Held, Tom

Diploma Thesis:
2017

Topic:
Limits and possibilities of life cycle assessment in the construction industry

Editor:
Tom Held

University Professor Responsible:
Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dipl.-Wirt.-Ing. Katharina Kleinschrot

Supervisor:
University Supervisor: Dipl.-Ing. Aline Gruner

Editing Period:
14.11.2024 until 21.03.2025

Abstract:
This thesis examines the life cycle assessment as an evaluation method for sustainability in the construction industry. The focus is on the components and implementation of a life cycle assessment in accordance with the DIN EN ISO 14040 and 14044 standards. DIN EN 15804 and 15978 are also included in order to establish a more in-depth reference to the assessment of environmental impacts in the construction industry. In addition, further concepts, approaches and methods of the concept of sustainability and sustainability assessment are presented. The core of the work is to identify both interfaces and gaps between life cycle assessment and these building blocks. The potential of LCA to create new interfaces to these concepts and methods is evaluated. A distinction is made between free building blocks, such as secondary materials, which define the concept of sustainability in the construction industry. In addition, fixed building blocks are analyzed as independent methods of sustainability assessment, such as environmental performance assessment. In the course of developing new interfaces, these are incorporated into the LCA methodology and evaluated in terms of their potential for improvement. This shows that the LCA can be optimized and kept up to date through various aspects of other methods.