Existing benchmark systems for assessing global warming potential of buildings - Analysis of IEA EBC Annex 72 cases

F. N. Rasmussen*, D. Trigaux, E. Alsema, M. Balouktsi, H. Birgisdóttir, R. Bohne, M. Dixit, D. Dowdell, N. Francart, R. Frischknecht, G. Foliente, A. Lupisek, T. Lützkendorf, T. Malmqvist, A. Garcia Martinez, C. Ouellet-Plamondon, A. Passer, B. Peuportier, L. Ramseier, D. SatolaS. Seo, Z. Szalay, M. Wiik

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is increasingly being used as a tool by the building industry and actors to assess the global warming potential (GWP) of building activities. In several countries, life cycle based requirements on GWP are currently being incorporated into building regulations. After the establishment of general calculation rules for building LCA, a crucial next step is to evaluate the performance of the specific building design. For this, reference values or benchmarks are needed, but there are several approaches to defining these. This study presents an overview of existing benchmark systems documented in seventeen cases from the IEA EBC Annex 72 project on LCA of buildings. The study characterizes their different types of methodological background and displays the reported values. Full life cycle target values for residential and non-residential buildings are found around 10-20 kg CO2e/m2/y, whereas reference values are found between 20-80 kg CO2e/m2/y. Possible embodied target- and reference values are found between 1-12 kg CO2e/m2/y for both residential and non-residential buildings. Benchmark stakeholders can use the insights from this study to understand the justifications of the background methodological choices and to gain an overview of the level of GWP performance across benchmark systems.

Original languageEnglish
Article number012054
JournalIOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science
Volume1078
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022
EventSustainable Built Environment D-A-CH Conference 2022 - Built environment within Planetary Boundaries: SBE22 berlin - Natural Building Lab constructive design and climate adaptive architecture TU Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Duration: 20 Sept 202223 Sept 2022
https://www.sbe22.berlin/

Keywords

  • Benchmarking
  • Buildings
  • Global Warming Potential
  • LCA

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Science(all)
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)

Fields of Expertise

  • Sustainable Systems

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