Life cycle assessment (LCA) of building thermal insulation materials

2014 ◽  
pp. 267-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Dylewski ◽  
J. Adamczyk
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Insulation Materials

Comparative environmental life cycle assessment of thermal insulation materials of buildings

2014 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
pp. 466-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuno Pargana ◽  
Manuel Duarte Pinheiro ◽  
José Dinis Silvestre ◽  
Jorge de Brito
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Insulation Materials ◽  
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment

Life Cycle Assessment of Rock Wool Board and EPS Board

2014 ◽  
Vol 787 ◽  
pp. 106-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhu Li ◽  
Xian Zheng Gong ◽  
Zhi Hong Wang ◽  
Yu Liu ◽  
Li Ping Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Outer Wall ◽  
Effective Measure ◽  
Insulation Materials ◽  
Result Show ◽  
Rock Wool

Although outer wall thermal insulation technology is an effective measure for building energy-saving, the production of thermal insulation materials causes serious impacts on environment. In the present investigation the resource, energy consumption and environmental emission of the two kinds of thermal insulation materials were analyzed, from the acquisition of raw materials to production process based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The result show that life cycle energy consumption of rock wool board is 415MJ per functional unit, proximately twice of EPS board’s (220MJ). Overall, environmental impact indicators caused by rock wool board is more serious than EPS.

scholarly journals Environmental Impact and Life Cycle Assessment of Economically Optimized Thermal Insulation Materials for Different Climatic Region in Iraq

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.37) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Murad Saeed Sedeeq ◽  
Shadan Kareem Ameen ◽  
Ali Bolatturk
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Expanded Polystyrene ◽  
Insulation Material ◽  
Insulation Materials ◽  
Climatic Regions ◽  
Damage Categories

Environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems facing the world, even it is the most dangerous. Therefore, it becomes necessary to combine all efforts to reduce or eliminate it. Iraq is at the forefront of countries that suffer from major environmental problems. The present study aims to perform a comparative environmental assessment for three commonly available thermal insulation materials in Iraq namely expanded polystyrene (EPS), extruded polystyrene (XPS), and rock wool (RW) to select least environmental impact material. A cradle to gate life cycle assessment is performed to assess the environmental impact of each insulation material taking into account manufacturing, transportation, and installation and disposal stages. A life cycle assessment program SimaPro is used to model thermal insulation materials during its life cycle. A life cycle impact analysis method CML 2001 has been selected to assess the environmental aspects associated with two global damage categories as ozone layer depletion and global warming and two regional damage categories as acidification and eutrophication. Economically optimized amount of each insulation material is selected to represent the functional unit of life cycle assessment. The results illustrate that the EPS has the lower contribution in all environmental impact categories for all climatic regions. So, the EPS can be select as a proper thermal insulation material for the building sector from an economic and environmental perspective. The results of LCA are used to determine the amount of CO2 can be reduced per meter square of the exterior wall by using the economical amount of EPS during the lifetime of insulation material. The environmental impact results show that using EPS will contribute in CO2 emission reduction at about 81.5 % in all climatic regions in Iraq. 

Comparative Study on Life Cycle Assessment for Typical Building Thermal Insulation Materials in China

2014 ◽  
Vol 787 ◽  
pp. 176-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Ping Ma ◽  
Quan Jiang ◽  
Ping Zhao ◽  
Chun Zhi Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Heat Conductivity ◽  
Insulation Material ◽  
Insulation Materials ◽  
Volume Weight ◽  
Rock Wool

Studies on life cycle assessment of three typical building thermal insulation materials including polystyrene board, rock wool board, and rigid foam polyurethane board related to building energy-saving were carried out. Based on the method of life cycle assessment, "1 kg of thermal insulation material" is first selected as one of the functional units in this study based on the production field data statistics and general market transaction rules of the thermal insulation materials, and life cycle resource consumption, energy consumption and exhaust emission of the three products in China are deeply surveyed and analyzed. The abiotic depletion potential (ADP), primary energy demand (PED), and global warming potential (GWP) for production of 1 kg of the three thermal insulation materials are calculated and analyzed. Furthermore, the functional unit is extended to be "1 m2 of thermal insulation material meeting the same energy-saving requirements" so as to compare the difference of environmental friendliness among the three building thermal insulation materials, and the corresponding life cycle environmental impact is also calculated and analyzed. As shown by the results, where calculated in unit mass, the order of production life cycle environmental impact significances of the thermal insulation materials is as follows: rock wool board < polyurethane board < polystyrene board. However, where calculated in unit area (m2) meeting the 65% energy-saving requirements, the production life cycle environmental impact significances of the three kinds of insulation materials are sorted as polystyrene board < polyurethane board < rock wool board, whatever the region is, which is opposite with that of the results for the insulation materials in unit mass (kg). The reason for such difference is that they have different volume weights and heat conductivity coefficients. The polystyrene board has a smaller volume weight and the smallest heat conductivity coefficient, whereas the rock wool board has the highest volume weight and heat conductivity coefficient. Source of the project fund. Subject "the Research and Application of Life Cycle Assessment Technology to the Building Materials for Building Engineering in Typical Regions" of the National Science & Technology Pillar Program during the Twelfth Five-year Plan Period (No.: 2011BAJ04B06)

Life Cycle Assessment of a Reflective Foil Material and Comparison With Other Solutions for Thermal Insulation of Buildings

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Desideri ◽  
S. Proietti ◽  
F. Zepparelli ◽  
P. Sdringola ◽  
E. Cenci
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment Methodology ◽  
Production Phase ◽  
Reflective Foil

In the last twenty years, the exploitation of non-renewable resources and the effects of their applications on environment and human health were considered central topics in political and scientific debate on European and worldwide scale. This kind of resources have been used in different sectors, as energy systems, technological research, but also in private/public buildings and production of consumer goods, involving significantly domestic and ordinary life of every human being. Studies about the effect of this exploitation carried out discouraging results, in terms of climate changes and energy sustenance; this determined a progressive approach process to a new concept of development, able to couple the qualitative standard of modern life with the respect of planet and its inhabitants. Starting from this reflection, scientific community moved towards research on alternative resources and developed a new way to conceive planning process and technical innovations, in order to exploit renewable energies and recycled materials, promote energy savings and reduce environmental pollution. In this context the present paper aims at evaluating benefits relating to different solutions of thermal insulation in building envelope. In fact a high grade of insulation ensures better comfort conditions in inner spaces, reducing energy consumptions due to heating and cooling conditioning. The paper presents the results of a detailed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the reflective foil ISOLIVING, conceived and produced by an Italian company. The Life Cycle Assessment methodology allows to consider all stages of the life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials to the product’s disposal, in an optics “from cradle to grave.” In particular, the study takes into account the production phase of the reflective foil ISOLIVING, the installation phase, the transport of all components to the production site and also the end of life scenario of the material. The possibility to collect many detailed information about the production phase adds value to the study. The analysis is carried out according to UNI EN ISO 14040 and UNI EN ISO 14044, which regulate the LCA procedure. The LCA modeling was performed using SimaPro software application. The results of the analysis allow to make an important comparison concerning the environmental performances, between the reflective foil ISOLIVING and other types of insulating materials.

scholarly journals Factors for Eco-Efficiency Improvement of Thermal Insulation Materials

2016 ◽  
Vol 678 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Kono ◽  
Yutaka Goto ◽  
York Ostermeyer ◽  
Rolf Frischknecht ◽  
Holger Wallbaum
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Production Process ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Foam Glass ◽  
Insulation Material ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Insulation Materials ◽  
Thermo Physical Properties

Thermal insulation material is an important component to reduce the environmental impact of buildings through the reduction of energy consumption in the operation phase. However, the material itself has embodied environmental impacts for the value it provides. Eco-efficiency is a method that quantifies relation between the environmental performance and the created value of a product system. This study investigated contributing factors of the eco-efficiency of thermal insulation materials to support decision making of material manufacturers. For the improvement of eco-efficiency, the assessment was made in two scopes: investigating the contributing factors of impact caused at production processes; and thermal performance through thermo-physical properties. For quantifying environmental impacts, cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) of each materials were made. The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) indicators used were ReCiPe H/A and global warming potential (GWP100a). For the assessment of production process, the inventories of the materials were assigned to six categories: heat, chemicals, electricity, transportation, raw materials and wastes. Among the assessed materials, contribution of electricity and heat within the production process was large for foam glass which had the highest potential to improve the eco-efficiency which was by factor 1.72. The analysis on relation between thermo-physical properties and eco-efficiency based on product data of the materials highlighted the importance of density as an indicator upon development and use. Althoughdensity often gains less attention,the finding suggested the effectiveness of improving the efficiency by having lower density without compensating the performance of the materials.

scholarly journals Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Marine Insulation Materials

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1099
Author(s):  
Hayoung Jang ◽  
Yoonwon Jang ◽  
Byongug Jeong ◽  
Nak-Kyun Cho
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Polyurethane Foam ◽  
Mineral Wool ◽  
Expanded Polystyrene ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Human Toxicity ◽  
Insulation Materials ◽  
Marine Vessels

This study aimed to reduce the holistic environmental impacts of insulation materials proposed for the accommodation of a marine cargo ship, and suggest the optimal option for cleaner ship production, using life cycle assessment. With a commercial bulk carrier as a case ship, three major insulations were assessed, which were wool-based material (mineral wool or glass wool), expanded polystyrene, and polyurethane foam. The analysis was scoped based on ‘from cradle to grave’, while focusing on the following five representative environmental indicators: global warming potential100years, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, ozone depletion potential, and human toxicity potential. The assessment was performed in the platform of the GaBi software. The results showed that polyurethane foam would have the greatest impacts, especially in regard to global warming, eutrophication, and human toxicity. On the other hand, expanded polystyrene and wool-based material showed better environmental performance than polyurethane foam. For example, wool-based insulation was found, in terms of GWP and HTP, to produce 2.1 × 104 kg CO2-eq and 760.1 kg DCB-eq, respectively, and expanded polystyrene had similar results with respect to GWP, AP, and EP as 2.1 × 104 kg CO2-eq, 23.3 kg SO2-eq, and 2.7 kg Phosphate-eq, respectively. In fact, the research findings point out the shortcomings of current design practices in selecting insulation materials for marine vessels, while providing meaningful insights into the importance of the selection of appropriate insulation materials for marine vessels for cleaner shipping. Therefore, it is believed that this paper will make a sound contribution to enhancing future design practice and regulatory frameworks in response to environmental issues in the marine industry.

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