Life Cycle Assessment of Office Fitouts: A Case Study of Australia
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Toro, Natalia Saavedra
Bui, Thao TP
Campos, Laura
Heffernan, Emma
Brambilla, Arianna
Wilkinson, Suzanne
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Taylor and Francis Group
Abstract
Office fitouts are a critical yet often overlooked component in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies, involving frequent replacement of interior elements that account for considerable material consumption and waste. This research fills this gap by conducting LCA studies of four Green Star Interiors-certified office fitouts in Australia to assess their whole life carbon (WLC) impacts. Using cross-case analysis, carbon hotspots, decarbonization strategies, challenges and considerations are identified. Findings reveal that retaining, reducing and reusing interventions offer the greatest potential for embodied carbon reduction, followed by material optimization. Operational carbon emissions can be diminished significantly through improvements of building services, including efficient lighting, HVAC, AV and IT system. Adopting decarbonization strategies can reduce carbon emissions by up to 32% compared to a business-as-usual case. Challenges and considerations relate to modelling assumptions of retained and reused materials, carbon reduction and indoor environmental performance trade-offs, data availability and accuracy, and iterative modelling process. The results enhance understanding of WLC emissions of office fitouts and demonstrate how comprehensive LCA studies effectively inform design decisions. The study provides practical insights for improving fitout practices while critically examining the limitations of LCA methodologies, thereby supporting the shift towards circular and sustainable approaches in the built environment.
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1201 Architecture, 1202 Building, Building & Construction, 3301 Architecture, 3302 Building, 4005 Civil engineering, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), office fitouts, whole life carbon assessment (WLCA), sustainable buildings, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Green Star
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Building Research & Information, ISSN: 0961-3218 (Print); 1466-4321 (Online), Taylor and Francis Group, 1-18. doi: 10.1080/09613218.2026.2719725
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© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License.
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International