140
8.4.1.1 Low Mass Material Assessment
One possible future area of research lies in developing specialized LCA/LCIA tools
for designers not responsible for specifying and designing higher mass building elements. Interiors typically make up less than 10 percent of a building’s mass.
However, many of the elements that go into final fit out will be replaced several
times during the functional life span of a building. In 100 years, a commercial interior can be expected to be completely replaced well over five times. If its mass is 5
percent of a building, it is not difficult to see how this becomes a material contributor to potential negative embodied environmental impacts.
It is important to note that many interior finishes companies are taking the lead
one material at a time. Perhaps the best in class award goes to the Interface carpet
company who uses robust LCA activities to guide what they produce and sell. At the
time of this writing, Tally is beta-testing an interiors LCA functional unit module
simulator. The examples in this book focus on larger scale designs because of the
relative maturity of the interfaces to aid in environmental impact assessements at the
building scale. The general approach can, however, be applied to smaller scale
design project types as well an used by designers in numerous sustainable design
disciplines.
8.4.2 Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings
The Athena Impact Estimator tool is one of the three LCA programs created by the
Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, in collaboration with Morrison Hershfield,
and is the only WBLCA program that they offer (Athena Sustainable Materials
Institute n.d.). The Impact Estimator is a standalone tool that does not interface with
any other software. Instead, users enter tabular information about building components, assemblies, and their specific quantities, and Athena generates a cradle-tograve life cycle assessment about the building’s impact. It operates with a proprietary
database of North American LCI data that the Institute maintains (Yazdanbakhsh
et al. 2018). Beyond their software, the Athena Institute, a nonprofit research collaborative, offers EPD services and advocates for LCA in the construction industry
(Athena Sustainable Materials Institute n.d.). All of their programs are free to use.
The information presented here is based on Version 5.4.0101. For more information,
please visit www.athenasmi.org.
8.4.2.1 Establish a New Project
All functionality in the Athena dashboard can be found in the toolbar across the top
of the screen and the project tree down the left side of the screen. The tool bar holds
functionality regarding file management and reports, while the project tree holds
functionality regarding the projects and material assemblies that make them up.
8 Dashboard
8.4.1.1 Low Mass Material Assessment
One possible future area of research lies in developing specialized LCA/LCIA tools
for designers not responsible for specifying and designing higher mass building elements. Interiors typically make up less than 10 percent of a building’s mass.
However, many of the elements that go into final fit out will be replaced several
times during the functional life span of a building. In 100 years, a commercial interior can be expected to be completely replaced well over five times. If its mass is 5
percent of a building, it is not difficult to see how this becomes a material contributor to potential negative embodied environmental impacts.
It is important to note that many interior finishes companies are taking the lead
one material at a time. Perhaps the best in class award goes to the Interface carpet
company who uses robust LCA activities to guide what they produce and sell. At the
time of this writing, Tally is beta-testing an interiors LCA functional unit module
simulator. The examples in this book focus on larger scale designs because of the
relative maturity of the interfaces to aid in environmental impact assessements at the
building scale. The general approach can, however, be applied to smaller scale
design project types as well an used by designers in numerous sustainable design
disciplines.
8.4.2 Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings
The Athena Impact Estimator tool is one of the three LCA programs created by the
Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, in collaboration with Morrison Hershfield,
and is the only WBLCA program that they offer (Athena Sustainable Materials
Institute n.d.). The Impact Estimator is a standalone tool that does not interface with
any other software. Instead, users enter tabular information about building components, assemblies, and their specific quantities, and Athena generates a cradle-tograve life cycle assessment about the building’s impact. It operates with a proprietary
database of North American LCI data that the Institute maintains (Yazdanbakhsh
et al. 2018). Beyond their software, the Athena Institute, a nonprofit research collaborative, offers EPD services and advocates for LCA in the construction industry
(Athena Sustainable Materials Institute n.d.). All of their programs are free to use.
The information presented here is based on Version 5.4.0101. For more information,
please visit www.athenasmi.org.
8.4.2.1 Establish a New Project
All functionality in the Athena dashboard can be found in the toolbar across the top
of the screen and the project tree down the left side of the screen. The tool bar holds
functionality regarding file management and reports, while the project tree holds
functionality regarding the projects and material assemblies that make them up.
8 Dashboard