# Life Cycle Analysis Challenges through Building Rating Schemes within the European Framework
## 2 Materials and Methods
### Quantitative Analysis of the State of the Art  
The 5 BRS selected for this study are the closest to the European market, as they derive less from academic or public administrations, and more from national sectorial associations [61]. These 5 alone include more than 2400 associated corporations and 650 professionals from the sector. They are well interrelated, as the associations where they are carried out (European GBCs from France, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, and Ireland, respectively) work closely together. These GBCs are active until 2022 in two current R&D projects running in the field: Building Life [62] and LIFE Levels [63]. The work is LCA-inclusive and easily adaptable to Level(s), as they are aligned with European directives and policies transposed into national law. As a result, these BRS are mature in the European construction sector. Of these, BRESAM is present globally and adapted to the Netherlands, \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \begin{tabular}{c} **Country** \\ **(Association)** \\ \end{tabular} & **BRS (1 st Version)** & \begin{tabular}{c} **Certified** \\ **Buildings** \\ **(October 2020)** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Associated Corporate** \\ **Entities** \\ **(July–November 2020)** \\ \end{tabular} & \
\begin{tabular}{c} **Associated Professionals** \\ **(October 2020)** \\ \end{tabular} &
\begin{tabular}{c} **Consultants** \\ **(October 2020)** \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline
1 & France (HQE) & NF Habitat [56] (2013) & N/A \({}^{*}\) & 91 & 267 & N/A ** \\ \hline
2 & Spain (GBCe) & VERDE [57] (2011) & 132 & 107 & 202 & 192 \\ \hline
3 & Germany (DCNB) &
\begin{tabular}{c} DGNB System \\ (2010) \\ \end{tabular} & 6232 & 1266 & 73 & 4820 \\ \hline
4 & \
\begin{tabular}{c} The Netherlands \\ (DGBC) \\ \end{tabular} &
\begin{tabular}{c} BREAM-NL \\ (2007) \\ \end{tabular} & 317 & 370 & N/A *** & 879 \\ \hline
5 & Ireland (IGBC) & HPI [60] (2016) & 350 & 170 & 30 & 55 \\ \hline  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{TOTALS} & 7031 & 2438 & 639 & 6046 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* Not disaggregated from other NF certifications. ** +1000 not specified. *** Only entities are accepted.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Basic impact metrics of selected BRS. Information provided by the World Green Building Council Member Value Survey 2020 (WGBC, 2020b). while the others are mainly national or spread by language/culture. DGNB (Germany) is widely present in its neighbouring countries and is the most developed in terms of sustainability balance and LCA weight. Its international version, examined here, has been tested in other continents too. When running applied research projects, a common barrier is the limitations to market penetration within the wide scope of its scientific objectives. In the wider field of sustainability, science has provided in-depth awareness of the targets and theoretical processes to reach a balanced ecosystem or a clean, fertile, and thriving environment. Concerning buildings, optimal techniques, materials, and sustainable designs are available. However, market, assignment, and professional realities do not always follow. A gap appears between the expected and real results. However, this poses an opportunity to learn and improve the methodology. Science can reappear to explain said gaps. When this iteration has sufficient items or the procedure has run similarly in other contexts, there arises another opportunity for comparison, analysis, or testing. Mapping these generates new knowledge in a visual form that provides a general overview and allows for rapid conclusions and recommendations. Moreover, from a bibliometric [64] and scientometric [65] approach, down to a very concrete approach at the encounter between the construction sector's circular economy and LCA [66; 67], the combination of a mapping and a gap analysis enables the researcher to discover patterns and trends, as well as missing strategies, processes, or skills. Then, it recommends steps to help meet the proposed goals.