World Sustainable Building Conference 2014 in Barcelona

Life Cycle Assessment within BNB¹ – Online-Tool eLCA and materials database ÖKOBAU.DAT

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an instrument for the evaluation of environmental quality of buildings. Based on specific data from environmental product declarations (EPD) or from the ÖKOBAU.DAT under consideration of the life-cycle phases, a quantified assessment of buildings is possible.

To unify and simplify this process of creating LCAs, the online tool eLCA was developed. eLCA is a flexible and modular online tool which enables the creation of LCAs for buildings based on templates of construction elements and materials.

Both, ÖKOBAU.DAT and eLCA are initiated and maintained by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), a research Institution under the portfolio of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB).

Authors: Brockmann, T.; Kusche, O.; Rössig, S.

Conference Paper

Sustainability and Building Materials within BNB¹ – Evaluation, Tools and Database

Due to the growing activities in the field of sustainable construction the consideration of possible environmental and health relevant impacts of building materials gains in importance. Within the German assessment system for sustainable construction for federal buildings (BNB), building materials are not evaluated as such but in the context of their application within the building regarding all relevant requirements, e. g. ecological, economical and technical.

The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) offers different tools for the evaluation of these aspects. Within this paper the environmental impact of building materials on ground water, air pollution or soil is regarded, and also health relevant aspects. The website WECOBIS is intended for planners and architects and provides a tool for selecting suitable building materials regarding environmental and health relevant issues. WECOBIS is provided by BMUB in cooperation with the Bavarian Chamber of Architects (ByAK). It is maintained by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), a research Institution under the portfolio of BMUB.

Life cycle assessment and its tools within BNB are explained in another paper of this conference; see “Life Cycle Assessment within BNB - Online Tool eLCA and building materials database ÖKOBAU.DAT”.

Author: Brockmann, T.

Conference Paper

¹ BNB – German assessment system for sustainable construction for federal buildings