Top 10 LCA FAQs Bibliography

We’ve been asked about recommended reading. While there are over 50 references embedded in our Top 10 articles these are ones we agreed likeminded structural engineers should turn to first. Enjoy!

Anderson, J., Silman, R. (2009) “A Life Cycle Inventory of Structural Engineering Design Strategies for Greenhouse Gas Reduction,” Structural Engineering International, March 2009 Issue.

Arup (2010) “Embodied Carbon Study: Study of Commercial Office, Hospital and School buildings,” The Concrete Centre, United Kingdom.

Cole, R., Kernan, P. (1996). Life-Cycle Energy Use in Office Buildings, Buildings and Environment, 31 (4): 307-317

Comber, M.V. & Poland, C. (2013). “Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Design: Quantifying the Benefits of a Holistic Design Approach.” Proceedings, American Society of Civil Engineers- Structural Engineering Institute (ASCE-SEI) Structures Congress, Pittsburgh, PA.

Curran, M. A. (2006). Life cycle assessment: principles and practice. Cincinnati, Ohio, 80.

Fernandez, N. P. (2008). “The Influence of Construction Materials on Life-Cycle Energy Use and Carbon Dioxide Emissions of Medium Size Commercial Buildings” Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.

Hsu, S. (2010) “Life Cycle Assessment of Materials and Construction in Commercial Structures: Variability and Limitations,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Kaether, Burridge (2012) “Embodied CO2 of Structural Frames”, The Structural Engineer.

Kneer, E., & Maclise, L. (2008). “Consideration of Building Performance in Sustainable Design: A Structural Engineer’s Role.” Proceedings, Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC) Annual Convention.

Konig, H. Kholer, N. Kreissig, J. Lutzkendorf, T. (2010). A life cycle approach to buildings: principles, calculations, design tools. Radaktion DETAIL, Munich.

LEED (2012) Reference Guide for Green Building Design and Construction v4 Draft. USGBC.

Ochsendorf, J., et al. (2011) “Methods, Impacts, and Opportunities in the Concrete Building Life Cycle,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Preservation Green Lab (2011) The Greenest Building: Quantifying the Environmental Value of Building Reuse, National Trust for Historic Preservation. [Accessed July 11,2014 from http://www.preservationnation.org/information-center/sustainable-communities/green-lab/lca/The_Greenest_Building_lowres.pdf]

Ramesh, T., Prakash, R., Shukla, K.K. (2010) “Life cycle energy analysis of buildings: An overview,” Energy and Buildings, 42 1592-1600.

Simonen, K. (2014) Life Cycle Assesment, New York, Routledge.

Webster, M., Kestner, D., Parker, J., Waltham, M.. (2007) “Deconstructalbe and Reusable Composite Slab,” Winners in the Building Category: Component – Professional Unbuilt, Lifecycle Building Challenge

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ASCE International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure 2014

For those of you who do engineering for infrastructure, the International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure is in Long Beach, California, November 6-8, 2014. It is hosted by ASCE.www.asce.org/icsi2014
This is the first international conference of its kind. The call for papers has closed.

Buzzwords from the program include: climate change, extreme events, risk, resiliency, adaptation, envision rating system. 

More from the program:

This conference is not about how to be sustainable. If it were, we would tell you not to waste your time. Instead, and more appropriately, this conference is about how to deal with the consequences of non-sustainability, that is, how to plan, design and construct infrastructure for a new and increasingly harsh operating environment. Today, engineers, academicians and other practitioners are facing difficult and unprecedented challenges in addressing a new reality for infrastructure design. Decade after decade of non-sustainable economic development is changing the environmental conditions under which infrastructure is supposed to operate. It is also changing the cost and availability of critical resources such as fresh water and energy. How we as engineers and scientists deal effectively with these changes is the most important challenge of the 21st century. This international conference is the first of its kind. We have brought together people from across the world; people who are building the knowledge base and developing the requisite policies and practices to handle the challenge of a changing operating environment. We designed the conference for practitioners, enabling them to engage with others, exchange ideas, and see the full spectrum of activities in infrastructure design for this new reality. 

You can also meet members of the Sustainability Committee of the Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute (COPRI) of ASCE. Contact Angie Lander at ASCE for more information on the committee.

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