Applying the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to the building sector

The present short paper will briefly illustrate reasons, procedures and application potential of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology in the building sector. Although a detailed explanation of the technique cannot here be given, the basic structure of the LCA application to preliminary building design will be described, by supplying an example retrieved from a recent case study carried out by the authors. The main goal is to highlight benefits of integrating the design phase with information relevant to energetic- environmental performances of the building during its whole life cycle, in order to address design choices, selection of materials and building techniques towards environmentally sustainable solutions