IEA ANNEX 31
To the STARTPAGE Environmental framework; Decision making ; Tools ; LCA for buildings A dictionary designed to standardise the specialised terms used in the site.
Mandate and content overveiw.Introdution to Annex 31 Environmental framework; Decision making ; Tools ; LCA for buildings Directory of Tools : by Category , by Country , US DOE Links to agencies, resources and authors
       
Background Reports    
Annex 31 has completed a series of seven technical Background Reports to provide researchers, instructors and tool developers with additional information on key aspects of energy and life cycle assessment (LCA) tool design for buildings. These include:    
Context and Methods for Tool Designers   click to open the main
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When assessing the environmental performance of buildings over their life cycle, important assumptions need to be made for the building itself (life duration, maintenance, end of life), the energy flows, the energy chains, and the user's behaviour.
This report reviews many such assumptions, and analyses what information is required in order to effectively integrate energy-related and environmental issues in the investigation and decision making stages. The information is shown to vary greatly depending upon degree of detail, and degree of interpretation.
Comparative Applications - A Comparison of Different Tool Results on Similar Residential and Commercial Building
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This report describes the results of an Annex 31 research project in which the environmental impact of both a single dwelling and an office building was assessed with tools from the participating countries. All the tools were intended to assist in quantifying or qualifying the environmental profile of a building, or to assist decision-makers in improving the environmental performance of a building design.
Significant differences in outputs between tools occurred as a result of differences in data infrastructure (e.g. Energy mix), system boundaries, data allocation and weighting factors.
Case Studies of How Tools Affect Decision-Making
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The intent of this report is to explore how life-cycle assessment tools have had an impact on the design and environmental performance of buildings. Six countries were asked to submit case studies of building projects where tools were intentionally used to create a more efficient and environmentally friendly building or buildings stock.
Each case study includes information on the site and project, the energy and environmental features, the assessment tool and the results.
Data Needs and Sources
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In this report a more detailed examination is conducted of data requirements and sources. An attempt is made to inventory as exhaustively as possible the data needed for a complete detailed assessment of impacts at any aggregation level.
Assessing Buildings for Adaptability
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Adaptability refers to the capacity of buildings to accommodate substantial change. Over the course of a building's lifetime, change is inevitable, both in the social, economic and physical surroundings, and in the needs and expectations of occupants.
This report examines all aspects of adaptability in buildings, from principles to strategies to specific features. Evaluation methods and potential benefits are discussed.
Sensitivity and Uncertainty
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Sensitivity and uncertainty analysis can be used at many stages throughout the assessment of energy related environmental impacts from buildings. The key purpose of sensitivity analysis is to identify and focus on key data and assumptions that have most influence on a result - thereby simplifying data collection and analysis without compromising the results.
This report describes how to undertake sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, and includes examples of how such exercises can improve decisions.
Stock Aggregation
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Stock Aggregation refers to the process of evaluating the performance of a building stock using environmental assessments of components of the stock. For example, total energy use by a stock of buildings can be estimated by adding up (or 'aggregating') the energy estimates for all the individual buildings within the stock. Or for less effort, a subset of representative buildings can be analyzed, and the results then factored in proportion to the total number of such buildings in the stock.
This report explains why Stock Aggregation is frequently the best method for assessing stocks. Examples are given of how stock aggregation can assist in policy development at the local and
regional scale. The method is also shown to significant benefits for planners, businesses in the building sector, and utilities.