Application Of Life Cycle Assessment Research Articles

Life Cycle Assessment-Based Approach to Forecast the Response of Waste Management Policy Targets to the Environment

Abstract Inadequate municipal waste management, associated with a dominance of waste landfilling and low efficiency of resource and energy recovery, is the major challenge towards circular economy targets for some European Union countries, including Latvia. The aim of the study is to evaluate environmental performance from implementation of waste management policy goals in waste management systems of Latvia applying life cycle assessment methodology. The waste management system in Latvia was evaluated for two scenarios: baseline situation (based on statistical data from 2016) and future scenario – 2030. Baseline scenario assessment results show the existing material and energy recovery potential from municipal solid waste generated in Latvia. Meanwhile, results obtained from the 2030 scenario demonstrated that boosting recovery rates of plastic by 20 % and organic waste by 20 % can contribute to the minimization of life cycle environmental impacts (human health, resources, climate change, ecosystems) by 1.8 % and organic by 3.6 % correspondingly.

Life cycle assessment of urban wastewater treatment plants: a critical analysis and guideline proposal.

In its 30 years of existence, there are still many improvement possibilities in studies performing the life cycle assessment (LCA) of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Hence, this paper aims to start a guideline development for LCA of urban WWTPs based on the information available in the scientific literature on the topic. The authors used the ProKnow-C systematic review methodology for paper selection and 111 studies were analyzed. The most significant points that can be improved are caused by missing essential information (e.g. functional unity and input data). Other important methodological aspects are covered: allocation process, functional unit choice, sensitivity analysis, and important fluxes to be considered. Many opportunities within the LCA of WWTPs were identified, such as optimization of WWTP operational aspects and resource recovery. Furthermore, LCA should be combined with other methodologies such as big data, data envelopment analysis, life cycle cost assessment, and social life cycle assessment. To achieve this potential, it is clear that the scientific and technical community needs to converge on a new protocol to ensure that LCA application becomes more reliable and transparent.

Environmental analysis of crop rotations through the application of the Cereal Unit approach

The sustainability of agricultural practices is a key element for an effective implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, particularly relating to ending poverty and hunger, responding to climate change and supporting the natural resources. As part of ongoing research and improvement in this field, this study aims to apply Life Cycle Assessment methodology to the agricultural sector, and to discuss and support the use of Cereal Unit (CU) parameter. To overcome the differences that emerge when two or more different crops are compared, the CU can be used as a functional unit (FU) to capture all the functions of the products. This approach avoids the use of economic parameters, providing for more stable comparisons over time, as the price of agricultural products is strongly influenced by market and currency fluctuations. The robustness of this approach was tested by the assessment and comparison of the environmental burdens of two different crop rotations using a CU-based FU. The same systems were also evaluated with a revenue-based FU to assess the pros and cons of the two type of approach. The study considered Argentina, due to the high importance of its agricultural products, which are widely exported in the world. The first crop rotation, called San Justo (SJ), is the one conventionally followed in the region and provides for a low-intensity cultivation, while the other, Evergreen (EG), is the alternative which requires a more intensive exploitation of the soil. The results showed that CU approach allows reliable and stable comparisons and, in this specific case, that the conventional system has a higher environmental load, with land use being the key factor in the assessment.

Design for Sustainable Public Transportation: LCA-Based Tooling for Guiding Early Design Priorities

Environmental sustainability is an increasingly important subject for public transportation organizations. For passenger train operators, modernization projects provide key opportunities to improve the environmental impact of their rolling stock by making informed design decisions at the midpoint of the life cycle of their trains. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is widely adopted as the main instrument for evaluating environmental impact. However, in the past LCA was rarely used in the earlier design stages, where it is most effective, due to constrained access to data, information, and LCA-specific expertise. To this end, a purpose-built streamlined LCA tool for train modernization is developed and demonstrated, following a Design Science Research approach. The developed tool simplifies the application of LCA employing four main design principles: (1) sacrificing the declarative function of LCA, (2) the use of Input–Output-based Life Cycle Inventory, (3) the inclusion of ‘shadow costs’, (4) the limitation of the included environmental impact categories. By streamlining the application of LCA in this way, it becomes possible to introduce LCA-based principles and ways of thinking into a process that would otherwise be inaccessible to performing LCA in: the early design stages of modernization projects.

A Review on the Applicability of Life Cycle Assessment to Evaluate the Technical and Environmental Properties of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

Acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) copolymer and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) are the plastics most commonly found in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), although properties generally decline with recycling. Technical studies are important in assessing the properties of recycled plastics and obtaining better evidence of their return or not to the same production cycle, through a study of their impacts and life cycle assessment (LCA). This article aimed at a literature search for information that demonstrates the importance of considering the technical property results of LCA studies on WEEE plastics. LCA studies show that recycling WEEE plastics, when compared with virgin raw material, prevents 87% of ABS gas emissions, in addition to reducing energy consumption by up to 90% for ABS and HIPS. However, some technical properties of recycled WEEE polymer material, such as impact strength and ultimate elongation, decline when compared to virgin materials, which may hinder their reinsertion into the same production cycle. These properties can be enhanced by preparing compatible mixtures of ABS and HIPS, or by mixing them with virgin polymers. Recycled ABS (not mixed with another material) can return to the same production cycle when the goal is to preserve the modulus of elasticity. Studies that investigate properties using LCA are scarce. However, they are important in determining the viability of the material returning or not to the same production cycle, which would impact the process and produce different LCA results. Recycled ABS and HIPS polymers from WEEE can return to the same function even if some properties decline, since properties can be improved when the polymers are properly mixed or made compatible, thereby lowering costs and primarily minimizing the negative environmental impacts.

Application of life cycle assessment for desalination: Progress, challenges and future directions.

The sustainability performance of the desalination processes has received increasing attention in recent years. In this study, the current progress and future perspective of a life cycle assessment (LCA) of desalination technology in 62 previous studies have been reviewed for the period 2004-2019. It was found that the number of LCA studies related to seawater reverse osmosis has gained popularity compared to other types of desalination technologies. The review emphasized the application of LCA to desalination by means of research objective, scope of study, life stages, and impact assessment. Although previous LCA studies were conducted to assess the environmental performance of the desalination technology, little attention was given to evaluating the impact of other sustainability aspects (i.e., economic and social). The latter part of this study discusses the challenges, feasibility, and recommendations for future LCA studies on desalination technology. The integration of the LCA approach with other approaches allows a comprehensive assessment of the sustainability performance of desalination technology. Thus, the combined approaches should be explored in future studies to gain insight into the sensitivity and uncertainty of the data to make an assessment that can be useful in policy-making.

The challenge of integrating Life Cycle Assessment in the building design process – a systematic literature review of BIM-LCA workflows

To foster sustainable development in construction sectors, environmental impacts need to be reduced dramatically. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) technique is the most firmly established methodology used to quantify these environmental impacts and, therefore, has been applied with increasing frequency to assess the environmental performance of buildings. To effectively improve a building’s environmental performance, an integration of LCA in the design process is required. This can be achieved by coupling LCA with digital design tools, e.g., Building Information Modelling (BIM). To identify the pro and cons of streamlining the integration of LCA and BIM, a comprehensive Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was performed. We identified more than 50 relevant BIM-LCA case studies and analyzed the applied BIM-LCA workflows in detail. In most of the studies reviewed, the LCA has been applied in an early design stage. The authors primarily used LCA tools and manual or semi-automatic methods to exchange data between BIM models. In most cases, contemporary BIM-LCA workflows utilized conventional spreadsheets (e.g., Excel worksheets). However, the results of the analysis show that an automated link between LCA and BIM can be achieved if certain challenges are overcome. By automating exchange of information between BIM and LCA tools and improving the reliability of this process, the LCA application can be streamlined in design practice and, hence, the necessary improvements of the environmental performance of buildings can be supported.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impacts of urban roads: a literature review

With the ratification of the Paris climate agreement to avoid the uncompensated effects of climate change, 197 countries will have to dramatically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. In the case of the urban space, roads are responsible for the consumption of 105M tons of bitumen and 115M tons of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. For this reason, the reduction of the environmental impacts of road construction is becoming an urgent necessity. So far the vast majority of the Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been used to evaluate the environmental burdens of existing roads and new asphalt solutions. However, due to the different LCA methodological choices, recent studies have highlighted the difficulties in comparing the results of cases published in literature. Driven by this knowledge gap, the aim of the present study was to identify key aspects missing in the assessment of urban roads. Through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR), 47 publications have been selected for further investigation. An intensive analysis of these documents clearly demonstrate the heterogeneity of the applied LCA methodological choices as well as the selected approaches regarding i.e. the goal of the studies, functional unit, system boundary, database and stratigraphy of the road pavement. Aiming to harmonize the LCA methodology, we have identified key aspects that require solutions for a robust LCA application. The results are expected to be useful for the National Road Administration (NRA) in assessing the environmental impacts of future urban road projects. As a response to the Paris climate agreement targets, the application of harmonized methods regarding LCA should lead to a more robust and structured process in terms of identifying low carbon urban road solutions and contributing to the SDGs respectively.

Assessing Environmental Impacts of Sea Bass Cage Farms in Greece and Albania Using Life Cycle Assessment

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is increasingly used in aquaculture studies to quantitatively assess materials, energy flows and impacts of a production system and to evaluate the environmental performance of products and services. The application of LCA to sea bass production in two marine farms located in Greece and Albania demonstrated that feed and accordingly feed conversion ratio, followed by fry were the two predominant factors mostly affecting the eighteen ecological impact categories assessed. In particular, for the Greek farm, feed affected all but one of the impact categories from 76.5 to 99.9%, reflecting the relation of fish feed not only to resource use, but also to impacts during processing, transportation and to its distribution to the farmed stocks. The role of feed was also reflected on its share (90.6%) in the ‘global warming’ indicator. Fry production resulted in a major contribution (99.0%) to the ‘water consumption’ impact category, which is related to the hatchery operation. Concerning the Albanian farm, the impact of fish feed was even more pronounced in most of the ecological indicators, due to the absence of motorised equipment. It is concluded that feeding management and initiatives to improve the cost and the environmental impact in both counties could result in immediate improvements of the ecological and economical outcomes of the mariculture industry in the region. Further benefits are also expected for the ecological sustainability and economic viability of the sector, as consumers are exhibiting interest in environmental awareness and eco-labelling.

Life Cycle Assessment of Geotechnical Works in Building Construction: A Review and Recommendations

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is becoming an increasingly important environmental systems analysis tool in the construction sector for the identification of measures and strategies to reduce the environmental impact of buildings throughout the whole value chain. Geotechnical processes, such as earthworks, ground improvement and foundation construction, are often energy- and resource-intensive. Geotechnical works can thus play an important role in moving towards more sustainable building construction practices. This article reviews recent applications of LCA of buildings, including foundations as the focus or part of the system studied, based on the ISO 14040/44 standards. The system boundaries of geotechnical works are defined and a conceptual model for LCA of geotechnical works in building construction is proposed. The results of the literature review showed that the application of LCA to the building substructure is currently under development, but still in a fragmented state. There is a need for a unified framework for LCA of geotechnical works in building construction, especially regarding the definition of the functional unit, the choice of system boundaries, the appropriateness of inventory data, and the selection of impact categories. The conceptual model focuses on the demonstration of inventory flows and system boundaries and can serve as a basis for scope definition in future LCA studies of geotechnical works in building construction. It may also support effective communication between different actors and stakeholders regarding environmental sustainability in the construction sector.

Research Challenges and Advancements in the field of Sustainable Energy Technologies in the Built Environment

Inevitably, the 21st century has initiated a series of developments in the construction industry, leading to its digitalization and resulting in a series of innovative approaches and practices. At the same time, the construction industry, being one of the main global environment polluters, should fulfil well-established, as well as novel, sustainability requirements in order to evolve in harmony with the rising concerns on the availability of natural resources. This overview study aims to present the main developments, research, and scientific challenges in the field of sustainable construction, emphasizing the field of energy. The study aims to present a state-of-the-art scientific discussion on the sustainable built environment topic by analyzing cutting edge topics in the fields of building elements and whole building energy assessment, of indoor air quality and low carbon buildings, as well as on sustainable energy systems and smart buildings. The study also presents the state-of-the-art in existing tools which are adopted for the assessment of the sustainable built environment, including the use of digital tools and building information modelling for the energy assessment of the built environment, as well as the application of Life Cycle Assessment on building-related processes. Cross cutting issues related to the analysis of the building sector in the Industry 4.0 era, such as sustainability management topics and environmental geomatics are also discussed. The study concludes in those fields which will be of interest of the scientific community in the following years, towards achieving the goals of the sustainable development of the building sector.

Environmental impacts of existing and future aquaculture production: Comparison of technologies and feed options in Singapore

In a context of global population growth and increased food demand, the development of the aquaculture industry has become essential, and aquaculture development policies have flourished. However, aquaculture is associated with various environmental impacts, such as eutrophication or climate change. It is therefore important to assess the environmental sustainability of aquaculture development, for example through the use of life cycle assessment (LCA). Yet, there is limited application of LCA to aquaculture technologies in Asian countries, where most aquaculture growth is taking place, and none of them has assessed environmental impacts of both current and future aquaculture systems. Here, we took Singapore as an example of country, which has recently developed aquaculture development strategies, and we performed a comparative LCA of eight Singaporean aquaculture production systems, thus covering all relevant existing and potential future production technologies. To do so, we built comprehensive life cycle inventories (LCI) of 8 categories of aquaculture production for four species groups in Singapore, for both 2017 and 2040. Two options of feed evolution were assessed in 2040: increasing the part of fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO) produced from trimmings and replacing FMFO by insect-based meal and algal oil. We assessed 11 environmental impact categories, including net primary production use. Overall, per unit of edible seafood produced, the production of marine fishes in sea cages near the shore and in recirculating aquaculture systems were found to be the most attractive options to limit the environmental impacts while increasing seafood production in Singapore. Freshwater fishes produced in concrete ponds were found to have the lowest impact indicator scores per ton of edible seafood produced, but these results were highly sensitive to methodological choices and it was deemed constrained by limited potential to increase its production capacity in the future. Increasing the part of FMFO produced from trimmings is found to have more environmental benefits than insect-based meal. However, the uncertainty concerning the future technologies is high, particularly for anticipating future technologies. Further research is therefore needed to refine the assessment of the potential environmental impacts of future aquaculture production systems, including focusing on novel technologies and new feed options specifically adapted to each country. Meanwhile, we recommend analysts to take inspiration from and build on the detailed LCIs developed in the current study to support assessments of aquaculture systems in other underresearched Asian countries.

AN INTEGRATED ANALYSIS WITH LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT, BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING, AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE FOR WINDOW MATERIALS: ASSIUT UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL CLINIC AS A CASE STUDY

The main goal of this study is to undertake the three methods of life cycle assessment (LCA), the environmental performance (EP), and the building information modeling (BIM) to determine the environmental performance and impacts of two window frame materials: aluminum and wood. This study has been carried out in a proposed project at the Assiut University campus. The LCA has been conducted by assessing materials and processes involved in manufacturing the two window frame types using the SimaPro. The LCA scope of this research covers from cradle to the gate with a designated system boundary. The network flow has been drawn to produce one kilogram of aluminum and wood; the quantities data were gathered from the BIM (using Autodesk Revit). Selecting the database is carefully picked from the Ecoinvent dataset to be closer to Egypt's manufacturing processes. Afterwards, the IMPACT 2002+ with midpoint and endpoint calculations has been used. Finally, the LCA results have been compared with the EP results (using DesignBuilder) to determine the best choice between the two materials. The integration analysis shows that the aluminum industry has higher negative environmental impacts and environmental performance than the wood industry. The total midpoint results of the two materials are found to be 29.6 for aluminum, and 7.57 the wood. Turning to the endpoint results, human health and resource depletion impacts are the most significant results. The human health scored the highest value, with 13.9 for aluminum and 3.51 for wood. A novel framework for integrating LCA, BIM, and EP for a proposed building during the early phases of a project has been conducted in this study. The presented study can be used as a model for integrating comparative analysis on other proposed projects as the LCA applications in Egypt are scarce due to the absence of a reliable database. This study has introduced a value applying an approach to select the appropriate life cycle inventory database from the Ecoinvent dataset. The research findings contribute to choosing the most suitable window frame materials with the most energy-efficient effect and the least environmental burden. Moreover, it can help the concerned legislative bodies and the decision-makers.

An LCA-Based Environmental Performance of Rice Production for Developing a Sustainable Agri-Food System in Malaysia.

This study aims to assess the environmental impacts of conventional and organic rice cultivations and proposes a sustainable conceptual framework of rice farming based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. A cradle-to-gate LCA was performed by using the ReCiPe 2016 method and SimaPro 8.5 software. The functional unit was one ton of rice grains harvested. Primary data were obtained from the farmer, while secondary data were collected from Ecoinvent 3.0, the Agri Footprint 3.0 database and the literature. The total characterization factors for global warming potential (GWP), water consumption potential (WCP) and fossil fuel depletion potential (FFP) were 457.89 kg CO2-eq, 98.18 m3 and 84.56 kg oil-eq, respectively, at the midpoint level for conventional rice, while the impacts for organic rice were 140.55 kg CO2-eq, 29.45 m3 and 22.25 kg oil-eq, respectively. At the endpoint level, the total characterization factors for human health damage (HH), ecosystem damage (ED) and resource availability (RA) for conventional rice were 9.63 × 10-4 DALY, 5.54 × 10-6 species.year and 30.98 Dollar, respectively, while for organic rice, the impacts were 2.60 × 10-4 DALY, 2.28 × 10-6 species.year and 8.44 Dollar, respectively. Rice cultivation impacted the environment, particularly in relation to three impact categories: GWP, WCP and FFP. The cultivation phase of rice production was the main contributor to environmental impacts due to the production and application of fertilizer and pesticides. It can be concluded that the application of LCA in agricultural sector is able to provide information and responses for policy makers in understanding the potential environmental impacts at various spatial levels.

Application of life cycle assessment for municipal solid waste management options in Hohhot, People's Republic of China.

With increasing population and urbanization levels in the People's Republic of China, environmental problems related to the management of municipal solid waste (MSW) are inevitable. This study aimed to determine the environmental impact of the current MSW management system in Hohhot City and to establish an optimum future strategy for it by applying life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Four scenarios were compared using the CML-IA impact characterization method, which took into account their potential contribution to global warming, ozone depletion, human toxicity, photochemical ozone creation, acidification, and eutrophication potentials. The system boundaries included the collection and recycling, transfer and transportation of MSW, and its disposal by incineration, landfilling, and carbon dioxide (CO2) capture methods. The results showed that the scenario involving landfill and incineration in a ratio of 1:5 was the optimal waste management option; however, increasing the proportion of waste incinerated led to a significant increase in global warming potential. Additional technologies are thus required to overcome this problem, and it was found that the use of CO2 capture technology resulted in a 30% reduction in the total environmental impact potential. This study's results indicate that LCA is a valuable and practical tool to support decision-making that can be used to suggest problematic areas in current waste management strategies and to determine an optimal alternative to the solid waste management option.

High-value products from food waste: An environmental and socio-economic assessment

The use of food waste as feedstock in the manufacture of high-value products is considered a promising avenue for achieving (bio)circular economy goals. The use of residual biomass helps decrease fossil fuel dependency whilst simultaneously reducing the demand for additional biomass resource. Despite the interest in exploiting food waste in high-value product manufacturing, few studies assess the sustainability of such applications. In this study a life cycle assessment, a conventional and a societal life cycle costing were performed to evaluate the impacts of five standalone case studies based on wet animal feed, protein-concentrated animal feed, lactic, polylactic and succinic acid production from food waste. The results showed that animal feed production decreased global warming and socio-economic potential impacts relative to conventional feed products. Biochemical manufacturing incurred higher impacts from both the environmental and the socio-economic perspectives. These technologies are characterised by a low technology readiness level that should be taken into account when interpreting and using the results. Precisely for this reason, extensive uncertainty and sensitivity analyses were performed for each biochemical production technology to establish the hotspots, which were identified in steam and ancillary materials consumption, and feedstock-to-product yield. This suggests where to centre future optimisation and research efforts to achieve sustainable competitive technologies. Through this exercise, the study aims to shed light on the relevance of applying life cycle assessment and costing in the design and early (bio)technology development phases.

Environmental and socio-economic performance of different tillage systems in maize grain production: Application of Life Cycle Assessment and Multi-Criteria Decision Making

The growing need for additional production due to high global food demand should be supplied through sustainable intensification of agriculture. In Poland, conventional tillage with deep full ploughing is still the most common practice, however, it may harm the environment and natural resources. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the sustainability of no tillage (NT), reduced tillage (RT) and conventional tillage (CT) in grain maize monoculture based on economic, environmental, and social aspects. Based on the outcomes of long-term field experiments conducted at the Agricultural Experimental Station in Grabów (Mazowieckie Voivodship), life cycle assessment (LCA) and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) were applied to evaluate tillage systems and calculate the criteria weights. Results showed better performance for CT on economic and social criteria while NT and RT had better performances on environmental criteria. The final evaluation illustrated the greatest overall performance for CT followed by RT and NT. Findings emphasized that, in order to achieve a comprehensive view, it is necessary to study the impact of main criteria weights and annual yield variation conditions on the overall performance of alternatives. Sensitivity analysis was conducted combining five weights sets and two production scenarios conditions. The results showed that, except for the environmental criteria, in all other cases CT had the best performance. Moreover, it was illustrated that yield had a significant impact on the overall performance of the tillage systems. The results of final ranking introduced NT with the best performance in a year with the lowest level of grain yield, while on the contrary, under favorable conditions for maximum grain yield, CT was ranked first. According to the obtained results, it is concluded that expectations of climate change leading to increased yield variability may play an important role in the development of conservation tillage systems (RT and NT) in the studied area in Poland.

Chemistry behind leather: Life Cycle Assessment of nano-hydroxyapatite preparation on the lab-scale for fireproofing applications

Human population has set in motion productive systems through which huge energy and resource flows are extracted and manipulated causing various negative externalities.In this context, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) may facilitate identifying the links between the product for which the company is responsible and the economic, environmental and social dimensions which it operates into. This research aims at contributing to assessment and improvement of sustainability of the chemistry behind leather manufacturing. This was done through LCA application to, explore the relevant environmental issues in the preparation of nano-hydroxyapatite (nano-HA) at the lab scale, a promising biomaterial for improving leather fireproof properties. The work is one of the first-time experiences of LCA application in this field, and so the authors believe that it may contribute to enhancement of the subject literature and knowledge. The effect on collagen matrix on leather has been investigated, indeed, only for Hydroxyapatite (HA), that is, the starting material for new nano-formulation.Through their study, the authors found that the major production hotspots stay in the consumption of electricity and phosphoric acid (one of the two reagents), and in the acquisition of all input chemicals to the process. By doing so, the study may serve as the essential base for identification of new chemical formulations for improvement of the environmental sustainability associated with the process.

The BIM2LCA Approach: An Industry Foundation Classes (IFC)-Based Interface to Integrate Life Cycle Assessment in Integral Planning

An increasing degree of digitalization in construction planning offers significant potential for building life cycle assessment (LCA) to reduce access barriers, as well as the assessment effort itself. To realize the widespread application of LCA tools and their potential to effectively minimize life cycle impacts, an open approach is required that allows for flexible application of comprehensive LCA studies and early integration in planning processes. The authors present an approach for LCA integration in all phases of digital planning which aims at a DGNB (Deutsche Gesellschaft für nachhaltiges Bauen) certification based on the open Building Information Modeling (BIM) standard Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). The approach takes into account varying levels of development and resulting data availability during integral planning phases, as well as resulting LCA application contexts. It goes beyond existing strategies and allows one to consider both BIM and LCA software through a workflow based on a single data format. The assessment framework is operationalized through standardized interface development and technical realization following the information delivery manual (IDM) process standardized for IFC interfaces. The Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema, as a specific implementation for certification, provides the target system for LCA data requirements and is generalized to a planning phase specific IDM base table. The technical realization based on respective model view definitions and distributed data suggests a pathway to the standardization of LCA-IFC integration based on an open approach. The overall approach exemplarily applies to the “LERNZENTRUM” at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) campus. We conclude that an open BIM approach for LCA integration in model-based planning is feasible, but requires several adjustments in IFC, LCA, and planning practice. Adding a lifecycle element to the IFC to connect BIM and LCA provides comprehensive feedback for informed decision making based on environmental impact.

Environmental and nutritional impacts of dietary changes in Spain during the COVID-19 lockdown

The COVID lockdown has affected food purchases and eating habits. In this regard, this short communication assesses the nutritional and environmental impacts of these changes during the COVID lockdown in Spain, by applying Life Cycle Assessment and an energy- and nutrient-corrected functional unit. Three environmental impacts were studied (Global Warming Potential, Blue Water Footprint and Land Use) and a total of seven weekly diet scenarios were designed: two pre-COVID diets for March and April in 2019 (MAR19, APR19), one COVID diet (COVID) and two alternative diets, one based on the National Dietary Guidelines (NDG) and another one on the Planetary Health Diet (PHD). Results show that the COVID diet had larger energy intake and lower nutritional quality, as well as higher environmental impacts (between 30 and 36%) than the pre-COVID eating patterns. Further research is needed to account for food affordability within this assessment, as well as to analyze how eating patterns will evolve after the COVID lockdown. Finally, the definition of short guidelines for sustainable food behaviors for future possible lockdowns is suggested, as well as the introduction of sustainable indicators within NDGs.