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The role of Social Life Cycle Assessment in the housing market
Alberto Quintana-Gallardo1*, Fernando A. Mendiguchia1, Ignacio Guillén-Guillamón1
1 Centre for Physics Technologies (CTFAMA), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain, alquigal@upv.es
* Corresponding author
This study focuses on how Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) can be applied to improve the effect buildings,
especially homes, have on society. Houses have a dramatic influence on the way people who inhabit them live.
Aspects such as indoor temperature, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), light exposure, or even space planning change not
only the physical and mental health of the building users but even their behavior and the way they see the world.
Over the last decade, Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (E-LCA) has been extensively used to analyze the
effects of the different stages in the life of a building affecting the environment. Using LCA has helped identify
the critical processes that need to be addressed to lower the environmental footprint of buildings. S-LCA can
be used in the same way to optimize how buildings are built to positively impact the building users and society
around them. In this work, a set of indicators for the use phase of buildings (B) is analyzed, and their suitability
as markers for the social performance of buildings is rated. The results show that it is possible to quantify many
aspects that characterize the buildings' effect on society. Quantifying the social performance of buildings can
help architects and other industry professionals implement socially aware designs.
Keywords: Social Life Cycle Assessment, energy poverty, socially responsible design
Acknowledgement: Authors AQG gratefully acknowledges receiving funding from the Spanish Ministry of
Universities and the Polytechnic University of Valencia, under the ‘Plan de Recuperación Transformación y
Resiliencia’ (investment funding from the European Union Next Generation EU)
20 1 3 – 1 4 S E PT E M B E R 2 0 2 3 I I Z O L A , S LOVE N I A
Alberto Quintana-Gallardo1*, Fernando A. Mendiguchia1, Ignacio Guillén-Guillamón1
1 Centre for Physics Technologies (CTFAMA), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain, alquigal@upv.es
* Corresponding author
This study focuses on how Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) can be applied to improve the effect buildings,
especially homes, have on society. Houses have a dramatic influence on the way people who inhabit them live.
Aspects such as indoor temperature, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), light exposure, or even space planning change not
only the physical and mental health of the building users but even their behavior and the way they see the world.
Over the last decade, Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (E-LCA) has been extensively used to analyze the
effects of the different stages in the life of a building affecting the environment. Using LCA has helped identify
the critical processes that need to be addressed to lower the environmental footprint of buildings. S-LCA can
be used in the same way to optimize how buildings are built to positively impact the building users and society
around them. In this work, a set of indicators for the use phase of buildings (B) is analyzed, and their suitability
as markers for the social performance of buildings is rated. The results show that it is possible to quantify many
aspects that characterize the buildings' effect on society. Quantifying the social performance of buildings can
help architects and other industry professionals implement socially aware designs.
Keywords: Social Life Cycle Assessment, energy poverty, socially responsible design
Acknowledgement: Authors AQG gratefully acknowledges receiving funding from the Spanish Ministry of
Universities and the Polytechnic University of Valencia, under the ‘Plan de Recuperación Transformación y
Resiliencia’ (investment funding from the European Union Next Generation EU)
20 1 3 – 1 4 S E PT E M B E R 2 0 2 3 I I Z O L A , S LOVE N I A
