Life cycle assessment and life cycle cost implication of residential buildings-A review

The aim of this article is to report a comprehensive review of life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost (LCC) implication on residential buildings. It discusses the contemporary issues, and its relationship and significance of system boundary, assumptions, and reports how it effects on economic and environmental impacts. The tools, frameworks and processes of LCA and LCC of buildings are also discussed. It critically illustrates the existing LCA and LCC studies on residential house designs to determine the causes for the widely varying results of numerous previous studies. It evaluates life cycle cost and life cycle environmental impacts of a case study building, and compares with very similar LCA and LCC studies. Finally, it reports the implications and perspectives of LCA and LCC studies on building designs. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.