Resource: Intercomparison and Benchmarking of LCA Based Environmental Assessment and Design Tools
Name of organisation: V FP project "Presco" reviewed by VMSW (BE)
Type of ressource: analysis/ technical report
Addressed users:
- building user (social housing organization)
- design team
- public decision maker
Language:
- English
Process stage:
- pre- design phase (appraisal and strategic briefing)
- design phase (project briefing)
Weblink: http://www.etn-presco.net/generalinfo/index.html
Description
European tool developers are being given the opportunity to exchange information and to transfer knowledge and data. In order to realise this, virtual or existing reference buildings, whether considered as green or not, is to be selected around Europe. The different tool developers will execute environmental performance assessments of the reference buildings. Results are to be compared and discussed in order to define a common baseline offering a harmonised approach for assessment and design methodologies.
In a first step, the tools were compared in the case of a very simple “cube” building, and the main hypotheses were listed and analysed. A real case study has then been considered in a second phase : a single family house with a rather simple geometry.
Implementation
Information
The tools considered are : ECO-QUANTUM (W/E Sustainable Building, The Netherlands), LEGEP (ASCONA, Germany), OGIP (EMPA, Switzerland), EQUER (ARMINES, France), ENVEST (BRE, United Kingdom), Eco-Soft (IBO, Austria), BeCost (VTT, Finland), SIMA-PRO (BDA Milieu, The Netherlands), ESCALE (CSTB, France). In general, the input data include a description of the studied building (geometry, techniques…) and its context (e.g. electricity production mix). The output is a multi-indicator comparison of design alternatives, supporting decision making.