Life Cycle Assessment
Life cycle assessment can be a complex process. The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute offers a free software tool that has been developed to evaluate whole buildings and assemblies based on internationally recognized life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology.
The Estimator evaluates the environmental impacts of the following:
- Material manufacturing, including resource extraction and recycled content
- Related transportation
- On-site construction
- Regional variation in energy use, transportation and other factors
- Building type and assumed lifespan
- Maintenance and replacement effects
- Demolition and disposal
Click here to learn more and Athena Institute's Impact Estimator for Buildings and access the downloads.