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Buy through us
Explore buy through us
Category management
Government property for sale or lease
Personal property (tangible goods)
Real property (real estate and buildings) for public use
Real property sales
Vehicle sales
Products and services
Human capital
Industrial products and services
Office management
Professional services
Security and protection
Transportation and logistics services
Purchasing programs
Assisted acquisition
Commercial platforms
Federal strategic sourcing initiative
Fleet management
HCaTS and HCaTS SB
OASIS and OASIS SB
Requisition programs
State and local programs
Emergency acquisition basic ordering agreements
Shared services
Payroll services
Support services for CABs
Sell to government
Explore sell to government
Step 1: Learn about government contracting
Ways you can sell to government
How to access contract opportunities
Conduct market research
Step 2: Compete for a contract
Register your business
Certify as a small business
Become a schedule holder
Market your business
Research active solicitations
Respond to a solicitation
What to expect during the award process
Step 3: Manage your contract
Comply with contractual requirements
Handle contract modifications
Monitor past performance evaluations
Real estate
Explore real estate
Design and construction
3D-4D building information modeling
Computer-aided design standards
Engineering
Project management information system
Prospectus thresholds
Facilities management
Security
Tenant services
Water quality management
Our properties
Owned and leased properties
Regional buildings
Renting property
Real estate services
GSA lease inventory
Real property disposal
Reimbursable services (RWA)
For businesses seeking opportunities
For workers in federal buildings
Voice of the customer
Workplace optimization
Commercial coworking
Federal coworking
Space Match
Explore historic buildings
Policy and regulations
Explore policy and regulations
Acquisition management policy
Aviation management policy
Information technology policy
Real property management policy
Relocation management policy
Travel management policy
Vehicle management policy
Regulations
Federal acquisition regulations
Federal management regulations
Federal travel regulations
Small business
Explore small business
Small business goals
Register your business
Explore business models
Research the federal market
Subcontracting and other partnerships
Forecast of contracting opportunities
Small business resources
Small business contacts
Small business events
Videos
Travel
Explore travel
Plan a trip
Per diem rates
Transportation (airfare rates, POV rates, etc.)
Lodging
Travel charge card
Travel and lodging services
E-gov travel service (ETS)
Rideshare
Travel category schedule
Federal travel regulation
Technology
Explore technology
Build websites and digital services
Purchasing programs
Cloud computing services
Cybersecurity products and services
Governmentwide acquisition contracts
MAS information technology
USAccess
Government initiatives
Artificial Intelligence
Cybersecurity
Emerging citizen technology
FedRAMP
Federal identity, credentials, and access management
Robotic process automation community
Technology modernization fund
Training
About us
Explore about us
Background and history
Overview
Mission and strategic goals
Role in presidential transitions
Careers
Get an internship
Launch your career
Elevate your professional career
Discover special hiring paths
Resources and related links
Events and training
Events, training, and request a speaker
Our training programs
Newsroom
Agency blog
Congressional testimony
GSA does that podcast
News releases
Speeches
Videos
Organization
Leadership directory
Federal Acquisition Service
Public Buildings Service
Staff offices
Regions
Region 1 | New England
Region 2 | Northeast and Caribbean
Region 3 | Mid-Atlantic
Region 4 | Southeast Sunbelt
Region 5 | Great Lakes
Region 6 | Heartland
Region 7 | Greater Southwest
Region 8 | Rocky Mountain
Region 9 | Pacific Rim
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Contact us
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  7. Life cycle assessment and buildings

Life cycle assessment and buildings

As building teams attempt to assess the sustainable attributes of building products and systems, Life Cycle Assessments, or LCAs, and Environmental Product Declarations, or EPDs, are gaining attention. In 2010, the American Institute of Architects published the AIA guide to building life cycle assessment in practice [PDF]. More recently, the Carbon Leadership Forum published Life cycle assessment of buildings: A practice guide, in 2019. These are both good resources for life cycle assessment and buildings.

Whole building LCA is similar to a product LCA, but the product is the building. A complete whole building LCA includes all materials in the building but, for simplification, the LCA is often limited to only the materials found in the largest quantities or with the most impact. For a whole building LCA, the functional unit might be “the entire building from design to demolition for a 50-year service life,” or it might be computed on a per-square-foot basis and limited to one life cycle stage (e.g., construction).

Whole building LCA principles can also be used for a variety of purposes, such as:

  • To provide insights into building materials choices (including new products) and design options.
  • To show benefits of refurbishment vs. demolition plus reconstruction
  • To compare structural systems and finish choices for reduced environmental impact
  • To achieve an LCA-based certification, or to make environmental claims about buildings
  • To provide decision support for policy design, including the introduction of new building technologies
  • To provide guidance on product and process development, marketing, and selection of suppliers or subcontractors

The whole building LCA process is informed by ISO 21931, which sets standard references and modeling assumptions. ASTM standard E2921 further describes how to compare whole buildings LCAs in codes, standards, and rating systems. European standard EN 15978:2011 also codifies LCA for buildings and defines the following life cycle stages:

Life cycle stages

ProductA1Extraction, production
A2Transport
A3Manufacturing
ConstructionA4Transport
A5Construction, installation
UseB1Use
B2Maintenance
B3Repair
B4Replacement
B5Refurbishment
B6Energy Use
B7Water Use
End of lifeC1Demolition
C2Transport
C3Processing
C4Disposal
BeyondDReuse, recycling, recovery

Building life cycle stages (adapted from ISO 21931 [13] and EN 15978 [12]).

LCA tools for buildings

Athena EcoCalculator

The Athena EcoCalculator provides a quick view of a building’s environmental footprint. It is fast but limited in design options. The spreadsheet tool uses pre-defined assemblies and envelope configurations to calculate embodied life cycle impact assessment results (operating energy is not included) based on your square footage.

Athena Impact Estimator

The Athena Impact Estimator assists design teams in exploring the environmental footprint of different material choices and core-and-shell system options. It is a stand-alone program that allows users to model custom assemblies and envelope configurations, and provides flexibility for proposed designs and existing buildings. Technical knowledge of the building construction is required for data input. The Impact Estimator allows users to include energy simulation results to calculate operating energy effects alongside the effects of embodied energy.

BEES online

The Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability, or BEES tool, helps design teams select cost-effective, environmentally-preferable building products. Environmental performance is determined using the ISO 14040 life cycle assessment approach. Results include life-cycle impact assessment results developed based on current Product Category Rules. Economic performance is measured using the ASTM standard life cycle cost method.

BIRDS

The Building Industry Reporting and Design for Sustainability tool, also called BIRDS tool, uses LCA and life cycle costing, or LCC, together to evaluate the sustainability of the materials and energy used in a building over its lifetime. It assesses 12 environmental impacts alongside economic performance to yield an assessment of the business case for design alternatives in buildings.

The BIRDS database includes energy, environmental, and cost measurements for over 12,000 new commercial and non low-rise residential buildings, covering 11 building prototypes in 228 cities across all U.S. states for 9 study period lengths.

One Click LCA

One Click LCA is a construction sector LCA software that allows users to calculate and reduce the environmental impact of building and infrastructure projects, products, and portfolios. The tool has a materials database and integrates with a variety of CAD/BIM and energy software tools. It also has a separate EPD generator tool. The software is not free, but a free embodied carbon version is available called One Click LCA Planetary.

Tally

The Tally application allows architects and engineers to quantify the environmental impact of building materials for whole building analysis as well as comparative analyses of design options. The user can define relationships between BIM elements and construction materials from the Tally database. The result is LCA on demand, and a layer of decision-making information that allows designers to evaluate various design options in real time. Tally is easy to use and requires no special modeling expertise, but it is not a free tool. The Tally methodology is consistent with LCA standards.

Embodied carbon

The current focus on carbon emissions has brought to light the importance of embodied carbon in materials. As buildings become more energy efficient, the global warming potential (GWP) of embodied carbon in building materials has a greater life cycle impact than carbon from operating energy.

EC3

The Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator, or EC3 tool, is an open-access tool that allows benchmarking, assessment, and reductions in embodied carbon, focused on the upfront (Stage A1-A3) supply chain emissions of construction materials. The EC3 tool uses third-party verified EPDs.

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Last updated: May 15, 2025
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