Building life cycle refers to the view of a
building
A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...
over the course of its entire life, viewing it not just as an operational building, but taking into account the
design
A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...
, construction, operation, demolition and waste treatment.
The study of the entire impact of a building on its environment has become a de facto requirement for construction in most jurisdictions,
owing to the resource-intensive nature of construction. Life cycle analysis considers various aspects of resource utilization in a building, for example, overall
energy conservation
Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less and better sources of energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavi ...
. Current research is focused on exploring methods of incorporating a whole life cycle view of buildings.
It is considered a subset of
life-cycle analysis
Life cycle assessment (LCA), also known as life cycle analysis, is a methodology for assessing the impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. For instance, in the case of a manufact ...
.
History
The concept of life cycle analysis evolved since the concept was initially considered in the 1970s and 1980s,
when life cycle studies focused on the quantifying the energy and raw resources used by a building, and the load on the sewerage and sanitation systems imposed by waste generated in the building, during the operational life of the structure. Since then, the methods of analysis has evolved, and presently comprises four stages - definition of scope, inventory analysis and life cycle impact assessment.
In the period from 2000 to 2014, studies on sustainable building strategies, for example, energy consumption, specific components of construction, materials, environmental impacts of building subsystems, integrated renewable energy systems, and electrical and thermal systems have been conducted, with the number of publications rising monotonically.
See also
*
Life cycle analysis
Life cycle assessment (LCA), also known as life cycle analysis, is a methodology for assessing the impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. For instance, in the case of a manufact ...
References
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Sustainable building
Industrial ecology
Environmental impact assessment