Teaching Life-Cycle Thinking in Construction Materials and Methods: Evaluation of and Deployment Strategies for Life-Cycle Assessment in Construction Engineering and Management Education

Currently more than 300 construction engineering and management (CEM) postsecondary programs exist across theUnited States. Graduates of these programs support a $500 billion industry that represents nearly 3.4% of the nation’s GDP (Bureau of Economic Analysis 2011). According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, the built environment consumes 40% of global raw materials (Davis 2007). Furthermore, for a new facility, the acquisition of materials and products accounts for 50 to 60% of the construction costs [Construction Industry Institute (CII) 1988].With increased public, industry, and academic awareness of the effects that construction has on the environment (both embodied and operational energy for example), the construction industry seeks to adopt materials and products that are more “green” (Architecture 203