scholarly journals Investigation of the life cycle carbon impact of passive house building envelopes in Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick W. Andres
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Carbon Intensity ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Passive House ◽  
Standard Life ◽  
System Configurations ◽  
House Building ◽  
House Standard

Whole building energy and life cycle impact modeling was conducted for a single-family detached reference building designed to meet the Passive House Standard. Life cycle operating global warming potential (GWP) and building envelope embodied GWP were assessed for two mechanical system configurations and three Canadian cities. Variations in regional electricity carbon intensity were found to significantly impact both operating and embodied GWP. Embodied GWP was found to be significant relative to operating GWP in locations with access to low carbon electricity. Additionally, use of natural gas mechanical systems in Edmonton resulted in 360% greater operating emissions than in Montreal, while electric heat pump mechanicals yielded 6,600% higher emissions. Finally, the Passive House Standard method for quantifying operating GWP was found to overestimate emissions by up to 3700% in Montreal and underestimate emissions by 34% in Edmonton, when compared to a method accounting for variations in regional electricity carbon intensity.

scholarly journals Investigation of the life cycle carbon impact of passive house building envelopes in Canada

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick W. Andres
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Carbon Intensity ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Passive House ◽  
Standard Life ◽  
System Configurations ◽  
House Building ◽  
House Standard

Whole building energy and life cycle impact modeling was conducted for a single-family detached reference building designed to meet the Passive House Standard. Life cycle operating global warming potential (GWP) and building envelope embodied GWP were assessed for two mechanical system configurations and three Canadian cities. Variations in regional electricity carbon intensity were found to significantly impact both operating and embodied GWP. Embodied GWP was found to be significant relative to operating GWP in locations with access to low carbon electricity. Additionally, use of natural gas mechanical systems in Edmonton resulted in 360% greater operating emissions than in Montreal, while electric heat pump mechanicals yielded 6,600% higher emissions. Finally, the Passive House Standard method for quantifying operating GWP was found to overestimate emissions by up to 3700% in Montreal and underestimate emissions by 34% in Edmonton, when compared to a method accounting for variations in regional electricity carbon intensity.

Life cycle assessment of a single-family residence built to either conventional- or passive house standard

2012 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 470-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oddbjørn Dahlstrøm ◽  
Kari Sørnes ◽  
Silje Tveit Eriksen ◽  
Edgar G. Hertwich
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Passive House ◽  
House Standard

scholarly journals Thermal system-specific and net-zero carbon least-cost design of new houses in Canadian cold climates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon Wilbur
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Heat Pump ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Heating System ◽  
Carbon Intensity ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Zero Carbon

Whole-building model optimizations have been performed for a single-detached house in 5 locations with varying climates, electricity emissions factors, and energy costs. The multi-objective optimizations determine the life-cycle cost vs. operational greenhouse gas emissions Pareto front to discover the 30-year life-cycle least-cost building design heated 1) with natural gas, and 2) electrically using a) central air-source heat pump, b) ductless mini-split heat pump c)ground-source heat pump, and d) electric baseboard, accounting for both initial and operational energy-related costs. A net-zero carbon design with grid-tied photovoltaics is also optimized. Results indicate that heating system type influences the optimal enclosure design, and that neither building total energy use, nor space heating demand correspond to GHG emissions across heating system types. In each location, at least one type of all-electric design has a lower life-cycle cost than the optimized gas-heated model, and such designs can mitigate the majority of operational GHG emissions from new housing in locations with a low carbon intensity electricity supply.

scholarly journals A Comparison Of Building Envelope Performance Levels Between Ontario, Denmark, Germany And The Passive House Standard, In The Low-Rise, Residential Context

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blaine Attwood
Keyword(s):  
Energy Use ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Passive House ◽  
Building Envelopes ◽  
Residential Sector ◽  
Greater Toronto Area ◽  
Residential Context ◽  
Minimum Requirements ◽  
Other World ◽  
House Standard

This research compared and analyzed where the Ontario Building Code rates in the low-rise, residential sector in terms of its: in comparison to Denmark, Germany and the Passive House Standard. This was analyzed to see how Ontario compared against other world renowned energy efficient regulations and where or if there was room for improvement. For this, HOT2000 and THERM were utilized on all four of the reference standards, where both of these programs were managed in a way to compare the results of ‘typical’ building envelopes and the current regulation from each of the standards. These results were then able to provide a whole home’s heating and air conditioning energy use in the Greater Toronto Area climate. Overall, the results illustrated Ontario homes consume the most energy for both typically constructed homes and homes utilizing the minimum requirements. In addition to this, Ontario also had the least performing building envelope connection details. In total, the Passive House performed at the highest level followed by Germany, Denmark and then Ontario.

Addressing uncertainty in life-cycle carbon intensity in a national low-carbon fuel standard

Energy Policy ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 41-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Kocoloski ◽  
Kimberley A. Mullins ◽  
Aranya Venkatesh ◽  
W. Michael Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Intensity ◽  
Low Carbon

scholarly journals The Role of National Energy Policies and Life Cycle Emissions of PV Systems in Reducing Global Net Emissions of Greenhouse Gases

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 961
Author(s):  
Gabriel Constantino de Lima ◽  
Andre Luiz Lopes Toledo ◽  
Leonidas Bourikas
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Electricity Generation ◽  
Unconditional Stimulus ◽  
Average Energy ◽  
Carbon Intensity ◽  
Photovoltaic Systems ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Operational Conditions ◽  
Pv Systems ◽  
Carbon Offset

The energy sector and electricity generation in particular, is responsible for a great share of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. World electricity generation is still largely based on the burning of fossil fuels. However, Brazil has already a very low electricity carbon intensity due to the country’s large hydropower capacity. In countries with low grid carbon intensities such as Brazil, the investment in photovoltaic solar systems (PVSS) even if it is cost-effective, might become challenging as any new generation competes essentially against other renewable generation and the carbon offset is not a key driver for investment anymore. This study builds further upon that case to examine if national renewable energy incentives could actually lead to an increase of global net carbon emissions from the installation of PVSS in countries with a low grid carbon intensity. The study presents a life cycle analysis (LCA) of ten photovoltaic systems representative of the different operational conditions in regions across Brazil. It was found that the average energy payback time of the studied PV plants is between 3 and 5 years of operation. This result shows the feasibility and viability of such investments in the Brazilian context. When the LCA was integrated into the analysis though, the results showed that the “local” direct emissions avoidance from two out of ten studied PV plants would not manage to offset their “global” life cycle emissions due to the 2020 projected Brazilian grid emission factor which is already low. It is important to recognize that public policies of unrestricted, unconditional stimulus to photovoltaic systems investment might not help towards reducing global net emissions when the PV systems are installed at countries with a low carbon emission electric matrix. That is also something to consider for other countries as the carbon intensity of their grids will start reducing at levels similar to Brazil’s. It is likely that in the near future, the real net carbon offset achieved by PV systems at the global level will be largely defined by the manufacture procedures and the production’s carbon intensity at the country of origin of the PV panels.

scholarly journals A Colorado-specific life cycle assessment model to support evaluation of low-carbon transportation fuels and policy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Somers ◽  
Liaw Batan ◽  
Baha Al-Alawi ◽  
Thomas H. Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Transportation System ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Carbon Intensity ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Transportation Fuels ◽  
Transportation Sector ◽  
Clean Fuels

Abstract The transportation sector accounts for over 20 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Colorado which without intervention will grow to over 30 million metric tons (MMT) of GHG emissions per year. This study seeks to develop a specific characterization of the Colorado fuel and transportation system using a customized life cycle assessment (LCA) model. The model (CO-GT) was developed as an analytical tool to define Colorado’s 2020 baseline life cycle GHG emissions for the transportation sector, and to examine Colorado-specific pathways for GHG reductions through fuel types and volumes changes that might be associated with a state clean fuel standard (CFS). By developing a life cycle assessment of transportation fuels that is specific to the state of Colorado’s geography, fleet makeup, policies, energy sector and more, these tools can evaluate various proposals for the transition towards a more sustainable state transportation system. The results of this study include a quantification of the Colorado-specific roles of clean fuels, electricity, extant policies, and fleet transition in projections of the state’s 2030 transportation sector GHG emissions. Relative to a 2020 baseline, electrification of the vehicle fleet is found to reduce state-wide lifecycle GHG emissions by 7.7 MMT CO2e by 2030, and a model CFS policy able to achieve similar reductions in the carbon intensity of clean fuels as was achieved by California in the first 10 years of its CFS policies is found to only reduce state-wide lifecycle GHG emissions by 0.2 MMT CO2e by 2030. These results illustrate the insensitivity of Colorado’s transportation fleet GHG emissions reductions to the presence of CFS policies, as proposed to date.

scholarly journals Thermal system-specific and net-zero carbon least-cost design of new houses in Canadian cold climates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon Wilbur
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Heat Pump ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Heating System ◽  
Carbon Intensity ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Zero Carbon

Whole-building model optimizations have been performed for a single-detached house in 5 locations with varying climates, electricity emissions factors, and energy costs. The multi-objective optimizations determine the life-cycle cost vs. operational greenhouse gas emissions Pareto front to discover the 30-year life-cycle least-cost building design heated 1) with natural gas, and 2) electrically using a) central air-source heat pump, b) ductless mini-split heat pump c)ground-source heat pump, and d) electric baseboard, accounting for both initial and operational energy-related costs. A net-zero carbon design with grid-tied photovoltaics is also optimized. Results indicate that heating system type influences the optimal enclosure design, and that neither building total energy use, nor space heating demand correspond to GHG emissions across heating system types. In each location, at least one type of all-electric design has a lower life-cycle cost than the optimized gas-heated model, and such designs can mitigate the majority of operational GHG emissions from new housing in locations with a low carbon intensity electricity supply.

Applying life-cycle assessment to low carbon fuel standards—How allocation choices influence carbon intensity for renewable transportation fuels

Energy Policy ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. 5229-5241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew S. Kaufman ◽  
Paul J. Meier ◽  
Julie C. Sinistore ◽  
Douglas J. Reinemann
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Intensity ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Transportation Fuels
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