Environmental impacts of buildings across their life cycle stages

The aim of this study was to investigate the environmental impacts of building activities in South Africa (SA). To achieve the objectives of the study, a critical review of literature was done which was followed by the use of a questionnaire to collect primary data on the possible barriers to the adoption of LCA methodology for buildings. Five major environmental impacts were identified from literature, which were subsequently explored with the use of the questionnaire survey. The questionnaires were distributed to the construction professional team (i.e., Quantity Surveyors, Architects, Facilities Managers, Construction Managers, Civil Engineers, and Site Engineers) in the South African construction industry. Findings from the study revealed that all the stages of a building cause environmental impacts. Although, for some of the identified environmental impacts caused by building activities participants where neutral for example, that building activities lead to “Loss of Marine Life”. A comparison was done between the years of experience and the view on what the environmental impacts are and it was found that participants with more years of experience agree more that building activities causes environmental impacts as compared to participants with less years of experience, in the construction industry. The factor that was highly agreed upon by participants with more years of experience is Building Materials. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on the environmental impacts of buildings across their life cycle in the South African construction industry. The study therefore is valuable to the SA construction industry, built environment, infrastructure development, and/or sustainable urban development.