A practical guide to measuring and reducing the carbon footprint of building structures across their whole life cycle

As sustainability becomes central to design and construction practices, professionals must go beyond intuition and embrace Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to measure and minimize embodied carbon. Life Cycle Driven Structures is a much-needed bridge between theory and application for assessing environmental performance across the full span of a building’s life. Integrating life cycle thinking directly into structural design decision-making, this timely book equips readers with the essential knowledge and tools to perform robust LCA to meet growing regulatory and market demands for environmentally conscious design.

Alper Kanyılmaz, a leading expert in sustainable construction and structural engineering education, provides a methodical approach supported by worked examples, parametric studies, and 25 real-world case studies from 15 countries. The author addresses a critical knowledge gap in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) curricula and practice by demonstrating how LCA can inform material selection, structural systems, and construction methods. Chapters cover steel, reinforced concrete, and mass timber structures—offering parametric comparisons and clear guidance on using environmental product declarations (EPDs), carbon databases, and reduction strategies. The book also brings earthquake-resistant design into the life cycle conversation and introduces the role of resilience as a carbon reduction strategy.

The book opens with a foreword by Alison Kinn Bennett, Executive Director of Building Transparency, the nonprofit stewarding the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3), and former lead of federal sustainable buildings initiatives at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Delivering a comprehensive, hands-on learning experience that directly supports the AEC sector’s shift toward more sustainable building practices, Life Cycle Driven Structures:

• Covers the full building life cycle, including material sourcing, construction, operation, and end-of-life stages, with embodied carbon as the central performance metric
• Features real-world case studies to illustrate the practical application of theory
• Discusses regulations, tools, databases, and environmental product declarations (EPDs) used in LCA, drawing on over 1,000 published EPDs
• Provides insights drawn from cutting-edge European research projects and teaching experience

Aligned with ISO 14000 and EN 15978:2026 standards, Life Cycle Driven Structures is ideal for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in civil engineering, architecture, and construction management programs, while its technical depth and industry case studies make it equally valuable for practicing engineers, architects, sustainability consultants, and policymakers.

ALPER KANYILMAZ is an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture, Built Environment, and Construction Engineering at Politecnico di Milano, Italy. He is the founder of S+ Lab, a research group developing next-generation structural engineering through multi-objective optimization, physics-informed AI, fiber-optic sensing, and advanced manufacturing techniques. Kanyılmaz is an Expert Advisor for the European Commission Steel Advisory Group, and a project monitoring expert for future low-emission industries. He advises industry and public bodies on embodied carbon reduction, earthquake resilience, digital construction, and life cycle driven design standardization.