LCA and LCC Analysis for the Programming of Sustainable Interventions on Building Heritage

Abstract

The objective of the research is to deepen the importance of the use of the Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Cost methodologies as decision support tools in the planning phase of interventions on the building heritage, in order to identify and plan sustainable choices for the renovation of the built. An initial theoretical treatment analyzes the concept of sustainable development starting from the analysis of the current environmental policies of the European Union; Life Cycle Thinking is a sustainable approach that allows you to move from the traditional design process to a global vision of the production system, which includes all the impacts that the product has in its life cycle.

It often happens that sustainability is reduced to the energy aspect only, leading to identifying the existing building heritage as a source of energy waste and consequently of pollution. From this point of view we often come to adopt extreme resolutions ranging from invasive redevelopment interventions, to abandonment or demolition and subsequent reconstruction. But in reality these choices, oversizing the load of the interventions, can determine a greater impact given the high waste of environmental and economic resources. On the contrary, the preservation of existing buildings can lead to less negative consequences, especially if addressed in a sustainable way.

The second part of the work consists in the use of LCA and LCC methodologies to evaluate and compare the environmental and economic profile of two different intervention strategies on a hypothetical 50 m² concrete slab roof, interested in extrados from an advanced state aging of the waterproofing coat and the intrados from mold and moisture spots caused by condensation surface. The results of the analyzes provide several interesting indications of an environmental and economic character, useful for the conscious adoption of design choices oriented to the sustainability of the entire life cycle of the building element.