An environmental impact assessment framework and index system for the pre-use phase of buildings based on distance-to-target approach

•An EIA model for building pre-use phase using distance-to-target approach is proposed.•Emission standards of pollutants are used to develop Ecological Damage Index.•The characteristics of resources are identified to develop Resource Depletion Index.•Remaining life expectancies are used to develop Life Damage Index.•Case study validates the presented model and index system.

This paper presents an LCA-based environmental impact assessment model and an evaluation index system for the pre-use phase of buildings using distance-to-target as weightings. Environmental impacts are categorized into three broad categories: ecological damage, natural resources depletion and human health damage, and quantified by three corresponding specific indexes (Ecological Damage Index, Resource Depletion Index and Life Damage Index) at three scales of globe, nation and region. Emission standards of pollutants issued by the government authorities, three resources characteristics of available resource supply capacity and resource demand and resource utilization as well as the remaining life expectancies for different age groups are taken as the targets in weighting definition to reflect the environment protection priorities and public concerns. A residential building is used as a case study to test and validate the presented model. Results indicate that the proposed model and index system can effectively quantify the environmental impacts of new construction projects, and can potentially be used as a tool for construction industry to fit environmental priorities and provide clear implications for practice.