Lifecycle Emissions: Decision-Making Basis for Sustainable Building Strategies
Grey emissions – meaning the CO₂ emissions from the production, transport, and disposal of building materials – are increasingly coming into focus in construction planning. But looking only at this part falls short.
The real leverage emerges when operational and grey emissions are analyzed together. This is exactly where NORM’s approach comes in: using SIA 2032 and SIA 390 standards, combined with NORM’s 3D model and energy analyses, emissions can be transparently displayed across the entire lifecycle.
Considering Emissions Holistically
The combination of innovative calculation approaches and NORM’s 3D model enables a lifecycle view with a high level of detail.
- Operation: Emissions are broken down into Scope 1–3.
- Grey emissions: Impacts of material and construction decisions are made transparent.
- Lifecycle: Operational and grey emissions are combined over the entire period of use.
This is the core of the innovation: variants can be compared in terms of climate balance over the entire lifecycle, instead of looking only at operation or construction in isolation.
Linking to Potential Analysis
Already during the preliminary or variant study, this enables:
- Utilization potentials (ERA, MUFA) to be quantified
- Emissions and lifecycle costs to be compared across scenarios
- Renovation and extension options to be transparently evaluated
Depending on the need, this creates a clear decision-making basis already in the phases of strategic planning, preliminary study, and early design.
This process also forms the basis for the project LÖSUMBAU, which NORM is conducting together with INFRAS, ZHAW and UniDistance Suisse on behalf of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), the Swiss Federal Office for Housing (BWO) and the Canton of Basel-Stadt.
Conclusion
Our approach makes variant evaluation precise and transparent. This allows ecological and economic goals to be balanced at an early stage, a decisive step toward sustainable buildings.
Optionally, we complement the analysis with a lifecycle cost assessment (CAPEX, OPEX, energy and CO₂ costs). This way, ecological and economic arguments are aligned.
In short: SIA 2032 and SIA 390, based on NORM’s 3D model, create decision-making foundations that, for the first time, represent the entire lifecycle. This makes it possible to identify opportunities and set priorities before important decisions are made.
