Design plays a key role in the transition towards Sustainability for All, especially in building sector demanding a change management to effectively enable the shift in thinking and in process. To this end, an assessment framework was developed to support design practice in integrating life cycle perspective within design process, matching the whole building life cycle stages with the different design phases. Indeed, in construction sector the application of Life Cycle Thinking and related methodologies represents a turning point, calling for a profound transformation to switch from current to life cycle-oriented practice. For this reason, the knowhow developed in sustainability research was interrelated with the ethnographic experience within an internationally design firm. Based on current practice, the framework discloses for each phase of the process the set of life cycle information to be progressively considered and the connected actors in charge, envisioning the information-flow to implement a life cycle-oriented decision-making. Moreover, to disseminate the proposed change management, it is arranged in relation to different level of projects complexity. If the suggested framework is embedded in design practice, remarkable effects will be visible from the beginning of the process, allowing practitioners to make aware decisions, avoid shifting problems, gain long-term perspective, optimize design process, lead decision-making and truly decrease construction impacts.

Authors: Anna Dalla Valle, Monica Lavagna, Andrea Campioli