Defining the "Reference Building" in WBLCA

In the new world of LEED v4, there are three points available for projects that complete a Whole Building LCA (WBLCA) and show improvement over a baseline "reference building". There is potential for the structure to greatly contribute to this improvement, but the rules for defining the reference structure are unclear.

SEI's Sustainability Committee is working to develop a guide, titled Guide to Definition of the Reference Building Structure and Strategies in Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment, to help define a standard and to ensure a nominal level of integrity in comparing structural designs using WBLCA.

For more information, check out this article from Structure Magazine.