Applicability of integration of life cycle assessment into environmental impact assessment of buildings in Uganda

Abstract

Life cycle thinking instead of determining the building impacts on the environment at a particular stage of construction is crucial to further the sustainability agenda of the built environment. This dissertation presents the applicability of the integration of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) into environmental impact assessment of buildings in Uganda. Semi- structured questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data from construction professionals. Findings show that Environmental and Social Impact Assessment is the predominant method used for EIA. However, quite a number of professionals are aware of LCA for buildings and use it to for EIA with the major challenge being poor knowledge about LCA and how to calculate the impacts. Majority of the respondents agreed that integration of LCA in EIA of building projects in Uganda could enhance sustainable construction. Recommendations of integrating of LCA in the EIA of buildings in Uganda are also provided. These include taking the necessary steps to increase awareness on life cycle thinking and sustainable construction, implementation of a pilot program in a selected area in Uganda and further research to capture more opinions from other stakeholders. Overall, this study shows that the adoption of LCA in developing countries is possible and a potential way of achieving this is through promoting life cycle thinking in the EIA of prospective buildings.