The role of users in addressing environmental impacts in LCA: a literature review

The construction sector is a major contributor of environmental impact. In evaluating building performance in the in use-stage of building life cycle (BLC), studies expressed the correlation with users’ behaviours. The present study aims at evaluating if Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been used to assess the environmental impacts of the built environment through users’ behaviours. A literature review is presented based on six keywords (Life Cycle Assessment, LCA, building, occupancy, occupant, and users) to highlights the effect of users. The results show that few studies applied LCA to assess the intensity in the use of space, while several to show the correlation between users’ behaviours and energy performance of buildings. Finally, future implementation of LCA in the in-use stage of BLC should look at the overall impact of users in evaluating the environmental efficiency or inefficiency of buildings through real time date analysis.