A Visual Method for Detailed Analysis of Building Life Cycle Assessment Results

Abstract

In the environmental analysis of buildings, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is gaining more and more interest. It is due to the fact, that LCA is very comprehensive in considering many impacts in all life-cycle phases of the examined building. Since buildings have a complicated geometry that is built up with numerous constructions that consist of many materials, and the life-cycle includes many phases, the results of an assessment are likely to be difficult to analyze in detail. In this paper we introduce a visual method to help architects and analysts to quickly understand the results of an environmental assessment. It includes the hierarchic visualization of the performance of the individual elements of the building. Both energy use and environmental impacts can be presented. Also the contribution of the different life-cycle phases in the overall impact is visualized.There are increasing efforts nowadays to find the most efficient way to improve the environmental performance of buildings. This can be supported with a detailed analysis of the results. The method is presented through a case study of a realized energy efficient one-family house.