Integrating Indoor environmental quality metrics in a dynamic life cycle assessment framework for buildings

A framework was developed for integrating indoor environmental quality (IEQ) into life cycle assessment (LCA). The framework was explored using a university building as a case study. Results showed that including IEQ aspects in whole-building LCA revealed internal impacts at least as high or higher than external impacts. For human health respiratory effects, building-specific indoor impacts from the case study were 50% higher than general impacts in conventional LCA. Tradeoffs and synergies with traditional LCA impact categories appear to result mainly from differences in energy consumption relating to different IEQ parameters such as ventilation and filtration.