Study on Typical Visible Light Photocatalytic Liquid under the Life Cycle Assessment

2019 ◽  
Vol 944 ◽  
pp. 1152-1157
Author(s):  
Yan Jiao Zhang ◽  
Wen Xiu Liu ◽  
Wen Bin Cao ◽  
Chun Zhi Zhao ◽  
Jia Jun Peng

With people's increasing demands for the improvement of air quality and quality of life, the demand for new decorative materials with air purification function will be increasing. This study is based on a life cycle assessment (LCA)-based approach to develop a list of resources, energy consumption and pollutant emissions in the life cycle of typical visible light photocatalytic liquid products, to calculate the important environmental impact of visible light photocatalytic liquid products, and to analyze and identify the critical stages affecting environmental performance of product, to guide the selection of green buildings and the development of ecological building materials. The results show that, for the purpose of visible light photocatalytic liquid, the global warming potential is 40.97kgCO2 equivalent/t, the abiotic depletion potential is 9.34×10-5kgSb equivalent/t, the respiratory inorganic index is 7.88×10-2kgPM2.5 equivalent/t, and the eutrophication is 4.13×10-2kgPO43-equivalent/t, acidification effect is 0.34kgSO2 equivalent/t; and the environmental impact in the product life cycle for the purpose of this study are mainly resulted from energy use, and transport process represents the main stage of eutrophication.

2020 ◽  
Vol 993 ◽  
pp. 1473-1480
Author(s):  
Yan Jiao Zhang ◽  
Li Ping Ma ◽  
Shi Wei Ren ◽  
Meng Chi Huang ◽  
Ying Wang ◽  
...  

With the emphasis of national policies on green manufacturing and the recognition of the people for green development, expanding the green assessment of products will be the general trend. In this study the life cycle assessment method was used to compile a list of resources, energy consumption and pollutant emissions during the life cycle of typical ordinary gypsum plasterboard and functional phase-change gypsum plasterboard, the key environmental impact indicators of both products during the life cycle calculated, the key stages affecting the environmental performance of products analyzed and identified, and the difference in environmental impacts between phase-change gypsum plasterboard and ordinary gypsum plasterboard compared and analyzed, for guiding the selection of green building materials and the development of ecological building materials. The results show that the global warming potential of phase-change gypsum plasterboard is 3.42 kgCO2 equivalent/m2, the non-renewable resource depletion potential is 2.25×10-5 kgSb equivalent/m2, the respiratory inorganic is 1.97×10-3 kgPM2.5 equivalent/m2, the eutrophication is 1.21×10-3 kgPO43- equivalent/m2, and the acidification is 9.47×10-3 kgSO2 equivalent/m2. Compared with ordinary gypsum plasterboard, the phase-change gypsum plasterboard shows the biggest increase by 874.03% in non-renewable resource depletion potential. The major environmental impact of ordinary gypsum plasterboard in the life cycle is mainly from energy use, and the transport process is the main stage of eutrophication. The use of phase-change materials in the phase-change gypsum plasterboard is the main stage causing environmental impact.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7386
Author(s):  
Thomas Schaubroeck ◽  
Simon Schaubroeck ◽  
Reinout Heijungs ◽  
Alessandra Zamagni ◽  
Miguel Brandão ◽  
...  

To assess the potential environmental impact of human/industrial systems, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a very common method. There are two prominent types of LCA, namely attributional (ALCA) and consequential (CLCA). A lot of literature covers these approaches, but a general consensus on what they represent and an overview of all their differences seems lacking, nor has every prominent feature been fully explored. The two main objectives of this article are: (1) to argue for and select definitions for each concept and (2) specify all conceptual characteristics (including translation into modelling restrictions), re-evaluating and going beyond findings in the state of the art. For the first objective, mainly because the validity of interpretation of a term is also a matter of consensus, we argue the selection of definitions present in the 2011 UNEP-SETAC report. ALCA attributes a share of the potential environmental impact of the world to a product life cycle, while CLCA assesses the environmental consequences of a decision (e.g., increase of product demand). Regarding the second objective, the product system in ALCA constitutes all processes that are linked by physical, energy flows or services. Because of the requirement of additivity for ALCA, a double-counting check needs to be executed, modelling is restricted (e.g., guaranteed through linearity) and partitioning of multifunctional processes is systematically needed (for evaluation per single product). The latter matters also hold in a similar manner for the impact assessment, which is commonly overlooked. CLCA, is completely consequential and there is no limitation regarding what a modelling framework should entail, with the coverage of co-products through substitution being just one approach and not the only one (e.g., additional consumption is possible). Both ALCA and CLCA can be considered over any time span (past, present & future) and either using a reference environment or different scenarios. Furthermore, both ALCA and CLCA could be specific for average or marginal (small) products or decisions, and further datasets. These findings also hold for life cycle sustainability assessment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 5666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Girts Bumanis ◽  
Laura Vitola ◽  
Ina Pundiene ◽  
Maris Sinka ◽  
Diana Bajare

To decrease the environmental impact of the construction industry, energy-efficient insulation materials with low embodied production energy are needed. Lime-hemp concrete is traditionally recognized as such a material; however, the drawbacks of this type of material are associated with low strength gain, high initial moisture content, and limited application. Therefore, this review article discusses alternatives to lime-hemp concrete that would achieve similar thermal properties with an equivalent or lower environmental impact. Binders such as gypsum, geopolymers, and starch are proposed as alternatives, due to their performance and low environmental impact, and available research is summarized and discussed in this paper. The summarized results show that low-density thermal insulation bio-composites with a density of 200–400 kg/m3 and thermal conductivity (λ) of 0.06–0.09 W/(m × K) can be obtained with gypsum and geopolymer binders. However, by using a starch binder it is possible to produce ecological building materials with a density of approximately 100 kg/m3 and thermal conductivity (λ) as low as 0.04 W/(m × K). In addition, a preliminary life cycle assessment was carried out to evaluate the environmental impact of reviewed bio-composites. The results indicate that such bio-composites have a low environmental impact, similar to lime-hemp concrete.


2013 ◽  
Vol 724-725 ◽  
pp. 1597-1601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Faiz Abd Rashid ◽  
Sumiani Yusoff ◽  
Noorsaidi Mahat

The introduction of life cycle assessment (LCA) to the building industry is important due to its ability to systematically quantify every environmental impact involved in every process from cradle to grave. Within the last two decades, research on LCA has increased considerably covering from manufacturing of building materials and construction processes. However, the LCA application for buildings in Asia are limited and fragmented due to different research objectives, type of buildings and locations. This paper has attempted to collect and review the application of LCA in the building industry in Asia from the selected publications over the last 12 years, from 2001 to 2012. The result shows that most LCA research basic methodology is based on International Organization of Standardization (ISO) 14040 series but with variance. It is found that the operational phase consume highest energy and concrete responsible for the highest total embodied energy and environmental impact. It also suggested that building material with low initial embodied energy does not necessarily have low life cycle energy. Overall, findings from LCA studies can help to make informed decisions in terms of environmental impact and help realizing sustainable buildings in the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 139
Author(s):  
Rika Chairani ◽  
Aulia Risky Adinda ◽  
Dennis Fillipi ◽  
Muhamad Jatmoko ◽  
I Wayan Koko Suryawan

The cement industry is one type of industry that has implications for the emergence of environmental pollution problems and a decrease in environmental quality due to dust pollution. The cement industry can also increase air temperature and noise in operational activities by using machines. In addition, the impact of the cement industry is the decline in the quality of soil fertility due to clay mining. Thus, an analytical study is needed that can be used as one of the policy bases in the operational process of the cement industry. This study aims to conduct an analysis of environmental loads at each stage in the product life cycle, make decisions to identify environmental loads, and evaluate the environmental impact of a product that plays an important role in sustainable development. This method is known as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). In this study, the boundary system used is cradle to gate with a three-scenario approach. The first uses 100% coal fuel, the second uses 90% coal fuel, and the third uses 10% rice husk biomass. Then the analysis was carried out using the OpenLCA software. The results of the analysis showed that the most significant emission load was carbon dioxide of 1229.31 kg CO2eq. The third scenario produces the lowest carbon dioxide emission load compared to other methods of 849.1 kg.


Author(s):  
Jiawen Zhang ◽  
Toru Matsumoto

With the acceleration of economic development and urbanization in China, sewage sludge generation has sharply increased. To maximize energy regeneration and resource recovery, it is crucial to analyze the environmental impact and sustainability of different sewage sludge recycling systems based on life cycle assessment. This study analyzed four sewage sludge recycling systems in China through life cycle assessment using the ReCipe method, namely aerobic composting, anaerobic digestion and biomass utilization, incineration, and heat utilization and using for building materials. In particular, the key pollution processes and pollutants in sewage sludge recycling systems were analyzed. The results demonstrated that aerobic composting is the most environmentally optimal scenario for reducing emissions and energy consumption. The lowest environmental impact and operating costs were achieved by making bricks and using them as building materials; this was the optimal scenario for sludge treatment and recycling. In contrast, incineration and heat utilization had the highest impact on health and marine toxicity. Anaerobic digestion and biomass utilization had the highest impact on climate change, terrestrial acidification, photochemical oxidant formation, and particulate matter formation. In the future, policy designers should prioritize building material creation for sludge treatment and recycling.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyojin Lim ◽  
Sungho Tae ◽  
Seungjun Roh

In recent years, much research has been conducted internationally to quantitatively evaluate the environmental impact of buildings in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address associated environmental problems. With this in mind, the Green Standard for Energy and Environmental Design (G-SEED) in South Korea was revised in 2016. However, the various possible evaluation methods make it difficult to conduct building life cycle assessment. Moreover, compared to research on residential buildings, life cycle assessment research on non-residential buildings is scarce. Therefore, this study analyzes primary building materials for life cycle assessment of current non-residential buildings to support Korean G-SEED requirements. Design documents for various non-residential buildings are obtained, and the types and numbers of materials used in production are determined. Next, the primary building materials contributing high cumulative weight based on the ISO14040 series of standards are analyzed. We then review the most commonly-used building materials while considering non-residential building types and structures. In addition, construction material reliability is evaluated using the environmental impact unit value. With our results, by suggesting the primary building materials in non-residential buildings, efficient life cycle assessment of non-residential buildings is possible in terms of time and cost.


2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Srinivas Kota ◽  
Amaresh Chakrabarti

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to estimate a product’s environmental impact. Using LCA during the earlier stages of design may produce erroneous results since information available on the product’s lifecycle is typically incomplete at these stages. The resulting uncertainty must be accounted for in the decision-making process. This paper proposes a method for estimating the environmental impact of a product’s life cycle and the associated degree of uncertainty of that impact using information generated during the design process. Total impact is estimated based on aggregation of individual product life cycle processes impacts. Uncertainty estimation is based on assessing the mismatch between the information required and the information available about the product life cycle in each uncertainty category, as well as their integration. The method is evaluated using pre-defined scenarios with varying uncertainty.


Author(s):  
Peter I. Chigada ◽  
Olivia Wale ◽  
Charlotte Hancox ◽  
Koen Vandaele ◽  
Barbara Breeze ◽  
...  

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology which allows quantification of environmental performance of products and processes based on complete product life cycle was utilised to evaluate the environmental burdens associated with manufacturing a 48 V lithium-ion capacitor (LIC) module. The prospective LCA compared the environmental impact of manufacturing a LIC module using primary ore materials and recycled materials from end-of-life LICs. For both the primary ore and recycled materials processes, the anode preparation stage was associated with the majority of the climate change and terrestrial acidification burdens. LIC module production utilising recovered materials from end-of-life LICs reduced the environmental impact compared to utilisation of primary ore resources. Application of the LCA methodology in early phase R&D activities was demonstrated with a case study on reagent choice decision-making process that accounted for environmental impact, technical performance and costs in alignment with the sustainability triple bottom line concept.


2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 801-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
JL Casamayor ◽  
D Su ◽  
Z Ren

The use of LED lighting products is growing rapidly. However, there are no in-depth, updated studies that show how to assess and compare these products for eco-design purposes. This research aims to inform eco-design by assessing and comparing the environmental impact of a new LED eco-lighting product with an existing LED lighting product. A cradle to grave life cycle assessment is conducted. The system boundaries include all product life cycle stages, except the maintenance of the luminaires and the manufacturing of the packaging. A novel functional unit is defined for the assessment, which is more suitable for LED lighting products. Six scenarios are considered, including three probable useful lives of the luminaires (1000, 15,000 and 40,000 hours) and two end of life options (domestic bin and recycling centre). The life cycle assessment results reveal that the new eco-lighting product has about 60% less environmental impact than the existing lighting product in all scenarios. The life cycle stages with the biggest impacts are, in decreasing order: (1) use, (2) manufacturing, (3) end of life and (4) transport. Recommendations for the eco-design of LED lighting products are proposed, and the challenges in applying life cycle assessment for eco-design are discussed.


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