Standards Development

Scope

This document specifies the calculation method, based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and other quantified environmental information, to assess the environmental performance of a building and its site, and gives the means for the reporting and communication of the outcome of the assessment. The standard is applicable to new and existing buildings and refurbishment projects.

The document gives:

— the description of the object of assessment,

— the system boundary that applies at the building level,

— the procedure to be used for the inventory analysis,

— the list of indicators and procedures for the calculations of these indicators,

— optional indicators that may be used to provide additional information concerning environmental impacts and aspects at the local level, technical characteristics and management processes that support environmental performance,

— the requirements for the data necessary for the calculation, and

— the requirements for presentation of the results in reporting and communication.

The approach to the assessment covers all stages of the building life cycle and is based on data obtained from Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), their "information modules" (EN 15804+A2,2019) and other data and information necessary and relevant for carrying out the assessment. The assessment includes all building related construction products, processes and services, used over the life cycle of the building.

The interpretation and value judgments of the results of the assessment are not within the scope of this European Standard.

NOTE 1 EPD according to product category rules of construction products (i.e. PCR or c-PCR) that follow EN15804+A2:2019) are generally deemed to satisfy the requirements of this standard, subject to their also meeting the requirements of PrEN 15941.

NOTE 2 EN 15978 -1 provides indicators, calculation rules and system boundaries for the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions, resource consumption and operational water use among other issues of the life cycle related environmental performance of buildings. It also provides the methodological basis and assessment rules to support the achievement of environment related macro objectives in Europe and instruments such as the European reporting framework LEVEL(s).

NOTE 3 LEVEL(s), is a common European approach to assess and report on the sustainability of buildings. Using existing standards, the voluntary Level(s) framework provides a common language for building sustainability, which other initiatives can also use. More information can be found at Level(s) (europa.eu).