Experiences with LCA in the Nordic Building Industry - Challenges, Needs and Solutions

"NORNET - Innovative use of LCA in the development of sustainable building and refurbishment strategies" is a Nordic network aiming at extended and improved use of LCA in the Nordic building sector. The NORNET LCA network has studied the challenges and needs of the Nordic building industry in the development in Building Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The study applied a semi-structured interview technique with 57 interviewees from the Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish building sector. The study was conducted using a combination of in-depth phone interviews, email interviews and an online multiple-choice questionnaire. The interviewees represented different stakeholders in the Nordic building industry with varying knowledge of LCA, including building product manufacturers, entrepreneurs, building owners, architects, consultants, organizations and research institutes. The interviewees emphasized the need for a better understanding of the relative significance of different factors and building parts and the need to refine and harmonize the existing building LCA tools and databases. The results from this study provides valuable insight in how the Nordic Building Industry experiences the use of LCA. The results also raises awareness of the issues that are needed to be addressed in order for the industry to accelerate and expand the application of LCA in the near future.