This Technical Report (TR) has been developed by CEN/TC 350/WG 1 and WG 3 to provide a clear and structured view on the relevance, robustness and applicability of a predefined set of additional impact categories and related indicators for the assessment of the environmental performance of construction works, construction products and building materials. The TR describes the evaluation criteria that are used to determine, for these impact categories, the suitability of indicators and calculation method(s) for inclusion in the standards EN 15978 and EN 15804 (or other CEN/TC 350 standards as appropriate) in terms of their: a) relevance to: 1) the environment, 2) construction works, 3) construction products, and 4) EU policy; b) scientific robustness and certainty; and c) applicability of the impact assessment method(s). The additional impact categories examined in the TR are: – human toxicity and ecotoxicity; – particulate matter; – land use; – biodiversity; – water scarcity; and – ionizing radiation. Because EN 15978 and EN 15804 are founded on a life cycle approach, the impact categories, indicators and methods reviewed are predominantly based on their potential suitability for application in LCA. In relation to some of the areas of concern, however, where LCA methods might not be sufficiently robust or developed, some non-LCA based indicators and methods are also considered. Due to the scope of LCA used in the EN 15804 and EN 15978, impacts to users of buildings due to direct exposure to harmful emissions fall outside the scope of this TR. This falls under the scope of CEN/TC 351. Important information related to this aspect found during the development of this TR, is however mentioned in the TR. Uncertainty is an important issue in LCA. General assessment of the uncertainty related to impact assessment models is considered in the evaluation framework of this TR. However, the TR does not lay down a maximum uncertainty level to be considered acceptable in the context of the CEN standards EN 15804 and EN 15978, nor does it provide exact figures on uncertainties. Annex A of the TR provides a description of options that may be considered for incorporating selected impact categories/indicator in the standards EN 15978 and EN 15804. The TR recognizes and takes account of: – the work done by the European Commission, Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC), in the development of the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) Handbook Recommendations, – other reports and scientific studies into the methods and application of the indicators reviewed, – findings of specific activities connected with this work such as of the CEN/TC 350 Workshop, held in Brussels on 24-25 June 2014.

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PDF Pages	PDF Title
4	0BContents Page Contents Page
7	European foreword Figure 1 — Domain of LCA ([14], p. 33)
9	Introduction
11	1 Scope
12	2 The need for additional impact categories 2.1 Environmental relevance
14	Figure 2 — Relevance of different impact categories on building level based on cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-grave assessment – impact assessment method = SuFiQuaD, based on [19]
15	2.2 Policy relevance
16	2.3 Conclusions 3 Evaluation criteria for additional environmental impact categories for CEN/TC 350 3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 General
17	3.1.2 Criteria related to standardization 3.1.3 Criteria related to the LCIA models and indicators
18	3.2 Evaluation framework for additional environmental impact categories for CEN/TC 350 3.2.1 General
19	3.2.2 Environmental relevance – Standardization (step 1) 3.2.3 Relevance for buildings (step 2a) 3.2.4 Relevance for construction products (step 2b) 3.2.5 Policy relevance (step 3) 3.2.6 Performance based (step 4a)
20	3.2.7 Quantifiable (step 4b) 3.2.8 Scientific robustness and certainty (step 5)
21	3.2.9 Applicability of the life cycle impact assessment method/model (step 6)
22	3.2.10 Stakeholder acceptance of the impact assessment model (step 7) 3.3 Compliance criteria of the ILCD handbook
23	3.4 Information sources regarding the additional impact categories 4 The evaluation of additional impact categories 4.1 General 4.2 Human toxicity: Cancer and non-cancer effects 4.2.1 Description 4.2.1.1 General
24	4.2.1.2 Mechanisms Figure 4 — Cause-effect chain for human toxicity effects (including mechanisms for ionizing radiation and respiratory effects associated with particulate matter, see 4.4 and 4.5). [5] 4.2.1.3 Health impact
25	Figure 5 — Recommended framework for calculating characterization factors for human toxicity effects in LCA ([5], based on [27] and [28])
26	Table 1 — Factors causing the different performance of the characterization models [29]
27	4.2.2 Relevance of human toxicity (step 1+2+3) 4.2.2.1 Environmental relevance (relevance for human health) (step 1) 4.2.2.2 Relevance for buildings (step 2a)
28	4.2.2.3 Relevance for construction products (step 2b)
29	Figure 6 — Comparative damage to human health assessment of 8 impact categories, expressed in DALY in a log scale, adapted from Humbert (2014) [44]
30	4.2.2.4 Policy relevance (step 3)
32	4.2.2.5 Conclusion from evaluation of the relevance criteria in relation to CEN/TC 350 standards 4.2.3 List of available LCIA methods (step 4) Table 2 — List of available LCIA models/methods and effects each of the methods is covering, based on the ILCD Handbook (JRC, 2011)
33	4.2.4 Scientific substantiation of available LCIA methods (step 5) Table 3 — Overview of the evaluation of available LCIA methods/models regarding human toxicity, adapted from the ILCD Handbook ([4] 2011)
35	4.2.5 Applicability (step 6) 4.2.5.1 General
36	4.2.5.2 Applicability: Data availability (LCI quality, characterization factors)
37	4.2.5.3 Applicability: Experience
38	4.2.5.4 Applicability: availability within widely used tools 4.2.6 Stakeholder acceptance (step 7)
39	4.2.7 Conclusions on methodology 4.2.7.1 Strengths Table 4 — Advances in the characterization modelling of metals in USEtox (“-“ = not considered, “✓” = considered, “%” = partially considered, “+” = research needed “n.a.” = not applicable) [42]
40	4.2.7.2 Weaknesses
41	4.2.8 Overall conclusions on human toxicity 4.3 Ecotoxicity: Terrestrial, freshwater and marine 4.3.1 Description of impact category 4.3.1.1 General 4.3.1.2 Mechanisms
42	Figure 7 — Cause-effect chain for ecotoxicity effects [5] 4.3.1.3 Quality of ecosystems
43	Figure 8 — Recommended framework for calculating characterization factors for ecotoxicity effects in LCA ([5], based on [27] and [28]) Table 5 — Factors causing the different performance of the characterization models [29]
44	4.3.2 Relevance of ecotoxicity – standardization (step 1+2+3) 4.3.2.1 Environmental relevance (step 1) 4.3.2.2 Relevance for buildings (step 2a)
45	4.3.2.3 Relevance for construction products (step 2b) 4.3.2.4 Policy relevance (step 3) 4.3.2.5 Conclusion from evaluation of the relevance criteria in relation to CEN/TC 350 standards
46	4.3.3 List of available LCIA methods (step 4) Table 6 — List of available LCIA models/methods and effects each of the methods is covering, based on the ILCD Handbook [4]
47	4.3.4 Scientific substantiation of available LCIA methods (step 5) Table 7 — Overview of the evaluation of available LCIA methods/models regarding ecotoxicity, adapted from the ILCD Handbook [4]
49	4.3.5 Applicability (step 6) 4.3.5.1 General
52	4.3.5.2 Applicability: data availability (LCI quality, characterization factors) 4.3.5.3 Applicability: experience 4.3.5.4 Applicability: availability within widely used tools 4.3.6 Stakeholder acceptance (step 7) 4.3.7 Conclusions on methodology 4.3.7.1 Strengths
53	Table 8 — Advances in the characterization modelling of metals in USEtox (“-“ = not considered, “✓” = considered, “%” = partially considered, “+” = research needed “n.a.” = not applicable) [42]
54	4.3.7.2 Weaknesses
55	4.3.8 Overall conclusions on ecotoxicity 4.4 Particulate matter formation 4.4.1 Description of impact category 4.4.1.1 General 4.4.1.2 Mechanisms
56	Figure 9 — Size of PM and accumulated mass or concentration [68]
57	Figure 10 — Particle sizes: scale and order of magnitude [69]
58	4.4.1.3 Health impact Figure 11 — Emission-to-damage framework for particulate matter for assessing health effects as a depiction of Formula (1) [72] [73]
59	Figure 12 — Comparative damage to human health assessment of 8 impact categories, expressed in DALY in a log scale, adapted from Humbert (2014) 32F
60	4.4.2 Relevance of particulate matter formation (step 1+2+3) 4.4.2.1 Relevance for the environment/human health (step 1) Figure 13 — Damage due to PM as a share on end point category total human health assessed with three different methods [71]
61	4.4.2.2 Relevance for buildings (step 2a) Table 9 — Top 5 classification of sub-sector or economic activity category in total national PM10 emissions in France [69] and The Netherlands [82] respectively for the year 2012 4.4.2.3 Relevance for construction products (step 2b)
62	Figure 14 — UK PM10 emissions by source sector for 2008 ([86] p. 3) 4.4.2.4 Policy relevance (step 3)
64	Figure 15 — Sector share for emissions primary PM2.5 and PM10 particulate matter. EEA aggregated and gap-filled air emission data set, based on 2013 officially reported national total and sectorial emissions to UNECE LRTAP Convention [81]
65	Figure 16 — Urban population exposure to air pollution by particulate matter, μg/m3, 2012 [106]
67	4.4.2.5 Conclusion from evaluation of the relevance criteria in relation to CEN/TC 350 standards 4.4.3 List of available LCIA methods (step 4) Table 10 — List of available LCIA methods regarding PM, assessed within the ILCD Handbook [4] (Any text in italics in the table is additional to the description based on the ILCD Handbook.)
70	4.4.4 Scientific substantiation of the available LCIA methods (step 5) Table 11 — Overview of the evaluation of available LCIA methods regarding PM. (ILCD Handbook [4])
71	Table 12 — Updated evaluation of LCIA method Humbert [100], based on analysis of the drafting team in consultation with the JRC
72	Table 13 — Overview of the evaluation of LCIA method Notter and Althaus [71] 4.4.5 Applicability (step 6) 4.4.5.1 General
73	4.4.5.2 Applicability: data availability (LCI quality, characterization factors) 4.4.5.3 Applicability: Experience
74	4.4.5.4 Applicability: availability within widely used tools 4.4.6 Stakeholder acceptance (step 7) 4.4.7 Conclusions on methodology 4.4.7.1 Strengths 4.4.7.2 Weaknesses
75	4.4.7.3 LCIA method and indicator 4.4.8 Overall conclusions on particulate matter 4.5 Ionizing radiation: human health and ecosystem health 4.5.1 Description 4.5.1.1 General
76	4.5.1.2 Mechanisms
77	4.5.1.3 Health impact
78	Figure 17 — Overview of impact pathway stages of radioactive releases for human health (Frischknecht et al 2000 in EC-JRC 2011 [4]: p. 43) 4.5.1.4 Quality of ecosystems
79	Figure 18 — Overview of impact pathway on ecosystem for radioactive releases to freshwater. Plain lines refer to physical transfers of radioactive substances, whereas dotted lines correspond to exposures to radioactive radiation (EC-JRC 2011 [4]: p. 43) 4.5.2 Relevance of ionizing radiation (step 1+2+3) 4.5.2.1 Relevance for the environment/human health + quality of ecosystems (step 1)
80	4.5.2.2 Relevance for buildings (step 2a) Figure 19 — LEFT: Average annual radiation exposure of a person in the UK (2.7 mSv overall) (Public Health England 2013), RIGHT: Proportion of the different sources of ionizing radiation dose in the load of the population in Flanders in 2006 (MIRA [130])
81	Figure 20 — Gross electricity production by fuel, EU-27, 2012 [133]
82	Table 14 — Regional normalized per-capita impact scores for 2011 (normalization within global electricity generation sector)a ([129]: Table S2) Figure 21 — Environmental impact assessment of 1 MJ electricity, nuclear, at power plant, assessed with ReCiPe – end point (H,A)
83	4.5.2.3 Relevance for construction products (step 2b)
84	Table 15 — Typical and maximum activity concentrations in common building materials and industrial by-products used for building materials in the EU; typical concentrations are population-weighted national means of different Member States [134] 4.5.2.4 Policy relevance (step 3)
85	4.5.2.5 Conclusion from evaluation of the relevance criteria in relation to CEN/TC 350 standards 4.5.3 List of available LCIA methods (step 4)
86	4.5.4 Scientific substantiation of the available LCIA methods (step 5) Table 16 — Overview of the evaluation of available LCIA methods/models regarding ionizing radiation: human health [4] Table 17 — Overview of the evaluation of available LCIA methods/models regarding ionizing radiation: ecosystem health [4] 4.5.5 Applicability (step 6) 4.5.5.1 General
87	4.5.5.2 Applicability: data availability (LCI, characterization factors) 4.5.5.3 Applicability: experience 4.5.5.4 Applicability: availability within widely used tools 4.5.6 Stakeholder acceptance (step 7)
88	4.5.7 Conclusions on methodology 4.5.7.1 Strengths 4.5.7.2 Weaknesses 4.5.7.3 LCIA method and indicator 4.5.8 Overall conclusions on ionizing radiation
89	4.6 Land use: Occupation and transformation / Biodiversity 4.6.1 Description 4.6.1.1 General 4.6.1.2 Mechanisms
91	Table 18 — Functions of land, presented by Antón36F and adapted from Millennium Ecosystem Assessment37F
92	4.6.1.3 Cause-effect pathways
93	Figure 22 — Cause-effect chain for land use impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services ([147], pp. 1194) 4.6.2 Relevance of land use (step 1+2+3) 4.6.2.1 Relevance for the environment (step 1)
94	4.6.2.2 Relevance for buildings (step 2a)
95	Figure 23 — Schematic representation of in situ and embodied land use
96	Figure 24 — Residential, economic and infrastructure-related areas as share of land use, by NUTS 2 regions, 2009 (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/File:Residential,_economic_and_infrastructure-related_areas_as_share_of_land_…
97	Figure 25 — Sector share of converted land in total land use change (%), 2000-2006, EU-27, EFTA, Candidate and Potential Candidate Countries (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Agri-environmental_indicator_-_land_use_change)
100	Figure 26 — Aggregated environmental profiles (differentiating between CEN and CEN+ impact categories) for several technical solutions for the building element ‘floor on solid ground’, expressed in monetary units (based on [137]: p. 60)
101	Figure 27 — Aggregated environmental profiles (differentiating between CEN and CEN+ impact categories) for several technical solutions for the building element ‘exterior wall’, expressed in monetary units (based on [137]: p. 70) 4.6.2.3 Relevance for construction products (step 2b)
102	4.6.2.4 Policy relevance (step 3)
104	4.6.2.5 Conclusion from evaluation of the relevance criteria in relation to CEN/TC 350 standards
105	4.6.3 List of available LCIA methods (step 4) Table 19 — List of available LCIA models/methods and effects each of the methods covers, based on the ILCD Handbook [4]
106	Figure 28 — Flow diagram of the cause-effect chain of land use with indication of the scope of the available impact assessment models from Table 23 ([4]: p. 88) 4.6.4 Scientific substantiation of the available LCIA methods (step 5)
107	Table 20 — Overview of the evaluation of available LCIA methods/models regarding land use [4]
108	Table 21 — Overview of the assessment by Antón on the pieces soil organic matter and soil loss for the impact category land use, based on the presentation given by Antón
110	4.6.5 Applicability (step 6) 4.6.5.1 General
111	4.6.5.2 Applicability: Data availability (LCI quality, characterization factors)
112	4.6.5.3 Applicability: Experience
113	4.6.5.4 Applicability: availability within widely used tools 4.6.6 Stakeholder acceptance (step 7) 4.6.7 Conclusions on methodology 4.6.7.1 Strengths
114	4.6.7.2 Weaknesses 4.6.8 Overall conclusions on land use
115	4.7 Water scarcity 4.7.1 Description 4.7.1.1 General
116	4.7.1.2 Mechanisms
117	Figure 29 — The water cycle [168]
118	Figure 30 — Water volumes in the hydrosphere ([111] based on [120]) Figure 31 — Fresh (blue) water availability in the World in 1995 [154]
119	Figure 32 — Water Withdrawals in the World in 1995 [154]
120	Figure 33 — Withdrawal-to-availability Ratio in the World in 1995 [154] 4.7.1.3 Human health
121	Figure 34 — Cause–effect chains leading from the inventory to the areas of protection of human health, ecosystem quality, and resources ([161], adapted from Bayart et al. 2010) 4.7.1.4 Quality of ecosystems
122	4.7.1.5 Depletion of resources 4.7.2 Relevance of water scarcity (step 1+2+3) 4.7.2.1 Relevance for the environment (step 1) 4.7.2.2 Relevance for buildings (step 2a)
123	4.7.2.3 Relevance for construction products (step 2b) 4.7.2.4 Policy relevance (step 3) 4.7.2.5 Conclusion from evaluation of the relevance criteria in relation to TC350 standards
124	4.7.3 List of available LCIA methods (step 4)
125	Figure 35 — Scope of and relationship between the available freshwater use inventory and impact assessment methods with classification for the three areas of protection [161]
126	Figure 36 — Chosen impact pathways for WULCA’s consensus building work [155] 4.7.4 Scientific substantiation of the available LCIA methods (step 5)
127	Table 22 — Overview of the evaluation of available LCIA methods/models regarding water scarcity [4] Table 23 — Overview of the evaluation of available LCIA midpoint methods/models regarding water scarcity, based on the supplementary information provided in the paper of Kounina et al. [161] and based on own evaluation, after consultation with the EC-…
128	4.7.5 Applicability (step 6) 4.7.5.1 General
129	4.7.5.2 Applicability: data availability (LCI quality, characterization factors) 4.7.5.3 Applicability: Experience 4.7.5.4 Applicability: availability within widely used tools
130	4.7.6 Stakeholder acceptance (step 7) 4.7.7 Conclusions on methodology 4.7.7.1 Strengths 4.7.7.2 Weaknesses 4.7.7.3 LCIA method and indicator
131	4.7.8 Overall conclusions on water scarcity 5 Overview of intermediate non-LCA indicators 5.1 General 5.2 Land use/biodiversity assessed in BREEAM 5.2.1 General
132	Figure 37 — Assessment categories used in BREEAM NC (New Construction) 2014
133	Figure 38 — Whole life assessment of buildings using BREEAM schemes (UK and international) 5.2.2 Land Use and Biodiversity
135	5.3 DGNB51F 5.3.1 General
136	5.3.2 Land Use and Biodiversity
137	5.4 HQE52F
139	Annex A (informative) Possibilities for uptake in standardization process A.1 Introduction A.2 Structure of the table
141	Table A.1 — Options for uptake of additional impact categories and indicators in standardization
145	Annex B (informative) Recommended methods for life cycle impact assessment within ILCD Handbook Table B.1 — Recommended methods and their classification at midpoint level, according to JRC (2011) [4]
146	Table B.2 — Recommended methods and their classification at end point level, according to JRC (2011)
148	Annex C (informative) Life cycle impact assessment within the ILCD Handbook
150	Annex D (informative) General criteria and sub-criteria for the analysis of characterization models within ILCD Handbook Table D.1 — General criteria and sub-criteria for the analysis of characterization models, from JRC (2010)
153	Annex E (informative) Description of the general literature sources consulted
154	Annex F (informative) Illustration of land use types in LCIA methods
157	Bibliography

Published By	Publication Date	Number of Pages
BSI	2016	172


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Status	Definitive
Pages	172
Publication Date	2016-11-30
ISBN	978 0 580 90477 6
Standard Number	PD CEN/TR 17005:2016
Title	Sustainability of construction works. Additional environmental impact categories and indicators. Background information and possibilities. Evaluation of the possibility of adding environmental impact categories and related indicators and calculation methods for the assessment of the environmental performance of buildings
Identical National Standard Of	CEN/TR 17005:2016
Descriptors	Construction materials, Pollution, Sustainable development, Life (durability), Declarations, Data, Verification, Energy conservation, Sustainability, Information exchange, Environmental engineering, Construction systems parts, Technical documents, Environmental management
Publisher	BSI
Committee	B/558
ICS Codes	91.010.99 - Other aspects

BSI PD CEN/TR 17005:2016

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