LCA in Sustainable Building: Fitting Tools to the Task Wayne Trusty ASTM LCA Workshop October 2009 Wayne Trusty ASTM LCA Workshop October 2009

Green Building Standards (all with an LCA component) GBI/ANSI Standard P: Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings u ASTM: Minimum Attributes of a Building that Promotes Sustainability u ASTM: Product Category Rules for Environmental Declarations for Building Products and Systems u NAHB/ICC: National Green Building Standard TM u ASHRAE/USGBC/IESNA Std 189: High- Performance Green Buildings u ICC green building code (IgCC)

The LCA Tool Kit Level 2 Assembly Focus ATHENA EcoCalculator LCA in the background free download Level 3 Whole Building ATHENA Impact Estimator LCA in the background 1A - For LCA practitioners – SimaPro, GaBi, Umberto 1B - LCA in the background – BEES free download from NIST Level 1 Product Focus

How the tools relate Level 1A tools e.g., SimaPro Product LCIs BEES and ATHENA IE Level 2 Assembly Evaluation Tool Assessment and rating systems Public national databases

LCA-based level 3 whole building tool for use at the conceptual design stage Shows environmental effects of changes in shape, design or material make-up of a building Allows designers to optimize operating+embodied energy effects over the complete building life cycle A range of indicators without weighting

Design 1 Design 2 Regional Electricity Grids Transportation & Product Technologies Maintenance Schedules u Raw Materials u Energy Use by type u Water Use u Emissions to Air u Emission to Water u Solid Wastes INVENTORY u Primary energy u Acidification u Aquatic eutrophication u Global warming potential u Respiratory effects u Ozone depletion u Weighted raw resource use u Photochemical smog SUMMARY MEASURES Building Assemblies Bill of Materials Life Cycle Inventories Materials & Products Building Construction Operations Demolition/ Disposal Energy pre- combustion effects... informed environmental choices

Embedded LCI Datasets ) On-site construction (assembly level) Products/materials (cradle to market) Demolition/ disposal Include transportation by mode & energy use by type Transportation energy use Pre-combustion effects Combustion emissions Supporting calculators Maintain/replace (materials) Cradle - to - gate (Manufacturing) On-site construction End - of - Life Occupancy (O & M)

LCA-based tool for evaluating and comparing the environmental effects of assemblies Results for several 100 pre-defined assemblies Uses mid-point impact indicators In rating system, credit better than average performance for each indicator within an assembly category Generic version, without credit links, is freely available various regional versions

Simple to Use Users only fill in yellow cells Instant answers results in spreadsheet form

1,640 tonnes CO2e cradle to grave 60 year life Cast-in-place concrete Rigid insulation + PET membrane Gypsum board + Latex paint Brick cladding Cast-in-place concrete Rigid insulation + PET membrane Gypsum board + Latex paint

Results on a per unit area basis (e.g., per ft 2 ) Estimates based on much larger areas, e.g., 1000 linear feet of wall Components and loadings typical for central U.S. Owner occupied office buildings, 60-year lifespan Affects maintenance and repair/replacement schedules Other specific assumptions: Window to wall ratio Concrete strength and fly ash content Gypsum board type and thickness with latex paint Live load for all intermediate floors, columns & beams, roofs Bay sizes and column heights External wall thicknesses depending on construction system Stud size/strength and spacing Sheathing and decking materials Whole Building Context

EcoCalc Versions u Current »DOE Zone 3 averages »DOE Zone 6 averages »8 Canadian regions Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Québec, Halifax »4 US regions Atlanta, Minneapolis, Orlando, Pittsburgh, New York u Coming 2010 »Los Angeles, Seattle, other SW and central regions All with hi-rise and low-rise versions

Rating System Credit Calculators u Start with the selection of EcoCalculator assemblies u Submit the summary table u The Credit Calculators will then: »Apply life cycle impact category weightings; »Compare the results to the reported averages by impact measure within assembly categories; »Provide an LCA score; and »Calculate the number of possible rating system points u Developing criteria for use of alternative tools »Keep level playing field

What about operating energy? u LCA credits currently deal only with materials u Operating energy continues to be covered in separate areas of Green Globes and LEED u May make points in LCA and not do so well in energy area, or vice versa u Operating energy can be combined with embodied effects when we shift to whole building LCA