Chalmers Conferences, LCM 2013

EXPANDING THE USE OF LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT TO CAPTURE INDUCED IMPACTS IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
John E. Anderson, Gebhard Wulfhorst, Werner Lang

Last modified: 2014-09-11

Abstract


The paper presents an expanded methodology for capturing and quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment. Current research concentrates on individual buildings or entire metropolitan regions. These frameworks are however limiting as they do not represent typical construction patterns – renovation and new construction of individual buildings within existing cities. In this paper we illustrate how life-cycle assessment can be used to evaluate the environmental impacts from induced impacts – the impacts resulting from the interaction of a building and its surrounding urban context. The results show the importance of induced impacts, particularly transportation and infrastructure, in capturing and quantifying all greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore for realizing climate mitigation.

Keywords


built environment; buildings; transportation; infrastructure; quantitative assessment

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