Ecobalances in the Building Sector

In the future the quality of buildings will not be only evaluated relative to the energy consumed during occupancy. A comprehensive approach will require the incorporation of the ecobalance. The environmental impact during the building's life cycle will be quantified. This life-cycle starts with the extraction of raw materials and ends with the disposal of the building after its decommission. This article reports on the state-of-the-art on this topic, as discussed at a specialist conference in Zurich, in March 1991.