LCA Practice Guide

Embodied Carbon Benchmark Study identified a need in the industry for standardized and accessible guidance on how to conduct an LCA of a building.  The LCA Practice Guide was developed to address this need.  The LCA Practice Guide and supporting files are provided below.

 

Component of Practice Guide	Description	Access
Practice Guide	This is the primary document of the LCA Practice Guide.  It introduces the concept of life cycle assessment to building professionals and explains how to determine the environmental impacts of a building step by step.  Version 1 issued June 20, 2018.  Note that the version dated 2018-06-28 has the same content as the version dated 2018-06-19, but with a different title page design that includes sponsor logos.	Download (PDF)
Technical Guidance	This document is directed at LCA experts who are looking for technical recommendations to support the development of LCAs of buildings in North America.  Note that the version dated 2018-07-09 has the same content as the version dated 2018-06-19, but with different title page formatting that includes sponsor logos.	Download (PDF)
Taxonomy for Whole Building LCA	This is a proposed information scheme for reporting information relating to LCAs of buildings.	Download (PDF) (not yet available)
Gingerbread House LCA Example	This is a simple example demonstrating the LCA process using a gingerbread house.	Download (PDF)
CLF Resources	The CLF Resources page contains supplemental materials created by the CLF. Some items are under development.	Link to CLF Supplementary Resources
External Resources	The External Resources page contains references to online and print resources for whole building LCA, and example LCA reports.	Link to External Resources