LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT FOR EVALUATING GREEN PRODUCTS AND MATERIALS

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used to compare four green building products with their traditional counterparts, including Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs), Permeable Pavement Systems (PPS), Compact Fluorescent bulbs (CFLs), and HydroProducts’ SteamSaver. To the extent that existing data allows, the LCA will explore the impacts that different life cycle stages (i.e. raw materials extraction, production, construction, use, and maintenance) have on the energy use of the comparative products. Each case study elucidates the non-uniformity of green building products and the importance of evaluating all phases of the LCA as well as impacts other than energy use in order to make any conclusions or recommendations about the ‘greenness’ of green building products. This paper explores the ability of LCA to evaluate green building products and materials and evaluates the importance of different stages of products’ life cycle to the overall energy use. Impacts related to other environmental impact categories, such as water and air quality, are also discussed.