What's the best way to show how total EC fluctuates based on each stage of the building lifecycle?

LCA Data & Tools
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1

Hi there:

This might be a stretch, but putting it out there anyways! Several of my clients are interested in reducing total EC in a new building, but they get stuck on one aspect of the building LCA - the product side or the EC generated during operations / maintenance. Ex: if we want to reduce EC, let’s swap out concrete for timber or CarbonCure; if the majority of EC is generated during operations / maintenance, let’s primarily focus on energy. Etc.

I am advocating for adoption of a Whole Building LCA in every new building. In order to advocate for this, I want to illuminate how total EC fluctuates based on each stage of the building lifecycle.

Does anyone have any educational resources (not for experts) that show something like this? Ideally it would be awesome to show two Whole Building LCAs and total EC generated in each stage, alongside the list of primary materials used. Thank you so much in advance! Also would be interested in working with someone to generate this, as it seems like this a key piece in the educational process to advocate for the adoption of Whole Building LCA.

4 Likes
2

Erin Heidelberger is starting her graduate work at Georgia Tech this month and is building on her undergraduate work at NJIT’s Hillier College around GWP and AP subsets of WBLCA. I think she would be interested in chasing that with you!

John

3

What software are you using? I know a graphic like that is automatically generated in Tally and could be generated from Athena’s output. I’ve created plenty of mock-up buildings/reports to illustrate a point like this

4

We are working with a few different software for the process, including Tally and One Click, both of which have excellent graphical outputs that clients seem to respond well to and which are also fairly nimble in working within the Revit environment. You need someone who can explain the graphs and I have learned a lot from the Tally support website on the basics of this complicated subject.
Of course, the CLF website also has some excellent resources.