Sustainable Building Glossary

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA): To compare the environmental impact of products Ecopoints were introduced in the UK because the precise CO₂ emission calculation of an individual building material or an individual building is difficult to assess: Too many factors influence the total CO₂ emission figure, making a comparison between impact categories difficult¹⁴. One solution to this problem is "normalisation" of the different impacts, e.g. CO₂ emissions, methane gas, COD and others. Applying the BRE-method as a benchmark, it has been determined that 100 Ecopoints are equal to the impact of one UK citizen on the environment for one year. A panel of experts has agreed on a set of environmental weightings, taking into consideration all social and ecological aspects, to enable the credits to be added to produce a single overall score. The lower the Ecopoint score for a product, the lower the environmental impact.

Lifespan: The method used for LCA (e.g. by the BRE) is based on ISO 14041 (now replaced by ISO 14044:2006 and ISO 14040:2006). The effects of the materials are shown in a time scale, as materials have specific half-lives (cradle to grave). In ISO 14041 there are three different scenarios possible: 20, 100 and 500 years. The 100-years-scenario is the most commonly applied and it is presumed that all building materials shall have at least this lifespan. Traditional building products such as timber, blocks, renders etc. and components traditionally made from these materials have been time proven to meet these requirements