ABSTRACT
A life cycle assessment (LCA) for an urban project requires collecting data of construction materials used in buildings and infrastructure, as well as of components and equipment and numerous processes that involve energy, water, waste, transport, etc. The European base, Ecoinvent, groups these different data based on a standardized methodology and in a single format. This base mostly comprises generic European, Swiss and German data, and several people are currently working on compiling specific data. This is because some industrial processes are specific to the country in which they are carried out. In France, the INIES database contains the environmental and health characteristics of building products as well as the relevant environmental and health declarations. These declarations are produced in line with the French standard NFP01-010. However, when drawing up a LCA, it may be necessary to handle environmental data by material rather than by product. This issue, which is not covered in the INIES base, is the subject of this chapter.
