Research

Assessing the sustainability of a building, product or service over its entire life cycle requires fundamental understanding of both LCA and LCCA methodology and the subject of the study. In this context, EMIB has expertise in:

• Consequential LCA modelling which explicitly aims to describe how environmentally relevant flows will change in response to possible decisions
• Attributional LCA modelling based on standards for product labelling (EN 15804, EN 15978)
• Life Cycle Cost Analysis which focusses on determining of the total cost of ownership of newly built buildings, systems, and/or components.   
• Additional Techno-economic assessments to evaluate both technical and economic performance of sustainable building methodologies.

These methods are applied in multiple research projects of EMIB, for example to:

• Analyse which suppliers are affected by a decision in the case of selecting generic construction materials
• Assess adaptable and demountable building solutions from a circular economy point of view
• Streamline research in concrete and cement technology
• Develop strategies for the cost-effective implementation of sustainable building methods through new business models and real options
• Develop strategies for retrofitting historical buildings
• Assess the use of reclaimed asphalt aggregates in hot asphalt mixtures
  

‘The point at which the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainability can be assessed consistently and with sufficient detail lies at the end of a hurdled path. Such an accomplishment, however, would benefit science and society by facilitating a more thorough understanding of the impacts of human actions and identifying the proactive response required to achieve sustainability.’ [1]

Achieving a more sustainable society is a challenging task and decision makers need the most appropriate information to support their choices. To draw conclusions about the environmental profile of products, systems or services, the environmental impact of their entire life cycle has to be investigated, for example based on the methodology of life cycle assessment (LCA).

[1]         S. Hellweg and L. M. I. Canals, “Emerging approaches, challenges and opportunities in life cycle assessment,” Science (80-. )., vol. 344, no. 6188, pp. 1109–1113, 2014.