Life cycle assessment in industrial buildings: A critical review

Energy and environmental sustainability in the construction sector are receiving increasing relevance. However, such attention is not consistently applied across the different functions that buildings may serve. Industrial buildings represent an understudied area. This study presents a structured literature review on the application of life cycle assessment in the industrial building sector, an area still comparatively underrepresented relative to residential contexts. Through a targeted search conducted on ScienceDirect, studies focused on articles published between 2014 and 2024 were selected and analyzed using a classification framework based on the object of study, system boundaries, inventory data sources, and impact categories. A deep and quantitative analysis was conducted for studies addressing LCA on existing industrial buildings (20 articles), while the classification framework was applied to a larger sample, including simulated and hybrid cases (>230 papers). The review reveals a predominance of cradle-to-gate approaches, limited use of cradle-to-cradle models, and a low presence of LCA studies focused on industrial buildings. Inventory data collection remains highly fragmented, with assessments focusing mainly on environmental indicators and economic indicators, while health dimensions are still underrepresented. The study identifies seven key methodological gaps and proposes a comparative framework that can support future research, promoting more consistent, multidimensional, and sector-specific LCA approaches for industrial sustainability planning.