The application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the building sector is scarce today. It has several causes. First of all, making a LCA evaluation of a whole building demands a specific tool to handle the large information needed. Further, this tool has to be adapted to the different decisions taken throughout the building life cycle. In a few countries such tools have been developed but they are exceptions. However, useful experience has been gained in these countries, which is a valuable source for developing guidelines for application in other countries. Since results of building’s LCA may contain abundant and complex information, a great challenge is to elaborate efficient ways for communication with users and clients.

The simplified methodology and guidelines presented in this paper is a systematic approach guiding the user through the Life Cycle process - clarifying key issues which usually cause difficulty, such as the choice of the assessment tool, the definition of the system limits, the options for simplifying the process, etc. The guidelines have been developed in the framework of the “ENSLIC building project”, co-financed by the European Commission-Intelligent Energy for Europe Programme- and by 9 European Organisations including more than 15 LCA experts and architects.