BCT 590STC - Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Buildings

Course Description

Recognizing the urgent need to decarbonize the built environment, this course provides students with the knowledge and tools to assess the environmental impacts of buildings using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). While Global Warming Potential (GWP) is a key focus, LCA also considers other critical impact categories, such as ozone depletion, acidification and, eutrophication. Students will explore methods for quantifying Embodied Carbon, evaluating trade-offs across multiple environmental indicators, and integrating LCA with Building Information Modeling (BIM). Through case studies and real-world data, the course highlights Whole Building LCA as a decision-making tool for sustainable design and construction, providing a holistic understanding of how material choices and design strategies influence a building’s long-term environmental performance.

Learning Goals

- Understand the fundamentals of the LCA methodology and its relevance to sustainable
building practices.
- Familiarize with material- and whole-building-scale LCA evaluations and industry-standard tools.
- Ability to interpret Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and apply them in material
selection.
- Ability to evaluate trade-offs between Embodied Carbon and Operational Carbon in building design.
- Ability to use LCA results to inform design, construction, and policy decisions.
- Effectively communicate LCA findings and sustainability trade-offs to peers and
stakeholders using visual and verbal communication

Textbook/Materials

textbook (and other materials) TBD