Circular Economy potential within the building stock - Mapping the embodied greenhouse gas emissions of four Danish examples

Building energy models are an effective tool for evaluating energy reduction opportunities in both design phase and post-occupancy scenarios. By merging building energy models with city scale building stock data, it is possible to analyze energy performance at a greater breadth, providing more informed policy decisions and solutions to energy demand asymmetries in urban metropolises. This study examines the energy reduction potential for office buildings in the Toronto 2030 District, by testing individual and bundled energy conservation measures and greenhouse gas reduction strategies using a reference building energy model. When extrapolated across Toronto’s urban core, simulation results determined that standard interventions on the existing office building stock have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 91.5%, in line with 2030 District initiatives.

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WASTE MANAGEMENT PROJECTIONS IN BULGARIA

10.36997/ara2021.325 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Radmil Nikolov ◽

Keyword(s):

Waste Management ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Household Waste ◽

National Plan ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Effective Reduction ◽

Natural Diversity ◽

The Eu

Waste management is among the priority areas in the policy of Bulgaria, as part of the EU. Improving the environment by reducing landfilled waste, achieving balance and sustainability in different regions of our country, priority orientation to products from biodegradable household waste, effective reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, improving the condition of soils in Bulgaria, and preserving natural diversity are among the key objectives. Bulgaria's developed National Waste Plan until 2028 is a serious query to find ways to solve the problem of garbage in the country and create conditions for a successful transition to a circular economy. The purpose of the report is to analyze the costs of waste management in Bulgaria for the period 2015-2020 and to characterize the National Plan for Waste Management in Bulgaria until 2028.

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Selection of Favourable Concept of Energy Retrofitting Solution for Social Housing in the Czech Republic Based on Economic Parameters, Greenhouse Gases, and Primary Energy Consumption

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11226482 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (22) ◽

pp. 6482

Author(s):

Katerina Sojkova ◽

Martin Volf ◽

Antonin Lupisek ◽

Roman Bolliger ◽

Tomas Vachal

Keyword(s):

Energy Consumption ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Residential Buildings ◽

Residential Building ◽

Primary Energy ◽

Primary Energy Consumption ◽

Building Stock ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Residential Building Stock

Energy retrofitting of existing building stock has significant potential for the reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Roughly half of the CO2 emissions from Czech building stock are estimated to be allocated to residential buildings. Approximately one-third of the Czech residential building stock have already been retrofitted, but retrofitting mostly takes place in large cities due to greater income. A favourable concept for the mass retrofitting of residential building stock, affordable even in low-income regions, was of interest. For a reference building, multi-criteria assessment of numerous retrofitting measures was performed. The calculation involved different building elements, materials, solutions, and energy-efficiency levels in combination with various heating systems. The assessment comprised environmental impact, represented by operational and embodied primary energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and investment and operational costs using the annuity method. Analysis resulted in the identification of favourable retrofitting measures and showed that complex building retrofitting is advantageous from both a cost and an environmental point of view. The environmental burden could be decreased by approximately 10–30% even without photovoltaic installation, and costs per year could be decreased by around 40%.

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Review of Constructions and Materials Used in Swedish Residential Buildings during the Post-War Peak of Production

Buildings ◽

10.3390/buildings9040099 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 99

Author(s):

Björn Berggren ◽

Maria Wall

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Energy Use ◽

Lightweight Concrete ◽

Residential Buildings ◽

Technical Documentation ◽

Clay Brick ◽

Building Stock ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Existing Building

One of the greatest challenges for the world today is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. As buildings contribute to almost a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, reducing the energy use of the existing building stock is an important measure for climate change mitigation. In order to increase the renovation pace, there is a need for a comprehensive technical documentation that describes different types of buildings in the existing building stock. The purpose of this study is to analyse and describe existing residential buildings in Sweden. The data are based on published reports from 1967 to 1994 that have not been publicly available in a database for other researchers to study until now. Data from the reports have been transferred to a database and analysed to create a reference for buildings and/or a description of building typology in Sweden. This study found that there is a rather large homogeneity in the existing residential building stock. However, it is not possible to use a single reference building or building technique to cover the majority of the existing buildings. In Sweden, common constructions for exterior walls in multi-dwelling buildings which should be used for further studies are insulated wood infill walls with clay brick façades, lightweight concrete walls with rendered façades and concrete sandwich walls. The most common constructions for one- and two-dwelling buildings are insulated wooden walls with clay brick façades or wooden façades. Furthermore, roof constructions with insulated tie beam and roof constructions where the tie beam is a part of the interior floor slab are frequently used and should be included in further studies.

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Impact of climate change on the existing residential building stock in Turkey: An analysis on energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and occupant comfort

Renewable Energy ◽

10.1016/j.renene.2019.03.150 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 141 ◽

pp. 828-846 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Ipek Gürsel Dino ◽

Cagla Meral Akgül

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Energy Use ◽

Residential Building ◽

Building Stock ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Impact Of Climate Change ◽

Occupant Comfort ◽

Residential Building Stock

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Sustainability in Building and Construction within the Framework of Circular Cities and European New Green Deal. The Contribution of Concrete Recycling

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13042139 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 2139

Author(s):

Alessandra Bonoli ◽

Sara Zanni ◽

Francisco Serrano-Bernardo

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Action Plan ◽

Ecological Crisis ◽

Construction And Demolition Waste ◽

Demolition Waste ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Concrete Recycling

Climate change and ecological crisis are a huge threat to Europe and the world. To overcome these challenges, Europe adopted the New Green Deal as a strategy transforming the Union into a competitive resource-efficient economy without greenhouse gas emissions and become carbon neutral in a few decades. The European Green Deal includes the new circular economy action plan, highlighting the importance of a products’ “green design”, saving raw materials, and waste prevention oriented along the entire life cycle of products. Construction and buildings represent one of the key topics for the green transition. In the European Union, buildings are responsible for 40% of our energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions, which are mainly caused by construction, usage, renovation, and demolition. Improving environmental efficiency can play a key role in reaching the carbon neutrality of Europe that is expected to be achieved by 2050. In this research, it was explored how Eco-design, as an innovative approach in buildings and construction, Life Cycle Thinking and Life Cycle Assessment, as fundamental supporting tools in sustainability, and finally appropriate and effective Construction and Demolition Waste recycling processes, particularly oriented to concrete recycling according to the case studies analyzed, can promote a circular economy in buildings and construction.

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Paving the Way for Circular Supply Chains: Conceptualization of a Circular Supply Chain Maturity Framework

Frontiers in Sustainability ◽

10.3389/frsus.2021.781978 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Author(s):

Laura Montag ◽

Timo Klünder ◽

Marion Steven

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Supply Chains ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Implementation Process ◽

Successful Implementation ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Chain Level ◽

The Way

The European Green Deal aims to make Europe climate neutral by 2050. According to this ambitious plan, 50% of greenhouse gas emissions are to be saved through a wide implementation of a circular economy. With supply chains responsible for four-fifths of greenhouse gas emissions, their role in the transition from linearity to a circular economy, and thus in the successful implementation of circular systems, is critical and requires the attention of academia, policymakers, and practitioners. Maturity models are suitable for monitoring, assessing, and evaluating the transformation process and determining the status quo of a supply chain. However, as the implementation of circular supply chains is still in its infancy, circular maturity frameworks at the supply chain level are not available yet. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to conceptualize a framework for analyzing the maturity level of circular economy adoption in the supply chain context. From an extensive and systematic literature review of overall 1,372 articles on supply chains, circular economy and maturity the following findings can be drawn: (i) circular economy and circular supply chains are massively growing research streams; (ii) the link between circular economy, supply chains and maturity assessment is so far missing; (iii) three constructs (organization, products, processes) characterize and influence circular supply chain maturity; (iv) a 3-layered maturity grid covering six archetypal elements of the circular economy enables the assessment of a circular supply chain maturity. The developed circular supply chain maturity framework paves the way for circular economy adoption at supply chain level by understanding current level of circular maturity and thus supporting the circular economy implementation process at supply chain level.

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