Starting point / motivation

The building and construction sector, along with all its associated industries, accounts for around 40% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. This makes it a critical lever for achieving the targets set out in the Paris Climate Agreement.

Although operational emissions are already largely regulated and successfully reduced, there is a significant lack of robust foundations for assessing embodied emissions arising from the production, construction, maintenance, deconstruction, and end-of-life stages of buildings. This is driving increasing interest in reducing these emissions.

Contents and goals

New EU regulations, such as the European Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the Construction Products Regulation (CPR), require a life cycle assessment (LCA) of all emissions. Currently, Austria lacks a national method to consistently and comparatively evaluate the environmental impacts of different construction methods and building types.

The project's aim is therefore to develop a scientifically robust building LCA methodology that can be applied throughout Austria and enable a neutral, consistent comparison of conventional and future-proof constructions.

Methods

This LCA method is intended to be recognised as Austria's national methodology under the EPBD's Delegated Act. To this end, it will draw on existing standards (e.g. EN 15643, EN 15804 and EN 15978; international data sources such as ÖKOBAUDAT, ecoinvent and environmental product declarations (EPDs); national standards such as klimaaktiv, ÖGNB, ÖGNI, ÖBV and the future OIB-RL 7; and standards in neighbouring countries such as SIA 390/1 and DIN SPEC 91606.

EPBD requirements and its Delegated Act, various guidance notes from the European Commission, and other assessment methods identified within the framework of IEA EBC Annexes 72 and 89 will be systematically analysed, adapted, and further developed for the Austrian context.

Based on this Austria-specific methodology, harmonised building inventories and operational energy use data for both conventional and innovative construction methods will be compiled, and the environmental impacts will be assessed comparatively over the full building life cycle.

Integration into the PULSE-AT building stock model, which was developed by TU Graz, enables comparison with representative buildings on a national scale (i.e. new and existing buildings).

Prospective life cycle assessment (P-LCA) scenarios project the future life cycle impacts of construction methods and concepts up to the year 2050. This allows potential threshold, reference and target values to be derived for specific building classes. This enables the impact on energy consumption and climate to be classified within the context of Austrian decarbonisation pathways.

Expected results

Ultimately, practical guidelines and recommendations will be developed based on the results to support decision-making in construction projects. These will be tailored to relevant stakeholder groups and designed for broad dissemination and implementation.

In parallel, recommendations will be developed to adapt existing national standards, guidelines, and certification systems, accelerating the implementation of EU requirements in Austria.

Thus, the project lays the foundation for a robust, neutral and practical assessment of the climate and environmental impact of buildings, supporting Austria on its path to climate-neutral cities.

Project management

University of Technology Graz

Project or cooperation partners

University Innsbruck

TU Graz
Univ.-Prof. DI Dr.techn. Alexander Passer
Rechbauerstraße 12
A-8010 Graz
Tel.: +43 (316) 873-7153
E-mail: alexander.passer@tugraz.at
Web: www.tugraz.at