Life cycle assessment (LCA)
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to evaluate a product or service's local and global environmental impact over its lifetime or "from cradle to grave". More precisely, the overall environmental impact is analysed, so the one occurring at all stages of the ecosystem or across the entire value chain, i.e. due to the acquisition of raw materials, production, use and disposal. The framework and methodology of performing LCA for buildings are presented in the EN 15978 standard (Sustainability of construction works - Assessment of environmental performance of buildings - Calculation method). According to the standard, the LCA results are presented for five main phases, and each phase is identified with a letter and serial number:
The following software can, for example, be used to create an LCA for buildings:
One Click LCA - Simple LCA calculations in the design phase of buildings
Danish LCAbyg - From Denmark: Statens Byggeforskningsinstitut, Aalborg Universitet Copenhagen
Green Delta’s OpenLCA – From GreenDelta in Berlin, Germany
Life cycle costing (LCC)
Often, Life-cycle costing (LCC) is performed together with LCA. LCC is used to analyseall the costs incurred during the asset's lifetime (e.g., product, service, building). The considered costs are, among others, purchase costs and costs associated with that (e.g., delivery or installation costs), operation costs (e.g., energy or fuel costs, maintenance costs), and end-of-life costs (e.g., disposal or recycling costs). LCC can also include the asset's residual value, so potential revenue from its reuse or sale.