Service life as main aspect in environmental assessment

Changes can be made more easily as a consequence of this type of building, and building according to consumers' wishes is possible this way. Making changes to buildings is often not taken into account when a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a building is being made. Life Cycle Assessment's are still based on traditional buildings and closer attention because the influence it has on the amount of materials used has also an enormous impact on the outcome of the environmental assessment. By defining the role of service life within a LCA and indicating what can be achieved bay a sound service life prediction, the environmental assessment of IFD buildings can be more accurate. This is necessary to point out the advantages IFD building have on the environmental impact of a building compared to traditional buildings. However, these insights are not only suitable for IFD buildings, but also for traditional buildings. Aspect that will be looked in this paper at are the fixed service life within the current assessments, the different phases within service life and the rate of replacement of components. Currently fixed service lives are used, which originate from experience and practice.Another aspect that needs more clarification is the division of different phases within a service life. Upon now an enironmental burden caused by a product is often regarded a a linear process, while distinctions can be made that can influence the entire outcome. A third aspect is the early replacement of components (before it's technical service life is over). The assumption is that this aspect will more and more be responsible for replacements of components, while it is not being taken into account in a LCA. The role of service life in LCA is underestimated which results in inconclusive assessment values. One of the approaches to improve this is the factor method. This existing method needs some adjustments but is suitable for service life prediction in LCA's. The outcome will be a service life of components that is more accurate in a given situation. Understanding the role of service life makes prediction of the environmental burden over time more accurate as well and choices between IFD buildings and traditional buildings can be well founded.