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Example of A Hybrid Life Cycle Assessmen
Example of A Hybrid Life Cycle Assessmen
of Construction Processes
Melissa Bilec, S.M.ASCE1; Robert Ries2; H. Scott Matthews, A.M.ASCE 3; and
Aurora L. Sharrard, S.M.ASCE4
Abstract: Design and construction industries, along with owners, have an increasing interest in and responsibility for the environmental
impacts of buildings. Since the environmental impacts of a building’s life cycle are considerable, quantification of all phases is important,
especially the construction phase, which is often glossed over. This research focuses on the construction phase of a building project.
Generally, the life-cycle inventory created in performing a life-cycle assessment 共LCA兲 is developed using either a process or input–output
approach; however, both techniques have distinct advantages and disadvantages. A hybrid approach combining both methods’ advantages
has been proposed and will be demonstrated. Existing hybrid models are reviewed, along with a recommendation of a hybrid model for
construction. A preliminary case study of a precast concrete parking garage’s construction using hybrid LCA methodology is presented.
Preliminary investigations indicate transportation, equipment activity, and support functions have the largest effects on the environment.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲1076-0342共2006兲12:4共207兲
CE Database subject headings: Construction management; Life cycles; Environmental issues; Buildings.
Background and Introduction water, and material use in operation and maintenance; construc-
tion and demolition waste management; and off-road vehicle
The environmental impacts of a building’s life cycle—design, raw emissions; this research focuses on construction processes. An
material extraction, processing, construction, use, and end of environmental management tool that can be used to assess the life
life—are considerable. Buildings annually use over 70% of total cycle of buildings is life-cycle assessment 共LCA兲, a framework
United States electricity 共EIA 2001a兲, require over 39% of United that holistically evaluates the environmental effects of a product
States primary energy 共EIA 2001b兲, emit 39% of the United or process by analyzing the entire life cycle of that particular
States’ greenhouse gas emissions 共EIA 2003兲, contribute 136 t product or activity. Many LCAs utilize either the process-based
million of construction and demolition waste 共EPA 1998兲, con- 共Keoleian et al. 2001, Zapata and Gambatese 2005兲 or input–
sume 11% of the United States’ potable water 共USGS 2000兲, and output techniques 共Ochoa et al. 2002兲. This research examines
use 40% of raw materially globally 共USGBC 2004兲. Increasing and develops hybrid LCA modeling for construction, which at-
interest in leadership in energy and environmental design tempts to combine the strengths of both techniques.
共LEED兲, the green building rating system created and facilitated
Some existing research has assumed that the impacts of the
by United States Green Building Council 共USGBC兲, demonstrates
construction phase are negligible 共Junnila and Horvath 2003兲,
that the owners and design and construction industries have begun
to recognize these important environmental impacts of buildings. while others have indicated that the environmental impacts asso-
Previous environmental analysis of the built environment has ciated with construction are underestimated 共Hendrickson and
generally focused on areas such as building materials; energy, Horvath 2000兲. Quantification can be difficult because the con-
struction data can be inaccurate: widespread reliable data does not
1 exist because the construction industry does not report emissions
Doctoral Student, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Univ. of Pittsburgh, 949 Benedum Hall, 3700 O’Hara St., Pittsburgh, PA to the Environmental Protection Agency 共EPA兲.
15261 共corresponding author兲. E-mail: mmp23@pitt.edu Because the environmental effects of the construction process
2
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, have not been consistently quantified, the assumption that these
Univ. of Pittsburgh, 949 Benedum Hall, 3700 O’Hara St., Pittsburgh, PA effects are negligible in comparison with other building phases
15261. E-mail: robries@pitt.edu has not been sufficiently explained. Even if the environmental
3
Associate Professor, Depts. of Civil and Environmental Engineering/
impacts from construction are small compared to other phases,
Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon Univ., 119 Porter Hall,
Pittsburgh, PA 15213. E-mail: hsm@cmu.edu
these impacts may be large when looked at in different temporal
4
Doctoral Student, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and spatial frames. If one is to understand the entire life cycle of
Carnegie Mellon Univ., 119 Porter Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. E-mail: a building, then an LCA should be performed for the construction
aluscher@cmu.edu phase. Another possible reason this phase of the building life
Note. Discussion open until May 1, 2007. Separate discussions must cycle has not been previously advanced is due to the lack and
be submitted for individual papers. To extend the closing date by one inconsistency of data supplied by the construction industry.
month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Managing Editor.
This research attempts to assess the construction phase of a
The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and possible
publication on July 26, 2005; approved on September 22, 2005. This building project with a hybrid LCA model that utilizes both pro-
paper is part of the Journal of Infrastructure Systems, Vol. 12, No. 4, cess and input–output life-cycle inventory methods. This paper
December 1, 2006. ©ASCE, ISSN 1076-0342/2006/4-207–215/$25.00. provides general information on LCA, discusses existing hybrid
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Table 1. Process LCA and EIO-LCA Model Comparisons
Process model EIO-LCA
Advantages Detailed analysis of specific processes Boundary is defined as the entire economy
Product comparisons Economy-wide, system LCA
Identify process improvements Publicly available data
Reproducible results
LCA models, proposes a hybrid LCA model for construction, and num, and plastic; and also, the indirect impacts from the produc-
presents a case study of a preliminary hybrid model for construc- tion of steel as well as the entire supply chain of the automobile
tion processes. through the economy.
Because there are advantages and disadvantages associated
with process and I-O methods, researchers have proposed a hy-
Methodology: LCA Modeling brid model that combines the strengths of both methods. A sum-
mary of advantages and disadvantages are listed in Table 1. One
Life-cycle assessment is a systematic approach to analyze and of the major limitations of the process model is the subjective
assess the environmental impacts of a product or process over its determination of the boundary location; conversely, I-O effec-
entire life cycle. A typical LCA includes the major stages of raw tively eliminates the boundary issue by considering an entire
material extraction, manufacturing, use, and end-of-life scenarios economy. As an example of the boundary issue, again consider
for a product or process. Guidelines for performing an LCA are the production of a car, whose direct components include materi-
delineated by the American National Standards Institute 共ANSI兲 als like steel, aluminum, tires, plastic, and paint. For each of those
and International Organization of Standardization’s 共ISO兲 14040
direct components, the LCA practitioner is required to trace the
series 共ANSI/ISO 1997兲. LCA is an iterative four-stage process
inputs to environmental impacts, a process that continues both
including goal and scope definitions, life-cycle inventory 共LCI兲
upstream and downstream from the car until the set boundary
analysis, life-cycle impact assessment 共LCIA兲, and interpretation.
The LCI step is often where the LCA terminates due to frame- limits are reached. The boundary for process LCAs is typically
work, development, and subjectivity inconsistencies in the LCIA drawn around the direct impacts and to a point acceptable to the
stage. There are two approaches for generating an LCI. The pro- LCA practitioner; whereas, the boundary using I-O is able to
cess method systematically computes the known environmental capture all of the components.
inputs and outputs by utilizing a process flow diagram. The scope While the process LCA model can be limited by boundary
of the process model continues to the point where the flow be- definitions, I-O limitations center on the level of aggregation in
tween process and emissions are negligible. The process approach the economic sector model. With I-O LCA, evaluation of a spe-
was further developed with the framework established in the ISO cific product is not possible due to the aggregation of products
14040 series. This approach requires data collection from pubic into sectors. For example, a comparative LCA of a Ford Focus
sources, company or product specific information, and published and a Honda Civic cannot be done with I-O LCA because there is
research. only one “passenger car” sector in which make and model are not
Another LCI method is input-output 共I-O兲 analysis, which was distinguished. Consequently, because specific products cannot be
developed in terms of economics by Wassily Leontief in the modeled, it is also difficult to model process improvements; I-O
1930s 共Leontief 1936兲. Leontief developed an interdependency cannot easily identify the processes within car manufacturing that
model that quantifies proportional interrelationships among eco- could be improved. However, I-O analysis can be used for system
nomic sectors in an entire economy. I-O LCA combines national analysis. For example, if the United States government offered
sector-by-sector economic interaction data, which quantifies the
substantial incentives for residential housing, it is possible to
dependencies between sectors, with sector level environmental
model the expansion of the direct and indirect sectors that would
effects on resource use data. Using matrix operations, a change in
economic demand from a sector can be quantified into environ- result in growth of the residential sector. Another major disadvan-
mental or resource terms. Carnegie Mellon University has devel- tage of the process LCA model is that it is often difficult for an
oped an I-O based LCA tool, economic input–output life-cycle LCA practitioner to obtain the necessary data to complete a thor-
assessment 共EIO-LCA兲 共Lave et al. 1995; Hendrickson et al. ough LCA either because data are not available or a company is
1998; Green Design Institute, Carnegie Mellon University 2004兲. unwilling to contribute the proprietary information. EIO-LCA
The United States economy is represented by about 500 sectors, data are based on United States publicly available sources. The
and many sectors represent a wide range of product types. EIO- United States economic data system has a large number of sec-
LCA considers both direct and indirect impacts. For example, for tors: the number of sectors and amount of environmental data
the purchase of a car, direct impact would include steel, alumi- available in other countries is not as extensive 共Suh et al. 2004兲.
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Hybrid Models process information and a whole economy boundary, respectively.
The third method, integrated hybrid analysis, was developed
The goal of a hybrid LCA is to combine the advantages of both by Suh 共2004兲. Integrated hybrid analysis integrates process-
approaches. There are several types of hybrid models including based LCA with I-O in a mathematical framework. The process
tiered, I-O based hybrid, integrated, and “augmented process- data is described in a technology matrix with physical units per
based” 共Bullard et al. 1978; Joshi 2000; Suh 2004; and Guggemos operation time for each process, while the units of the I-O model
2003兲. While these models are presented distinctly, the models are are monetary. The process-based and I-O data for an integrated
similar in that they combine process and I-O methods in some hybrid model is linked through a make and use framework that is
way and differ primarily in the proportions of input–output and connected through the flows at the boundary of each system. The
process data. The models can be thought of as a continuum of advantages of the integrated hybrid are the consistent mathemati-
hybrid model development. Tiered hybrid analysis uses mainly cal framework for the entire life cycle, avoidance of double
input–output data and augmented process-based uses the largest counting, and easy application in analytical tools; the disadvan-
proportion of process information. tages are that it is data and time intensive 共Suh et al. 2004兲.
Tiered hybrid analysis was developed by Bullard et al. An augmented process-based hybrid model was utilized by
共1978兲.The model uses input–output analysis iteratively each step, Guggemos 共2003兲 for modeling the life cycle of a commercial
increasing the detail of the model in a process-like framework in building. This hybrid approach begins with a process description
order to determine the energy burden of a product system. Input– of a system and uses both EIO-LCA and process data in the
output analysis is used to determine the energy flows crossing the analysis. The life cycle is represented as material manufacturing,
process system boundary. The first approximation is at the whole- construction, operation, maintenance, and end of life. The manu-
economy level: the cost of a product is multiplied by the energy facturing stage is modeled by estimating the materials used and
intensity per unit gross domestic product 共GDP兲. Increasing levels their costs, and then using the best-matching EIO-LCA sectors.
or tiers of detail can be added by associating parts of the product EIO-LCA is also used to model the life-cycle inventory for
system to individual I-O sectors, increasing the specificity of the temporary materials in the construction phase, fossil fuel and
analysis. The disaggregated parts of the product system are cat- electricity in the operations phase, and lifetime maintenance
egorized as either typical or atypical products of existing I-O materials. Emission factors are used for on-site equipment and
sectors. The energy requirements of typical products can be de- transportation in the construction, maintenance, and end-of-life
termined directly from the I-O sector and energy use factors. The stages. The result of this approach is similar to Joshi’s Model IV
atypical products require further disaggregations and an iterative because it: 共1兲 incorporates a detailed process framework; 共2兲
input–output approach. 共Note that Bullard uses input–output for maintains the whole economy as the boundary of analysis; 共3兲 and
both typical and atypical products.兲 An error term determines the includes missing processes with process models.
appropriate tier based on the uncertainty goals of the analysis. All The tiered, I-O based hybrid, integrated, and augmented
investigation levels include adjustments for margins of error, bud- process-based analyses are four examples of combining process
get uncertainty, and energy intensity uncertainty. In summary, this and I-O models. Tiered and I-O based are similar in that they both
hybrid methodology determines the energy demand for an atypi- begin with I-O models and model a system primarily with I-O
cal product by disaggregating the product with budget or material data. The augmented process approach begins with a process dia-
data into representative sectors with associated energy intensities. gram, uses I-O sectors to model individual components, and uses
In terms of the hybrid model continuum, the tiered hybrid analy- additional sources for processes that cannot be modeled with
sis model uses mainly input–output data. Other examples of the I-O methods. The tiered and Model II I-O-based models use the
tiered approach are Suh et al. 共2004兲, Moriguchi et al. 共1993兲, materials cost breakdown and result in a similar approach. Both
Hondo et al. 共1996兲, and Munksgaard et al. 共2000兲. the tiered and I-O hybrid models rely heavily on budget informa-
The second hybrid analysis method, input–output based hybrid tion within an I-O framework and/or the applicable emission and
analysis, focuses on disaggregating sectors according to detailed energy use. The final outcome of both of these approaches may
economic information. Joshi 共2000兲 describes three models in this still be a higher level of aggregation than ultimately desired since
category, namely Models II, III, and IV. Model II can be used the model relies heavily on the I-O framework. Conversely, the
when an existing product is not well represented in an existing augmented process-based model relies heavily on a process
I-O commodity sector or a completely new product is introduced framework along with relevant process and I-O data for unit pro-
into the economy. If the production inputs and the environmental cesses that cannot be modeled efficiently with process data. While
burdens are known, then a new sector can be inserted into the the integrated hybrid model may provide a comprehensive hybrid
EIO-LCA model to determine the economywide economic and framework, the time and data constraints of this model may make
environmental effects. However, the key assumption, and key dis- this hybrid model time and cost prohibitive. After considering the
advantage of this approach is that the original technical coeffi- applicability of all four hybrid LCA models to construction, the
cient matrix remains unchanged. Model II is similar to the tiered augmented process-based LCA approach will be used in the fol-
hybrid model, except environmental process data is included, in- lowing construction case study. This approach was chosen be-
creasing the amount of process data included in the life-cycle cause of the lack of life-cycle assessment data for construction
inventory. Model III creates a framework for interaction with the and the nature of the construction industry, which is primarily
technical coefficient matrix through disaggregation of a sector. driven by schedules, budgets, and quality standards. Economy-
The advantages of this approach are that detailed process infor- wide public construction emissions data are lacking because the
mation can be included without double counting and the frame- construction industry does not consistently report emissions to the
work is presented in a consistent manner. Model IV expands the EPA and these emissions are not typically tracked by the con-
technical and environmental matrices through an iterative process struction industry or others. When available, construction process
of disaggregating existing sectors and adding new sectors for data was derived from typical project records and practices; this
which process LCA information is available. Model IV combines data will be used in conjunction with LCI processes and equip-
the advantages of both process LCA and I-O, namely detailed ment emission factors.
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Additionally, the construction industry has existing financial
construction data in estimating software and scheduling tools.
This monetary data can be applied in I-O tools such as EIO-LCA
without the need to collect additional data. Two main goals in
hybrid LCA models are improving the time and cost associated
with process-based LCAs and developing an inclusive boundary.
Using the augmented process-based hybrid LCA achieves both of
those goals, hence its selection for application to this case study.
Case Study
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Table 2. Construction Process and Model Used
Construction process Methodology and tool
Transportation Process LCA
40 t truck and 28 t truck
SimaPro
Construction equipment in terms of diesel usage and emissions Process LCA
from combustion Diesel equipment
SimaPro
Construction service sectors Input–output LCA
Selected supply chain sectors from new construction office, industrial, and
commercial buildings
EIO-LCA
Upstream production and maintenance effects of construction Input–output LCA
equipment Selected supply chain sectors from new construction office, industrial, and
commercial buildings
EIO-LCA
On-site electricity usage Process LCA
U.S. average electricity
SimaPro
On-site water consumption Quantity determined
struction equipment quantities and duration of use. The con- with extensive databases and different impact assessment
crete delivery tickets for the poured concrete and the supplier methods. With SimaPro, the LCA practitioner develops an
information were obtained from the general contractor. A da- LCA by using the software’s existing processes or creating
tabase including the quantity, weight, date, delivery time in- new processes 共SimaPro 2001兲. The life-cycle inventory data
formation, and building location 共when available兲 was for transportation, construction equipment’s diesel usage and
created. The concrete data for the augercast piles was deter- emissions, and on-site electricity usage are derived from pro-
mined from the construction drawings and submittals. For cesses in the software tool. New processes were created from
the precast concrete, the concrete piece drawings were ob- EIO-LCA data for the construction service sectors and equip-
tained from the precast manufacturers. Each piece drawing ment manufacturing and maintenance. Water use was quan-
indicates the weight and quantity. This information was used tified in terms of usage; however, treatment and distribution
to determine the ton-kilometers for precast transport. Be- of the water is not included in the assessment. The hybrid
cause the site had excess soil and was a brownfield site, all of construction model inventory was then generated with the
the excess soil was transported to a state approved residual LCA software tool. The results in this paper only show the
waste landfill. The manifests indicated the amount of mate- life-cycle inventory, not the results from the life-cycle impact
rial transported and the weight; this information was used to assessment 共LCIA兲.
determine the ton-kilometers for excess soil transportation.
On-site electricity and water bills were also obtained for
Transportation
quantifying on-site utility use.
4. EIO-LCA inventory assessment. After analyzing the process The transportation processes include the delivery of concrete, pre-
inventory data, EIO-LCA data were obtained to augment the cast concrete, and excess material to and from the site. The data
process data and to identify and include major impact areas for concrete delivery was obtained from concrete tickets. The
not quantified in the process data, namely, service sectors and critical information for this analysis includes the distance from
upstream effects, and maintenance of construction equip- the plant to the site, the weight of the loaded truck, the return
ment. The 1992 model of EIO-LCA was selected over the distance, and the weight of the unloaded truck. The assumed
1997 model because of uncertainties in the construction weight of the empty concrete truck was 11,793 kg 共26,000 lb兲;
sector from the Standard Industry Classification 共SIC兲 and total ton-kilometers were determined from this data.
North American Industry Classification System 共NAICS兲 This analysis does not include the idle time of the trucks, since
conversion. that data was not available. Because the concrete tickets for the
5. Identification of impact processes. Six main processes augercast piles were not available, the transportation of the con-
emerged from this data: 共1兲 transportation; 共2兲 construction crete for the augercast piles was derived from the other concrete
equipment in terms of diesel usage and combustion emis- data. The same distances were used and an average loaded truck
sions; 共3兲 construction service sectors; 共4兲 upstream and weight was determined. A quantity takeoff was done to determine
maintenance of construction equipment; 共5兲 on-site electric- the amount of concrete in the augercast piles and the total ton-
ity usage; and 共6兲 on-site water consumption. The six catego- kilometers were calculated. All concrete trucks were assumed to
ries and their respective methodologies are shown in Table 2 return empty.
along with respective software tool information. Additional The transportation 共in ton-kilometers兲 for precast pieces was
information on each impact follows. determined by adding the precast piece weight plus the average
6. Modeling. The hybrid construction model was implemented weight of the tractor trailer and multiplying the total tons by the
in an LCA process modeling software tool, SimaPro 5.0. Si- distance traveled. Since three different precast manufacturers
maPro is a widely used process based LCA software program were used on this project, three different distances were utilized
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Table 3. Construction Sectors
Construction service sectors Construction equipment and maintenance sectors
共A兲 共B兲
Engineering, architectural, and surveying services Miscellaneous equipment rental and leasing
Wholesale trade General industrial machinery and equipment, n.e.c.
Retail trade, except eating and drinking Industrial and commercial machinery and equipment, n.e.c.
Real estate agents, managers, operators, and lessors Hoists, cranes, and monorails
Management and public relations services Motors and generators
Banking Electrical equipment for internal combustion engines
Other business services Electrical machinery, equipment, and supplies, n.e.c.
Advertising Fluid power equipment
Accounting, auditing and bookkeeping, and miscellaneous Costruction machinery and equipment
services, n.e.c.
Computer and data processing services Hand and edge tools, except machine tools and handsaws
Legal services Power-driven handtools
Insurance carriers Transportation equipment, n.e.c.
U.S. Postal Service
Security and commodity brokers
Insurance agents, brokers, and services
Motion picture services and theaters
Credit agencies other than banks
Signs and advertising specialties
depending on the piece. The precast pieces were evaluated for power by 0.04 共Peurifoy and Schexnayder 2002兲. This formula
configuration and sizing to determine the number of pieces per was developed for diesel engines operating under standard condi-
shipment. It was assumed that all precast trucks returned to their tions. The equipment processes were then modeled in the LCA
respective manufacturing facilities empty. software tool using the existing unit process, Diesel Equipment,
Total ton-kilometers for the excess soil transport was deter- which accounts for extraction, production, and combustion 共PRe
mined by multiplying the total loaded truck weight by its weight Consultants 2001兲.
and the distance from the job site to the disposal facility. For the
return trip, the total unloaded truck weight was multiplied by the
Construction Service Sectors
distance from the disposal site to the job site. It was assumed that
all trucks returned empty from the disposal facility and did not The construction service sectors portion of the construction pro-
return to the truck’s original destination, the trucking facility. cess were modeled using EIO-LCA. The total cost of the con-
The LCI for these three transportation activities used existing struction project was $5,440,000, but because EIO-LCA requires
process descriptions in the LCA software tool. Concrete and pre- producer’s price in lieu of the purchaser’s price along with an
cast deliveries were modeled with a 40-t truck and the excess soil assumption regarding profit, a dollar amount of $5,000,000 was
transport was modeled with a 28-t truck. The processes are based input into the EIO-LCA sector: “office, industrial, and commer-
on average fuel consumption and emissions factors. Efficiencies cial buildings.” The data extracted included economic, conven-
were adjusted to reflect actual activity in this case study. The tional pollutants, global warming potential, and energy usage,
process includes construction of the roadway infrastructure, which was provided for all 485 sectors, using the U.S. Dept of
manufacturing the trucks, direct energy, combustion emissions, Commerce 1992 EIO-LCA database. Results were then subjec-
materials used during the use phase, and end-of-life scenarios. tively analyzed to determine the relevant construction service sec-
The emission from the combustion of fuel was considered 共PRe tors 共e.g., architects, engineers, and surveyors兲. Column 共A兲 of
Consultants and ESU-Services 2001兲. Table 3 summarizes the construction service sectors selected from
the EIO-LCA model.
Construction Equipment: Diesel Usage
and Combustion Emissions Upstream Production and Maintenance
of Construction Equipment
The DCRs contain information related to the weather, daily ac-
tivities, problems, safety incidents, number and type of workers, “Upstream and maintenance effects of construction equipment”
and equipment used with hours of operation. The list of construc- refers to allocating the environmental impacts from the manufac-
tion equipment included in this assessment is shown in Fig. 1. turing of the construction equipment as well as other life-cycle
The critical data for this analysis were the equipment used and the stages related to the equipment. The same EIO-LCA approach
respective hours of operation. In some instances when the model used for the construction service sectors was used for this process
was not recorded on the DCRs, assumptions were made based on as well. The results from the $5,000,000 producer’s price were
project knowledge and photographs. After models, makes, and subjectively analyzed to determine the sectors related to construc-
engines were determined and in some cases assumed for each tion equipment, and the data from the construction equipment
piece of equipment, the manufacturer’s websites were consulted categories were totaled and conversions were performed for the
for the associated horsepower. The amount of diesel fuel used in LCA software tool. The EIO-LCA sectors selected are listed in
gallons was determined by multiplying DCR hours by horse- Table 3, Column 共B兲. It should be noted that this equipment pro-
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Table 4. Transportation Table 6. Transportation Emissions Comparison between Two Precast
Bidders
Transportation t/km
Emission Lowest bid Second lowest bid
Precast delivery 3,783,100
Excess soil delivery 270,515 CO2E 共kg兲 397,495 124,790
Concrete delivery 21,105 SO2 共kg兲 975 340
CO 共kg兲 1,015 350
NO2 共kg兲 3,135 1,065
VOC 共kg兲 1,420 490
cess does not include the truck or concrete sectors because this
PM10 共kg兲 210 70
information is included in the transportation process.
Table 5. Emissions
Total
SO2 CO NO2 VOC Lead PM10 CO2E
Construction process 共kg兲 共kg兲 共kg兲 共kg兲 共kg兲 共kg兲 共kg兲
Construction services 25 1,880 1,115 410 0 40 125,680
Upstream and maint. construction equipment 5 95 5 40 0 0 11,860
Transportation 975 1,015 3,135 1,420 0 210 397,495
Equipment 共diesel兲 285 540 2,385 445 0 165 128,115
On-site electricity 140 10 65 15 0 5 18,570
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the LCA software tool to determine the emissions for this case is a need to more fully understand the sector mapping for con-
study did not include the new regulations. struction between U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’s I-O tables,
Many process LCAs do not include the associated service sec- NAICS, and EIO-LCA tool. For most other sectors in the
tors; excluding these sectors can lead to an assessment that may economy, there is an existing mapping between I-O sectors and
greatly underestimate the environmental emissions. For this as NAICS industries. Attempts are being made to produce a clear
sessment, the construction services produced the most CO and mapping between I-O sectors, NAICS industries, and EIO-LCA
were the third highest process with respect to GWP total, SO2, construction sectors.
NO2, VOC, and PM10 created. If construction service sectors
were excluded from this LCA, GWP would be approximately
20% lower than the total GWP for the entire construction process. Acknowledgments
Finally, SimaPro software was used with applicable processes.
Several commercial LCA software packages are available, and Financial support for this research was provided by National
results can vary depending on the processes selected and software Science Foundation Grant No. CMS-0327878.
used.
References
Conclusion and Future Research
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used for the case study of the construction of a precast parking Life cycle assessment—Principals and framework,” Geneva,
garage. The dominant process was transportation, demonstrating Switzerland.
Bullard, C. W., Penner, P. S., and Pilati, D. A. 共1978兲. “Net energy analy-
the importance of setting standards related to procurement of
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