4 Overview of the aspects covered in the guidance document
In total, 69 important aspects have been identified in EeBGuide for improving product LCA studies that aim to be compliant with both CEN TC 350 standards and the ILCD Handbook.
- G-01 Goal definition for building and product LCA.
- G-02 Classifying the decision context as situation A, B, and C for building and product LCA
- G-03 Future technical developments and innovation.
- G-04 Comparative assertion for building or product LCA.
- G-05 Scope definition for building and product LCA.
- G-06 Distinction between the declared unit and the functional unit
- G-07 Functional equivalent
- G-08 Functional equivalent vs. functional unit vs. declared unit
- G-09 Energy-efficient product definition.
- G-10 Definition of system boundaries for products
- G-11 Cut-off rules for screening, simplified, complete LCA.
- G-12 Infrastructure machinery and capital equipment for material production, energy, water, waste and transport for screening and simplified LCA.
- G-13 Infrastructure machinery and capital equipment for material production, energy, water, waste and transport for complete LCA.
- G-14 Transport of goods in LCA studies
- G-15 Accounting for carbon storage/carbon sequestration.
- G-16 Allocation.
- G-17 Allocation case: reuse, recycling and recovery.
- G-18 Allocation case for cement-based materials
- G-19 “Allocation examples for wooden products”
- G-20 Define reference building.
- G-21 Background databases in LCA studies
- G-22 Data selection for a product LCA.
- G-23 Data quality.
- G-24 “Collecting foreground and background data for product LCA”
- G-25 Choice of environmental indicators – screening and simplified LCA.
- G-26 Choice of environmental indicators – Complete LCA.
- G-27 Abiotic resources depletion indicator
- G-28 Land use indicator
- G-29 Biodiversity indicator
- G-30 Human toxicity and ecotoxicity indicators
- G-31 Ionizing radiation indicator
- G-32 Water consumption as a new impact category.
- G-33 Normalization of indicators
- G-34 Weighting of indicators
- G-35 Uncertainty analysis for comparative assertion.
- G-36 Sensitivity analysis
- G-37 Scenario analysis
- G-38 Communication of LCA results
- G-39 Reproducibility.
- G-40 Life cycle inventory documentation.
- G-41 Critical review
- A-01 Distinction between wastes and by-products during the extraction and the processing stages
- A-02 Transport of staff in the supply of raw materials
- A-03 Transport of raw materials to the manufacturer
- A-04 Transport of products to the construction site – screening and simplified LCA.
- A-05 Transport of products to the construction site – complete LCA.
- B-01 Emissions of dangerous substances to indoor air during the use stage.
- B-02 Release of dangerous substances to soil and water during the use stage.
- B-03 Maintenance – product LCA.
- B-04 Repair – product LCA”
- B-05 Products within complex systems
- B-06 Definition of the service life of a building product
- B-07 Replacement frequency.
- B-08 Modelling of energy use.
- B-09 Modelling of water use.
- B-10 Accounting of different types of waste water treatment
- B-11 Distinction between Modules B2, B3, B4 and B5
- B-12 Robustness of data (LCA, service life) to model the life cycle of a building product
- C-01 End-of-waste state.
- C-02 End of life (EoL) scenarios
- C-03 Choice of data.
- C-04 Waste classification.
- C-05 Transport of wastes to landfill, incineration and recycling facilities – screening and simplified LCA
- C-06 Transport of wastes to landfill, incineration and recycling facilities – complete LCA.
- C-07 Waste treatment vs recycling and recovery process
- C-08 LCA modelling of landfill/disposal
- D-01 Inclusion of reuse, recovery or recycling potentials (Module D) in building or product LCA
- D-02 Reuse – water consumption.
- D-03 Credits for recycling and energy recovery.