A Sustainability-Oriented Framework for Life Cycle Environmental Cost Accounting and Carbon Financial Optimization in Prefabricated Steel Structures

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The building sector significantly contributes to global resource depletion and greenhouse gas emissions, necessitating integrated approaches to evaluate both environmental and economic performance. This study developed a sustainability-oriented assessment framework—applied in a Chinese context—that integrates life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle costing (LCC), and carbon financial optimization to evaluate the life cycle performance of prefabricated steel buildings. Using publicly available databases (CEADs, Ecoinvent, and the Chinese Life Cycle Database), the framework quantified cradle-to-grave environmental impacts across raw material extraction, prefabrication, transport, on-site assembly, operation, and end-of-life stages. Emissions were monetized using standardized emission factors and official cost coefficients, enabling environmental costs to be expressed in financial terms. A dynamic financial simulation module was incorporated to assess the effects of carbon price fluctuations and quota allocation schemes. Sensitivity analyses were performed to examine the influence of key variables such as retrofit investment costs, emission reduction efficiency, and carbon policy scenarios on financial returns. The results show that material production and operational energy use dominate life cycle carbon emissions, jointly contributing more than 90% of the total impacts. Moderate decarbonization investments—such as HVAC upgrades and improved insulation—can achieve positive net economic returns under baseline carbon pricing. This integrated, data-driven framework serves as a practical decision-support tool for policymakers and industry stakeholders. It is adaptable across different regions and material systems, supporting the global transition toward low-carbon and financially viable construction practices.