APPLICATION OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT TO VARIOUS BUILDING LIFETIME SHEARING LAYERS: SITE, STRUCTURE, SKIN, SERVICES, SPACE, AND STUFF

Currently, green rating systems are not directly related to environmental consequences. Moreover, rating systems score both building-related tasks with long lifetime expectancies and system-related tasks with short lifetime expectancies without separating them. Therefore, passive solar and bio-climatic architectures, which have long lifetime expectancies and thus have a strong, negative impact on the environment, are neglected. The main goal of this study is to explore differences in total environmental impact for a single “typical” building module (with the heavy wall building technology accepted in Israel) in terms of six different lifetime shearing layers, Site, Structure, Skin, Services, Space Plan, and Stuff, each of which reflects a different form of environmental damage. The objective of this study was to evaluate the six shearing layers using life cycle assessment (LCA) by applying Eco-indicator 99 (EI99). It was found that the environmental damage associated with the Building layers (Site, Structure, and Skin) was higher than that associated with the Service layers (Services, Space Plan, and Stuff). The paper may contribute to the development of a more scientific (quantitative) background for green rating systems. As a result, a greater decrease in building-related ecological impacts can be achieved, thus encouraging sustainable building activities.

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Environmental Consequences of Closing the Textile Loop—Life Cycle Assessment of a Circular Polyester Jacket

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11072964 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 2964

Author(s):

Gregor Braun ◽

Claudia Som ◽

Mélanie Schmutz ◽

Roland Hischier

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Textile Industry ◽

System Analysis ◽

Action Plan ◽

The European Union ◽

Environmental Consequences ◽

Energy And Material Flows

The textile industry is recognized as being one of the most polluting industries. Thus, the European Union aims to transform the textile industry with its “European Green Deal” and “Circular Economy Action Plan”. Awareness regarding the environmental impact of textiles is increasing and initiatives are appearing to make more sustainable products with a strong wish to move towards a circular economy. One of these initiatives is wear2wearTM, a collaboration consisting of multiple companies aiming to close the loop for polyester textiles. However, designing a circular product system does not lead automatically to lower environmental impacts. Therefore, a Life Cycle Assessment study has been conducted in order to compare the environmental impacts of a circular with a linear workwear jacket. The results show that a thoughtful “circular economy system” design approach can result in significantly lower environmental impacts than linear product systems. The study illustrates at the same time the necessity for Life Cycle Assessment practitioners to go beyond a simple comparison of one product to another when it comes to circular economy. Such products require a wider system analysis approach that takes into account multiple loops, having interconnected energy and material flows through reuse, remanufacture, and various recycling practices.

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Method for a Multi-Vehicle, Simulation-Based Life Cycle Assessment and Application to Berlin’s Motorized Individual Transport

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12187302 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (18) ◽

pp. 7302

Author(s):

Anne Magdalene Syré ◽

Florian Heining ◽

Dietmar Göhlich

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Ecological Impacts ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Vehicle Simulation ◽

Transport Simulation ◽

Whole Life Cycle

The transport sector in Germany causes one-quarter of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. One potential solution to reduce these emissions is the use of battery electric vehicles. Although a number of life cycle assessments have been conducted for these vehicles, the influence of a transport system-wide transition has not been addressed sufficiently. Therefore, we developed a method which combines life cycle assessment with an agent-based transport simulation and synthetic electric-, diesel- and gasoline-powered vehicle models. We use a transport simulation to obtain the number of vehicles, their lifetime mileage and road-specific consumption. Subsequently, we analyze the product systems’ vehicle production, use phase and end-of-life. The results are scaled depending on the covered distance, the vehicle weight and the consumption for the whole life cycle. The results indicate that the sole transition of drive trains is insufficient to significantly lower the greenhouse gas emissions. However, sensitivity analyses demonstrate that there is a considerable potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with higher shares of renewable energies, a different vehicle distribution and a higher lifetime mileage. The method facilitates the assessment of the ecological impacts of complete car-based transportation in urban agglomerations and is able to analyze different transport sectors.

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Sustainability and wood constructions: a review of green building rating systems and life-cycle assessment methods from a South African and developing world perspective

Advances in Building Energy Research ◽

10.1080/17512549.2018.1528884 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 1-20

Author(s):

Philip L. Crafford ◽

C. Brand Wessels ◽

Melanie Blumentritt

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

South African ◽

Developing World ◽

Green Building ◽

Assessment Methods ◽

Rating Systems ◽

World Perspective

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Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Steel and Concrete Construction Frames: A Case Study of Two Residential Buildings in Iran

Buildings ◽

10.3390/buildings10030054 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 54

Author(s):

Amir Oladazimi ◽

Saeed Mansour ◽

Seyed Abbas Hosseinijou

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Global Warming Potential ◽

Residential Buildings ◽

Steel Frame ◽

Complete Analysis ◽

Environmental Damage ◽

Concrete Frame

Given the fact that during the recent years the majority of buildings in Iran have been constructed either on steel or concrete frames, it is essential to investigate the environmental impacts of materials used in such constructions. For this purpose, two multi-story residential buildings in Tehran with a similar function have been considered in this study. One building was constructed with a steel frame and the other was constructed with a concrete frame. Using the life cycle assessment tool, a complete analysis of all the stages of a building’s life cycle from raw material acquisition to demolition and recycling of wastes was carried out. In this research, the environmental impacts included global warming potential in 100 years, acidification, eutrophication potential, human toxicity (cancer and non-cancer effects), resource depletion (water and mineral), climate change, fossil fuel consumption, air acidification and biotoxicity. It could be concluded from the results that the total pollution of the concrete frame in all eleven aforementioned impact factors was almost 219,000 tonnes higher than that of the steel frame. Moreover, based on the results, the concrete frame had poorer performance in all but one impact factor. With respect to global warming potential, the findings indicated there were two types of organic and non-organic gases that had an impact on global warming. Among non-organic emissions, CO2 had the biggest contribution to global warming potential, while among organic emissions, methane was the top contributor. These findings suggest the use of steel frames in the building industry in Iran to prevent further environmental damage; however, in the future, more research studies in this area are needed to completely investigate all aspects of decision on the choice of building frames, including economic and social aspects.

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Eco-efficiency Level of Production Process of Waste Cooking Oil to be Biodiesel with Life Cycle Assessment

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202020210004 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 202 ◽

pp. 10004

Author(s):

Sri Hartini ◽

Diana Puspitasari ◽

Nabila Roudhatul Aisy ◽

Yusuf Widharto

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Production Process ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Water Pressure ◽

Waste Cooking Oil ◽

Biodiesel Production ◽

Cooking Oil

Lack of awareness and knowledge of environmental protection, many people discard cooking oil waste. According to several studies, cooking oil waste can be processed into more valuable products through certain processes that require energy and material. Biodiesel is an example. Beside biodiesel, the production process also produces non-product output. Thus, efforts to utilize cooking oil waste into more valuable products also have a negative impact on the environment. This study aims to measure the environmental impact of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil and compare it if it is discharged to landfill without the recycling process. Measurement of environmental impacts is carried out using a Life Cycle Assessment. Measurement of the environmental impact of biodiesel processing from cooking oil waste is based on a process carried out at a research institute. The measurement results state that the disposal of cooking oil waste has an adverse effect on the ecotoxicity category. Whereas the processing of cooking oil waste into biodiesel has advantages in the categories of climate change, the formation of photochemical oxidants, fine dust, oil and gas depletion, and water pressure indicators. the level of eco efficiency from processing waste cooking oil to biodiesel produces a value close to one which means that the production process is affordable but not yet sustainable.

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Life Cycle Assessment of Methyl Bromide Production and Utilization: Cradle to Grave Analysis

10.21203/rs.3.rs-605031/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sampatrao Manjare ◽

Amit Shanbag

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Methyl Bromide ◽

Substantial Effect ◽

Environmental Damage ◽

Methanol Production ◽

Health Related ◽

Cradle To Gate ◽

Ozone Depleting Substances ◽

The Impact

Abstract Methyl bromide is an effective and useful insecticide. It has ability to enter rapidly into materials at room temperature & pressure. Nowadays, it is primarily used for container fumigation purposes. However, exposure to it causes serious health-related issues. It is also one of the ozone-depleting substances. In this work, “cradle to gate” and “cradle to grave” approaches are considered to carry out a life cycle assessment of methyl bromide production. SimaPro software with the IMPACT 2002+ method is used to compute the results. From the results of cradle to gate approach, it is inferred that major emissions are due to usage of plant utilities and methanol production process which have a substantial effect on the atmosphere. From the results of cradle to grave approach, it is noted that application of methyl bromide causes significant environmental damage particularly to ozone layer followed by non-carcinogen.

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Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Battery- And Diesel Engine-Driven Ro-Ro Passenger Vessel

Journal of Maritime & Transportation Science ◽

10.18048/2020.00.26. ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

pp. 343-357

Author(s):

Maja Perčić ◽

Ivica Ančić ◽

Nikola Vladimir ◽

Lidija Runko Luttenberger

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Diesel Engine ◽

Power System ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Lithium Ion ◽

Passenger Ships ◽

Marine Engines ◽

Passenger Vessel ◽

System Designs

Emissions produced by the fuel combustion in marine engines are one of major causes of the marine environment pollution and have negative impact on both human health and the environment. That impact is more pronounced for vessels which mostly operate near ports and inhabited areas, such as ro-ro passenger ships. In order to evaluate the environmental impact of a ship, a life cycle assessment of a ro-ro passenger vessel operating in the Adriatic Sea has been performed. Two different power system designs were investigated, i.e. lithium-ion battery-driven vessel and diesel engine-driven vessel. The analyses were performed by means of general LCA software GREET 2018, where the life cycle for both power system designs is divided in two stages: constitutive parts of the first stage are processes from life cycle of fuel without its use in vessel, while vessel operation represents the second stage. The analysis showed that diesel engine-driven vessel emits 79.740 kg CO2-eq/nm, versus battery-driven vessel with 27.471 kg CO2-eq/nm.

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Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Lighting Systems and Road Pavements in an Italian Twin-Tube Road Tunnel

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10114165 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 4165 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Giuseppe Cantisani ◽

Paola Di Mascio ◽

Laura Moretti

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Light Emitting Diode ◽

Road Construction ◽

Road Tunnel ◽

Light Emitting ◽

Pavement Materials ◽

Environmental Consequences ◽

Lighting Systems ◽

Reflecting Surface

This work calculates and discusses the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of four scenarios composed of two types of road pavements and two types of lighting systems to be built in an Italian twin-tube road tunnel. A 20-year time horizon is adopted to assess the burdens of construction and maintenance of both flexible and rigid pavements and high-pressure sodium (HPS) and light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, traffic, and switching on of lamps. All considered scenarios are comparable with each other in terms of technical performances, but significantly differ regarding their environmental consequences. The geometrical and technical characteristics of the examined scenarios comply with current Italian standards for highways. In all the examined cases, LCA is carried out according to the European standard, EN 15804, and includes 19 impact categories (IC). The analysis demonstrates that the use of more reflecting surface pavement materials (i.e., concrete vs. asphalt) and more performing lighting systems (i.e., LED vs. HPS) can effectively mitigate the deleterious burdens related to road construction, maintenance, and use. For most of the examined ICs, the most environment-friendly scenario has LED lamps and concrete pavement.

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Life-Cycle Assessment of the Wastewater Treatment Technologies in Indonesia’s Fish-Processing Industry

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13246591 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (24) ◽

pp. 6591 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shinji Takeshita ◽

Hooman Farzaneh ◽

Mehrnoosh Dashti

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Human Health ◽

Anaerobic Sludge ◽

Environmental Damage ◽

Fish Processing ◽

Modeling Framework ◽

Processing Industry ◽

Treatment Technologies

In this paper, a comprehensive life-cycle assessment (LCA) is carried out in order to evaluate the multiple environmental-health impacts of the biological wastewater treatment of the fish-processing industry throughout its life cycle. To this aim, the life-cycle impact assessment method based on endpoint modeling (LIME) was considered as the main LCA model. The proposed methodology is based on an endpoint modeling framework that uses the conjoint analysis to calculate damage factors for human health, social assets, biodiversity, and primary production, based on Indonesia’s local data inventory. A quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) is integrated with the LIME modeling framework to evaluate the damage on human health caused by five major biological treatment technologies, including chemical-enhanced primary clarification (CEPC), aerobic-activated sludge (AS), up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB), ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) in this industry. Finally, a life-cycle costing (LCC) is carried out, considering all the costs incurred during the lifetime. The LCA results revealed that air pollution and gaseous emissions from electricity consumption have the most significant environmental impacts in all scenarios and all categories. The combined utilization of the UF and RO technologies in the secondary and tertiary treatment processes reduces the health damage caused by microbial diseases, which contributes significantly to reducing overall environmental damage.

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