ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT With increasing strictness of EU regulations on operational energy efficiency in buildings the relative share of embodied environmental impacts rises. Life cycle approach becomes a necessity for building design optimization. The existing LCA tools so far didnot find way to offices of most architects and there is a need for easy to use software. The idea examined in the paper is that the already widely adopted tools for construction budget estimation could be used also for life cycle analyses. The objective was to evaluate the actual readiness of the construction cost estimation tools and LCA tools available in Czechia for mutual interconnection in order that construction cost estimation and cradle-to-gate environmental impact assessment can be made at once. The idea was tested on a case study of a small residential house and the process and outcomes were evaluated. The conclusion was that interconnection of the databases is technically possible, but a significant amount of work is still needed to develop detailed allocation rules and the easy to use tool for the end users.
