Get Sust! Issue 33

Life-cycle assessment for very-low-energy dwellings

Researchers in Belgium have developed an assessment methodology that is optimised to deal with extremely low-energy dwellings.

As energy use approaches the ideal zero-carbon target, so the life-cycle assessment of its component parts becomes more important for the overall sustainability of a building. Building physicists Griet Verbeeck and Hugo Hens have developed a methodology that takes account of energy use, environmental impact, and financial costs over the life cycle of the building.

Using their technique, the ecological impact is evaluated through a life cycle inventory of the whole building, whereas costs are evaluated through a cost-benefit analysis.

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Full details of the methodology, and the various steps in its development, are reported in ‘Life Cycle Optimization of Extremely Low Energy Dwellings’ by Griet Verbeeck and Hugo Hens, Journal of Building Physics, Vol. 31, No. 2, 143-177 (2007), http://jen.sagepub.com/.