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LCA of MEP and TI in Buildings

Research Question:

What are the typical ranges of embodied carbon (and other impact measures) for mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP) and tenant improvement (TI)?

About

This study is an extension of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for Low Carbon Construction Project. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality selected mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) and tenant improvement (TI) as research topics of interest to investigate because there is very little data on these environmental impacts. This study presents estimates of material quantities and environmental impacts for commercial office buildings in the Pacific Northwest.

Results

Research Team

  • K. Simonen (PI)
  • H.W. Lee (Co-PI)
  • B.X. Rodriguez
  • M. Huang
  • J. Ditto

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. The greater Low Carbon Construction Project was also funded by the Charles Pankow Foundation and Skanska USA. This project was also made possible by a number of project advisors and contributors, who are listed in the reports.

Additional Resources

Andrew Ellsworth, founder and CEO of Doors Unhinged, has created a research poster for the Project Drawdown Conference highlighting the importance of building material reuse, supported with data from this research project.  To view the poster, click on the thumbnail below.

Building spaces need LCAs

Resource Library

Reclaimed and Reused: Recommended LCA Modeling Guidance to Support EPDs for Reused Construction Materials

Material reuse is one strategy for reducing the embodied carbon of construction. While the preparation of previously used materials for reuse has an environmental impact, it avoids many of the resource extraction and manufacturing impacts of building with newly manufactured products. Given the amount of demolition and deconstruction across North America (and beyond), there is a vast potential for material reuse to expand in scale. However, barriers to material reuse scaling exist.

DEQ Low Embodied Carbon Housing Program: Roadmap to Success

Embodied Carbon Pathways to 2050 for the United States, a collaboration between the Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF), RMI, and the University of Washington (UW) Life Cycle Lab, provides an assessment of embodied carbon from US construction materials and explores pathways to align with a 1.5°C global warming limit.

International Embodied Carbon Data Availability: A Review of Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Availability in Europe, China, and Australia

CLF completed a landscape analysis of product-level embodied carbon data availability in regions outside North America with the goals of: (i) understanding how LCA/EPD data availability varies globally; (ii) informing where targeted initiatives are needed to increase the availability of data; and (iii) determining whether adequate EPD data exists to develop CLF Material Baselines outside North America. This report summarizes our findings and provides initial insights into what data is available to inform low-carbon procurement efforts in Australia, China, and Europe.

The CLF Benchmark Explorer

Emissions from the operations of buildings and infrastructure are significant, well-understood contributors to national and global greenhouse gas emissions. However, the contribution of embodied carbon—emissions associated with the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of construction materials across the life cycle of a building or asset—is neglected by comparison. Even at the global level, embodied carbon estimates are typically based on manufacturing emissions from the production of a handful of the highest-impact materials (e.g. concrete, steel, aluminum, and wood).

Embodied Carbon Pathways to 2050 for the United States

Embodied Carbon Pathways to 2050 for the United States, a collaboration between the Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF), RMI, and the University of Washington (UW) Life Cycle Lab, provides an assessment of embodied carbon from US construction materials and explores pathways to align with a 1.5°C global warming limit.

Washington State Carbon Emissions Estimation: 2025 – 2050

Emissions from the operations of buildings and infrastructure are significant, well-understood contributors to national and global greenhouse gas emissions. However, the contribution of embodied carbon—emissions associated with the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of construction materials across the life cycle of a building or asset—is neglected by comparison. Even at the global level, embodied carbon estimates are typically based on manufacturing emissions from the production of a handful of the highest-impact materials (e.g. concrete, steel, aluminum, and wood).

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