Drivers, barriers and development needs for LCA in the Nordic building sector – a survey among professionals

Abstract

Introduction: Design practitioners’ knowledge and understanding of LCA is crucial for the necessary transition to decarbonisation of the built environment, as well as for lowering other environmental impacts. Recently, the Nordic councils of ministers suggested enhancing cooperation and harmonization within the use of LCA in the built environment in order to accelerate climate change mitigation in the building sector. To this end, it is important to identify in which areas harmonization and cooperation is especially needed. This paper presents the results of a survey on the LCA practice among Nordic design professionals in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. The aim is to analyse the survey results, and to reflect on the implications for further harmonization of method and industry practice within the Nordic region. Method: Survey results for the Nordic countries represent a subset of a larger survey conducted as part of the IEA Annex 72 project about assessing life cycle related environmental impacts caused by buildings. The web-based survey, targeting design practitioners, was carried out from late 2018 to late 2019 within 24 participating countries. From the Nordic countries, 223 respondents accessed the survey and answered one or more questions. Results and conclusions: The survey shows that Nordic building designers, in general, feel personally or professionally committed to applying LCA. However, a main barrier for including LCA in the building design is the perceived lack of incentive as well as a lack of sufficient data and information. Respondents perceive a moderate drive from the public sector and property developers/investors for integrating assessments of environmental performance. Concerning development needs, respondents point towards harmonization efforts within LCA for use within BIM. Results of this survey furthermore reveal the dilemma for the designers between, on the one hand, needing to know all the details of the environmental assessment to learn what drives and controls the results of a project, and on the other hand, needing to convert the results of a project into easily communicable information for the client. This ‘translation’ of results is an additional area of potential harmonization within the Nordic region.