ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Resource efficiency is a key question towards the sustainability of the construction sector. In the project EFIResources a performance based approach for sustainable design is being developed, which enables to assess resource efficiency of buildings, throughout their life cycle. The proposed methodology is in line with the “limit state approach” of the European standards for structural design, the Eurocodes, and aims for the harmonization between structural and environmental criteria in the design of buildings. In the proposed approach, the life cycle environmental performance of buildings is compared against reference values (benchmarks), thus enabling to effectively assess resource efficiency in building design. This paper focusses on the development of the benchmarks for the environmental performance of buildings and provides a description of the model adopted for the quantification of these values. Based in the proposed approach, a preliminary set of benchmarks for residential buildings is provided, leading to values in the range of 5-12 kg CO2/m2.yr for life cycle global warming and 68-186 MJ/m2.yr for the total primary energy.
