ASTM_E_2921_-_13.pdf

Designation:E292113Standard Practice forMinimum Criteria for Comparing Whole Building Life CycleAssessments for Use with Building Codes and RatingSystems1This standard is issued under the fixed designation E2921;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon()indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.1.Scope1.1 This practice provides criteria to be applied irrespectiveof the assessment(LCA)tool that is used when LCA isundertaken at the whole building level to compare a final wholebuilding design to a reference building design.1.2 The purpose of this practice is to support the use ofwhole building Life Cycle Assessment(LCA)in buildingcodes and building rating systems by ensuring that comparativeassessments of final whole building designs relative to refer-ence building designs take account of the relevant buildingfeatures,life cycle stages,and related activities in similarfashion for both the reference and final building designs of thesame building.1.3 The criteria do not deal with building occupantbehavior,possible future changes in building function,buildingrehabilitation or retrofit,or other matters that cannot beforeseen or reasonably estimated at the design or permittingstage,or both where this practice applies.1.4 Only environmental impacts and aspects of sustainabil-ity are addressed in this practice.The social and economicimpacts and aspects of sustainability are not addressed in thispractice.1.5 ThispracticedoesnotdealwithbasicLCAmethodology,calculation methods or related matters that arecovered in cited international standards.1.6 This practice does not supersede or modify existing ISOstandards for the application of LCA at the product level,nordoes it address the aggregation of building product Environ-mental Product Declarations(EPDs)at the whole buildinglevel.1.7 This practice does not specify the impact categories orsustainability aspects to be addressed in building codes orbuilding rating systems and users of this practice conform tothe impact category requirements specified in the applicablecode or rating system.1.8 The text of this standard contains notes that provideexplanatory material.These notes shall not be considered asrequirements of the standard.1.9 This standard does not purport to address all of thesafety concerns,if any,associated with its use.It is theresponsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.2.Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:2E631 Terminology of Building ConstructionsE2114 Terminology for Sustainability Relative to the Perfor-mance of Buildings2.2 Other Standards:3ISO 14040:2006 Environmental Management Life CycleAssessment Principles and FrameworkISO 14044:2006 Environmental Management Life CycleAssessment Requirements and GuidelinesISO 14050 Terminology3.Terminology3.1 For terms related to building construction,refer toTerminology E631.3.2 For terms related to sustainability relative to the perfor-mance of buildings,refer to Terminology E2114.3.3 For terms related to LCA(for example,product system,input,output)refer to ISO 14050 Terminology.3.4 Definitions of Terms Specific to This Standard:3.4.1 building,na shelter comprising a partially or totallyenclosed space(s),erected by means of planned forces offorming and combining materials.E6311This test method is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E60 onSustainability and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E60.01 on Buildingsand Construction.Current edition approved Dec.1,2013.Published December 2013.DOI:10.1520/E2921-132For referenced ASTM standards,visit the ASTM website,www.astm.org,orcontact ASTM Customer Service at serviceastm.org.For Annual Book of ASTMStandards volume information,refer to the standards Document Summary page onthe ASTM website.3Available from International Organization for Standardization(ISO),1,ch.dela Voie-Creuse,CP 56,CH-1211 Geneva 20,Switzerland,http:/www.iso.org.Copyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959.United States1 3.4.2 building,vthe act or process of construction.E6313.4.3 building productgoods used during the life cycle ofa building as part of its infrastructure.3.4.4 building service lifethe period of time after installa-tion during which a building(or its parts)meet or exceed theperformance requirement(s).3.4.5 characterization factorfactor derived from a char-acterization model that is applied to convert an assigned lifecycle inventory analysis result to the common unit of thecategory indicator.3.4.5.1 DiscussionThe common unit allows calculation ofthe category indicator result(ISO 14044).3.4.6 impact categorya class representing environmentalissue of concern to which life cycle inventory analys