LCA Database Reports

Companion LCI Database Reports

The LCI Database Reports Series, an online companion to the ATHENA Impact Estimator for Buildings, contains a set of life cycle inventory (LCI) and related reports commissioned by the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute to expand our knowledge base and support the Estimator software.

The LCI Database Reports, an online companion to the ATHENA Impact Estimator for Buildings, contains a series of life cycle inventory (LCI) and related reports commissioned by the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute to expand the our knowledge base and support the Estimator software (listed below).

These reports are the results of research conducted since the inception of the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute. This is the data underlying our software.

They are provided in this form to make our research and data development process transparent, recognizing that the LCI data is at the heart of the Estimator.

The Estimator is a software tool for assessing the relative life cycle environmental implications of alternative building designs, and is intended for use by architects, engineers and researchers at the conceptual design stage. One objective is to put environmental considerations on a footing with other more traditional decision criteria. The Estimator makes the process relatively simple because the Institute has already done the LCI work and users of the software need not be concerned about this complex and costly step. But many users want to be assured about the quality of the data, and to better understand how it was developed. They naturally want the Estimator to be more than a ‘black box’, so that they can feel confident using the results and advising clients accordingly. The reports listed below are intended to provide that understanding and assurance.

Institute studies and publications fall into two general categories:

• Investigative or exploratory studies intended to further general understanding of life cycle assessment (LCA) as it applies to building materials and buildings;
• Individual LCI studies that deal with specific industries, product groups or building life cycle stages.

All studies in this latter category are firmly grounded on the principles and practices of life cycle assessment, and follow our published research guidelines (included in the reports), which define boundary or scope conditions and ensure equal treatment of all building materials and products in terms of assumptions, research decisions, estimating methods and other aspects of the work.

However, integration of the LCI data is a primary function of the Estimator itself, and we therefore caution that individual LCI reports are not necessarily stand-alone documents. For example, a report may specify the amount of electricity used in production processes without taking account of the primary energy required to generate that electricity. Similarly, a report may include estimates of transportation requirements in mode and distance terms without including the energy use and emissions associated with that transportation. The essential missing energy production, conversion, and use estimates are the subject of entirely separate databases embedded in the Estimator.

In some situations, the Estimator also calls on related product databases to complete a calculation. For example, the report on concrete products includes estimates of reinforcing steel requirements, but the concrete report does not include the effects of producing that steel. Those effects are the subject of the separate steel report, and the Estimator calls on databases from both reports to complete its calculations.

The Institute will continue to expand and update its databases and further develop the ATHENA® Impact Estimator for Buildings. We are committed to developing current, reliable data, to making it available in a readily usable form, and to maintaining research transparency.

List of Companion Reports

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE INVENTORY STUDIES

• Cradle-to-Gate Life Cycle Inventory for Canadian and US Steel Production by Mill Type. Mar./02 Prepared by Markus Engineering Services.
• Maintenance, Repair and Replacement Effects for Building Envelope Materials. Jan./02 Prepared by Morrison Hershfield Limited
• Cradle-to-Gate Life Cycle Inventory for Exterior Stucco Finishes. Oct./01 Prepared by George J. Venta, Venta, Glaser & Associates.
• A Life Cycle Inventory of Selected Commercial Roofing Products. Apr./01 Prepared by Franklin Associates, a Service of McLaren-Hart/Jones.
• A Life Cycle Inventory for Road and Roofing Asphalt. Mar./01 Prepared by Franklin Associates, a Service of McLaren-Hart/Jones.
• Life Cycle Analysis of Asphalt Impregnated Fiberglass Built-Up Roofing Felts. Mar./01 Prepared by George J. Venta, Venta, Glaser & Associates.
• Life Cycle Inventory of ICI Roofing Systems: Onsite Construction Effects. Mar./01 Prepared by Morrison Hershfield
• Summary Report: A Life Cycle Analysis of Canadian Softwood Lumber Production. Apr./00 Prepared by Jamie K. Meil, ATHENA Sustainable Materials Institute. Combined with original report Raw Material Balances, Energy Profiles and Environmental Unit Factor Estimates for Structural Wood Products. Mar./93 Prepared by Forintek Canada Corp.
• Life Cycle Analysis of Residential Roofing Products. Mar./00 Prepared by George Venta, Venta, Glaser & Associates and Michael Nisbet, JAN Consultants.
• Cement and Structural Concrete Products: Life Cycle Inventory Update #2, Prepared by Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, Ottawa, Canada, 2005. Combined with original report Cement and Structural Concrete Products: Life Cycle Inventory Update, Prepared by Venta, Glaser & Associates, Ottawa, Canada, October 1999; and Raw Material Balances, Energy Profiles and Environmental Unit Factor Estimates: Cement and Structural Concrete Products, Prepared by Canada Centre for Mineral & Energy Technology and Radian Canada Inc., Ottawa, Canada, October 1993.
• Life Cycle Analysis of Brick and Mortar Products. Sep./98 Prepared by George J. Venta, Venta, Glaser & Associates.
• A Life Cycle Analysis of Solid Wood and Steel Cladding. Sep./98 Prepared by Jamie K. Meil, ATHENA Sustainable Materials Institute.
• An Exploratory Life Cycle Study of Selected Building Envelope Materials. Jul./98 Prepared by Dr. Gregory A. Norris, Sylvatica. Combined with original report Life Cycle Inventory Analyses of Building Envelope Materials: Update and Expansion. Jun./99 Prepared by Dr. Gregory A. Norris, Sylvatica.
• Life Cycle Analysis of Gypsum Wallboard and Associated Finishing Products. Mar./97 Prepared by George J. Venta, Venta, Glaser and Associates.

Investigative Studies

• Demolition Energy Analysis of Office Building Structural Systems. Mar./97 Prepared by M. Gordon Engineering.
• Assessing the Relative Ecological Carrying Capacity Impacts of Resource Extraction. Aug./94 Prepared by Wayne B. Trusty and Associates & Dr. R. Paehlke, Environmental Policy Research