Life Cycle Assessment in the Building Sector - Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Common Ceiling Systems

In the past, life cycle assessments (LCAs) of buildings were only carried out in rare cases at the request of project initiators. Against the backdrop of social and political pressure to act more climate-friendly and sustainably, LCAs and the available data are also becoming increasingly economically relevant. This paper therefore presents the essential principles of LCA in the building sector. In addition to a critical analysis of the scope of assessment, there is a brief presentation of available data bases, such as the national database oKOBAUDAT. Furthermore, the greenhouse gas balance of timber as a building material is discussed, which in some cases opens up considerable scope for assessment with the risk of false incentives. As horizontal building components, ceiling systems of multi-storey buildings can cause almost 40 % of the structural emissions and are therefore highly relevant for a LCA. By varying the life cycle stages assessed and data sets used as possible factors influencing the results of a LCA, these building components are examined and compared in more detail in the following article. Despite some sensitive effects on the comparison of the ceiling systems, the LCA offers a decision-making aid for the selection of ceiling systems in terms of reduced greenhouse gas emissions of a shell construction.