161
Carbon Heroes Benchmark provides a comparison of the embodied carbon of the
study, per square meter, against other projects with similar parameters. However,
benchmarking WBLCA studies is very difficult to do based on the number of
parameters that can affect the results of the study (Simonen et al. 2017). Examples
of how One Click LCA can be used to inform design decisions can be found in
Chap. 9.
8.5 LCIA Tools at Different Scales
While the scale of a whole building, or even a city, is at one extreme when talking
about the object of assessment for an LCA study, there are many other scales at
which the results of the study prove beneficial. A building is made up of a series of
different systems and components. An LCA study can be carried out on any of the
discrete building parts, products, or furnishings. While upfront it seems like a study
at this scale has much less potential to mitigate impacts across the life cycle of the
building, it is important to remember that any savings on the level of an individual
product gets multiplied up to the scale of the overall building based on the number
of units used in a building design. Furthermore, individual elements of a building
get replaced multiple times throughout the life span of a building. Specifically, interiors and furnishings are updated frequently, often before they have outlived their
potential (Aktas and Bilec 2012). This makes savings at the level of an individual
product very advantageous throughout the full life cycle of a building. Additionally,
optimizing environmental impact reduction on a specific building product that is
manufactured, marketed, and sold on an industrial scale does not benefit the impact
profile of only a single building.
8.5.1 SolidWorks Sustainability
Another useful LCIA tool for designers is SolidWorks Sustainability, an LCIA tool
integrated into SolidWorks. SolidWorks is a program developed by Dassault
Systèmes primarily for engineers and product designers (Dassault Systèmes n.d.).
SolidWorks Sustainability is very useful for looking at the life cycle impacts of an
individual product or components and all of the pieces that make it up. The dashboard indicates percent change of impacts between design changes across four
impact categories. Like Tally, LCI data is also sourced from Sphera (Dassault
Systèmes n.d.). For more information, please visit www.solidworks.com/
sustainability/.
8.5 LCIA Tools at Different Scales
Carbon Heroes Benchmark provides a comparison of the embodied carbon of the
study, per square meter, against other projects with similar parameters. However,
benchmarking WBLCA studies is very difficult to do based on the number of
parameters that can affect the results of the study (Simonen et al. 2017). Examples
of how One Click LCA can be used to inform design decisions can be found in
Chap. 9.
8.5 LCIA Tools at Different Scales
While the scale of a whole building, or even a city, is at one extreme when talking
about the object of assessment for an LCA study, there are many other scales at
which the results of the study prove beneficial. A building is made up of a series of
different systems and components. An LCA study can be carried out on any of the
discrete building parts, products, or furnishings. While upfront it seems like a study
at this scale has much less potential to mitigate impacts across the life cycle of the
building, it is important to remember that any savings on the level of an individual
product gets multiplied up to the scale of the overall building based on the number
of units used in a building design. Furthermore, individual elements of a building
get replaced multiple times throughout the life span of a building. Specifically, interiors and furnishings are updated frequently, often before they have outlived their
potential (Aktas and Bilec 2012). This makes savings at the level of an individual
product very advantageous throughout the full life cycle of a building. Additionally,
optimizing environmental impact reduction on a specific building product that is
manufactured, marketed, and sold on an industrial scale does not benefit the impact
profile of only a single building.
8.5.1 SolidWorks Sustainability
Another useful LCIA tool for designers is SolidWorks Sustainability, an LCIA tool
integrated into SolidWorks. SolidWorks is a program developed by Dassault
Systèmes primarily for engineers and product designers (Dassault Systèmes n.d.).
SolidWorks Sustainability is very useful for looking at the life cycle impacts of an
individual product or components and all of the pieces that make it up. The dashboard indicates percent change of impacts between design changes across four
impact categories. Like Tally, LCI data is also sourced from Sphera (Dassault
Systèmes n.d.). For more information, please visit www.solidworks.com/
sustainability/.
8.5 LCIA Tools at Different Scales