[dchmiel]

That's right, with the numbers looking similar when looking at proportions of energy consumption in buildings which is slightly different from just CO2 footprint.

The operational phase is where to look at having the largest impact. In buildings looking at a 75 year time frame you have the operational phase accounting for 94.4% of life cycle primary energy consumption. Where the manufacturing phase such as production of building materials, transportation and constructing the building accounts for 2.2% of life cycle primary energy consumption. [1]

1. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778803...