Life-Cycle Assessment of Digital Fabrication and Parametric LCA

Three scientists from the ETHZ chair of Sustainable Construction are joining the Structural Xploration Lab and the smart living lab this Wednesday.

Isolda Agusti Juan will present a talk on the Life-Cycle Assessment of Digital Fabrication. Society’s increasing concern about sustainability is inducing the emergence of digital technologies to overcome the inefficiency and high environmental impacts caused by the construction sector. The combined methods of computational design and robotic fabrication are demonstrating a high potential to create formal and structural advances in architecture. The objective of this research is to identify the main environmental implications and opportunities of digital fabrication in comparison with conventional construction by assessing different case studies with the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework. Key environmental parameters are identified to guide the design of digitally fabricated architecture.

Alexander Hollberg will present a talk on parametric Life-Cycle Assessment. LCA allows for the holistic environmental analysis of a building. However, it is currently not employed to improve the environmental performance of buildings during the design process, although the potential for optimization is greatest there. To integrate LCA as a design criterion in early stages, a parametric approach named PLCA has been developed. The main feature of PLCA is that embodied and operational environmental impact are calculated together and linked with the architectural 3D model. In combination with the self-contained workflow of the method, this provides the basis for holistic, time-efficient environmental design optimization. PLCA allows architects to focus on design, and finally makes LCA practically useful for decision making in early design stages.

They will be accompanied by Prof. Guillaume Habert.