations from this ,,best value" were calculated by relationship-equations and are portrayed as relations (1=100% etc.). The chosen assessment-method is therefore a relative assessment. This assessment produces no absolute figures, but relational ones. These are appropriate to compare the different constructions along the very different aspects. The presentation in the netgrafic shows the planner visually which of the external wall-constructions is the most favorable. (If necessary, one could introduce an individual weighting of the aspects.) The netgrafic offers the planner a decision-support, but it does not reduce his assessment-conflict (evaluation of the different criterions). By al1 decision-support, he must take responsibility for his final choice.

SUMMARY

Building elements are products which are used (no consumer goods) and which therefore are characterized by a long phase of use. During this phase expenditures for the use of building elements (resp. buildings) include servicing, maintenance, redevelopment and reconstruction. These expenditures must be analysed and evaluated in ecological, functional and economic term by an environmental accounting. The assessment for a building element is methodically merely a productrelated assessment (LCA), but always a combination of a product-related assessment and an environmental accounting. The product-related assessment (the usual standard in LCA) evaluates the environmental impacts of a product on basis of rnaterial and energy imput-output-datas. In a scientific view the LCA is informative, but it corresponds only partially with the interests of the planner. Statements and informations about

costs, durability, easy repair, building mistakes as well as indoor quality are in general of greater significance for the planner. So the LCA should be broadened by economic, functional, technical and health aspects. A cost-effective, functional and ecological building along the complete life cycle means not only reduction in single expenditures for production but also reduction in running expenditures during the phase of use (servicing, maintenance, redevelopment, reconstruction). So the environmental accounting of the building element should be in the centre. The amount of expenditures for servicing, maintenance, redevelopment and reconstruction during the phase of use is determined by the very first phase of design and building. By the orientation on these expenditures, the classical questions of engineering gain importance and join in with the ecological goals of resource efficient construction and use. In the decision-process, the planner must balance out the different aspects and effects. The results of a broader assessment can support his decision-making, when the informations can be well illustrated in such a way, to allow the most favorable construction to be pin pointed. The relational assessment of different aspects in form of a netgrafic is one possible way. Although no absolute, irrefutable results are given, the planner can make comparisons i n a visual way. Nevertheless it does not set him free from the assessment-conflict (weighting of the different criterions). In the end he has to decide himself, but on a high level of thorough information.

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[Wagner921 Wagner, B. Vom Oko-~udit zur betrieblichen 0ko-~ilanz. In: Lehmann, S.; Clausen, J. (Hrsg.), Umweltberichterstattungvon Unternehmen, Schriftenreihe des IOW 57/92, Berlin, 1992