Life Cycle Ecological Footprint Assessment of an Academic Building

Abstract

Buildings are responsible for significant natural resource consumption, waste generation and environmental pollution. Building impacts are generally assessed through life cycle analysis (LCA). This study integrates LCA with the Ecological Footprint indicator for the assessment of a building’s impact on the planet. In order to determine ecological impact of a building, a methodology has been established for the estimation of life cycle ecological footprint (LCEFtotal) of the building, as well as to assess its impact due to resource consumption (energy, water, building materials, manpower, etc.) and waste assimilation over the life cycle. For an academic building located in India taken as a case study, the LCEFtotal is found to be 4426.47 gha and the LCEFtotal per unit floor area is 0.6 gha/m2. The average annual Ecological Footprint (EFavg) of the academic building has been estimated as 73.77 gha/year, that is, approximately 101 times more than the built-up land of the academic building. For the academic year of 2015–2016, the average annual Ecological Footprint per student (EFavg/student) of the academic building is 0.05 gha/student-year. If annual grid electricity consumption of the building is replaced by the grid-connected rooftop photovoltaic system in the ratios of 100%, 75%, 50% and 25%, it can be reduced up to 61%, 46%, 31% and 15% of the total LCEFtotal of the academic building, respectively.