Enhancement of life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to include the effect of surface albedo on climate change: Comparing black and white roofs

Traditionally, life cycle assessment (LCA) does not estimate a key property: surface albedo. Here an enhancement of the LCA methodology has been proposed through the development and employment of a time-dependent climatological model for including the effect of surface albedo on climate. The theoretical findings derived by the time-dependent model have been applied to the case study of a black and a white roof evaluated in the time-frames of 50 and 100 years focusing on the impact on global warming potential. The comparative life cycle impact assessment of the two roofs shows that the high surface albedo plays a crucial role in offsetting radiative forcings. In the 50-year time horizon, surface albedo is responsible for a decrease in CO2eq of 110–184 kg and 131–217 kg in 100 years. Furthermore, the white roof compared to the black roof, due to the high albedo, decreases the annual energy use of about 3.6–4.5 kWh/m2. - Highlights: ► Traditionally LCA does not consider the effect of surface albedo on climate change. ► A time-dependent equivalence has been developed for evaluating the effect of the variation in surface albedo on climate. ► The time-dependent equivalence has been applied to the case study of a black and a white roof. ► It results that surface albedo consistently influences the environmental loads of the white roof. - Traditionally, albedo is not considered in LCA. This research enhances the LCA methodology evaluating the effect of surface albedo on climate change through the use of a time-dependent equivalence.