scholarly journals Estimation of Carbon Footprint of Residential Building in Warm Humid Climate of India through BIM

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4237
Author(s):  
Rosaliya Kurian ◽  
Kishor Sitaram Kulkarni ◽  
Prasanna Venkatesan Ramani ◽  
Chandan Swaroop Meena ◽  
Ashok Kumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Civil Infrastructure ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Operational Energy ◽  
Building Life Cycle

In recent years Asian Nations showed concern over the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of their civil infrastructure. This study presents a contextual investigation of a residential apartment complex in the territory of the southern part of India. The LCA is performed through Building Information Modelling (BIM) software embedded with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) of materials utilized in construction, transportation of materials and operational energy use throughout the building lifecycle. The results of the study illustrate that cement is the material that most contributes to carbon emissions among the other materials looked at in this study. The operational stage contributed the highest amount of carbon emissions. This study emphasizes variation in the LCA results based on the selection of a combination of definite software-database combinations and manual-database computations used. For this, three LCA databases were adopted (GaBi database and ecoinvent databases through One Click LCA software), and the ICE database was used for manual calculations. The ICE database showed realistic value comparing the GaBi and ecoinvent databases. The findings of this study are valuable for the policymakers and practitioners to accomplish optimization of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions over the building life cycle.

scholarly journals Strategies to Improve the Energy Performance of Buildings: A Review of Their Life Cycle Impact

Buildings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia MIRABELLA ◽  
Martin RÖCK ◽  
Marcella Ruschi Mendes SAADE ◽  
Carolin SPIRINCKX ◽  
Marc BOSMANS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Operational Energy

Globally, the building sector is responsible for more than 40% of energy use and it contributes approximately 30% of the global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. This high contribution stimulates research and policies to reduce the operational energy use and related GHG emissions of buildings. However, the environmental impacts of buildings can extend wide beyond the operational phase, and the portion of impacts related to the embodied energy of the building becomes relatively more important in low energy buildings. Therefore, the goal of the research is gaining insights into the environmental impacts of various building strategies for energy efficiency requirements compared to the life cycle environmental impacts of the whole building. The goal is to detect and investigate existing trade-offs in current approaches and solutions proposed by the research community. A literature review is driven by six fundamental and specific research questions (RQs), and performed based on two main tasks: (i) selection of literature studies, and (ii) critical analysis of the selected studies in line with the RQs. A final sample of 59 papers and 178 case studies has been collected, and key criteria are systematically analysed in a matrix. The study reveals that the high heterogeneity of the case studies makes it difficult to compare these in a straightforward way, but it allows to provide an overview of current methodological challenges and research gaps. Furthermore, the most complete studies provide valuable insights in the environmental benefits of the identified energy performance strategies over the building life cycle, but also shows the risk of burden shifting if only operational energy use is focused on, or when a limited number of environmental impact categories are assessed.

scholarly journals The applicability of different energy performance calculation methods for building life cycle environmental optimization

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Kiss ◽  
ZS. Szalay
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Computational Time ◽  
Calculation Methods ◽  
Apartment House ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Operational Energy ◽  
Time Accuracy ◽  
Building Life Cycle

Building life cycle assessment is getting more and more attention within the topic of environmental impact caused by the built environment. Although more and more research focus on the embodied impact of buildings, the investigation of the operational energy use still needs attention. The majority of the building stock still does not comply with the nearly zero energy requirements. Also, in case of retrofitting, when most of the embodied impact is already spent on the existing structures (and so immutable), the importance of the operational energy rises. There are several methods to calculate the energy performance of buildings covering the range from simplified seasonal methods to detailed hourly energy simulations. Not only the accuracy of the calculations, but the computational time can be significantly different within the methods. The latter is especially important in case of optimization, when there is limited time to perform one calculation. Our research shows that the use of different calculation techniques can lead to different optima for environmental impacts in case of retrofitting. In this paper we compare these calculation methods with focus on computational time, accuracy and applicability to environmental optimization of buildings. We present the results in a case study of the retrofitting of a middle-sized apartment house in Hungary.

scholarly journals Case Study of Carbon Emissions from a Building’s Life Cycle Based on BIM and Ecotect

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Changhai Peng ◽  
Xiao Wu
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Building Performance ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Construction Operation ◽  
Insulation Performance

Using building information modeling (BIM) and Ecotect, this paper estimated carbon emissions during an office building’s life cycle. This building’s life cycle CO2emissions were divided into three parts: the construction, operation, and demolition stages. Among these, the statistics on the schedule of quantities were generated using BIM, and the energy consumption during the building’s operational stage was obtained using ECOTECT simulation. Sensitivity analysis was performed by changing several alternative parameters, to identify which parameter has more impacts on building performance. The paper demonstrated that (1) BIM and Ecotect are very helpful in estimating carbon emissions from a building’s life cycle, (2) the primary and effective measures to reduce the building’s CO2emissions in hot and humid climate should be arranged as follows: (a) within the limits of comfort, reducing the fresh air volume; (b) extending the indoor temperature range; (c) improving the thermal insulation performance of exterior windows, walls, and roofs; (d) exploiting natural ventilation during transition seasons, and (3) currently there are some limitations in performing LCA based on BIM and Ecotect.

scholarly journals Comprehensive Evaluation of Carbon Emissions for the Development of High-Rise Residential Building

Buildings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Yim ◽  
S. Ng ◽  
M. Hossain ◽  
James Wong
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Residential Housing ◽  
High Rise ◽  
Whole Life Cycle

Despite the fact that many novel initiatives have been put forward to reduce the carbon emissions of buildings, there is still a lack of comprehensive investigation in analyzing a buildings’ life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially in high-density cities. In addition, no studies have made attempt to evaluate GHG emissions by considering the whole life cycle of buildings in Hong Kong. Knowledge of localized emission at different stages is critical, as the emission varies greatly in different regions. Without a reliable emission level of buildings, it is difficult to determine which aspects can reduce the life cycle GHG emissions. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the life cycle GHG emissions of buildings by considering “cradle-to-grave” system boundary, with a case-specific high-rise residential housing block as a representative public housing development in Hong Kong. The results demonstrated that the life cycle GHG emission of the case residential building was 4980 kg CO2e/m2. The analysis showed that the majority (over 86%) of the emission resulted from the use phase of the building including renovation. The results and analysis presented in this study can help the relevant parties in designing low carbon and sustainable residential development in the future.

scholarly journals Ökobau.dat 3.0–Quo Vadis?

Buildings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Gantner ◽  
Katrin Lenz ◽  
Rafael Horn ◽  
Petra von Both ◽  
Sebastian Ebertshäuser
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Application Programming Interface ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Material Classification ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Future Viability ◽  
Functional Units ◽  
Quo Vadis ◽  
Building Life Cycle

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the standard method for the quantification of environmental impacts within the construction sector, relying on available generic LCA databases. New developments, such as the increased influence of the building construction for LCA and the forthcoming of building information modeling (BIM), implicate new requirements on multiscale levels of development and complexity for LCA construction databases. At the example of the German “Ökobau.dat”, one of the leading LCA construction databases, this publication discusses whether the database is able to meet these requirements. The analysis shows the strengths of the Ökobau.dat with regard to standardization conformity (EN 15804, ILCD), data provision in machine-readable XML format, and the provision of an application programming interface. Shortcomings include incorrect linking of building life cycle inventory data with environmental information, incorrect documentation of functional units, missing generic datasets, the modeling of energy use data or the lack of a uniform structuring, or material classification. The authors propose solutions such as the provision of appropriate functional units, the implementation of a top-down approach to investigate the completeness of data based on existing nomenclatures or the extension with an appropriate material classification. This would allow for future viability and adaptability of Ökobau.dat for digital LCA.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Environmental and Cost Performance of Prefabricated Buildings

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2609 ◽  
Author(s):  
He Wang ◽  
Yinqi Zhang ◽  
Weijun Gao ◽  
Soichiro Kuroki
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Total Energy Consumption ◽  
Building Life Cycle ◽  
Whole Life Cycle ◽  
Assembly Rate ◽  
Prefabricated Building

Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the construction industry continue to increase at an annual rate of 1.5%. It is particularly important to understand the characteristics of the building life cycle to reduce its environmental impact. This paper aims to assess the environmental impact of prefabricated buildings and traditional cast-in-situ buildings over the building life cycle using a hybrid model. A case study of a building with a 40% assembly rate in Japan was employed for evaluation. It concluded that the total energy consumption, and carbon emissions of the prefabricated building was 7.54%, and 7.17%, respectively, less than that of the traditional cast-in-situ building throughout the whole life cycle. The carbon emissions reduction in the operation phase reached a peak of 4.05 kg CO2/year∙m2. The prefabricated building was found to cost less than the traditional cast-in-situ building, reducing the price per square meter by 10.62%. The prefabricated building has advantages in terms of reducing global warming, acid rain, and health damage by 15% reduction. With the addition of the assembly rate, the carbon emissions and cost dropped, bottoming out when the assembly rate was 60%. After that, an upward trend was shown with the assembly rate increasing. Additionally, this study outlined that the prefabricated pile foundations is not applicable due to its high construction cost and environmental impact.

scholarly journals Overview and Main Findings for the Austrian Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7584
Author(s):  
Franz Dolezal ◽  
Isabella Dornigg ◽  
Markus Wurm ◽  
Hildegund Figl
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Heating System ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation ◽  
Electricity Grid ◽  
Mixed Use ◽  
Operational Energy ◽  
Building Life Cycle ◽  
Mass Timber

As part of a project investigating in the potential greenhouse gas mitigation effect of the increased use and production of mass timber worldwide, a comparative study was carried out to show the potential benefit of mass timber use in buildings in central Europe. After designing a mass timber building functionally equivalent to an existing conventional building, cradle to grave life cycle assessments (LCA) were calculated. The reference is an eight-story building with mixed use in Vienna, originally built in reinforced concrete. Global Warming Potential (GWP) is defined as the central parameter of interest. Calculated life cycle phases are A1–A3 (resource to production), A4 and A5 (transport to site and construction, respectively), B4 (replacement in the use phase), and C1–C4 (End of Life), as well as D (benefits and loads beyond the building life). It can be shown that the total mass of the timber building is 47% lower than of the concrete building. Considering life cycle phases A1 to A5, the timber building shows 18% less embodied carbon. Taking the whole building life cycle and the operational energy use (B6) into account, differences in GWP are much lower, as the heating system, though equipped with high efficiency and clean Austrian electricity grid mix, has much higher impact than the other phases.

scholarly journals Life Cycle GHG Emissions of Residential Buildings in Humid Subtropical and Tropical Climates: Systematic Review and Analysis

Buildings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Daniel Satola ◽  
Martin Röck ◽  
Aoife Houlihan-Wiberg ◽  
Arild Gustavsen
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Cycle Performance ◽  
Tropical Climates ◽  
Building Life Cycle ◽  
Total Life

Improving the environmental life cycle performance of buildings by focusing on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions along the building life cycle is considered a crucial step in achieving global climate targets. This paper provides a systematic review and analysis of 75 residential case studies in humid subtropical and tropical climates. The study investigates GHG emissions across the building life cycle, i.e., it analyses both embodied and operational GHG emissions. Furthermore, the influence of various parameters, such as building location, typology, construction materials and energy performance, as well as methodological aspects are investigated. Through comparative analysis, the study identifies promising design strategies for reducing life cycle-related GHG emissions of buildings operating in subtropical and tropical climate zones. The results show that life cycle GHG emissions in the analysed studies are mostly dominated by operational emissions and are the highest for energy-intensive multi-family buildings. Buildings following low or net-zero energy performance targets show potential reductions of 50–80% for total life cycle GHG emissions, compared to buildings with conventional energy performance. Implementation of on-site photovoltaic (PV) systems provides the highest reduction potential for both operational and total life cycle GHG emissions, with potential reductions of 92% to 100% and 48% to 66%, respectively. Strategies related to increased use of timber and other bio-based materials present the highest potential for reduction of embodied GHG emissions, with reductions of 9% to 73%.

scholarly journals A Comparison of Life Cycle Energy and Carbon Impacts for Passive Detached Accessory Dwelling Units and Their Design Implications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deva Siva Veylan
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Performance Metrics ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Design Standards ◽  
Passive House ◽  
Accessory Dwelling Units ◽  
Passive Design ◽  
House Size

Detached accessory dwelling units are a building typology that, when built to passive design standards, can help reduce GHG emissions while addressing the socioeconomic pressures facing many housing markets. Energy performance metrics like those used in passive design standards are based on per unit of floor area and lead to a size-bias against smaller housing typologies. A life cycle assessment of cost-optimal passive house sizes ranging from 230 m² (2,500 ft²) to 30 m² (300 ft²) is performed to understand their total life cycle energy use and GHG emissions implications. Additionally, an analysis using BEopt examines operational energy use for 10 cost-optimal passive house sizes ranging from 230 m² (2,500 ft²) to 30 m² (300 ft²) across all 17 climate zones and examines how cost-optimal passive design changes with house size. The results show that per-occupant energy use and GHG emissions are similar or better for small house sizes and that cost-optimal passive design does not change significantly with house size.

scholarly journals LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL BUILDING SERVICES OF LARGE RESIDENTIAL BUILDING STOCKS USING SEMANTIC 3D CITY MODELS

2020 ◽  
Vol VI-4/W1-2020 ◽  
pp. 85-92
Author(s):  
H. Harter ◽  
B. Willenborg ◽  
W. Lang ◽  
T. H. Kolbe
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
3D City Models ◽  
Methodical Approach ◽  
Operational Energy ◽  
City Models

Abstract. Reducing the demand for non-renewable resources and the resulting environmental impact is an objective of sustainable development, to which buildings contribute significantly. In order to realize the goal of reaching a climate-neutral building stock, it must first be analyzed and evaluated in order to develop optimization strategies. The life cycle based consideration and assessment of buildings plays a key role in this process. Approaches and tools already exist for this purpose, but they mainly take the operational energy demand of buildings and not a life cycle based approach into account, especially when assessing technical building services (TBS). Therefore, this paper presents and applies a methodical approach for the life cycle based assessment of the TBS of large residential building stocks, based on semantic 3D city models (CityGML). The methodical approach developed for this purpose describes the procedure for calculating the operational energy demand (already validated) and the heating load of the building, the dimensioning of the TBS components and the calculation of the life cycle assessment. The application of the methodology is illustrated in a case study with over 115,000 residential buildings from Munich, Germany. The study shows that the methodology calculates reliable results and that a significant reduction of the life cycle based energy demand can be achieved by refurbishment measures/scenarios. Nevertheless, the goal of achieving a climate-neutral building stock is a challenge from a life cycle perspective.

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