The Carbon Leadership Forum and the American Institute of Steel Construction have released Project LCA Guidance for Steel Systems for free download. The guide provides practical direction for assessing the embodied carbon of steel systems in construction projects.
Individuals conducting whole building life cycle assessments, or WBLCA, bring a variety of backgrounds to the work. WBLCA tools and overarching standards provide some structure and consistency to calculations.
However, practitioners still use a wide variety of calculation methods. Educational resources also remain limited for common pitfalls and best practices when modeling steel systems.
The new publication provides more granular direction for project teams during design. Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA) staff, including Executive Director Don Allen, Technical Director Pat Ford and Program General Manager Robert Grupe, and Adam Shoemaker with member ClarkDietrich participated on the research team.
“SFIA welcomed the opportunity to contribute its steel framing expertise to this effort,” says Don Allen, SFIA executive director. “Consistent modeling, quantity takeoffs and carbon data can strengthen how project teams evaluate steel systems within WBLCA.”
The Carbon Leadership Forum and American Institute of Steel Construction released Project LCA Guidance for Steel Systems to support more consistent embodied carbon assessments.
Creating Consistency in Project Assessments
The framework focuses on decisions that project teams make during design in four key areas:
- Structuring project life cycle assessments
- Performing quantity takeoffs for steel systems
- Applying embodied carbon data
- Comparing options during project design
These areas can vary among practitioners despite existing standards and assessment tools.
The resource serves anyone working with steel products within the context of WBLCA. That audience includes engineers, designers, contractors, sustainability consultants, academics and students.
Project teams can apply the framework to new construction and renovation building projects. Its principles could also apply to other project-scale applications, including infrastructure.
The publication focuses on common systems and data available in North America. This focus connects the resource with information available to practitioners working with steel systems.
WBLCA uses defined life cycle stages and modules to organize environmental impacts and communicate which phases an assessment includes.
Connecting Standards With Project Decisions
Project LCA Guidance for Steel Systems addresses a gap in current life cycle assessment practices.
Existing certifications and standards establish overarching rules for assessments. These include LEED, ILFI, ASHRAE 240p, the SEI prestandard and ASTM 2921.
Practitioners still make everyday modeling decisions when applying those broader requirements. Project LCA Guidance for Steel Systems provides additional detail for those calculations and data considerations.
The framework works alongside prevailing standards and provides additional detail for practitioners. Its approach does not conflict with those standards.
This connection brings overarching requirements closer to everyday modeling decisions. Practitioners receive more detailed direction for calculations and data considerations during project assessments.
The new guide provides more standardized approaches for structuring project LCAs. It also addresses quantity takeoffs, embodied carbon data and comparisons between options.
Strengthening Steel Assessments
Practitioners gain more detailed direction for assessing embodied carbon in steel systems. The framework connects overarching standards with everyday project-level LCA decisions.
Project teams can apply the framework across several areas:
- New construction projects
- Building renovation projects
- Other project-scale applications, including infrastructure
- Steel system assessments within WBLCA
Project LCA Guidance for Steel Systems gives professionals across multiple disciplines a common technical framework. It addresses LCA structure, quantity takeoffs, embodied carbon data and comparisons.
By connecting overarching rules with everyday modeling decisions, the framework supports greater consistency in embodied carbon assessments for steel systems.
To download Project LCA Guidance for Steel Systems, visit the Carbon Leadership Forum website.
About the Carbon Leadership Forum
The Carbon Leadership Forum is a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating the transformation of the building sector to radically reduce the greenhouse gas emissions attributed to materials (also known as embodied carbon) used in buildings and infrastructure. We research, educate, and foster cross-collaboration to bring the embodied carbon of buildings and infrastructure down to zero. For more information, visit carbonleadershipforum.org
Additional Resources
- SFIA Releases New Industry-Average Environmental Product Declaration for Cold-Formed Steel Framing
- How to Specify Low Embodied Carbon Steel Framing for Construction Projects
- Green Building or Green Washing? A SFIA Event in Las Vegas Provided Answers