scholarly journals Evaluation of Life-Cycle Assessment Analysis: Application to Restoration Projects and New Construction in Alpine Climate, Japan

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3608
Author(s):  
Yohei Endo ◽  
Hideki Takamura

The present paper discusses the applications of life-cycle assessment (LCA) to construction works in Japan. LCA has been frequently used to assess the environmental impacts of new construction. Nonetheless, the applications of LCA to restoration have not been fully confirmed to date. It is said that historical buildings may contribute to sustainable development. Nonetheless, as for heritage buildings, since the protection of cultural value is usually prioritised, their environmental impacts may not be sufficiently explored. To this aim, this paper evaluated the environmental impacts of the restoration of heritage buildings. This paper consisted of two tasks. First, the restoration projects of heritage buildings in Japan were introduced. The restoration of two heritage houses was discussed, referring to heritage protection legislation in Japan. Second, LCA was performed on the restoration of heritage houses and the construction of contemporary houses. Environmental impacts were compared between the restoration and new construction with regard to greenhouse gas emissions and operational energy use. A focus was given to the amount of materials used. Restoration consumes a limited amount of materials compared to new construction, although the energy use of heritage buildings is considerable. The environmental impacts of restoration were quantified so that they were compared with those of new construction. The comparison indicated issues applying LCA to heritage buildings.

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2472
Author(s):  
Karel Struhala ◽  
Milan Ostrý

Contemporary research stresses the need to reduce mankind’s environmental impacts and achieve sustainability. One of the keys to this is the construction sector. New buildings have to comply with strict limits regarding resource consumption (energy, water use, etc.). However, they make up only a fraction of the existing building stock. Renovations of existing buildings are therefore essential for the reduction of the environmental impacts in the construction sector. This paper illustrates the situation using a case study of a rural terraced house in a village near Brno, Czech Republic. It compares the life-cycle assessment (LCA) of the original house and its proposed renovation as well as demolition followed by new construction. The LCA covers both the initial embodied environmental impacts (EEIs) and the 60-year operation of the house with several variants of energy sources. The results show that the proposed renovation would reduce overall environmental impacts (OEIs) of the house by up to 90% and the demolition and new construction by up to 93% depending on the selected energy sources. As such, the results confirm the importance of renovations and the installation of environmentally-friendly energy sources for achieving sustainability in the construction sector. They also show the desirability of the replacement of inefficient old buildings by new construction in specific cases.


Buildings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia MIRABELLA ◽  
Martin RÖCK ◽  
Marcella Ruschi Mendes SAADE ◽  
Carolin SPIRINCKX ◽  
Marc BOSMANS ◽  
...  

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.


2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Faludi ◽  
Michael D. Lepech ◽  
George Loisos

Within this work, life cycle assessment modeling is used to determine top design priorities and quantitatively inform sustainable design decision-making for a prefabricated modular building. A case-study life-cycle assessment was performed for a 5,000 ft2prefabricated commercial building constructed in San Francisco, California, and scenario analysis was run examining the life cycle environmental impacts of various energy and material design substitutions, and a structural design change. Results show that even for a highly energy-efficient modular building, the top design priority is still minimizing operational energy impacts, since this strongly dominates the building life cycle's environmental impacts. However, as an energy-efficient building approaches net zero energy, manufacturing-phase impacts are dominant, and a new set of design priorities emerges. Transportation and end-of-life disposal impacts were of low to negligible importance in both cases.


Author(s):  
Raghunathan Srinivasan ◽  
Gaurav Ameta

The objective of this paper is to determine and compare the environmental impacts of two toasters: standard and eco-friendly. The most rapidly growing sector for the e-waste world comes from Electronic household products. More than 2 million tons of electronic products are disposed off as solid waste to landfills in the US alone. The demand for energy supplies has been rapidly increasing in the past decade. Strict legislative measures should be enforced to protect the environment by making industries collect back the manufactured products at the End-of-Life (EOL) from the users and recycle the products. If these necessary steps are not taken, then these e-wastes will impose serious threat to society and the environment. In order to re-design environmentally friendly products and facilitate sustainable take-back planning, current products need to be evaluated for their environmental impacts. One of the widely used methodologies to assess the environmental impacts of a product is called Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA is a cradle to grave approach for assessing the environmental impacts of a product. The cradle to grave approach includes raw material phase, manufacturing and assembly phase, use phase, recovery phase and disposal phase. The system boundary for LCA presented in this paper includes material phase, manufacturing phase, use-phase and disposal phase. The functional unit for the LCA is entire life of the toaster which is one year based on manufacturer’s warranty which also includes the rate of usage. The environmental impacts from the two toasters as presented in this paper include eutrophication, acidification, energy-use and global warming. The use phase energy impact is experimentally determined.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 4998
Author(s):  
Vasileios Ntouros ◽  
Ioannis Kousis ◽  
Dimitra Papadaki ◽  
Anna Laura Pisello ◽  
Margarita Niki Assimakopoulos

In the last twenty years, research activity around the environmental applications of metal–organic frameworks has bloomed due to their CO2 capture ability, tunable properties, porosity, and well-defined crystalline structure. Thus, hundreds of MOFs have been developed. However, the impact of their production on the environment has not been investigated as thoroughly as their potential applications. In this work, the environmental performance of various synthetic routes of MOF nanoparticles, in particular ZIF-8, is assessed through a life cycle assessment. For this purpose, five representative synthesis routes were considered, and synthesis data were obtained based on available literature. The synthesis included different solvents (de-ionized water, methanol, dimethylformamide) as well as different synthetic steps (i.e., hours of drying, stirring, precursor). The findings revealed that the main environmental weak points identified during production were: (a) the use of dimethylformamide (DMF) and methanol (MeOH) as substances impacting environmental sustainability, which accounted for more than 85% of the overall environmental impacts in those synthetic routes where they were utilized as solvents and as cleaning agents at the same time; (b) the electricity consumption, especially due to the Greek energy mix which is fossil-fuel dependent, and accounted for up to 13% of the overall environmental impacts in some synthetic routes. Nonetheless, for the optimization of the impacts provided by the energy use, suggestions are made based on the use of alternative, cleaner renewable energy sources, which (for the case of wind energy) will decrease the impacts by up to 2%.


2021 ◽  
Vol 920 (1) ◽  
pp. 012030
Author(s):  
Y S Lim ◽  
T N T Izhar ◽  
I A Zakarya ◽  
S Y Yusuf ◽  
S K Zaaba ◽  
...  

Abstract Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is one of the most common materials used in packaging. In Malaysia, EPS is a type of plastic which is not in the recycling category. Usually, EPS wastes will end up in landfill and incinerator, leading to severe environmental impacts. Therefore, a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) study of EPS was carried out to investigate the potential environmental impacts of EPS. The most significant potential environmental impact will also be identified. Both will be identified under 2 different scenarios. The study was analyzed using GaBi Education Software with the method of TRACI 2.1 to the environmental indicators of global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), and ozone depletion potential (ODP). In scenario 1, the emission percentage for GWP, AP, EP, and ODP are 99.73 %, 0.21 %, 0.06 %, and 3x10-6 %, respectively. As for scenario 2, all the 3 conditions show similar trend with scenario 1. The LCA study of EPS is particularly focused on the manufacturing, distribution, and the end-of-lifetime treatments, with the introduction of recycling into the system. The findings show that manufacturing of EPS is the major contributor of the environmental impacts and GWP contributes to the most significant potential environmental impacts. Overall, recycling was found to have the least impact to the environment, which possibly be used as the new end-of-lifetime treatment of EPS in Malaysia.


Author(s):  
Lucas Rosse Caldas ◽  
Romildo Dias Toledo Filho

É comum nos estudos de Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV) aplicados ao setor da construção civil a falta de dados condizentes com a realidade do Brasil. Sabendo que existem diferentes materiais cimentícios, entre eles argamassas, blocos de vedação e blocos estruturais, faz se necessário ter um banco de dados mais apropriado às misturas utilizadas no país, que facilite a quantificação de seus impactos ambientais. Neste contexto, esta pesquisa apresentou os impactos ambientais, segundo o método CML-IA baseline, dos principais materiais cimentícios utilizados no Brasil, entre eles: argamassas simples para chapisco, argamassas mistas para assentamento e revestimento, graute para alvenaria estrutural e blocos de concreto. Para isto, foram utilizadas as normas NBR ISO 14040:2009 e 14044:2009 em conjunto com as normas europeias EN 15978:2011 and EN 15804:2012. O inventário foi realizado a partir de dados coletados no SINAPI e estudos voltados para a realidade brasileira em conjunto com o banco de dados do Ecoinvent 3. Ao final é apresentado o perfil ambiental dos materiais cimentícios avaliados e uma tabela resumo que mostra os impactos ambientais desses materiais. As argamassas avaliadas foram comparadas com uma argamassa do banco de dados do Ecoinvent, resultando em valores discrepantes. O estudo traz uma importante contribuição para a difusão da ACV no setor da construção civil brasileira, especificamente para o setor de cimento e seus produtos. Os resultados de AICV apresentados aqui poderão ser utilizados em outros estudos de ACV, facilitando o processo e ao mesmo tempo estarem alinhados com a realidade internacional, que também faz uso da normativa europeia utilizada nesta pesquisa.  Palavras-chave: Avaliação do Ciclo de Vido (ACV). Materiais cimentícios. Argamassas. Graute. Bloco de concreto.ResumenEn los estudios de Análisis de Ciclo De Vida (ACV) aplicados al sector de la construcción civil, usualmente se percibe la falta de datos que se ajusten con la realidad de Brasil. Conociendo la existencia de varios materiales cementantes como son morteros, bloques de cierre, bloques estructurales, existe la necesidad de contar con un banco de datos más apropiado con los diseños de mezclas utilizados en el país, que facilite cuantificar sus impactos ambientales. En este contexto la presente investigación evalúa impactos ambientales según el método de CML-IA baseline, de los principales materiales cementantes utilizados en Brasil, entre ellos: morteros simples para resano, morteros mixtos de asentamiento y revestimiento, grout para albañilería estructural y bloques de hormigón. Para este fin fueron utilizadas las normas brasileiras NBR ISO 14040:2009 y 14044:2009 en conjunto con las normas europeas EN 15978:2011 y EN 15804:2012. El inventario fue realizado a partir de datos colectados por el SINAPI y estudios volcados para la realidad brasileira conjuntamente con el banco de datos Ecoinvent 3. Al final se presentan perfiles ambientales de los materiales cementantes evaluados y una tabla resumiendo los impactos ambientales de estos materiales. Fueron comparados los morteros evaluados con los morteros del banco de datos Ecoinvent, resultando en valores discrepantes. El presente estudio tuvo una importante contribución en la difusión de ACV en el sector de la construcción Civil Brasileira, especialmente para el sector de la industria del cemento y sus productos, los resultados de AICV presentado aquí podrán ser utilizados en otros estudios de ACV, facilitando el proceso y de igual forma alineados con el paradigma internacional, que igualmente utilizan las normas europeas, que fueron referencia para evaluar los materiales en este estudio.  Palabras clave: Analysis do Ciclo de Vida (ACV). Materiales cementantes. Morteiros. Grout. Bloque de hormigón.AbstractIt is common in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies applied to the building sector the absence of reliable data for the Brazilian context. In Brazil, there are different cementitious materials, such as mortars, partition and structural blocks. Moreover, it is necessary to have a more appropriate database to the mixtures used in the country, which it will facilitates the quantification of its environmental impacts. In this context, this research presented the environmental impacts, according to the CML-IA baseline method, of the main cementitious materials used in Brazil, among them: simple mortars for roughcast, mixed mortars for laying and covering, grout and concrete blocks for structural masonry. The standards NBR ISO 14040: 2009 and 14044: 2009 were used together with the European standards EN 15978: 2011 and EN 15804: 2012. The inventory was carried out from data collected in SINAPI and studies developed for the Brazilian reality combining with the Ecoinvent 3 database. In the end, the environmental profile of the evaluated cementitious materials and a summary table were presented. The evaluated mortars were compared with a mortar from the Ecoinvent database, which resulted in discrepant values. This study makes an important contribution to the diffusion of LCA in the Brazilian building sector, specifically for the cement sector and its products. The LCIA results presented here may be used in other LCA studies. This approach will facilitate the process and at the same time is aligned with the international context, which also uses the European normative used in this research.  Keywords: Life Cycle Assessment. Cementitious materials. Mortars. Grout. Concrete block.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Catalán ◽  
Antoni Sánchez

This article studies the environmental impacts of cellulase production by using a comparative attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) of two different scenarios of production. The first one is the commonly used submerged fermentation (SmF) using a pure substrate (cellulose powder) and a specific microorganism (Trichoderma reesei). The second scenario considers a novel system to produce enzymes and simultaneously treat a waste using the solid-state fermentation (SSF) process of coffee husk (CH) used as substrate. Experimental data were used in this scenario. The complete production process was studied for these two technologies including the fermentation phase and the complete downstream of cellulase. Life cycle inventory (LCI) data were collected from the database EcoInvent v3 (SimaPro 8.5) modified by data from literature and pilot scale experiments. The environmental impacts of both production systems revealed that those of SmF were higher than those of SSF. A sensitivity analysis showed that the results are highly conditioned by the energy use in the form of electricity during lyophilization, which is needed in both technologies. The results point to a possible alternative to produce the cellulase enzyme while reducing environmental impacts.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 161-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guozhu Mao ◽  
Hao Chen ◽  
Huibin Du ◽  
Jian Zuo ◽  
Stephen Pullen ◽  
...  

The last few decades have witnessed a rapid development of green buildings in China especially the office sector. The life cycle assessment (LCA) approach has potential to weigh the benefits and costs associated with green building developments. Essentially, the LCA method evaluates the costs and benefits across a building's life cycle with a system approach. In this study, a green office building in Beijing, China, was analyzed by life cycle assessment to quantify its energy use and evaluate the environmental impacts in each life cycle stage. The environmental impacts can be reduced by 7.3%, 1.6% and 0.8% by using 30% gas-fired electricity generation, increasing the summer indoor temperature by 1°C, and switching off office equipment and lighting during lunchtime, respectively. Similarly, by reusing 80% of the selected materials when the building is finally demolished, the three major adverse environmental impacts on human health, ecosystem quality, and resource depletion can be reduced by 11.3% 12.7%, and 7.1% respectively. Sensitivity analysis shows that electricity conservation is more effective than materials efficiency in terms of a reduction in environmental impacts. These findings are useful to inform decision makers in different stages of the green building life cycle.


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