Using LCA to assist the selection of wall systems in the early stage of building design

Choice of materials for a buildings’ façade significantly affects its life cycle environmental performance (LCEP). However, accurate assessment of the environment impact of different wall materials from a life cycle assessment (LCA) viewpoint is too complex for designers to determine in the early design stages of design. Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts (LCEI) caused by manufacturing, maintenance and disposal require knowledge of variables that are often unknown at the early stage of design. This paper evaluates the potential for developing principles that may assist designers to estimate the impact of material selection on the building LCEP at the early stage of design. The paper examines a small number of variables (material weight, service life, and recyclability/ reusability) to both highlight the level of LCA complexity and uncertainty at different phases of material life cycle and to show that it may be possible to determine more elementary heuristic principles that may help designers make LCEI decisions at the early stage of design.