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SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE 2019 (SBE19 Graz) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 323 (2019) 012146 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/323/1/012146
Roles of the reference service life (RSL) of buildings and the

RSL of building components in the environmental impacts of
buildings
Potrč Obrecht T1, Kunič R2, Jordan S1, Legat A1

1
Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute
2
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering
[email protected]
Abstract. The Life Cycle Assessment of a building is a complex analysis that also involves the
use of the predicted Reference Service Life (RSL) of the building components and materials, as
well as the predicted RSL of the whole building. The RSL values of individual materials and
building components can be obtained from different sources and are not exactly comparable. In
the present study, the influence of selected RLS values on an LCA assessment was evaluated.
Three different RSL databases were used as the sources of the data to estimate the
environmental impacts of selected building components (internal wooden door and external
finishing coat). Two scenarios were presented. In the first scenario a building component can
be reused in another building, while in the second scenario the reuse of the building component
is not possible. The study showed that dependent on the selected RSL database, the results can
differ by up to a factor of five. Therefore, it is very important to describe clearly the
maintenance scenarios for a building in order to have a reliable comparison of the results of
LCA assessments.
1. Introduction
It is estimated that buildings account for 30–40% of energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions [1,2].
The EU has been focusing on reducing energy use and, consequently, the environmental impact of the
use phase of buildings. As a result of these measures, the ratio between energy use and the embodied
energy of a building and its components has drastically changed: the embodied energy of the building
has become more significant [3]. Therefore, it is important to assess the environmental impacts during
the whole life cycle of a building, including the phases of producing the materials and components, the
process of constructing the building, the operation and the decomposition. A Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA) is a method used to evaluate the potential environmental impacts during the whole life cycle of
a product and this method is also increasingly being used to evaluate the environmental impacts of
complex products, such as buildings. The methodology is outlined in the ISO 14040 series of
standards [4].
LCA studies consider the service life of the building and its components; therefore, their lifetimes
need to be known as a reference service life (RSL). The building’s RSL is defined as the period during
which a building is in use. The building itself, however, has a very long RSL, usually longer than the
individual components. In addition, the RSL of the component can vary greatly from one component
to another. But the most important point is that the RSL values for the same buildings or components
can vary depending on the database they originate from [5].
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
The RSL of a building component is influenced by many parameters, among them the indoor and
outdoor environments, the predicted maintenance, the design of the product, etc. [6–8]. Different
approaches can be used to estimate the RSL of a building’s component and the building itself. In the
study of Grant et al. [7] three main approaches to predict the RSL of a component were identified.
• First, the principles of structural engineering can be used to estimate the structural integrity
and the fatigue of materials in accordance with the physical loading, the ongoing chemical
reactions, and the degradation over time.
• Secondly, the factor method offers different factors that are used to modify the reference
service life of a component (RSLC) to calculate an estimated service life of the component
(ESLC). The method is declared in ISO Standard 15686-1 and includes factors for the quality
of components (factor A), the design level (factor B), the work-execution level (factor C), the
indoor environment (factor D), the outdoor environment (factor E), the in-use conditions
(factor F), and the maintenance level (factor G):
•
ESLC = RSLC × Factor A × Factor B × Factor C × Factor D × Factor E × Factor F ×
Factor G
• The third option is the use of empirical data. This method is seen as very accurate, but at the
same time the acquisition of empirical data is very costly and time consuming.
The RSL of a component that is determined using one of the above-described methods can be
acquired from different sources [9]:
• individual EPDs (cradle to gate, or cradle to grave);

• client requirements and current practices;
• product and component manufacturers’ information;
• existing applicable standards such as ISO 15686-1, -2, -7 and -8;
• conventional service life in a national context or within an LCA software package for
buildings.
There are also other sources that can be used to determine the RSL of building components and
products:
▪ publicly available, national or commercial databases;

▪ research-group publications and initiatives;
▪ scientific publications.
The Eeb Guide states that in an LCA analysis the RSL of the component has an influence on
several aspects of the life cycle of the building [9]. The RSL of the building influences the length of
the use phase and thereby the impacts connected with the operational energy and water use as well as
the maintenance. A lot of LCA studies are not paying enough attention to the maintenance scenarios of
building components, although according to EN 15978, which divides the life cycle of the building
into different stages (Fig. 1), various maintenance scenarios should be included in the life cycle of the
building, i.e., B2 - maintenance; B3 - repair; B4 - refurbishment and B5 - replacement. According to
EN 15978 the module B2- maintenance applies to planned actions and should include preventive and
regular maintenance operations as well as cleaning operations. Maintenance scenarios should be
provided along with a product’s RSL according to EN 15804. The scenario B3 - repair encompasses
all the actions, including corrective, responsive or reactive treatments of a construction product and the
replacement of a broken component or part because of damage (replacement of a whole element
should be assigned to B4 - replacement). B4 - replacement covers the replacement of a complete
construction element [EN 15804], including the impacts on the production and installation of a new
2
(and identical) construction element. The B5 - refurbishment module is applied when the connected
actions of modules B2, B3 and B4, for a significant part of the building or a whole section of the
building, are carried out.
Figure 1. Building’s LCA stages according to EN 15978.
A building’s RSL has a significant influence on the LCA results related to the use stage of the
building. Firstly, the RSL of the whole building influences the energy use of the building. In the case
of a long RSL for a building, the amount of energy needed to operate the building can be much higher
than in the case of a shorter RSL (modules B6 and B7). Secondly, the RSL of a building influences the
results for the energy needed to maintain the building, since it affects the maintenance and the number
of replacements of individual components (modules B2, B3, B4 and B5). And vice versa, the lengths
of the RSLs of the components affect the number of their replacements over the entire lifetime of the
building. However, it often happens that the end of the RSL of a building and the end of the RSL of
the last replacement of the component under consideration do not coincide. If the RSL of the
component exceeds the RSL of the building and if the component is still intact, it can be reused in
another building (Figure 2). In this case the environmental impact of this last replacement can be
divided between the life cycle of the first and the second buildings.
3
Figure 2. Residual RSLs of individual building components after the end of the building’s RSL
(marked grey)
Grant et al. [6,7] showed that LCA studies are not using uniform RSL values for the calculation of
environmental impacts. They demonstrated that different predictions for the RSLs of building
components and maintenance scenarios directly influence the environmental impacts of a building
with an RSL of 50 years. In their study they compared the impact of the replacement phase for
different building components in five RSL databases that are mainly present in the US market. The
results can vary from 4 % to 25 % depending on the impact category. For an easier comparison of
LCA studies it is very important that appropriate data about the use stage of the building’s components
and materials is provided, including information about their service lives and the maintenance
scenarios. The RSL values of the building’s components should be provided along with a maintenance
scenario, as required by EN 15804. The LCA analysis should also take into account the decline in the
performance of the building’s products and components because this also has an influence on other
aspects of the use stage (e.g., a lower performance of the heating system could result in a higher
energy consumption), but this is almost never performed in practice.
The aim of the presented study is to show the role and importance of the length of the RSL of a
building and its individual components in the calculation of the environmental impacts of the building.
In the first part of the study the sources of the RSL values from different EU countries are described
and compared. The study shows whether the RSL data is acquired from a standard or from legislation
or is determined by the national method for LCA. In the second part of the study a comparison
between the RSLs taken from three databases for buildings and building components is made, with the
aim to clarify to what extent different RSL values in two scenarios of a possible product’s reuse can
influence the results of an LCA study.
2. RSLs of buildings and building components
2.1 RSL regulations in European countries

In order to carry out LCA studies, EU countries use data sources of various origins for determining the
RSLs for buildings and their components. In general, the countries have developed their own
databases, which are often based on the current standards, such as ISO 15686 or SIA 2032. The RSL
values in Austria, for instance, are obtained from a document that is issued by the government; in
Switzerland there is a standard, while the RSL in Slovenia is determined by legislation. In the case of
Belgium and the Czech Republic the RSL database is included in the national LCA method.
Table 1 presents the sources of the RSLs for building materials and components in some European
countries. The listed databases are mainly used for LCA calculations; although some can also be
helpful for other analytical procedures (e.g., life cycle cost analysis).
Table 1. RSL regulation in European countries
Country RSL Source for building Standard, legislation RSL of the building RSL of the
components or part of the defined in relation to building defined in
national assessment the main structural relation to the
method material building’s use
Austria Nutzungsdauerkatalog Legislation no no

baulicher Anlagen und
Anlagenteile 2012 [10]
Belgium Durées de vie dans National assessment yes no

MMG2017/TOTEM [11] method
4
Czech SBToolCZE [12] National assessment yes no

method
Germany Nutzungsdauern von Bauteilen National assessment no no

für Lebenszyklusanalysen nach method
Bewertungssystem
Nachhaltiges Bauen (BNB)
[13]
Slovenia Pravilnik o standardih Legislation yes no

vzdrževanja stanovanjskih
stavb in stanovanj [14]
Spain Documento Básico SE Legislation no no

Seguridad structural [15]
Switzerland SIA 2032 [16] Standard no no
Table 1 also provides information about whether there is a link between the RSL of a building
according to its main construction material (fourth column) and between the RSL of a building and the
use of the building (the last column). To illustrate this, the RSL value of wooden buildings in Slovenia
is for 50 years, while this data for masonry buildings is for 90 years. It is clear that in the above-listed
databases there is no distinction whatsoever between the RSLs of buildings according to their use (last
column). Nevertheless, there are certain building-certification schemes, for instance DGNB, where the
RSLs of buildings depend on the building type (e.g., office building, residential building) [10].
When calculating the environmental impacts, it is essential to differentiate between the building
components that can be further reused in the same form either in the renovation of the same building
or can be used in a second building and the building components that cannot be further used, although
they have not reached their full RSL at the time of the building’s demolition (Fig.2). For example, if a
roof tile is still functional, it can easily be reused on a second building. On the other hand, it is
impossible to reuse external wall finishes, even if they have not reached the full RSL at the time of the
building’s demolition. In the first case the environmental impacts can be divided between the two
buildings, and in the second case the whole burden is assigned to only one building.
Table 2, below, shows the RSL data for building components from Slovenian’s legislation, the
Austrian catalogue (Nutzungsdaurekatalog) and the European Organisation for Technical Assessment
(EOTA) technical guidelines.
Table 2. RSL for the building components of Slovenia, Austria and the
EOTA
Building elements Slovenia Austria EOTA
Foundations 90 60 100
External walls (above ground) 80 100 100
External door 50 30 25
Windows 50 30 25
Internal wall construction (supporting) 80 100 50
Partition wall (non-supporting) 50 30 25
Internal door 50 30 25
Floors (structural) 80 50 50
Ceilings 80 80 100
Roof structural construction 70 60 50
5
Stairs and ramps (structural) 50 70 50

Water system 40 N/D 25
Sewage system 40 N/D 50
Electrical system 40 N/D 25
Heating system (heat producer) 20 N/D 25
Heating system (heat distribution) 25 N/D 25
Ventilation system 20 N/D 25
External finishing coat 40 30 25
External thermal insulation (compact facade) 30 N/D 25
Roof cladding - inclined roof 30 N/D 25
Internal finishes (walls, floors) 30 30 10
2.2 Comparison of the environmental impacts of building components calculated with different RSL
databases
In the continuation of this study a comparison of the environmental impacts determined based on
different RSLs is presented. The environmental impacts were calculated for two building components
with specific scenarios, an external finishing coat and an internal door. Each calculation was
performed for three databases (Slovenia, Austria and the EOTA) in which the RSL for the building
and the components under consideration differ considerably. The RSL data for both components, the
finishing coat and internal door, are shown in Table 2 (marked bold). The environmental impacts were
calculated with the data for the GWP impact category, taken from the Oekobaudat database [11]
(Table 3).
Table 3. Oekobaudat data for the GWP impact category, used in this study
Internal wooden door (1pcs)

Provision of
raw Waste Recycling
materials Transport Production Transport treatment Elimination potential
Indicator Unit A1 A2 A3 C2 C3 C4 D
GWP kgCO(2)-Eq -43,8 1,19 28 0,0792 101 2,6 -40,1
External finishing coat (1 kg)

Recycling
Production Transport Installation Elimination potential
Indicator Unit A1-A3 A4 A5 C4 D
GWP kgCO(2)-Eq 1,22 0,199 0,0289 0,0112 -0,0193
For the purpose of the comparison, the study included two scenarios. The first scenario is related to
the building component, the internal wooden door, which can be reused in a second building. The
calculated environmental impacts of the replaced door can therefore be divided between the life cycles
of both buildings. At the end of the second scenario (decomposition of the building) the building
component, the external finishing coat, is destroyed. Consequently, it cannot be reused in the same
form in another building, so the whole environmental burden of the finishing coat falls on the first
building. The RSL of the whole building in our case study was 90 years for Slovenia, 100 years for
Austria and 100 years for the EOTA database.
6
The internal wooden door

Within the RSL of the building the internal wooden door must be replaced several times, since the
RSL of the door is much shorter than that of the building. The RSLs for the internal wooden door
considered were 50 years for Slovenia, 30 years for Austria and 25 years, as proposed by the EOTA
(Table 2). The needed replacements are as follows: one time according to the data for Slovenia, and
three times according to the data for Austria and the EOTA.
Figure 3. Internal door replacements in the RSL of the building according to the selected RSL
databases
In the case of Austria and Slovenia the RSL of the last replaced internal wooden door exceeds the
RSL of the building. So only the part of the production phase (A phase according to EN 15978) is
assigned to the life cycle of the first building, while the rest (C3, C4 and D phases according to EN
15978) should be assigned to the LCA of the new building where the material will be subsequently
used.
Figure 4. GWP emissions of each internal door (original + replacements) during the RSL of the
building
7
Figure 5. Total GWP emissions for an internal door (original + replacements) during the RSL of the
building according the selected RSL databases
The production phase for the internal door has an impact of -14,61 kgCO2equiv., the end-of-life
phase 103,6 kgCO2equiv and the D phase has an impact of -40,1 kgCO2equiv. In the case of Slovenia,
the impact of the original door (the sum of all the phases) and the production phase of the replacement
door are summed together. According to Austria’s RSL database the impact of the original door, the
impact of the first two replacements (all life cycle phases) and the production phase of the third
replacement are summed. For the EOTA the total impact of the original and the total impact of all
three replacements are summed.
The calculation shows that the results can differ by up to a factor of five (Fig. 4 and Fig. 5). The
gap between the results is further emphasized by the fact that the internal door is made of wood, which
is considered as a carbon sink. This means that the benefits of the carbon sequestration are attributed
to the first building, as a positive impact on the environment (Fig. 4), while the environmental burden
of wood disposal is assigned to the second building.
External finishing coat

An external finishing coat is a type of product that is virtually impossible to disassemble in such a way
that it can be reused. Therefore, it is anticipated that although this product has not reached its full RSL
it has to be disposed of at the end of the RSL of the building. The entire burden of the external
finishing coat, even if it is still functional, needs to be ascribed to the first building.
Again, the RSL of the building in our case study was 90 years for Slovenia, 100 years for Austria
and 100 year for the EOTA database. The RSL for the external finishing coat was 40 years in
Slovenia, 30 years in Austria and 25 years as proposed in the EOTA (Table 2).
8
Figure 6 Finishing-coat replacements in the RSL of the building according to the selected RSL
databases
Also, the external finishing coat must be replaced several times within the RSL of the building: two
times according to the Slovenian data and three times according to the data from Austria and the
EOTA. It is clear (Figure 6) that in the case of Austria and Slovenia the RSL of the external finishing
coat exceeds the RSL of the building. Nevertheless, the whole environmental burden of the last
replacement of the component must be assigned to the building.
2
GWP (kg CO2 equiv.)
1.5
1
123 1234 1234 GWP impact of
0.5 the component
with unfinished
0 RSL
Slovenia Austria EOTA
-0.5
Figure 7. GWP emissions of each kg of finishing coat (original + replacements) during the RSL of the
building
Figure 8. Total GWP emissions for 1 kg of finishing coat (original + replacements) during the RSL of
the building according to the selected RSL databases
9
The production phase for 1 kg of finishing coat has an impact of 1.448 kgCO2equiv., the end-of-
life phase 0.011 kgCO2equiv and the D phase has an impact of -0.019 kgCO2equiv. According to the
Slovenian RSL database two replacements are needed (the environmental impact of all the life cycle
phases is calculated). In the case of Austria and the EOTA the environmental impact of the whole life
cycle of 1 kg of finishing coat is calculated four times (original + three replacements).
The GWP emissions caused by 1 kg of external finishing coat are the same when calculated with
the Austrian or the EOTA RSL data, despite the fact that the RSLs of the finishing coats are 30 and 25
years. In both cases three replacements of the coating in the RSL of the building are required (Fig 7).
In Slovenia the RSL of the external finishing coat is longer and only two replacements of the external
finishing coat are needed; consequently, the GWP emissions of the latter are lower (Fig 7).
3. Conclusions
This study confirms that the reference service life (RSL) of a building and its components can have a
significant influence on the results of the LCA analysis of a building. Therefore, for ensuring a reliable
comparison between analyses it is extremely important that the RSL data in European databases are
reasonably harmonized and clearly presented.
The results of the analysis showed that the calculation scenario at the end of the RSL of a building
must be consistent with the actual handling of the components when the building is decomposed. In an
ideal scenario, multiple RSLs of building components and the RSL of a building would end
simultaneously. In reality this is very rare: the environmental impacts of the component strongly
depend on the reuse scenario in terms of whether they should be attributed only to the life cycle of the
first building or the next one, in which it is reused as well. This case study confirms that the scenarios
for the reuse of individual components must also be methodologically consistent.
The influence of building components’ RSLs was analysed with just two examples. It was shown
that due to the selected European RSL databases and the predicted scenarios the results of the
environmental impacts in a life cycle of a building can differ by up to a factor of five. In real buildings
there are hundreds of components, so the influence of various reuse scenarios on the overall LCA
analysis results can be even more significant.
RSL values of the individual materials, building components and buildings can be selected from
many sources and are not completely comparable. It was found that the RSL sources in the European
context are usually linked to different kinds of national legislation, but the background for their
definition is not exactly known. Some countries have a uniform RSL for all the buildings, while others
(including Slovenia) have RSL values that are mainly related to the type of building material (brick,
concrete, wood, steel). There are some cases where the RSL values primarily depend on the use of the
buildings. It is obvious that further research based on European data and subsequent comparisons of
the results are needed to define reliable RSL values for specific individual materials and building
components as well as for buildings.
References
[1] Ramesh T, Prakash R, Shukla KK 2010 Life cycle energy analysis of buildings: An overview
Energy Build. 42, 1592–1600
[2] Passer A, Ouellet-Plamondon C, Kenneally P, John V, Habert G 2016 The impact of future
scenarios on building refurbishment strategies towards plus energy buildings Energy Build.
124 153–163
[3] Thormark C 2002 A low energy building in a life cycle—its embodied energy, energy need for
operation and recycling potential Build. Environ. 37 429–435
[4] Abd Rashid AF, Yusoff S 2015 A review of life cycle assessment method for building industry
Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 45 244–248
[5] Rauf A, Crawford RH 2015 Building service life and its effect on the life cycle embodied energy
of buildings Energy 79 140–148
[6] Grant A, Ries R, Kibert C 2014 Life Cycle Assessment and Service Life Prediction A Case
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[7] Grant A, Ries R 2013 Impact of building service life models on life cycle assessment Build. Res.
Inf. 41 168–186
[8] Dixit MK 2019 Life cycle recurrent embodied energy calculation of buildings : A review J.
Clean. Prod. 209 731–754,
[9] EeBGuide Project Available online: https://www.eebguide.eu/.
[10] Nutrungsdauerkatalog baulicher Anlagen und Anlagenteile 2012 Landesverband Steiermark und
Karnten.
[11] Durées de vie dans MMG2017/TOTEM Available online: https://www.totem-building.be/
[12] SBToolCZ. Available online: https://www.sbtool.cz/cs/metodika
[13] Nutzungsdauern von Bauteilen für Lebenszyklusanalysen nach Bewertungssystem Nachhaltiges
Bauen. Available online:
https://www.nachhaltigesbauen.de/fileadmin/pdf/baustoff_gebauededaten/BNB_Nutzungsda
uern_von_Bauteilen__2011-11-03.pdf
[14] Pravilnik o standardih vzdrževanja stanovanjskih stavb in stanovanj. Available online:
http://www.pisrs.si/Pis.web/pregledPredpisa?id=PRAV5263
[15] Documento Básico SE Seguridad. Available online:
https://www.afme.es/phocadownload/Codigo_Tecnico_de_la_Edificacion/CTE-DB_SE-
AE.pdf
[16] SIA 2032 2010 Graue energie von Gebauden (Zurich: Swiss society of engineers and
architects)
[17] DGNB Available online: https://www.dgnb.de.
[18] Ökobaudat Available online: https://www.oekobaudat.de/.
[19] EOTA Available online: http://www.irbnet.de/daten/iconda/CIB1315.pdf
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IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science

PAPER • OPEN ACCESS You may also like

- Multifrequency Study on the Mode

This content was downloaded from IP address 187.36.165.175 on 04/11/2021 at 00:19

Roles of the reference service life (RSL) of buildings and the

Potrč Obrecht T1, Kunič R2, Jordan S1, Legat A1

• individual EPDs (cradle to gate, or cradle to grave);

▪ publicly available, national or commercial databases;

Figure 1. Building’s LCA stages according to EN 15978.

2. RSLs of buildings and building components

2.1 RSL regulations in European countries

Table 1. RSL regulation in European countries

Austria Nutzungsdauerkatalog Legislation no no

Belgium Durées de vie dans National assessment yes no

Czech SBToolCZE [12] National assessment yes no

Germany Nutzungsdauern von Bauteilen National assessment no no

Slovenia Pravilnik o standardih Legislation yes no

Spain Documento Básico SE Legislation no no

Switzerland SIA 2032 [16] Standard no no

Building elements Slovenia Austria EOTA

Stairs and ramps (structural) 50 70 50

Internal wooden door (1pcs)

GWP kgCO(2)-Eq -43,8 1,19 28 0,0792 101 2,6 -40,1

External finishing coat (1 kg)

GWP kgCO(2)-Eq 1,22 0,199 0,0289 0,0112 -0,0193

The internal wooden door

External finishing coat

Study of Building Envelope Materials J. of Indu. Eco, 18

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