Commentary and Discussion
Present Situation of the LCA Studies in the Architectural Field
2008 Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages 4-10
Details
2008 Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages 4-10
Objective. Briefing on the present situation of the LCA studies in the architectural field.
Result and Discussion. The ecological studies of the architectural field in Japan had started on the era of air pollutions issues in the 1960s. Above studies had progressed into the LCA studies in the 1990s by the trigger of the oil crisis in the 1970s and the ozone depletion issues in the 1980s. Main institutions of the LCA studies in the architectural field in Japan are “Architectural Institute of Japan”, “The Society of Heating, Air Conditioning and Sanitary Engineers of Japan”, “The Institute to Electrical Installation Engineers of Japan”, “Institute for Building Environmental Energy” etc. Major architect offices, major contractors and major housing companies have been proceeded the studies up to now. Environmental assessment methods for building based on the LCA have been proposed. They are BREEAM (UK, 1990), BEPAC (Can, 1993), LEED (USA, 1996), GB Tool (International, 1998), NABERS (Aus, 2001) and CASBEE (Jpn, 2002).
Conclusions. The LCA studies in the architectural field are advancing actively.
