About This Course
Master the art of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for sustainable construction. Build upon your foundation in sustainable building principles by learning how to apply LCA to real-world projects. This topic equips you with practical skills to measure and reduce a building's environmental impact from cradle to grave. Discover the intricacies of LCA calculations, interpret Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), and understand the regulatory landscape. Transform LCA from a complex concept into a powerful design tool that drives positive change in the industry.
You can expect to spend about 2.5 hours on this topic. Should you fail to obtain a passing grade (80%), you may contact us to arrange to retake the evaluation.
Course Staff
Prof. Dr. John Orr
University of Cambridge
Professor John Orr MEng (hons) PhD CEng MIStructE FHEA is Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of Cambridge. He has built a >£11M research and consultancy portfolio with a focus on sustainable design and construction. Author of 125 journal papers, articles, and books on topics related to sustainability, he is an internationally recognised expert in net zero carbon construction. In 2022 he won the Philip Leverhulme Prize for his research in minimising embodied carbon and won the Elsevier Atlas Award in 2018 for ‘research that could significantly impact … lives around the world’.
Kritika Kharbanda
Henning Larsen
Kritika leads the sustainability initiatives at Henning Larsen’s NYC office. Positioned at the intersection of architecture, sustainability and technology, her work focuses on detailed environmental analytics for evidence-based design, decarbonization for cities, and furthering Research & Development through innovation. Kritika specialised in Energy and Environments from Harvard GSD, with cross-enrollment at MIT, and was a social innovation fellow at Harvard Kennedy School.
Dr. Nikolaos Vlasopoulos
Holcim Innovation Center
Nikolaos Vlasopoulos is currently heading the life cycle assessment (LCA) group within the Holcim Innovation Center which provides LCA services to Holcim corporate and countries. Its objective is to massively expand the generation of environmental product declarations (EPD) and integrate LCA principles and procedures into the company's operations. Nikolaos holds a PhD in sustainable construction materials from Imperial College London and has previously served as co-founder and scientific director of Novacem, a startup company on low carbon cements.
Asfand Yar Munir
Holcim Innovation Center
Asfand Yar Munir is a R&D Engineer at the Holcim Innovation Center. His job focuses on Life Cycle Assessments and Environmental Product Declarations. He has a strong background in mechanical engineering and renewable energy systems through degrees from Ecole Polytechnique in France and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. Environmental protection and sustainable transition were the key drivers which led him into the field of life cycle assessment which he has been practising for 3 years.
Andrea Charrier
Holcim Innovation Center
Andrea holds a Master degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Swiss Polytechnic Institute of Lausanne (EPFL). He completed his Master Thesis in the laboratory of Prof. Karen Scrivener (EPFL) on a topic related to Limestone Calcined Clay cement (LC3). Before joining Holcim, Andrea worked as a Life Cycle Assessment consultant for a Swiss foundation and for a consulting company based in Italy. Andrea joined the LCA Team of Holcim Innovation Center in February 2024 as Life Cycle Assessment Engineer.
Dr. Vasiliki Aravani
Holcim Innovation Center
Vasiliki is an environmental Engineer, graduated from the University of Patras in Greece with more than five years of domestic and international experience in the environmental field. Skilled in Research, Data Analysis, Waste Management, Quality Control, and ISO Policies, with environmental awareness approach. Strong research professional as a holder of PhD in Environmental Engineering focused on Waste Management and the Production of Energy. Responsible for the performance of Life Cycle Assessment Analysis and for the development of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) as an R&D Engineer at Holcim Innovation Center.
