Towards Sustainable Cities is a research programme, quantifying the in-use benefits of aluminium in architecture and the built environment.Â
The third report in the Towards Sustainable Cities series looks at life cycle thinking. Life cycle thinking challenges architects, engineers and contractors to be mindful of the life history of any manufactured product and more specifically, to understand the inputs (energy and water) and outputs (emissions to the environment) that result from the transformation of matter into product and from product to disposal. This report uses Life Cycle Assessment, a modeling method, to quantify and compare the environmental impacts and benefits associated with aluminium building components to those associated with alternative materials.
Funded by the International Aluminium Institute [IAI], the programme was undertaken by Michael Stacey Architects with KieranTimberlake and the Architecture and Tectonics Research Group [ATRG] of The University of Nottingham, UK.
Other publications in the series include: Aluminium and Durability, Aluminium Recyclability and Recycling, Aluminium Aluminium: Flexible and Light, and Aluminium: Sympathetic & Powerful – all of which are available to download on the right.
