This project seeks to advance the Boundless Impact Analysis tool to perform a rapid, high-quality life cycle assessment (LCA) to gain deeper insights into the supply chain impact of construction materials, transportation, and construction methods employed by the Department of Defense (DoD) in order to optimize supply chain resilience and ensure defense needs are consistently met.  

The DoD faces increasing challenges in managing the supply chain risk, cost volatility, and material availability for critical construction projects. These challenges are exacerbated by global supply disruptions, geopolitical instability, and domestic manufacturing gaps that affect the procurement of essential materials such as steel, concrete, copper, and semiconductors used in infrastructure, energy, and defense facility construction. Without consistent, standardized methodologies and robust analytical tools to assess and compare potential choices for construction materials and processes, decision-making will be difficult, inconsistent, and can lead to failure to meet DoD needs. 

This effort will provide rapid, consistent, and rigorous methodologies for assessing material costs and supply chain risks for DoD building materials by implementing a modified rapid life cycle assessment methodology for identified technologies, building materials and processes, demolition and material recycling approaches of most interest to the DoD based on current funding and research. The methodology will be adapted to be responsive to specific installation needs. This modified tool provides a standardized approach to life cycle assessment utilizing ISO 14040/14064 standards as a platform, standardized supply chain impact factors, and peer reviewed scientific literature to provide capability to calculate all relevant metrics for technologies of interest to assess supply chain availability and cost. The research will also involve an in-depth review and identification of current business as usual (BAU) practices for military installation construction to develop assessment reports for example building materials in the DoD construction and building sector that will inform direct comparisons of different material and strategic decision making about material purchases and construction plans. 350Solutions will review the plans, approaches, and documentation and identify specific metrics and requirements for implementation of specific technology types and solutions. 350Solutions will also review construction and building material solutions of most interest and support development of associated technoeconomic analysis. 

The approach proposed here will provide the following major deliverables that will provide significant benefit to the DoD, resulting in more rapid and informed decision making and deployment of more resilient building constructions:  

• summaries of key performance and impact parameters for traditional military installation building materials;
• analysis and apples-to-apples comparison of multiple materials, with easily digestible graphics for quick technology review and decision making; and, 
• a simplified screening tool that enables site-specific analysis and impact projections. (Anticipated Project Completion - 2025)