scholarly journals End-of-life management as a design tool: the case of a dry wood envelope

2021 ◽  
pp. 260-270
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Palumbo ◽  
Francesca Camerin ◽  
Chiara Panozzo ◽  
Massimo Rossetti
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Life Cycle Thinking ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Construction Techniques ◽  
Environmental Product Declarations ◽  
Dry Wood

This paper is part of the design strategies of reassembly and reuse of buildings according to the transition to circular economy. Specifically, the paper addresses the issue of architectural envelopes made of drywall and their executive design according to a Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) approach, based on a case study of a temporary wooden housing unit for which there are several scenarios of use and end of life once the first cycle of use of the components of the envelope has come to an end. In particular, the paper, based on the collection of environmental profiles of products through Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), wants to define a balance between the environmental impacts incorporated in the used materials and the benefits related to the adoption of dry construction techniques.

scholarly journals End-of-life modelling of buildings to support more informed decisions towards achieving circular economy targets

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 2122-2139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sahar Mirzaie ◽  
Mihaela Thuring ◽  
Karen Allacker
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Life Cycle Stage ◽  
Construction Sector ◽  
Quality Factors ◽  
Product Environmental Footprint ◽  
Allocation Approach

Abstract Purpose Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an internationally accepted method to assess the environmental impacts of buildings. A major methodological challenge remains the modelling of the end-of-life stage of buildings and allocation of benefits and burdens between systems. Various approaches are hence applied in practice to date. This paper compares the two methods widely renowned in Europe—the EC product environmental footprint (PEF) method and the CEN standards: EN 15804+A1 and EN15978—and offers insights about their fitness for achieving circularity goals. Methods The EC PEF method and the CEN EN 15804/EN 15978 standards were methodologically analysed with a focus on the end-of-life modelling and allocation approach and were applied to a building case study. The EN 15804+A1 standard explains the guidelines but does not offer a modelling formula. Accordingly, this paper proposes a formula for the CEN standards using identical parameters as in the end-of-life circular footprint formula (CFF) of the EC PEF Guidance v6.3 to increase consistency among LCA studies. The calculation formulas were then applied to a newly constructed office building. A comparative analysis of both the implementation and results are described, and recommendations are formulated. Results In the absence of databases compatible with the two LCA methods and comprising all building products, the Ecoinvent datasets had to be remodelled to enable a comparative modular assessment. This proved to be a laborious process. The EC PEF method and CEN standards showed similar impacts and hotspots for the case study building. The module D in the CEN standards includes a significant share of positive impacts, but due to collective accounting, it does not clearly communicate these benefits. The summation of burdens and benefits in the EC PEF method reduces its transparency, while the allocation and quality factors enable this method to better capture the market realities and drive circular economy goals. Conclusions The construction sector and the LCI database developers are encouraged to create the missing LCA databases compatible with the modular and end-of-life allocation modelling requirements of both methods. More prescriptive and meticulous guidelines, with further harmonization between the EC PEF method and the CEN standards and their end-of-life allocation formula, would largely increase comparability and reliability of LCA studies and communications. To improve transparency, it is recommended to report the module D impacts per life cycle stage as per the CEN standards and the burdens and benefits separately for each life cycle stage as per the EC PEF method.

scholarly journals Life cycle thinking case study for catalytic wet air oxidation of lignin in bamboo biomass for vanillin production

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 1847-1860
Author(s):  
Christopher S. McCallum ◽  
Wanling Wang ◽  
W. John Doran ◽  
W. Graham Forsythe ◽  
Mark D. Garrett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Crude Oil ◽  
Kraft Lignin ◽  
Life Cycle Thinking ◽  
Catalytic Wet Air Oxidation ◽  
Air Oxidation ◽  
Wet Air Oxidation

A life cycle thinking analysis (LCT) conducted on the production of vanillin via bamboo wet air oxidation compared to vanillin production from crude oil or kraft lignin.

scholarly journals From Buildings’ End of Life to Aggregate Recycling under a Circular Economic Perspective: A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9625
Author(s):  
Ambroise Lachat ◽  
Konstantinos Mantalovas ◽  
Tiffany Desbois ◽  
Oumaya Yazoghli-Marzouk ◽  
Anne-Sophie Colas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Open Loop ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Construction And Demolition Waste ◽  
Recycled Aggregates ◽  
Demolition Waste

The demolition of buildings, apart from being energy intensive and disruptive, inevitably produces construction and demolition waste (C&Dw). Unfortunately, even today, the majority of this waste ends up underexploited and not considered as valuable resources to be re-circulated into a closed/open loop process under the umbrella of circular economy (CE). Considering the amount of virgin aggregates needed in civil engineering applications, C&Dw can act as sustainable catalyst towards the preservation of natural resources and the shift towards a CE. This study completes current research by presenting a life cycle inventory compilation and life cycle assessment case study of two buildings in France. The quantification of the end-of-life environmental impacts of the two buildings and subsequently the environmental impacts of recycled aggregates production from C&Dw was realized using the framework of life cycle assessment (LCA). The results indicate that the transport of waste, its treatment, and especially asbestos’ treatment are the most impactful phases. For example, in the case study of the first building, transport and treatment of waste reached 35% of the total impact for global warming. Careful, proactive, and strategic treatment, geolocation, and transport planning is recommended for the involved stakeholders and decision makers in order to ensure minimal sustainability implications during the implementation of CE approaches for C&Dw.

Life Cycle Thinking in a Circular Economy

2020 ◽  
pp. 35-53
Author(s):  
Shabbir H. Gheewala ◽  
Thapat Silalertruksa
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Life Cycle Thinking

Life cycle thinking and the circular economy

2021 ◽  
pp. 216-230
Author(s):  
Octavio Ibarra ◽  
Maria Carolina Ovalle ◽  
Maria Palazzo
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Life Cycle Thinking

scholarly journals Design for and from Recycling: A Circular Ecodesign Approach to Improve the Circular Economy

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 9861
Author(s):  
Jorge Martínez Leal ◽  
Stéphane Pompidou ◽  
Carole Charbuillet ◽  
Nicolas Perry
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Design Guidelines ◽  
Design Phase ◽  
Design For Recycling ◽  
Circular Design

In the context of a circular economy, one can observe that (i) recycling chains are not adapted enough to the end-of-life products they have to process and that (ii) products are not sufficiently well designed either to integrate at best their target recycling chain. Therefore, a synergy between product designers and recycling-chains stakeholders is lacking, mainly due to their weak communication and the time-lag between the product design phase and its end-of-life treatment. Many Design for Recycling approaches coexist in the literature. However, to fully develop a circular economy, Design from Recycling also has to be taken into account. Thus Re-Cycling, a complete circular design approach, is proposed. First, a design for recycling methodology linking recyclability assessment to product design guidelines is proposed. Then, a design from recycling methodology is developed to assess the convenience of using secondary raw materials in the design phase. The recyclability of a smartphone and the convenience of using recycled materials in a new cycle are both analyzed to demonstrate our proposal. The Fairphone 2® and its treatment by the WEEE French takeback scheme are used as a case study.

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