A Harmonized Dataset of High-Resolution Embodied Life Cycle Assessment Results for Buildings in North America

Abstract Building design practitioners are increasingly using life cycle assessment (LCA) to assess the environmental impacts of their buildings. However, industry-generated LCA results are rarely compiled into comparable datasets and rarely made public. Thus, harmonized and open-access datasets of...

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Main Authors: Brad Benke, Manuel Chafart, Yang Shen, Milad Ashtiani, Stephanie Carlisle, Kathrina Simonen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-07-01
Series:Scientific Data
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05216-0
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author Brad Benke
Manuel Chafart
Yang Shen
Milad Ashtiani
Stephanie Carlisle
Kathrina Simonen
author_facet Brad Benke
Manuel Chafart
Yang Shen
Milad Ashtiani
Stephanie Carlisle
Kathrina Simonen
author_sort Brad Benke
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Building design practitioners are increasingly using life cycle assessment (LCA) to assess the environmental impacts of their buildings. However, industry-generated LCA results are rarely compiled into comparable datasets and rarely made public. Thus, harmonized and open-access datasets of building LCA results are limited, particularly in North America. Here we present a novel high-resolution dataset of building design characteristics, life cycle inventories, and environmental impact assessment results for 292 building projects in the United States and Canada. The dataset contains harmonized and non-aggregated LCA model results across life cycle stages, building elements, and building materials to enable detailed analysis, comparisons, and data reuse. It includes over 90 building design and LCA features to assess distributions and trends of material use and environmental impacts. Uniquely, the data were crowd-sourced from designers conducting LCAs of real-world building projects. This dataset fills critical gaps for the building industry, research, and policy communities, enabling them to analyze and compare the impacts of buildings, test or set performance targets, and motivate sustainable design and construction practices.
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spelling doaj-art-6cc99ffd7ec54fdbb56df00efb415da72025-08-20T03:37:19ZengNature PortfolioScientific Data2052-44632025-07-0112111910.1038/s41597-025-05216-0A Harmonized Dataset of High-Resolution Embodied Life Cycle Assessment Results for Buildings in North AmericaBrad Benke0Manuel Chafart1Yang Shen2Milad Ashtiani3Stephanie Carlisle4Kathrina Simonen5University of WashingtonUniversity of WashingtonUniversity of WashingtonUniversity of WashingtonUniversity of WashingtonUniversity of WashingtonAbstract Building design practitioners are increasingly using life cycle assessment (LCA) to assess the environmental impacts of their buildings. However, industry-generated LCA results are rarely compiled into comparable datasets and rarely made public. Thus, harmonized and open-access datasets of building LCA results are limited, particularly in North America. Here we present a novel high-resolution dataset of building design characteristics, life cycle inventories, and environmental impact assessment results for 292 building projects in the United States and Canada. The dataset contains harmonized and non-aggregated LCA model results across life cycle stages, building elements, and building materials to enable detailed analysis, comparisons, and data reuse. It includes over 90 building design and LCA features to assess distributions and trends of material use and environmental impacts. Uniquely, the data were crowd-sourced from designers conducting LCAs of real-world building projects. This dataset fills critical gaps for the building industry, research, and policy communities, enabling them to analyze and compare the impacts of buildings, test or set performance targets, and motivate sustainable design and construction practices.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05216-0
spellingShingle Brad Benke
Manuel Chafart
Yang Shen
Milad Ashtiani
Stephanie Carlisle
Kathrina Simonen
A Harmonized Dataset of High-Resolution Embodied Life Cycle Assessment Results for Buildings in North America
Scientific Data
title A Harmonized Dataset of High-Resolution Embodied Life Cycle Assessment Results for Buildings in North America
title_full A Harmonized Dataset of High-Resolution Embodied Life Cycle Assessment Results for Buildings in North America
title_fullStr A Harmonized Dataset of High-Resolution Embodied Life Cycle Assessment Results for Buildings in North America
title_full_unstemmed A Harmonized Dataset of High-Resolution Embodied Life Cycle Assessment Results for Buildings in North America
title_short A Harmonized Dataset of High-Resolution Embodied Life Cycle Assessment Results for Buildings in North America
title_sort harmonized dataset of high resolution embodied life cycle assessment results for buildings in north america
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05216-0
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