SUSTAINABILITY MEASURES FOR DECISION-SUPPORT REDEFINING LIFE CYCLE FOR A BUILDING SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK

Understanding the differences between the temporal and physical aspects of the building life cycle is an essential ingredient in the development of Building Environmental Assessment (BEA) tools. This paper illustrates a theoretical Building Sustainability Assessment (BSA) framework for aligning Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of material and energy flows with temporal decision-making over building development phases. This framework was derived during development of a prototype commercial building design tool based on a 3-D CAD information and communications technology (ICT) platform and LCA software. The framework aligns stakeholder BEA needs and decision-making processes against characteristics of leading green building tools. The paper explores related integration of BEA tool applications on such ICT platforms. Key framework modules are depicted and practical BEA examples provided for: • Definition of investment and service goals at project initiation; • Design integrated to avoid overlaps/confusion over the project life cycle; • Detailing the supply chain considering building life cycle impacts; • Delivery of quality metrics for occupancy post-construction/handover and; • Deconstruction profiling at end of life to facilitate recovery