CLF’s Whole Building LCA Benchmark Study identifies a need in the industry for standardized and accessible guidance on how to conduct an LCA of a building. The LCA Practice Guide was developed to address this need. The LCA Practice Guide and supporting files are provided below.
| Component of Practice Guide | Description | Access |
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Practice Guide
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This is the primary document of the LCA Practice Guide. It introduces the concept of life cycle assessment to building professionals and explains how to determine the environmental impacts of a building step by step. Version 1.1 (June 2019) is the second update following the original publication in June 2018 and contains a roadmap diagram, which is also provided separately below. | Download (PDF) |
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Road Map to Reducing Building Life Cycle Impacts
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This timeline contains suggested actions and milestones for reducing building life cycle impacts |
Two versions for download: |
| Technical Guidance | This document is directed at LCA experts who are looking for technical recommendations to support the development of LCAs of buildings in North America. Note that the version dated 2018-07-09 has the same content as the version dated 2018-06-19, but with different title page formatting that includes sponsor logos. | Download (PDF) |
| Taxonomy for Whole Building LCA | This is a proposed information scheme for reporting information relating to LCAs of buildings, Goal and Scope sections. | Download (Word doc) |
| Gingerbread House LCA Example | This is a simple example demonstrating the LCA process using a gingerbread house. | Download (PDF) |
