Comparison of differences in life cycle assessments for building products
Conspark GmbH has published a fact sheet on the life cycle assessment of construction products. It compares the different rules in the EU and Switzerland. As they also produce different results, the company, which specialises in the circular economy, advocates harmonisation.
The company conspark has published a fact sheet that highlights the differences between the EU and Swiss accounting rules for construction products. It is now available for download in German and English and is intended to provide a compact guide for construction industry professionals involved in planning, production and sustainability. After all, the life cycle assessment results of building products form the basis for the future assessment of buildings.
In Switzerland, the Coordination Conference of Building and Property Bodies of Public Building Owners (KBOB) specifies accounting rules for the life cycle assessment of construction products and publishes these results in the list of life cycle assessment data in the construction sector. In the EU, life cycle assessments are drawn up in accordance with EN 15804 A2 and their results are presented as environmental product declarations (EPDs).
For comparison purposes, the life cycle assessment of different types of recycled concrete was prepared in accordance with the two standards. This showed that the greenhouse gas emissions and energy requirements of the same concrete vary greatly depending on the standard, with the KBOB life cycle assessment showing higher values in each case. According to conspark, this is due to the background data sets used: The EPD life cycle assessment is based on more up-to-date data, which already takes into account technological advances such as lower clinker content and the increased use of alternative fuels.
“The comparability of life cycle assessment data plays a decisive role for future regulations and CO2 limits,” said the Managing Director and co-author of this factsheet, Florian Robineck, in a press release. Accordingly, the authors of the factsheet recommend: “A regular update of the KBOB background data sets and greater harmonisation of the two approaches would help to reduce existing differences and enable comparable sustainability assessments.”