Development of Life-Cycle Based Strategies Towards Buildings With a Positive Ecological Footprint Using Thermal Building Simulations

The goal of this study is to develop life cycle based implementation strategies for the realization of buildings with a positive ecological footprint (EF). Since there is no methodological approach existing which covers this topic, first a method was developed to calculate the ecological land demand of buildings (the area required for ecological compensation of the buildings' emissions - construction, operation and disposal). The developed method takes the actual compensation capabilities of habitats into account and links the life cycle assessment (LCA) results to those capabilities. With this approach an estimation of the EF is made possible. Even with applying optimization algorithms an eco-positive building was not achieved. Therefore, further approaches need to be investigated.