or through the screening of the calls for tenders [11]. As for materials the LCA data
related to each building element should be processed through statistical analysis and
interpretation, in order to establish the reference value [10]. The reference study
period should be based on 100 years and the LCA system boundaries should be
cradle-to-grave. The environmental impacts should be normalised to 1 m
2 of the
building element, in order to allow comparison of building elements.
The benchmarking methods could be applied to set LCA benchmarks for
whole-buildings. LCA-based benchmarks for the whole-buildings could be fixed
through the statistical analysis of the LCA data related to a specific built environment [1, 2, 5] or modelling a reference building starting from national construction standards and prescriptions. The buildings sample should be composed by
buildings realised after the year of 2010 and they should belong to a specific
construction context, according to the national energy standards and the current
construction practices. The buildings analysed should refer to the main five different
generic buildings types: commercial buildings, educational buildings, healthcare
buildings, residential buildings and retail. The LCA benchmarks should refer to the
single building function, avoiding issues linked to building operational energy use
and occupations (i.e. the educational buildings have different energy consumption
than an office building related to the worktime and equipment use) [14]. The
building typologies related to the functions can be divided into building archetypes,
according to the specific built environment characteristics (i.e. the residential
building could be divided into single-family house, terraced house, multi-family
house and apartment block). A reference building should be modelled for each
building archetype and each building function, fixing the reference service life
(equal to 100 years) and the functional unit (1 m
2 of gross floor area), in order to
compare the building environmental performances. The LCA system boundaries for
the whole-building benchmark should be cradle-to-grave. Based on a statistical
analysis, the median value should be set as the reference LCA benchmark for the
whole-buildings [8–12]. As an example the Swedish developer and construction
company Folkhem have certified a wooden residential house with the Swedish
Program Operator “The International EPD
® System”: the EPD assesses the life
cycle of a Folkhem’s concept building, providing objective and reliable information
on the environmental impacts of the whole-building. The use of EPDs, as well as
the Folkhem’s EPD, could be an easy tool for contracting authorities, in order to
verify the GPP criteria achievement and to permit an appropriate check of the
procurement contract executions.
5 Conclusions
The study proposes a simple benchmarking to set LCA-based benchmarks,
incentivising the use of environmental performances values in GPP criteria, in order
to facilitate the verification activities of public administrations. In this study, LCA
benchmarks for construction products were fixed and an approach to fix building
Green Public Procurement and Construction Sector: EPD and LCA …
511
related to each building element should be processed through statistical analysis and
interpretation, in order to establish the reference value [10]. The reference study
period should be based on 100 years and the LCA system boundaries should be
cradle-to-grave. The environmental impacts should be normalised to 1 m
2 of the
building element, in order to allow comparison of building elements.
The benchmarking methods could be applied to set LCA benchmarks for
whole-buildings. LCA-based benchmarks for the whole-buildings could be fixed
through the statistical analysis of the LCA data related to a specific built environment [1, 2, 5] or modelling a reference building starting from national construction standards and prescriptions. The buildings sample should be composed by
buildings realised after the year of 2010 and they should belong to a specific
construction context, according to the national energy standards and the current
construction practices. The buildings analysed should refer to the main five different
generic buildings types: commercial buildings, educational buildings, healthcare
buildings, residential buildings and retail. The LCA benchmarks should refer to the
single building function, avoiding issues linked to building operational energy use
and occupations (i.e. the educational buildings have different energy consumption
than an office building related to the worktime and equipment use) [14]. The
building typologies related to the functions can be divided into building archetypes,
according to the specific built environment characteristics (i.e. the residential
building could be divided into single-family house, terraced house, multi-family
house and apartment block). A reference building should be modelled for each
building archetype and each building function, fixing the reference service life
(equal to 100 years) and the functional unit (1 m
2 of gross floor area), in order to
compare the building environmental performances. The LCA system boundaries for
the whole-building benchmark should be cradle-to-grave. Based on a statistical
analysis, the median value should be set as the reference LCA benchmark for the
whole-buildings [8–12]. As an example the Swedish developer and construction
company Folkhem have certified a wooden residential house with the Swedish
Program Operator “The International EPD
® System”: the EPD assesses the life
cycle of a Folkhem’s concept building, providing objective and reliable information
on the environmental impacts of the whole-building. The use of EPDs, as well as
the Folkhem’s EPD, could be an easy tool for contracting authorities, in order to
verify the GPP criteria achievement and to permit an appropriate check of the
procurement contract executions.
5 Conclusions
The study proposes a simple benchmarking to set LCA-based benchmarks,
incentivising the use of environmental performances values in GPP criteria, in order
to facilitate the verification activities of public administrations. In this study, LCA
benchmarks for construction products were fixed and an approach to fix building
Green Public Procurement and Construction Sector: EPD and LCA …
511