Assessment Strategies

The Assessment Strategies define how the Environmental Data should be recorded in an Environmental Declaration.

Fig. 4 Schematic overview of conceptual model zoomed at Assessment Strategies

Assessment Strategy

Currently, there are two strategies available (Strategy A1 and Strategy A2) for calculating the Environmental Data and environmental costs. In the future, additional strategies with different parameters may be introduced. At present, there are three entities associated with each strategy: the Weighing Vector, the Environmental Impact Module, and the Environmental Impact Indicator. However, these may change over time.

Environmental Impact Indicator

Entity that defines each impact indicator for which environmental impacts have been determined. Some examples of these categories include human-toxicological effects and depletion of abiotic resources. It’s worth noting that different assessment strategies may use different impact categories. In other words, the specific categories considered may vary depending on the particular assessment strategy being used.

Environmental Impact Module

An impact module is a module of the life cycle of the Construction Products (or processes), such as A1 - A3, A4, A5, B1, etc. In the EU norm, these modules are grouped into stages, such as “Product Stage”, “Construction Process Stage”, etc. However, in the database, Impact Modules are not grouped.

Weighing Vector

The Weighing Vector is a set of weights. For A1 the weights are determined on a country specific level and indicate the (relative) severity and quantities of each Environmental Impact Indicator. The weights are expressed in euros per unit of the Environmental Impact Indicator. Each Assessment Strategy might contain its own Weighing Vector that should be applied to the Environmental Data.