Abstract
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the standard method for the quantification of environmental impacts within the construction sector, relying on available generic LCA databases. New developments, such as the increased influence of the building construction for LCA and the forthcoming of building information modeling (BIM), implicate new requirements on multiscale levels of development and complexity for LCA construction databases. At the example of the German “Ökobau.dat”, one of the leading LCA construction databases, this publication discusses whether the database is able to meet these requirements. The analysis shows the strengths of the Ökobau.dat with regard to standardization conformity (EN 15804, ILCD), data provision in machine-readable XML format, and the provision of an application programming interface. Shortcomings include incorrect linking of building life cycle inventory data with environmental information, incorrect documentation of functional units, missing generic datasets, the modeling of energy use data or the lack of a uniform structuring, or material classification. The authors propose solutions such as the provision of appropriate functional units, the implementation of a top-down approach to investigate the completeness of data based on existing nomenclatures or the extension with an appropriate material classification. This would allow for future viability and adaptability of Ökobau.dat for digital LCA.
Highlights
The importance of limiting global warming below 2 ◦ C has been an issue in society and politics, even before the Paris agreement in 2015 [1]
In addition to the appropriate reference flow choice of single data sets, they should be harmonized between themselves as well. This especially applies to the existing data set types, which should be fully consistent in terms of their reference flow and their system boundaries applied
“refurbish” the current version of the Ökobau.dat or “rebuild” it from scratch? the results of the analysis provide for following suggestion: A list of requirements and qualities would have to be set up that the Ökobau.dat has to fulfill today and in future
Summary
The importance of limiting global warming below 2 ◦ C has been an issue in society and politics, even before the Paris agreement in 2015 [1]. To adequately address the inconsistencies arising through coupling of energy models, such as EnEV or DIN V 18599, the data sets of Ökobau.dat have to be either defined (as partly applied through the implementation of “EnEV” datasets) or supplemented by an approved cross calculation metric. This would allow for mapping the datasets and scaling them in a transparent, comparable approach. Within this guide a differentiation of the standard application contexts could be provided, including best practice examples and guidance on how to apply the different LCA data types within different phases of the assessment
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