Lise Mouton
Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Construction, Environmentally sustainable design
Biography
Lise holds an MSc in Engineering: Architecture from KU Leuven in Belgium. She commenced a joint PhD with KU Leuven (home institution) and the University of Melbourne (host institution) in October, 2021. Her main research interests are in life cycle environmental impacts of buildings and the application of bio-based building materials. Currently based at KU Leuven, she has been involved in several studies concerning Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of residential buildings and bio-based building materials in Belgian construction practice.
Thesis
Life cycle environmental benchmarks for residential buildings in Belgium
Over the past years, various policies have been implemented to reduce building operational energy use and the related environmental impacts. Although this is an important development, energy efficiency measures typically require an increase in insulation materials and technical systems, resulting in higher so-called embodied impacts. To avoid this burden shifting and reduce building impacts from a life cycle perspective, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method is increasingly integrated in building practice. In Belgium, this has led to the development of a national LCA method (MMG), a database of environmental data of Belgian construction products, and an online calculation tool for building designers (TOTEM). To date, however, no reference values exist to benchmark a building’s environmental performance. Such benchmarks are seen as an essential tool for policy makers in the definition of environmental targets for buildings, and as a reference for architects to support them in designing more sustainable buildings.
This research aims to define life cycle environmental benchmarks for Belgian residential buildings. The benchmarks are derived by combining two approaches. On one hand, a top-down approach is used to translate global environmental goals and policy targets to building benchmarks. On the other hand, a bottom-up approach is applied to derive benchmarks from reference buildings that represent the impact of current building practice. Both approaches are combined to obtain one comprehensive benchmarking framework, consisting of four types of benchmark values: limit, reference and best-practice values derived with the bottom-up approach, and target values derived with the top-down approach. In addition, intermediate benchmark values are proposed to gradually evolve from the current level of impact towards the long-term target values. This framework can drive the Belgian building sector towards more sustainable practices, which contributes to the global aim of protecting our planet.