Total v Partial Life Cycle Assessment

As highlighted in the image at the top of this page, there are four different LCAs that can be undertaken. According to the ISO 14040 standard, all of these are correct. The problem this creates is that comparing different building materials LCAs requires ensuring they are a like-for-like comparison.

To date, most building material LCAs only use what is commonly referred to as a 'cradle to gate' methodology (illustrated in green). This assesses the environmental impact of the building material within the 'boundary' of the product's extraction and manufacture. (See the detailed methodology discussion for more information on the subject of 'boundaries').
Other LCAs go further and use what is commonly referred to as a 'cradle to grave' methodology (illustrated in blue and orange) for either the single unit of building material, or a section of that material assembled in a building (ie a square metre of wall).

While this is a more complete analysis of environmental impact, it does not recognize that building materials directly influence the operational emissions of a building (predominately through heating and cooling).
As such, a Total Life Cycle Assessment is required. As illustrated in pink, this methodology uses thermal modeling to quantify the operational emissions from living in a building. Given that the operational emissions can contribute nearly 90 percent of the total emissions from a building it is fundamental to include these emissions when analyzing the environmental impact of buildings.
This is why Think Brick Australia has undertaken an international best-practice, fully compliant and peer reviewed LCA study to quantify the total environment impact of not only clay bricks, but also buildings made using clay bricks. For a more detailed discussion of the methodology, see Think Brick Australia's LCA Methodology