ABSTRACT
To date, most of the efforts to reduce the environmental impact of the construction sector were mainly focused on operational carbon. However, due to the decarbonization of the energy sector, embodied carbon has been recognized as the dominant climate impact driver. In response, countries are currently accelerating their efforts to comply with climate change commitments and regulations, pressure grows for the construction sector to reduce its impact rapidly. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) of buildings is an important tool in this process. Building LCA is a science-based methodology for quantifying the lifetime environmental impacts of buildings. It is used to measure and reduce the embodied, operational, and whole-life carbon of buildings. This paper presents the comparative results of a building LCA of a structure in Luxembourg. The work presented here compares three structural systems: a steel frame, a prefabricated reinforced concrete frame, and a timber frame.
