EN 15804/15978 Reporting Formats - Modules A to D

The Impact Estimator for Buildings conforms to the EN 15804/15978 system boundary and reporting format. Table 1 summarizes which of the EN information modules are currently covered by the program and the processes accounted for by each. While it is expected that some of the missing information modules will be incorporated into the program as data and funding become available, its present capacity is sufficient for most current needs including compliance with the LCA requirements in all North American green building codes and rating systems.

While the IE4B does not fully support the Maintenance (B2), Repair (B3), and Refurbishment (B5) modules, an advanced user can model these effects provided [1] material/fuel use quantities for these activities are known and [2] the materials/fuels are available in the program.

Table 1

Information Module	Supports?	Processes Included
A1 Raw material supply	Y	Primary resource harvesting and mining
A2 Transport	Y	All transportation of materials up to manufacturing plant gate
A3 Manufacturing	Y	Manufacture of raw materials into products
A4 Transport	Y	Transportation of materials from manufacturing plant to site, and construction equipment to site
A5 Construction-installation process	Y	Construction equipment energy use, and A1-A4, C1, C2, C4 IM effects of construction waste
B1 Installed product in use	N	Not currently well-supported with data
B2 Maintenance	Partial	Painted surfaces are maintained (i.e. repainted), but no other maintenance aspects are included
B3 Repair	N	Not currently well-supported with data
B4 Replacement	Y	Modules A1-A5 effects of replacement materials, and C1, C2, C4 effects of replaced materials
B5 Refurbishment	N	This module applies to known future refurbishment and needs to be addressed on a case-by-case basis if applicable
B6 Operational energy use	Y	Energy primary extraction, production, delivery, and use
B7 Operational water use	N	n/a
C1 De-construction demolition	Y	Demolition equipment energy use
C2 Transport	Y	Transportation of materials from site to landfill
C3 Waste Processing	Y	Most material data does not include waste processing effects, except for metal scrap collection and pre-processing.
C4 Disposal	Y	Disposal facility equipment energy use and landfill site effects
D Benefits and loads beyond the system boundary (Beyond Building Life)	Partial	Metals recycling

As of v5.0 (July 2014), the detailed LCA measure reports were re-arranged to conform more closely to EN 15804/15978 (Figure 1). Modules A to C remain mostly the same, except that the Annual Operating Energy column has been removed from module B and replaced by Operational Energy Use Total (i.e. the total operational energy use over the lifespan of the building).

Module D, Beyond Building Life, columns have been added to the Life Cycle Stage tables. Although, the effects have been calculated since v4.5, they had previously been included in the De-construction, Demoliton column. The addition of module D allows the user see these effects, and to decide whether or not to include them in their analysis.

The totals of modules A to C and A to D are calculated separately in the Total Effects Columns.

It should also be noted that module D values (steel recycling and wood carbon sequestration at the moment) are esentially credits, and can introduce negative values, in some cases large enough that the A to D total may be negative- this is normal.