Comparing life cycle implications of building retrofit and replacement options

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1051-1063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie Dong ◽  
Christopher Kennedy ◽  
Kim Pressnail
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Air Leakage ◽  
Detached House ◽  
Basement Walls ◽  
Wood Frame ◽  
Oil Crisis ◽  
Economic Analyses ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Building Operation

When is it better to retrofit a building as opposed to demolishing and rebuilding it? Life cycle environmental and economic analyses are used to address this question through the study of a typical four bedroom detached house in Toronto. Three vintages of the reference house are used: 1930s solid masonry; 1960s wood frame; and post oil crisis, 1980s wood frame. Retrofit studies considered include insulating the attic and basement walls and air leakage sealing. Over a 40-year life cycle, the rebuild option has lower life cycle energy, global warming potential, and air pollution, which are predominantly associated with building operation. But the retrofit options have lower water pollution, solid waste generation, and weighted resource use, associated with material flows. The retrofit options also have lower life cycle economic costs than rebuilding. In this respect, the preferred options are basement plus air leakage sealing retrofit for the 1930s house, basement retrofit for the 1960s house, and no change for 1980s house. There are ways to overcome the trade-off in negative environmental impacts between retrofitting and rebuilding, such as use of renewable energy sources or re-use and recycling of deconstruction and demolition materials in new construction.Key words: life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, building retrofits, sustainable development.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of an Innovative Compact Hybrid Electrical-Thermal Storage System for Residential Buildings in Mediterranean Climate

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5322
Author(s):  
Gabriel Zsembinszki ◽  
Noelia Llantoy ◽  
Valeria Palomba ◽  
Andrea Frazzica ◽  
Mattia Dallapiccola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Mediterranean Climate ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Storage System ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Electrical Consumption ◽  
The Impact

The buildings sector is one of the least sustainable activities in the world, accounting for around 40% of the total global energy demand. With the aim to reduce the environmental impact of this sector, the use of renewable energy sources coupled with energy storage systems in buildings has been investigated in recent years. Innovative solutions for cooling, heating, and domestic hot water in buildings can contribute to the buildings’ decarbonization by achieving a reduction of building electrical consumption needed to keep comfortable conditions. However, the environmental impact of a new system is not only related to its electrical consumption from the grid, but also to the environmental load produced in the manufacturing and disposal stages of system components. This study investigates the environmental impact of an innovative system proposed for residential buildings in Mediterranean climate through a life cycle assessment. The results show that, due to the complexity of the system, the manufacturing and disposal stages have a high environmental impact, which is not compensated by the reduction of the impact during the operational stage. A parametric study was also performed to investigate the effect of the design of the storage system on the overall system impact.

scholarly journals Application of Life-cycle Assessment for the Study of Carbon and Water Footprints of the 16.5 MWe Wind Farm in Villonaco, Loja – Ecuador

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Tama Franco
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Cumulative Energy ◽  
Cumulative Energy Demand

Wind technology is considered to be among the most promising types of renewable energy sources, and due to high oil prices and growing concerns about climate change and energy security, it has been the subject of extensive considerations in recent years, including questions related to the relative sustainability of electricity production when the manufacturing, assembly, transportation and dismantling processes of these facilities are taken into account. The present article evaluates the environmental impacts, carbon emissions and water consumption, derived from the production of electric energy of the Villonaco wind farm, located in Loja-Ecuador, during its entire life cycle, using the Life Cycle Analysis method. Finally, it is concluded that wind energy has greater environmental advantages, since it has lower values of carbon and water footprints than other energy sources. Additionally, with the techniques Cumulative Energy Demand and Energy Return on Investment, sustainability in the production of electricity from wind power in Ecuador is demonstrated; and, that due to issues of vulnerability to climate change, the diversification of its energy mix is essential considering the inclusion of non-conventional renewable sources such as solar or wind, this being the only way to reduce both the carbon footprint and the water supply power.

scholarly journals Durability of traditional clamped joints in the vapour barrier layer: experimental and numerical analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 996-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Gullbrekken ◽  
Klodian Gradeci ◽  
Øyvind Norvik ◽  
Petra Rüther ◽  
Stig Geving
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
The Other ◽  
Use Of Self ◽  
Air Leakage ◽  
Building Envelopes ◽  
Frame Buildings ◽  
Wood Frame ◽  
Numerical Estimations

Clamped joints of wood frame buildings are a traditional way in Norway to attain airtight joints for the air and vapour barrier. There are numerous defects registered in the SINTEF Building Defects Archive related to air leakage through the vapour barrier, on one hand, and stricter requirements for reduced energy consumption, on the other hand, question today’s efficacy of these type of joints. This study investigates the durability of clamped joints by studying how the airtightness is affected by several drying and wetting cycles. Experimental work is carried out to measure air leakage rates, which in turn, are used to evaluate their impact on the airtightness of two different constructions by numerical estimations. Results show that the air leakage rates are increased significantly due to transient climatic conditions. Clamped joints may no longer provide airtight building envelopes given the stricter requirements for energy consumption and implications of climate change. A more promising and robust alternative is the use of self-adhesive tapes.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of Maize-Germ Oil Production and The Use of Bioenergy to Mitigate Environmental Impacts: A Gate-To-Gate Case Study

Resources ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattias Gaglio ◽  
Elena Tamburini ◽  
Francesco Lucchesi ◽  
Vassilis Aschonitis ◽  
Anna Atti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Industrial Processing ◽  
The Impact

The need to reduce the environmental impacts of the food industry is increasing together with the dramatic increment of global food demand. Circulation strategies such as the exploitation of self-produced renewable energy sources can improve ecological performances of industrial processes. However, evidence is needed to demonstrate and characterize such environmental benefits. This study assessed the environmental performances of industrial processing of maize edible oil, whose energy provision is guaranteed by residues biomasses. A gate-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach was applied for a large-size factory of Northern Italy to describe: (i) the environmental impacts related to industrial processing and (ii) the contribution of residue-based bioenergy to their mitigation, through the comparison with a reference system based on conventional energy. The results showed that oil refinement is the most impacting phase for almost all the considered impact categories. The use of residue-based bioenergy was found to drastically reduce the emissions for all the impact categories. Moreover, Cumulative Energy Demand analysis revealed that the use of biomass residues increased energy efficiency through a reduction of the total energy demand of the industrial process. The study demonstrates that the exploitation of residue-based bioenergy can be a sustainable solution to improve environmental performances of the food industry, while supporting circular economy.

scholarly journals An Analytical Model of Tourist Destination Development and Characteristics of the Development Stages: Example of the Island of Bornholm

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 6989
Author(s):  
Adam R. Szromek
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Logistic Function ◽  
Tourist Industry ◽  
Tourist Destination ◽  
Tourist Attractions ◽  
Development Stages ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
The 1960S

This paper presents the basis of the tourism area life cycle (TALC) concept and its extension in the context of the implementation of sustainable development practices in the tourist business model. The author uses the logistic function to determine the level of tourist absorption and capacity. The empirical basis of the methods used was statistics on the development of the tourist industry on Bornholm. The objective of the paper is to determine the stage of development of the tourist area of Bornholm and the consequences of this stage for business models of tourist enterprises functioning there. The results of the analysis indicate that the range of tourist absorption was reached in the 1960s–1970s, and that it is currently getting closer to the upper threshold of that range. Tourism on Bornholm, in line with the TALC concept, is currently in the stabilization stage. Future tourist trends on Bornholm depend on many factors; however, if tourist development goes into the decline stage, the offered products may require transformation, in terms of both transport and the form and availability of tourist attractions. Perhaps this will involve a total transformation of the island into a facility with a specific entertainment, leisure, or business profile. The listed solutions will require entrepreneurs to react within the scope of a transformation of their business models into sustainable models of tourist business.

scholarly journals Ecological and Economic Benefits of the “Medium” Level of the Building Thermo-Modernization: A Case Study in Poland

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 4509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janusz Adamczyk ◽  
Robert Dylewski
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Heat Source ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Energy Devices

Energy saving is at the heart of sustainable development in the context of climate change. Saving energy is not only the amount of energy that we save, but also reducing emissions of pollutants to the atmosphere, as well as reducing the consumption of energy resources that are used to produce energy. Reducing pollutant emissions and the use of energy resources can be achieved by increasing the use of renewable energy sources, but at present, this method of obtaining energy in the world is not representative. It should be noted that renewable energy devices throughout the life cycle generate environmental impact. Similar to this situation, the building’s thermo-modernization, which is focused on reducing the pressure on the environment of the building’s user, also has an impact on the environment throughout the building’s life cycle. Determining this environmental impact and ecological or economic benefits or costs is the purpose of the following article. Thermo-modernization of the building, for the purposes of the article, is understood as thermal insulation of walls and replacement of the heat source for heating the building and preparation of hot utility water. The need to replace the heat source with a much more ecological one results in Poland from provincial legal regulations announced by virtue of a resolution. In the study, data from the Ecoinvent data library included in the SimaPro computer program was used for the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) analysis. As a result of thermo-modernization of the representative buildings, large ecological benefits were obtained, while economic costs remain at a high level.

scholarly journals Energy Renovation versus Demolition and Construction of a New Building—A Comparative Analysis of a Swedish Multi-Family Building

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 2218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina La Fleur ◽  
Patrik Rohdin ◽  
Bahram Moshfegh
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Optimal Energy ◽  
Heated Floor ◽  
New Construction ◽  
Family Building ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
Internal Volume ◽  
The 1960S

This study addresses the life cycle costs (LCC) of energy renovation, and the demolition and construction of a new building. A comparison is made between LCC optimal energy renovations of four different building types with thermal performance, representing Swedish constructions from the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, as well as the demolition of the building and construction of a new building that complies with the Swedish building code. A Swedish multi-family building from the 1960s is used as a reference building. LCC optimal energy renovations are identified with energy saving targets ranging between 10% and 70%, in addition to the lowest possible life cycle cost. The analyses show that an ambitious energy renovation is not cost-optimal in any of the studied buildings, if achieving the lowest LCC is the objective function. The cost of the demolition and construction of a new building is higher compared to energy renovation to the same energy performance. The higher rent in new buildings does not compensate for the higher cost of new construction. A more ambitious renovation is required in buildings that have a shape factor with a high internal volume to heated floor area ratio.

Energy Consumption and Environmental Benefits Valuation of Wood-Frame Architecture

2012 ◽  
Vol 518-523 ◽  
pp. 4425-4430
Author(s):  
Li Ping He ◽  
Yu Chen ◽  
Xue Ru Wang
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Environmental Pollution ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Environmental Footprint ◽  
Frame Building ◽  
Wood Frame

The enormous consumption of resources and energy of construction industry results in severe environmental pollution. From both the views of energy consumption and environmental footprint, this article analyzed theoretically the energy consumption and environmental benefits on life cycle of wood-frame building, in order to determine the general impact on environment by appropriate building materials, so that some ideas for development of wood-frame architecture can be concluded.

The Use of Palm Oil as Diesel Fuel Substitute

1996 ◽  
Vol 210 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
S M Sapuan ◽  
H H Masjuki ◽  
A Azlan
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Environmental Economic ◽  
Vegetable Oil ◽  
Palm Oil ◽  
Diesel Fuel ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Oil Crisis ◽  
Oil Fuel

The high cost of energy supplies as well as the concern over the availability of oil have brought much pressure on many countries to search for renewable energy sources, especially after the oil crisis in 1973. Vegetable oil fuels such as palm oil fuel provide one of the alternative forms of energy that are currently being studied, particularly as a diesel fuel substitute. The purpose of this note is to review the potential of palm oil as an alternative fuel in automotive and industrial diesel engines with respect to its performance and tribological, environmental, economic and social implications.

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