1. SAPIENS Policy Brief Series: Enhancing Building Sustainability Through Improved Life Cycle Assessment Methods

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a crucial tool for evaluating the environmental impact of buildings. However, current methods often overlook important factors like future material recovery potential and interdependencies between building components. This oversight can lead to significant underestimation of embodied environmental impacts.

Haitham Abu-Ghaida’s policy brief titled “Enhancing Building Sustainability Through Improved Life Cycle Assessment Methods” explores how incorporating product recovery potential and component interdependencies in building LCAs can provide a more accurate picture of environmental impacts and incentivize circular design practices. This policy brief is based on the author’s research published in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment (2024).

This policy brief is directed to sustainable construction and circular economy policy advocacy organizations in the European Union. It may also prove valuable for policymakers, building designers, and LCA practitioners.

2. Insights from the Policy Brief 

To improve the accuracy of building LCAs and promote more sustainable construction practices, the policy brief recommends a comprehensive approach that accounts for component interdependencies and recovery potential. The research shows that not considering these factors can lead to underestimating embodied greenhouse gas emissions by up to 28.29%.

Key Recommendations for Enhanced Building LCAs

1. Disassembly Network Mapping: Create detailed maps of interdependencies between building components

2. Recovery Potential Assessment: Evaluate the disassembly and recovery potential for each building component

3. Probabilistic Material Flow Analysis: Model uncertainty in future recovery scenarios

4. Integration with Standard LCA: Incorporate these elements into existing LCA methodologies

By adopting these more comprehensive assessment methods, policymakers can make more informed decisions and create stronger incentives for sustainable building practices, potentially reducing embodied emissions by up to 45.94% in buildings designed for disassembly.