Sustainability evaluation in building construction using life cycle assessment as decision maker

Using information from an experimental planting of non-toxic Jatropha curcas (NTJC) with minimal water and fertilization resources on rural marginal soil the objective of this article is to determine the sustainability of this raw material for producing biodiesel and the possibilities for improving it through life-cycle assessment (LCA). Three production scenarios were studied: minimal resources (MR), which focuses on the obtaining of biodiesel; minimal resources and utilization of sub-products (MRUS), which includes the utilization of the residual products in order to produce food and solid biofuels, as well as biodiesel; and utilization of biofertilizers, flood irrigation, and sub-products (UBIS), which incorporates the use of bio-fertilizers and irrigation in the production system. This study includes the selection of six sustainability indicators, as well as indicators by means of LCA methodology Finally, a sustainability index (SI) for each scenario was determined on the basis of an index of environmental sustainability of energy products (IESEP). Our results indicated that the MR scenario yielded the lowest SI 0.673, while the MRUS scenario had the highest SI 0.956. It concludes that sustainability is greater when it utilizes minimal water and fertilization resources during the raw material production stage, and the residual products are used for food and energy products made possible by the non-toxic properties of Jatropha curcas.

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Towards a Holistic Sustainability Evaluation for Transport Alternatives

European Journal of Sustainable Development ◽

10.14207/ejsd.2020.v9n4p1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Thu Trang Nguyen ◽

Helmut Brunner ◽

Mario Hirz

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Decision Analysis ◽

Two Dimensions ◽

Assessment Methods ◽

System Level ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Economic Approach ◽

Sustainability Evaluation ◽

Multi Criteria Decision Analysis

The transport sector is responsible for a broad range of ecologic impacts, e.g., energy consumption, greenhouse gas emission or air pollution. It is therefore highly important to assess transport solutions in terms of their sustainability. Widely used approaches for sustainability analysis in the transport sector include life cycle assessment (LCA), economic approach, multi-criteria decision analysis (MDCA), and assessments based on indicators. In practice, these approaches consist of several methods, i.e., product-based LCA, fleet-based LCA, cost benefit analysis (CBA), cost effectiveness analysis (CEA), value measurement MDCA, ideal-solution based MDCA, outranking MDCA, and indicator-based assessment. Even though there is a larger number of assessment methods, a holistic framework for sustainability evaluation of different transport solutions is still missing. Selection of suitable assessment methods depends on a vast array of factors. This paper proposes to utilise “application levels” for the selection process. Firstly, the paper provides an analysis of the application levels of the common assessment methods and evaluation criteria within the transport sector based on a literature review. The application levels are illustrated by identifying two dimensions, namely system level and decision-making level, ranging from Low to High. Afterwards, a six-step framework for a holistic evaluation of transport alternatives is proposed. Keywords: sustainability assessment, economic approach, indicator-based assessment, life cycle assessment, multi-criteria decision analysis, sustainable transport

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Study on BIM based Life Cycle Assessment of Environmental Impacts and Decision Making Analysis for Building Construction

10.15396/eres2016_163 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Xu Zhao

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Building Construction

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Study on Building Information Modeling Based Life Cycle Assessment of Environmental Impacts and Decision Making Analysis for Building Construction

Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience ◽

10.1166/jctn.2016.5694 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

pp. 7212-7225 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Zhao Xu ◽

Yang Zhang ◽

Heng Li ◽

Qiming Li

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Impact Assessment ◽

Environmental Impact Assessment ◽

Building Design ◽

Building Construction ◽

Information Modeling ◽

Impact Factors

Energy consumption by and emissions from buildings contribute greatly to environmental degradation. Currently, an important tool in the study of architectural conservation design is LCA (life-cycle assessment), with the goal of minimizing energy consumption and environmental impact. The research suggests a method to apply LCA analysis and BIM technology to design 3D BIM models and define the relationship between BIM elements and architectural materials. The obvious advantages of combining BIM with LCA have resulted in its wide use for building life cycle assessment. The study propose here quantitative analysis of environmental impact by construction and build an index database for environmental impact assessment of building projects based on analytical hierarchy process. The design plan of the Teaching and Research Building of a University in Nanjing China is taken as the example to calculate energy consumption in response models formed from construction data. From these modeled calculations, then the key environmental impact factors were analyzed. The objective is to suggest an integrated solution to BIM-based environmental impact assessment of building construction and also provide a theoretical support for optimized building design. This case study demonstrates the utility of BIM when performing LCA, providing most of the information needed to perform LCA.

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