Overall approach to building LCA and recent studies in Türkiye

Abstract

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has emerged as a vital approach for evaluating the environmental impact of building materials, products, energy consumption, and emissions throughout a building's lifespan, providing a comprehensive measure of building sustainability. In recent years, Türkiye's building sector has witnessed a substantial increase in the adoption of LCA, aligning with the nation's sustainability endeavours. This paper conducts a comprehensive review of 33 studies published within the last decade, focusing on residential and commercial buildings as well as industrial facilities in Türkiye. This study, therefore, fills an important gap by encompassing all common aspects of buildings within its LCA framework. Notably, LCA studies exhibit variability based on factors such as building type, geographical location, impact categories, system boundaries, and the specific LCA methodology employed. Türkiye's building sector is embracing LCA as a sustainability tool, despite challenges like lack of data and method standardization. The growing adoption of LCA is poised to contribute to enhanced sustainability practices in Türkiye's building industry, shaping a more environmentally conscious future. This research underscores the importance of standardized methodologies to facilitate a more cohesive and comparable analysis across diverse LCA studies.