Page 89 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

Life Cycle Assessment: Principles, Practice and Prospects
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Research in Australia indicates that Australian cities are no exception and that change is nec-
essary in the way we plan, configure and live in our suburbs (e.g. Newman and Kenworthy
1999; Lowe 2005). Challenges arise in policy, political, institutional, infrastructural, social,
cultural and environmental terms, throughout the various planning, design, construction,
maintenance, occupation, renovation and recycling/end-of-life phases of buildings. One of the
most significant environmental challenges is Australia’s high greenhouse gas emissions per
capita. This presents two significant problems. First, in order to meet global community obli-
gations to mitigate climate change, these current high emissions must be reduced significantly.
Second, high energy users are more vulnerable to a future where greenhouse gas emissions will
have a high cost, and where sustainable energy resources will be the norm. In order to build
resilience, Australian communities can anticipate and adapt to climate change by reducing
their need for fossil fuel-based energy resources.
The concept of ‘greenhouse-neutral’ (or ‘carbon-neutral’) buildings and communities has
attracted considerable attention in recent years. A ‘greenhouse-neutral’ building can be defined
as a structure where greenhouse gas emissions associated with the combustion of fossil fuels
(crude oil and derivatives, coal, lignite, natural gas and other fossilised organic remains in
shales and related petroleum deposits) are equivalent to a net of zero. It is important to distin-
guish between ‘greenhouse-neutral’ and ‘zero emission’. A greenhouse-neutral building in the
near future is still likely to produce greenhouse gas emissions although, almost inevitably, to a
lesser extent than is currently the case. However, it will be greenhouse-neutral in that it offsets
these emissions by a variety of means such as the production and export of electricity from
non-greenhouse gas emitting sources, sequestration of carbon emissions by tree planting or
geo-sequestration, or through carbon trading.
Of course, greenhouse gas emissions are a paramount issue, but these are not the only
sources of environmental impact caused by the built environment. Further progress in reduc-
tion of both greenhouse gases and other environmental impacts will inevitably require new
policies, regulation and assessment rigour.

7.1.2 Policy and regulation
LCA can assist both with policy and regulation formulation (e.g. through macro-level studies),
and with compliance (e.g. through the provision of case-specific information in standardised,
comparative terms). Policy and regulation to improve environmental performance of the built
environment is in its infancy – internationally and in Australia. The main area which has so
far received attention has been operational heating and cooling efficiency. A previous policy
vacuum at federal level is partly addressed through the implementation of the ‘5 Star’ stand-
ards, providing nationwide energy efficiency building regulations for all classes of new build-
ings from mid-2007. These have their origins in state-level standards introduced in Victoria in
2004, and the incorporation of initial nationwide energy efficiency provisions into the Building
Code of Australia in 2003. The vehicle for the code is the Australian Building Codes Board,
which has its origins in a state agreement to support a common code in 1994.
However, despite the lead-in and history to 5 Star, the introduction of these new regula-
tions has not occurred without considerable resistance – and collaboration (Horne et al. 2007).
Within this debate, questions raised include whether the new regulations set standards too
high (or too low); what economic costs may be involved; and whether the tools, timescales and
institutional arrangements are appropriate. An Australian study that compared 5 Star standard
housing with standard housing being built in the United States of America (USA), Canada and
the United Kingdom (UK) indicated that the latter is performing at the equivalent of almost
seven stars on average. This means that Australian residential buildings are still producing
30% to 40% more greenhouse gas emissions from operational heating and cooling require-

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