Parametric life cycle assessment of a reusable brick veneer

Abstract

A possible design strategy to improve the sustainability of building products is facilitating their future reuse. This strategy inspires some manufacturers to design innovative products, such as reusable facade products. Although these products might have a higher environmental impact for production, their reusability could lead to an environmental saving from a life cycle perspective. A possible method to evaluate their environmental performance is life cycle assessment (LCA). Nevertheless, LCA studies of reusable products are still rare. Furthermore, although the general LCA frameworks is fixed by ISO and CEN standards, some methodological choices must still be made by LCA practitioners. This paper first presents a method (as four methodological choices) for a parametric life cycle assessment of reusable building elements. Then, this method is applied to a comparative LCA of reusable and brick-and-mortar veneers. With proposed method, the reusable brick veneer is environmentally advantageous if it is reused at least once and if it is properly recycled at its end-of-life. The parametric method also indicates the relative influence of various parameters such as reuse rate, number of interventions, transport distances and waste treatment. The manufacturers can use this LCA study as a retrospective assessment to validate the relevance of design choices, but also as target-driven product management support to know hot-spots in the product' life cycle management. This study will hopefully inspire other designers and manufacturers and accelerate the transition towards a sustainable built environment.