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Journal articles on the topic 'Building environmental impact'
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1
Yang, Inmog, and Mingu Jun. "A Life Cycle Approach for Environmental Assessment of Buildings." Korean Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2, no. 1 (August 2000): 33–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.62765/kjlca.2000.2.1.33.
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As global environmental problems such as golbal warming and ozone depletion have become more serious in these days, many researches are being done for building's impact on these problems. Under these circumstances, this study has been carried out to introduce the efforts of improving environmental performance of buildings that place enormous impact on global environment and to propose reasonable direction for development and operation of sustainable building via reviewing Life Cycle Assessment(LCA) as legitimate basis of an environmental friendly building, called Green Building. Recently, LCA has been accepted as the most logical method for environmental labelling and practically used in many parts of environmental assessment of buildings. To graft LCA to Green Building Certificate actively, preparation of specific data and reasonable administration of certificate system is highly needed. Green Building Certificate which is performed against potential impact in design and planning phase also should go in parallel with the surveillance control to confirm effectiveness of practical operation.
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Janjua, Shahana, Prabir Sarker, and Wahidul Biswas. "Impact of Service Life on the Environmental Performance of Buildings." Buildings 9, no. 1 (January 2, 2019): 9. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings9010009.
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The environmental performance assessment of the building and construction sector has been in discussion due to the increasing demand of facilities and its impact on the environment. The life cycle studies carried out over the last decade have mostly used an approximate life span of a building without considering the building component replacement requirements and their service life. This limitation results in unreliable outcomes and a huge volume of materials going to landfill. This study was performed to develop a relationship between the service life of a building and building components, and their impact on environmental performance. Twelve building combinations were modelled by considering two types of roof frames, two types of wall and three types of footings. A reference building of a 50-year service life was used in comparisons. Firstly, the service life of the building and building components and the replacement intervals of building components during active service life were estimated. The environmental life cycle assessment (ELCA) was carried out for all the buildings and results are presented on a yearly basis in order to study the impact of service life. The region-specific impact categories of cumulative energy demand, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and land use are used to assess the environmental performance of buildings. The analysis shows that the environmental performance of buildings is affected by the service life of a building and the replacement intervals of building components.
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Mastellone, Margherita, Silvia Ruggiero, Dimitra Papadaki, Nikolaos Barmparesos, Anastasia Fotopoulou, Annarita Ferrante, and Margarita Niki Assimakopoulos. "Energy, Environmental Impact and Indoor Environmental Quality of Add-Ons in Buildings." Sustainability 14, no. 13 (June 22, 2022): 7605. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14137605.
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On a European scale, the existing building stock has poor energy performance and particularly vulnerable structures. Indeed, most of the existing buildings were built before the introduction of energy standards and under structural safety criteria different from those currently required. It is therefore necessary the intervention in existing buildings according to an integrated approach that contemplates both the structural safety and the energy efficiency of buildings. This study, consistently with the objectives of the European research project “Proactive synergy of integrated Efficient Technologies on buildings’ Envelopes (Pro-GET-OnE)”, proposes a retrofit intervention for a student dormitory of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The scope of the evaluation is to understand how an integrated intervention, that implies a structural and energy retrofit, as well as a spatial redistribution, leads to an improvement of the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). In detail, the structural retrofit was performed through exoskeleton that leads to the addition of new living spaces and to a remodeling of the building facades. The energy retrofit regarded all three levers of energy efficiency, and thus the building envelope, the microclimatic control systems, and the systems from renewable sources. The integrated intervention, in addition to a reduction of energy demand, has led to advantages in terms of IEQ. Thermal comfort, both during summer and winter, is improved and the hours of suitable CO2 concentration pass from 34% in the pre-retrofit stage up to 100% in the post retrofit stage.
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Moňoková, Andrea, and Silvia Vilčeková. "Sustainable Construction - Environmental Impacts Assessment of Architectural Elements and Building Services." International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa 47 (March 2020): 77–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/jera.47.77.
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Increasing concerns about negative environmental impacts of building structures call for higher demands on the design of environmental friendly buildings. This article is aimed at assessing the overall environmental impact of buildings throughout its life cycle as well as on environmental impact of all building materials and building services for single-family homes. This analysis examines the role of utilized green environmental technologies for the following selected impact categories: GWP - global warming potential, EP - eutrophication potential, AP - acidification potential POCP and photochemical ozone formation potential expressed in kg CO2eq, PO43-eq, SO2eq and ethylene within the “Cradle to gate with options” boundary. The LCA assessment methodology and eToolLCD software have been used to model the effects of houses’ life cycle.
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Rastogi, Rishabh, and Sushil Kumar Solanki. "Environmental Impact Analysis of Functional Retrofitting Measures in Buildings." Journal of Sustainable Architecture and Civil Engineering 32, no. 1 (June 22, 2023): 172–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sace.32.1.30374.
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A large number of existing building stock in India was built before the implementation of government guidelines mandating the Green Building Codes. These buildings have been operating with various inefficiencies pertaining to their resource consumption and emissions. Literature suggests that the option of functional retrofitting of building has a potential to reduce this inefficiency by up to 50%. This paper investigates this potential by analysing actual cases of functional retrofitting of buildings (for achieving greater operational efficiency) in Indian context. The environmental impact analysis in this study includes the impact categories of primary energy demand, global warming potential, abiotic depletion potential, ozone depletion potential and water resource consumption for both pre-retrofit and post-retrofit scenario of building. The results are then correlated to the initial cost of functional retrofitting for each case in order to identify the inter-relationship and trend with respect to the level of intervention opted for the cases.
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Ondová, Marcela, Adriana Eštoková, and Martina Fabianová. "Reducing the carbon footprint in the foundations structures of masonry family houses." Selected Scientific Papers - Journal of Civil Engineering 15, no. 2 (December 1, 2020): 55–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/sspjce-2020-0018.
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Abstract Nowadays, the environmental assessment becomes more and more of interest as an additional tool for the decision-makers. The researchers in civil engineering focus on building materials, structures as well as whole buildings environmental evaluation. Analysis of the environmental impact of particular structures may be helpful for selecting building materials, with regard to the environmental performance of buildings in the early project phase. The aim of this paper is presentation of an environmental evaluation of the rarely assessed particular structures – building foundations and the analysis of the share of the building foundations to the overall environmental impact of building as well. The obtained data point to the need to include the environmental impacts of foundations when assessing the buildings, because of it is a necessary part of any type of family house. One kilogram of built-in foundations materials was responsible for emissions of 0.092 kg of greenhouse gases expressed by carbon dioxide (CO2). Embodied energy was calculated as equal to 1.14 MJ per 1kg of foundations materials and 832.2 MJ/m2 per building floor area. The foundation materials of houses contributed to the total environmental impact of the whole buildings by, on average, 15.0 and 22.8 % for embodied energy and global warming potential, respectively.
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Nwokocha, Geraldine Chika. "Environmental Impact Resulting from Unplanned Building in Nigeria." International Journal of Membrane Science and Technology 10, no. 1 (November 2, 2023): 1622–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.15379/ijmst.v10i1.3007.
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The construction industry in Nigeria plays an important role in the economy. The activities of the industry are also vital to the achievements which include providing shelter, infrastructure and employment. This research paper is aimed at assessing the drawn information from Nigeria, where construction activities of unplanned buildings are affecting the environment and the governments inefficiency to provide for the public safer housing for the people. The purpose of this research is to identify the environmental impact resulting from unplanned building in Nigeria. Building of houses on waterways and land reclamation for construction are the ways the activities have made the situation worse and people raising structures on waterways and inappropriate construction of water ways as well.
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Mouton, L., D. Ramon, D. Trigaux, K. Allacker, and R. H. Crawford. "Preliminary study on the use of Big Data for environmental benchmarks of residential buildings in Flanders." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1196, no. 1 (June 1, 2023): 012114. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1196/1/012114.
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Abstract Building construction and operation both have a high environmental impact. In Flanders (Belgium), public authorities have defined clear targets for improved building energy performance, but a strategy to reduce construction (embodied) impact is still lacking. Environmental benchmarks based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) have been identified as a means to limit embodied impacts. Such benchmarks are often derived with a bottom-up approach consisting of a statistical analysis of the building stock, which is usually modelled based on a limited set of representative buildings or archetypes. In this paper, a data-driven approach is applied based on building data from the Flemish Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) database. In a recent study, the buildings from the EPB database were clustered based on geometric and energy-related parameters, and for each cluster representative buildings were selected. This resulted in 54 buildings representative of newly built residential buildings in Flanders. The building set distinguishes itself from other existing sets because it was automatically generated from a large building database. Up until now, the EPB building set has only been used to evaluate the financial feasibility of energy performance levels in Flanders. In this preliminary study, an LCA is performed to assess the life cycle environmental impacts of five sample cases in view of benchmarking. The sample includes two detached, two semi-detached, and one terraced house, all solid construction and in line with the Flemish EPB requirements of 2014. The results show that the environmental score of the buildings is comparable to benchmark values obtained based on the analysis of Belgian archetypes. Further, the building geometry and compactness are identified as key parameters, whereas the materialisation has a more limited influence on the environmental impact. Next research steps will focus on the modelling of more cases, including different construction types, energy performance levels, and potential impact mitigation strategies. The study concludes that the EPB buildings are promising to define environmental benchmarks for the Flemish dwelling stock.
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Lim, Hyojin, Sungho Tae, and Seungjun Roh. "Major Building Materials in Terms of Environmental Impact Evaluation of School Buildings in South Korea." Buildings 12, no. 4 (April 16, 2022): 498. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings12040498.
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This study aimed to analyze the major building materials in terms of environmental impact evaluation of school buildings in South Korea. Three existing school buildings were selected as the analysis targets, and building materials were analyzed in terms of cumulative weight and six environmental impact categories (global warming potential, abiotic depletion potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, ozone-layer depletion potential, and photochemical oxidation potential). The materials were analyzed from an environmental perspective after integrating the six environmental impact categories into the environmental costs. From the analysis, nine major building materials, including ready-mixed concrete, concrete bricks, aggregate, rebar, cement, stone, glass, insulating materials, and wood, were selected for the school buildings. These analysis results can be used as a streamlined evaluation of the environmental impacts of school buildings. It is thought that the simplified life cycle assessment will help make decisions considering environmental characteristics in the early stage of the construction project. Additionally, it will be possible to make LCA efficient in terms of time and cost, one of the largest constraints of the existing building LCA, and effective reduction in the environmental load.
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Bangwal, Deepak, and Prakash Tiwari. "Environmental design and awareness impact on organization image." Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 26, no. 1 (February 18, 2019): 29–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ecam-02-2017-0029.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how environmental design features of a green building contribute to the formation of employees’ organization image (OIM) through better environmental awareness (EAW) within employees. Design/methodology/approach Based on a comprehensive literature review on environmental design features of a building, a theoretical model was proposed for investigation. Three putative paths linking workspace (WSP) to EAW, departmental space (DSP) to EAW and EAW to OIM were then tested relying on a survey data of 362 employees collected from three Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified buildings by using structural equation modeling methodology as prescribed by Hair et al. Findings Significant evidence was found in support of all three purposed paths. Further, the study found that workspace and the DSP together explained around 46 percent of the variance in employee’s EAW, which then explained around 54 percent of the variance in the formation of the employees’ OIM. Research limitations/implications The study drew data only from green certified organizations. Future research should involve other green organizations or a larger sample of green buildings. The size and character of the sample were restricted by organizational constraints. Practical implications The organizations need to be extremely cautious of green concerns during the design phase in order to capitalize on the yields of better employees’ OIM. It also motivates the other organizational group toward the green building concept to increase the employees’ EAW and to enhance organizational values and image. Originality/value While the green concept has been a significant research topic for more than decades, barely any research has been conducted that focuses specifically on environmental design features of a green building on employees’ EAW and OIM. This study tries to make a link between green building design features with employees’ EAW and OIM. These links are rare in Indian perspective.
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Lee, Sungwoo, Sungho Tae, Hyungjae Jang, Chang U. Chae, and Youngjin Bok. "Development of Building Information Modeling Template for Environmental Impact Assessment." Sustainability 13, no. 6 (March 11, 2021): 3092. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13063092.
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Eco-friendly building designs that use building information modeling (BIM) have become popular, and a variety of eco-friendly building assessment technologies that take advantage of BIM are being developed. However, existing building environmental performance assessment technologies that use BIM are linked to external assessment tools, and there exist compatibility issues among programs; it requires a considerable amount of time to address these problems, owing to the lack of experts who can operate the programs. This study aims to develop eco-friendly templates for assessing the embodied environmental impact of buildings using BIM authoring tools as part of the development of BIM-based building life cycle assessment (LCA) technologies. Therefore, an embodied environmental impact unit database was developed, for major building materials during production and operating stages, to perform embodied environmental impact assessments. Moreover, a major structural element library that uses the database was developed and a function was created to produce building environmental performance assessment results tables, making it possible to review the eco-friendliness of buildings. A case study analysis was performed to review the feasibility of the environmental performance assessment technologies. The results showed a less than 5% effective error rate in the assessment results that were obtained using the technology developed in this study compared with the assessment results based on the actual calculation and operating stage energy consumption figures, which proves the reliability of the proposed approach.
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Brbhan, Salman, and Viktoria Mannheim. "Improving building life cycle assessment through integrated approaches." Multidiszciplináris Tudományok 13, no. 3 (December 19, 2023): 188–202. http://dx.doi.org/10.35925/j.multi.2023.3.19.
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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a valuable method for enhancing the environmental sustainability of buildings. By considering the entire life cycle of a building, Life Cycle Assessment helps to make informed decisions by optimizing the use of materials and energy resources, reducing environmental impacts, and creating a more sustainable built environment. Based on a review of studies on the life cycle assessment of buildings, this article describes methods that aim to improve the quality of construction data, integrate environmental, social, and economic impacts, and utilize various models such as BIM, transportation, economic, and ecological modelling. Context-specific LCA can improve the quality of the results. Developing robust impact assessment methods can enhance the accuracy of environmental impact assessments. Integrating life cycle thinking into decision-making helps stakeholders to consider the environmental impacts of products or buildings. This is achieved through integrated methods that promote holistic approaches and improve green building practices.
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Xiong, Hai Bei, Chao Zhang, Jiang Tao Yao, and Yang Zhao. "Environmental Impact Comparison of Different Structure Systems Based on Life Cycle Assessment Methodology." Advanced Materials Research 374-377 (October 2011): 405–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.374-377.405.
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Life cycle assessment (LCA) has become an international recognized method to estimate the environmental impacts of a building during its life. A building’s environmental impacts can be divided into two parts－impacts in the service stage and impacts in other stages of its life cycle. Other stages comprise material acquisition stage, constructing stage and final disposal stage. In life cycle except service stage, the LCA analysis was made on a timber structure teaching building using Athena software Eco-calculator. Then the teaching building is assumed to be redesigned adopting the structure of RC-frame and steel frame respectively. And the LCA analysis was made on the two assumed buildings too. By comparing the results, the conclusion can be drawn that timber buildings have lower environmental impact indexes compared with that of RC-frame and about the same with that of steel structure. The aboard usage of the timber structure instead of RC-frame structure can result in good environment performance. In service stage, if a sensible thermal insulation scheme is also considered, a great amount of energy will be saved, and the environmental impact of a building can be made minimum.
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Ramírez-Villegas, Ricardo, Ola Eriksson, and Thomas Olofsson. "Life Cycle Assessment of Building Renovation Measures–Trade-off between Building Materials and Energy." Energies 12, no. 3 (January 23, 2019): 344. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en12030344.
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The scope of this study is to assess how different energy efficient renovation strategies affect the environmental impacts of a multi-family house in a Nordic climate within district heating systems. The European Union has set ambitious targets to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030. There is special attention on reducing the life cycle emissions in the buildings sector. However, the focus has often been on new buildings, although existing buildings represent great potential within the building stock in Europe. In this study, four different renovation scenarios were analyzed with the commercially available life cycle assessment software that follows the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) standard. This study covers all life cycle steps from the cradle to the grave for a residential building in Borlänge, Sweden, where renewable energy dominates. The four scenarios included reduced indoor temperature, improved thermal properties of building material components and heat recovery for the ventilation system. One finding is that changing installations gives an environmental impact comparable to renovations that include both ventilation and building facilities. In addition, the life cycle steps that have the greatest environmental impact in all scenarios are the operational energy use and the building and installation processes. Renovation measures had a major impact on energy use due to the cold climate and low solar irradiation in the heating season. An interesting aspect, however, is that the building materials and the construction processes gave a significant amount of environmental impact.
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Porhincak, Milan, and Adriana Estokova. "Environmental Evaluation of Building Materials of 5 Slovak Buildings." Selected Scientific Papers - Journal of Civil Engineering 8, no. 2 (November 1, 2013): 93–102. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/sspjce-2013-0022.
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Abstract Building activity has recently led to the deterioration of environment and has become unsustainable. Several strategies have been introduced in order to minimize consumption of energy and resulting CO2 emissions having their origin in the operational phase. But also other stages of Life Cycle should are important to identify the overall environmental impact of construction sector. In this paper 5 similar Slovak buildings (family houses) were analyzed in terms of environmental performance of building materials used for their structures. Evaluation included the weight of used materials, embodied energy and embodied CO2 and SO2 emissions. Analysis has proven that the selection of building materials is an important factor which influences the environmental profile. Findings of the case study indicated that materials like concrete, ceramic or thermal insulation materials based on polystyrene and mineral wool are ones with the most negative environmental impact.
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Porhinčák, Milan, Adriana Eštoková, and Silvia Vilčeková. "Comparison of environmental impact of building materials of three residential buildings." Pollack Periodica 6, no. 3 (December 2011): 53–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1556/pollack.6.2011.3.5.
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Žigart, Maja, Rebeka Kovačič Lukman, Miroslav Premrov, and Vesna Žegarac Leskovar. "Environmental impact assessment of building envelope components for low-rise buildings." Energy 163 (November 2018): 501–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.08.149.
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Aigbavboa, Clinton, and Wellington Didibhuku Thwala. "PERFORMANCE OF A GREEN BUILDING'S INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ON BUILDING OCCUPANTS IN SOUTH AFRICA." Journal of Green Building 14, no. 1 (January 2019): 131–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.3992/1943-4618.14.1.131.
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Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) is important to the health, comfort, and well-being of building occupants. Unsatisfactory IEQ is associated with a number of phenomena, most notably, sick building syndrome (SBS), building-related illnesses (BRIs), and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), which have major negative effects on productivity. However, green building investors (owners) are not only concerned about reducing the negative impact of their buildings on the environment, but also about the potentially negative impact green buildings can have on their employees' productivity. This research sets out to address, through a questionnaire survey in South Africa, what constitutes the determinants of green building occupants' satisfaction with the IEQ elements of a green building and the health implications of a building's IEQ on the building occupants. Data analysis (involving a one-sample t-test) reveals some interesting findings in regard to what constitutes the determinants of green building occupants' satisfaction with the IEQ elements and the health implications of the IEQ elements of a five-star green rated building in South Africa. Findings from the survey revealed that the occupants of the building were not satisfied with the green building's IEQ, most especially the ineffectiveness of blocking natural and artificial lighting. Also, it was revealed that the IEQ with particular reference to the noise level and ventilation of the space has some serious health implications for the building occupants. The occupants' evaluation revealed that the major health issues from which they suffer include fatigue, headache, common cold, coughing, and influenza, and these affect their productivity and performance. Since building occupants are a rich source of information about IEQ assessment and its effect on productivity, the study can be used to assess the performance of green buildings, identify areas needing improvement, and provide useful feedback to designers and operators about specific aspects of green building design features and operating strategies that need improvement. This study adds to the body of knowledge on green buildings' IEQ performance.
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Husain, Dilawar, Ravi Prakash, and Akbar Ahmad. "Life Cycle Ecological Footprint Reduction for a Tropical Building." Advances in Civil Engineering 2022 (August 12, 2022): 1–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/4181715.
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Rapid urbanization significantly impacts natural resource demands and waste management in the construction sector. In this study, a novel methodology has been developed that could assess the overall environmental impact of a building during its lifespan by considering resources such as building materials, energy use, emissions, water, manpower, and wastes. The proposed method can estimate the life cycle ecological footprint (EFT) of a building. The result indicates that 957.07 global hectares (gha) of bioproductive land are required during the lifespan of the case building. The CO2 absorption land is the most significant bioproductive land in the EFT of the building. The low environmental impact of building materials may reduce the ecological footprint (EF) of buildings, and using renewable energy can also reduce the operational EF of a building. The proposed building materials and solar PV systems have the potential to reduce the building’s life cycle environmental impact by up to two-thirds. The EF assessment of all existing and proposed buildings may be examined in order to execute strategies for a sustainable construction sector.
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Ajayi, Saheed O., Lukumon O. Oyedele, Babatunde Jaiyeoba, Kabir Kadiri, and Sunday Aderemi David. "Are sustainable buildings healthy? An investigation of lifecycle relationship between building sustainability and its environmental health impacts." World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development 13, no. 3 (July 11, 2016): 190–204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/wjstsd-01-2016-0015.
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Purpose – There have been speculations as to whether environmental friendly buildings are always healthy. Using lifecycle assessment (LCA) methodology, the purpose of this paper is to investigate lifecycle relationship between building sustainability and its environmental health impacts Design/methodology/approach – In order to achieve this, a block of classroom was modelled with the aid of Revit software, and its lifecycle global warming potential (GWP) and human health impacts were analysed using green building studio and ATHENA impact estimator tools. Sensitivity analyses of the block of classrooms were then carried out by varying the building materials and energy use pattern of the original typology. The LCA was performed for seven alternative typologies that were achieved through variation in the building materials and energy use patterns. Findings – For all the eight building typologies, the study shows a direct relationship between GWPs and human health impacts. This confirms that the more sustainable a building, the less its tendency for having negative health effects on building operatives, occupants and the wider environment. Again, the more green a building in terms of its materials and energy use pattern, the healthier the building becomes. Research limitations/implications – The human health impacts was evaluated by measuring amount of particulate matter (PM2.5) produced by the buildings while environmental impact was evaluated by measuring global warming (KgCO2) potentials of the buildings throughout its lifecycle. The study has been based on the impacts of building materials and energy use patterns over the entire lifecycle of the buildings and materials used for construction. Originality/value – The study established a positive relationship between GWP of building and its human health impacts. Thus, all arguments relating to the relationship between building sustainability and health are laid to rest by the paper.
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Auburtin, P. Navaro, M. Saadé, M. Manthey, M. Louërat, J.-L. Martin, and O. Baverel. "Influence of building geometry on the environmental impact of building structures." Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2600, no. 15 (November 1, 2023): 152001. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2600/15/152001.
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Abstract In France, embodied carbon represents 35% of the total green house gases emissions from the construction sector. This proportion can reach up to 70% when considering recent buildings. In particular, structural elements for a large portion of the material quantities hence environmental impacts. There is a large panel of options for designing structure and the early stage choices have the biggest impact on the final product. In order to help designers, understanding the influence of structure parameters such as material, span, grid choices or the number of level is essential. To do so, the article uses a methodology coupling structural analysis and environmental assesment. Wood, steel and concrete structures are considered with various span based on a 3 meters by 3 meters grid. The life cycle analysis uses french based scenarios and indicators from the european norm EN15804+A2. Results show that there is no material which is better on every indicators. Also the increase of span or the decrease of the number of level leads to higher impacts no matter the indicator. Finally slabs and beams represent the largest part of the impacts.
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Romero-Hermida, M. I., V. Flores-Alés, S. J. Hurtado-Bermúdez, A. Santos, and L. Esquivias. "Environmental Impact of Phosphogypsum-Derived Building Materials." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 12 (June 14, 2020): 4248. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124248.
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The aim of the present work was to characterize the products obtained from the treatment of phosphogypsum residue by means of two recovery routes, and also to evaluate the concentrations of heavy metals and radionuclides in the materials obtained and their leachates. In this way, it is possible to determine how the most hazardous components of phosphogypsum behave during procedures until their stabilization through CO2 fixation. This study provides an initial estimate of the possibilities of reusing the resulting products from a health and safety risk standpoint and their potential polluting capacity. The phases resulting from the transformations were controlled, and the behaviour of standard mortars manufactured from the resulting paste lime was studied. In all cases, an additional control of the leachate products was performed.
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Masud Rana, Md. "Effect of Environmental Impact in Building Constructions." American Journal of Civil Engineering 5, no. 6 (2017): 339. http://dx.doi.org/10.11648/j.ajce.20170506.14.
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Pichette, Gabrielle, Pierre Blanchet, Gatien Geraud Essoua Essoua, and Charles Breton. "Environmental product declaration (EPD) usage in early building design stages: Review of effects on the environmental life cycle of a multi-residential building." BioResources 18, no. 4 (October 17, 2023): 8134–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.15376/biores.18.4.8134-8150.
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The building sector has seen recent growth in the number of published environmental product declarations (EPDs). EPDs share environmental data of construction materials, which can help building practitioners prioritize products with lower environmental impacts. However, EPDs rely on varying assumptions within their life cycle assessment (LCA). This study aimed to evaluate the use of EPDs as a data source instead of a generic data source and its effect on the life cycle impacts of a multi-residential building. This study focused on 19 North American EPDs of structural wood products. The impact assessment results found in the EPDs were compared to the Ecoinvent V3.8 database. The findings of the present study suggest that EPDs can generally be used without distinction compared to the data in the Ecoinvent V3.8 database. However, a few data were found to be outliers. In addition, EPDs of structural wood products only disclosed its manufacturing stage. Other life cycle stages, such as transport of the construction product, can have a significant impact on the building’s LCA. Therefore, using EPDs to assess building impacts is recommended over their direct comparison for practitioners to make more comprehensive decisions towards embodied impacts of buildings.
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Tokbolat, Serik, Farnush Nazipov, Jong R. Kim, and Ferhat Karaca. "Evaluation of the Environmental Performance of Residential Building Envelope Components." Energies 13, no. 1 (December 31, 2019): 174. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en13010174.
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The role of buildings in the context of addressing the consequences of climate change and the energy deficit is becoming increasingly important due to their share in the overall amount of green house gas (GHG) emissions and rapidly growing domestic energy consumption worldwide. Adherence to a sustainability agenda requires ever-increasing attention to all stages of a building′s life, as such approach allows for the consideration of environmental impacts of a building, from design, through construction stages, until the final phase of a building′s life—demolition. A life cycle assessment (LCA) is one of the most recognized and adopted models for the evaluation of the environmental performance of materials and processes. This paper aims to perform an LCA of four different types of residential buildings in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. The assessment primarily considered embodied energy and GHG emissions as key assessment indicators. Findings suggest that the operational stage contributed to more than half of the GHG emissions in all the cases. The results of the study indicate that there is a dependence between the comfort levels and the impact of the buildings on the environment. The higher the comfort levels, the higher the impacts in terms of the CO2 equivalent. This conclusion is most likely to be related to the fact that the higher the comfort level, the higher the environmental cost of the materials. A similar correlation can be observed in the case of comparing building comfort levels and life-cycle impacts per user. There are fewer occupants per square meter as the comfort level increases. Furthermore, the obtained results suggest potential ways of reducing the overall environmental impact of the building envelope components.
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Antypa, Despoina, Foteini Petrakli, Anastasia Gkika, Pamela Voigt, Alexander Kahnt, Robert Böhm, Jan Suchorzewski, Andreia Araújo, Susana Sousa, and Elias P. Koumoulos. "Life Cycle Assessment of Advanced Building Components towards NZEBs." Sustainability 14, no. 23 (December 5, 2022): 16218. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su142316218.
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The building sector accounts for 40% of the total energy consumed in Europe at annual basis, together with the relevant Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. In order to mitigate these impacts, the concept and establishment of the Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) is under continuous and intensive research. In fact, as the energy used for buildings’ operation becomes more efficient, impacts resulting from the buildings’ embodied energy become of more importance. Therefore, the selection of building materials and components is of high significance, as these affect the energy performance and potential environmental impacts of the building envelopes. The objective of this study is to perform a preliminary Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) on advanced multifunctional building components, aiming to achieve lower embodied emissions in NZEBs. The advanced components analyzed are composite panels for facade elements of building envelopes, providing thermal efficiency. The design of sustainable building envelope systems is expected to upgrade the overall environmental performance of buildings, including the NZEBs. The findings of this study constitute unambiguous evidence on the need for further research on this topic, as substantial lack of data concerning embodied impacts is presented in literature, adding to the growing discussion on NZEBs at a whole life cycle perspective across Europe. This research has shown that the electricity required from the manufacturing phase of the examined building components is the main contributor to climate change impact and the other environmental categories assessed. Sensitivity analysis that has been performed indicated that the climate change impact is highly depended on the electricity grid energy mix across Europe. Taking into account the current green energy transition by the increase of the renewable energy sources in electricity production, as well as the future upgrade of the manufacturing processes, it is expected that this climate change impact will be mitigated. Finally, the comparison between the CLC thermal insulator and other foam concretes in literature showed that the materials of the building components examined do not present any diversions in terms of environmental impact.
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Sakhlecha, Manish, Samir Bajpai, and Rajesh Kumar Singh. "Life Cycle Assessment of a Residential Building During Planning Stage to Forecast Its Environmental Impact." International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development 12, no. 1 (January 2021): 131–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijsesd.2021010110.
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India is a rapidly growing economy witnessing continuous growth in the housing sector and living standards. The main focus of construction practices still remains on the architectural aspects of the buildings, largely unconcerned with their environmental impacts. The current thrust of concern for building sector, especially in developing countries, is to assess the environmental impact of buildings in a quantifiable way for implementing sustainable measures and achieving sustainability. Lifecycle assessment (LCA) is a comprehensive tool that is used worldwide to assess the environmental performance of any product or a process. This paper assesses the environmental impact of a residential house at planning stage on the basis of lifecycle assessment (LCA) considering various stages of building like construction, operation (for service life) and demolition, and identifies the hot-spots in the form of building components, materials, and stages.
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Guolo, Erika, Francesca Cappelletti, Piercarlo Romagnoni, and Fabio Raggiotto. "Environmental impacts for polyurethane panels." E3S Web of Conferences 111 (2019): 03063. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/201911103063.
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According to the European targets for 2030, for managing a policy of improving the environmental sustainability of buildings it is essential to assess the buildings and building components impacts both in the construction and in the utilization phases. The use of building is essential on the environmental impacts (equal to about 90%) as consequence the commitment must be aimed at reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions of buildings during their lifetime, through correct design and proper selection of materials and technologies; above all, the use of thermal insulation materials is fundamental. A useful support tool for manufacturers and designers for the eco-design innovation of products and production processes is the LCA - Life Cycle Assessment: the assessment allows to identify and to quantify energy, consumed materials and residues released as environment impact during the processes. Comparison of the environmental impact data of the different products it is possible by adopting the EPD - Environmental Product Declarations approach, which envisages, for each group of products, the elaboration of a specific technique, the PRC - Product Category Rules. In the building sector, among the thermal insulating materials currently in use, the rigid expanded polyurethane (thermoset polymeric insulation products with a substantially closed cell structure including both polymer types based on PIR and PUR), allows to obtain excellent characteristics of very low density masses, resulting in a reduction in energy consumption deriving from transport, installation and disposal or recycling at the end of life. Numerous studies on environmental impacts during the polyurethane life cycle have shown that the amount of resources consumed for the production of polyurethane foam is amortized in the use phase of buildings thanks to the energy savings determined by thermal insulation. Very important features of polyurethane is the high durability in time (higher or equal to the life of the building). This is demonstrated following some tests of physical characterization and verification of durability of rigid polyurethane insulation panels used in different types of building and construction, without maintenance: according to the determination of thermal conductivity and of the compressive strength is proven as the values are unchanged despite the years of use (over 40 years). The paper presents the LCA evaluation of a polyurethane panel; the durability of thermal properties has been verified by experimental tests.
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Beisi, Jia. "A Quantitative Assessment of the Environmental Impact of Flexible Partitions." Open House International 30, no. 1 (March 1, 2005): 33–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ohi-01-2005-b0006.
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Each person in Hong Kong produces three times more waste than that of Singapore. This is because a large portion of the waste in Hong Kong is from the construction sector. Re-decoration work carried out by dwellers in Hong Kong is one of the major sources of the construction and demolition waste. Development of flexible reusable infill systems with high recycling potential is significant. A number of these systems are currently used, mainly in public and commercial buildings. They may have potential to be applied in residential buildings in the future. This paper starts with an introduction to the infill systems applied in open building history. It then points out the need to investigate the development of infill processes by integrating infill products available in the market. The paper further introduces current open building studies on reusability of infill systems and addresses the problem that there is a lack of quantitative information on embodied energy and other environmental impacts of infill systems. In the methodology section the paper describes five types of partition walls selected, ranging from low flexibility to high flexibility. Applying an evaluation model for environmental impact, the paper analyzes embodied energy intensity, and environmental impacts of each partition systems in two simulated situations. One is in a two room unit of a public housing prototype and the other is in private apartment. It concludes that partition walls with higher flexibility are highly intensive in their embodied energy. In other environmental impacts, especially recycling potential, flexible partition wall panels exceed that of conventional block-work partitions. The study will enable more complete information to be obtained concerning the environmental impact of infill components and will assist architects and other building professional wisely apply open building design concepts.
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Nakano, Katsuyuki, Masahiko Karube, and Nobuaki Hattori. "Environmental Impacts of Building Construction Using Cross-laminated Timber Panel Construction Method: A Case of the Research Building in Kyushu, Japan." Sustainability 12, no. 6 (March 12, 2020): 2220. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12062220.
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In Japan, there has been an increase in the number of buildings built using cross-laminated timber (CLT) in order to utilize the abundant forest resources in the country. However, no studies have evaluated the environmental impact of the construction of CLT buildings in Japan. This study evaluates the environmental impacts from the start of construction to the completion of a real CLT building in Kumamoto city, Kyushu region, southern Japan. We investigated the input of the materials and energy used in the construction of the building. The environmental impact categories evaluated include climate change, ozone layer depletion, eutrophication, acidification, and photochemical oxidation. We found that the concrete used for the foundations, and the cement-based soil stabilizer used for ground reinforcement accounted for 42% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The construction site was previously used as a seedbed field, necessitating ground reinforcement. Furthermore, the large foundations were designed in order to raise the low height of the wooden structure from the ground level. Developing and applying methods with lower environmental impacts for ground reinforcement and building foundations is recommended. In addition, we found that by using biomass-derived electricity in CLT manufacturing, the environmental impacts of CLT manufacturing could be reduced, thus reducing the environmental impacts of the entire building. The biogenic carbon fixed in the wooden parts during the building usage accounted for 32% of the total GHG emissions of the building construction. Since this biogenic carbon will be released to the atmosphere at the end-of-life stage of the building, a long-term usage of the CLT buildings and/or reuse of the CLT is recommended.
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Wang, He, Yinqi Zhang, Weijun Gao, and Soichiro Kuroki. "Life Cycle Environmental and Cost Performance of Prefabricated Buildings." Sustainability 12, no. 7 (March 25, 2020): 2609. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12072609.
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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.
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Hu, Ming. "ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVE ENERGY RETROFIT STRATEGIES AND RELATED IMPACT ON INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY." Journal of Green Building 12, no. 2 (March 2017): 38–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.3992/1943-4618.12.2.38.
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1.0. INTRODUCTION In the United States, K–12 school buildings spend more than $8 billion each year on energy—more than they spend on computers and textbooks combined [1]. Most occupied older buildings demonstrate poor operational performance—for instance, more than 30 percent of schools were built before 1960, and 53 percent of public schools need to spend money on repairs, renovations, and modernization to ensure that the schools' onsite buildings are in good overall condition. And among public schools with permanent buildings, the environmental factors in the permanent buildings have been rated as unsatisfactory or very unsatisfactory in 5 to 17 percent of them [2]. Indoor environment quality (IEQ) is one of the core issues addressed in the majority of sustainable building certification and design guidelines. Children spend a significant amount of time indoors in a school environment. And poor IEA can lead to sickness and absenteeism from school and eventually cause a decrease in student performance [3]. Different building types and their IEQ characteristics can be partly attributed to building age and construction materials. [4] Improving the energy performance of school buildings could result in the direct benefit of reduced utility costs and improving the indoor quality could improve the students' learning environment. Research also suggests that aging school facilities and inefficient equipment have a detrimental effect on academic performance that can be reversed when schools are upgraded. [5] Several studies have linked better lighting, thermal comfort, and air quality to higher test scores. [6, 7, 8] Another benefit of improving the energy efficiency of education buildings is the potential increase in market value through recognition of green building practice and labeling, such as that of a LEED or net zero energy building. In addition, because of their educational function, high-performance or energy-efficient buildings are particularly valuable for institution clients and local government. More and more high-performance buildings, net zero energy buildings, and positive energy buildings serve as living laboratories for educational purposes. Currently, educational/institutional buildings represent the largest portion of NZE (net zero energy) projects. Educational buildings comprise 36 percent of net zero buildings according to a 2014 National New Building Institute report. Of the 58 net zero energy educational buildings, 32 are used for kindergarten through grade 12 (K–12), 21 for higher education, and 5 for general education. [9] Finally, because educational buildings account for the third largest amount of building floor space in the United States, super energy-efficient educational buildings could provide other societal and economic benefits beyond the direct energy cost savings for three reasons: 1) educational buildings offer high visibility that can influence community members and the next generation of citizens, 2) success stories of the use of public funds that returns lower operating costs and healthier student learning environments provide documentation that can be used by others, and 3) this sector offers national and regional forums and associations to facilitate the transfer of best design and operational practices.
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Pavlakis, Sotiris, Pauline Teo, and Sajani Jayasuriya. "The social and environmental impact of building integrated photovoltaics technology." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1101, no. 2 (November 1, 2022): 022015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1101/2/022015.
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Abstract Various sustainable energy technologies are evolving around the world to reduce the carbon footprints in buildings. Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is one of the emerging sustainable technologies and it refers to a technology where the elements of the building envelope such as façade and roof are replaced with solar cells. However, the adoptability of BIPV technology in buildings is limited as its costs and benefits are unknown to the public. This study aims to review the BIPV literature qualitatively, to explore the beneficial-related and cost-related factors of adopting BIPV technology. A thematic analysis was undertaken among journal papers published between 2011 to 2019 that focused their investigation on integrated solar renewable systems. The identified cost and benefit-related factors were classified into environmental, health, design, and social themes. It is recommended that further research can be undertaken to explore the importance of cost and beneficial factors identified in this study quantitatively. Finally, these factors will assist in quantitatively measuring the societal impacts of BIPV technology.
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Mouton, L., D. Trigaux, K. Allacker, and R. H. Crawford. "Development of environmental benchmarks for the Belgian residential building stock." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1078, no. 1 (September 1, 2022): 012077. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1078/1/012077.
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Abstract Over recent years Belgium has made meaningful effort in adopting Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in building practice to improve building environmental performance. Today, architects can compare the environmental performance of different building designs with an online calculation tool that incorporates the national LCA method. However, they are still lacking environmental benchmarks to position themselves within current building practice. Furthermore, such benchmarks play an important role in the development of environmental targets in building regulation. In this research, benchmarks are defined for new residential buildings in Belgium. A bottom-up approach is followed consisting of a statistical analysis of reference buildings to define limit, reference and best practice values. The buildings are based on four representative typologies for Belgium, ranging from detached houses to apartments. Different variants are assessed including various energy performance levels and construction types (solid versus timber). The buildings’ life cycle impacts are calculated including the embodied (material) and operational (energy) impacts. Results are reported both for an aggregated environmental single-score and for Global Warming Potential (GWP). The calculated reference values for life cycle and embodied GWP (20 and 7 kgCO2eq/m2.year) are comparable to existing benchmarks in the literature. The results further highlight that building compactness provides the largest impact reduction, followed by construction type. Finally, limitations are discussed and recommendations are formulated for developing future benchmarks.
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Kim, Hyunsik, Sung Ho Tae, and Rak Hyun Kim. "The Study on Environmental Impacts of Buildingusing Life Cycle Assessment of G-SEED." Korean Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 19, no. 1 (October 2018): 15–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.62765/kjlca.2018.19.1.15.
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LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) analysis for buildings became a part of G-SEED (Green Standard for Energy and Environmental Design), which is a certificate program for green building in South Korea, to provide additional credits for the certificate. In this research, LCA analysis of a specific building which fulfills G-SEED program is performed to verify the environmental impact during the entire life cycle of the building. Moreover, the results of the analysis are used to identify the period of building life cycle which provides environmental impact the most. As a result, practical solution to reduce environmental impact in architecture field is suggested.
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Roh, Seung Jun, and Sung Ho Tae. "Proposal of a Simplified Environmental Assessment Method Based on Major Building Materials for School Buildings in Korea." Advanced Materials Research 905 (April 2014): 353–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.905.353.
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The purpose of this study is to propose a simplified environmental impact assessment method based on selection of major building materials for school buildings in Korea. To accomplish this, environmental impact of 2 school buildings constructed in Korea was assessed according to the procedure of life cycle assessment. In addition, major building materials of school buildings were selected from the perspective of 6 environmental impact categories based on the assessment result, and a method of simplified environmental impact assessment was suggested. On one hand, case analysis verified applicability of the simplified environmental impact assessment method proposed in this study by showing similar value within 10% compared to the assessment result from existing detailed assessment.
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Selecká, Iveta, Silvia Vilčeková, and Andrea Moňoková. "Verification of building environmental assessment system for houses." Selected Scientific Papers - Journal of Civil Engineering 14, no. 1 (December 1, 2019): 55–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/sspjce-2019-0006.
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Abstract Sustainable construction and its architecture of buildings seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings by efficiency in the use of materials, energy, and development space and the ecosystem at large. Sustainable buildings use a conscious approach to energy and ecological conservation in the design of the built environment in cities. This article is devoted to the environmental assessment of three family houses which represent three different material and design solutions. The houses were evaluated through the Slovak building environmental assessment system (BEAS), which has been developed for Slovak conditions at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, TUKE. This study shows that the influence of green design, compared to traditional construction, is important and more beneficial for the practice of designing sustainable buildings. It creates the most comprehensive relationship between the building and its environment and significantly affects building sustainability.
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Sakhlecha, Manish, Samir Bajpai, and Rajesh Kumar Singh. "Evaluating the Environmental Impact Score of a Residential Building Using Life Cycle Assessment." International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development 10, no. 4 (October 2019): 1–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijsesd.2019100101.
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Buildings consume major amount of energy as well as natural resources leading to negative environmental impacts like resource depletion and pollution. The current task for the construction sector is to develop an evaluation tool for rating of buildings based on their environmental impacts. There are various assessment tools and models developed by different agencies in different countries to evaluate building's effect on environment. Although these tools have been successfully used and implemented in the respective regions of their origin, the problems of application occur, especially during regional adaptation in other countries due to peculiarities associated with the specific geographic location, climatic conditions, construction methods and materials. India is a rapidly growing economy with exponential increase in housing sector. Impact assessment model for a residential building has been developed based on life cycle assessment (LCA) framework. The life cycle impact assessment score was obtained for a sample house considering fifteen combinations of materials paired with 100% thermal electricity and 70%-30% thermal-solar combination, applying normalization and weighting to the LCA results. The LCA score of portland slag cement with burnt clay red brick and 70%-30% thermal-solar combination (PSC+TS+RB) was found to have the best score and ordinary Portland cement with flyash brick and 100% thermal power (OPC+T+FAB) had the worst score, showing the scope for further improvement in LCA model to include positive scores for substitution of natural resources with industrial waste otherwise polluting the environment.
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Jafari, Amirhosein, and Vanessa Valentin. "SUSTAINABLE IMPACT OF BUILDING ENERGY RETROFIT MEASURES." Journal of Green Building 12, no. 3 (September 2017): 69–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.3992/1943-4618.12.3.69.
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Energy retrofitting is argued to be the most feasible and cost-effective method for improving existing buildings' energy efficiency. As a sustainable development, building energy retrofits require the consideration and integration of all three sustainability dimensions: environmental, economic and social. The objective of this study is to estimate and compare the sustainable impact of building energy retrofits to determine the maximum sustainable benefit when implementing different energy-related measures. The proposed analysis consists of integrating three approaches for evaluating these benefits. Economic benefits are measured by estimating the payback period of energy-related measures, environmental benefits are measured by estimating the CO2 equivalent saving per year due to the implementation of energy-related measures, and social benefits are measured by defining a “social impact index” that establishes the impact of energy-related measures on buildings' users. A case study is used to demonstrate the framework for four potential scenarios. The results show that for the case study, energy-related “controlling” and “upgrading mechanical system” measures have the highest sustainable impact among the identified energy retrofitting measures.
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Jang, Hyeong-Jae, Seong-Jo Wang, Sung-Ho Tae, and Peng-Fei Zheng. "Establishment of an Environmental Impact Factor Database for Building Materials to Support Building Life Cycle Assessments in China." Buildings 14, no. 1 (January 15, 2024): 228. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings14010228.
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The construction industry increasingly poses significant threats on the environment, highlighting the importance of developing life cycle assessments (LCAs). Research on building LCA databases has been carried out in many countries. However, in China, the absence of public data for environmental impact assessments poses significant challenges for building life cycle assessments (LCA). Therefore, this study aims to facilitate the life cycle assessment of buildings in China by comparing and analyzing databases from South Korea and the European Union. The goal is to establish a unit-based environmental impact database for Chinese building materials. Three environmental impact factors of ten major building materials in these three databases were compared and a basis for the inter-application of the databases was established. Based on the combination of the analysis results, the supplementation of the environmental impact factor database of building materials in China was proposed. In addition, a case study using a quantity take-off (QTO) for an actual building in China was performed to review the plan’s applicability.
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Abouhamad, Mona, and Metwally Abu-Hamd. "Life Cycle Environmental Assessment of Light Steel Framed Buildings with Cement-Based Walls and Floors." Sustainability 12, no. 24 (December 21, 2020): 10686. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su122410686.
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The objective of this paper is to apply the life cycle assessment methodology to assess the environmental impacts of light steel framed buildings fabricated from cold formed steel (CFS) sections. The assessment covers all phases over the life span of the building from material production, construction, use, and the end of building life, in addition to loads and benefits from reuse/recycling after building disposal. The life cycle inventory and environmental impact indicators are estimated using the Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings. The input data related to the building materials used are extracted from a building information model of the building while the operating energy in the use phase is calculated using an energy simulation software. The Athena Impact Estimator calculates the following mid-point environmental measures: global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential, human health potential, ozone depletion potential, smog potential, eutrophication potential, primary and non-renewable energy (PE) consumption, and fossil fuel consumption. The LCA assessment was applied to a case study of a university building. Results of the case study related to GWP and PE were as follows. The building foundations were responsible for 29% of the embodied GWP and 20% of the embodied PE, while the CFS skeleton was responsible for 30% of the embodied GWP and 49% of the embodied PE. The production stage was responsible for 90% of the embodied GWP and embodied PE. When benefits associated with recycling/reuse were included in the analysis according to Module D of EN 15978, the embodied GWP was reduced by 15.4% while the embodied PE was reduced by 6.22%. Compared with conventional construction systems, the CFS framing systems had much lower embodied GWP and PE.
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Deepak, Bansal, Kamat Murlidhar, Ralegaonkar Rahul, and Bansal Yashika. "Environmental impact assessment of demolition of a building in India-A case study." Annals of Civil and Environmental Engineering 6, no. 1 (August 3, 2022): 042–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.29328/journal.acee.1001039.
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Buildings are demolished, when they outlived their service life, become structurally/functionally unfit, or have been built illegally. In India, an RCC framed, 40-storied high-rise building, with a built-up area of about 75,000 sqm, built without relevant approvals along with lots of violations of building bye-laws, has been demolished. There is nothing new in this demolition process, but its effect on the environment is unavailable. A study has been conducted to understand the environmental impact of this demolition. Based on the main primary construction materials, the embodied energy of this demolished building has been computed as 7.07 GJ/sqm. The civil construction cost of the building was found to be about INR 200 Crores (USD 27 million, assuming a conversion rate of 1 USD 75 INR in the year 2022). Expected GHGs emissions corresponding to this embodied energy were estimated as 42.42 × 103 MT. Energy in the demolition of the building has been computed to be about 8.7 GJ/sqm. The situation, in which this building can be retrofitted and made compliant with local building bye-laws, has been analyzed for its environmental impact.
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Pedro Panagassi Forte, João, and Vasco Rato. "Energy environmental impact of functional units of a university building." E3S Web of Conferences 111 (2019): 03018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/201911103018.
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This paper presents the results of a qualitative assessment of the environmental impact of a set of functional units of a university building, considering negative impacts such as the ones originated by energy, water and resource usage, as well as waste production, but also positive impacts like the ones that may be derived from teaching and learning and from research. This paper is focused on the energy –related environmental impacts which are the most significant. The assessment is performed for three evaluation scenarios: Two of these scenarios are based on the actual condition of the building facilities and its use patterns and differ from each other in the level of severity attributed to each impact criteria. The third scenario has as additional input the future condition of electric energy production through the installation of photovoltaic (PV) panels (which is in progress). According to the assessment carried out, the implementation of the PV panels may have an important contribution in reducing the environmental impact related to the use of the building.
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Braulio-Gonzalo, Marta, Andrea Jorge-Ortiz, María D. Bovea, and Valeria Ibáñez-Forés. "Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of refurbishment alternatives for façade assemblies typically used in existing buildings in the Mediterranean region in Spain." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1196, no. 1 (June 1, 2023): 012049. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1196/1/012049.
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Abstract The building sector is a major contributor to the environmental impact in the European Union due to energy consumed, extraction of resources and greenhouse gas emissions. Particularly, the existing building stock represents a greater challenge than new constructions, since up to 85% of the buildings existing in 2050 have already been built. The extensive lifespan of buildings mean that construction assemblies remain standing for long periods of time, which accounts for most of the embodied environmental impact and affects its energy performance during the use stage. Also, because the façade surfaces generally cover most of the building envelope, they have strong potential to reduce existing buildings’ environmental impacts and energy consumption, when undertaking major refurbishments. This paper aims to compare the environmental performance of different refurbishment alternatives for façade assemblies typically used in existing buildings in the Mediterranean region in Spain. For this purpose, a three-step methodology based on a life cycle approach was applied: (I) Identification of existing façade assemblies and their related refurbishment alternatives, (II) Bill of Materials, and (III) Environmental, cost and energetic impact of each façade and their refurbishment alternatives were analysed with the Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Cost methodologies and U-values calculation, respectively. The results were used to draw conclusions to help construction sector practitioners, such as building designers and contractors, to make decisions during the design and construction stages in major renovation projects. They could also be used to select the optimum façade refurbishment alternatives, aiming at nearly zero-energy buildings.
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Friedman, Avi, and Vince Cammalleri. "The environmental impact of building materials in the North American building industry." Building Research & Information 23, no. 3 (May 1995): 162–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09613219508727450.
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MIRABELLA, Nadia, Martin RÖCK, Marcella Ruschi Mendes SAADE, Carolin SPIRINCKX, Marc BOSMANS, Karen ALLACKER, and Alexander PASSER. "Strategies to Improve the Energy Performance of Buildings: A Review of Their Life Cycle Impact." Buildings 8, no. 8 (August 12, 2018): 105. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings8080105.
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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.
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Allan, Kevin, and Adam R. Phillips. "Comparative Cradle-to-Grave Life Cycle Assessment of Low and Mid-Rise Mass Timber Buildings with Equivalent Structural Steel Alternatives." Sustainability 13, no. 6 (March 19, 2021): 3401. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13063401.
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The objective of this paper was to quantify and compare the environmental impacts associated with alternative designs of typical North American low and mid-rise buildings. Two scenarios were considered: a traditional structural steel frame or an all-wood mass timber design, utilizing engineered wood products for both gravity and lateral load resistance. The boundary of the quantitative analysis was cradle-to-grave with considerations taken to discuss end-of-life and material reuse scenarios. The TRACI methodology was followed to conduct a Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) analysis that translates building quantities to environmental impact indicators using the Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings Life Cycle analysis software tool and Athena’s Life Cycle Inventory database. The results of the analysis show that mass timber buildings have an advantage with respect to several environmental impact categories, including eutrophication potential, human health particulate, and global warming potential where a 31% to 41% reduction was found from mass timber to steel designs, neglecting potential carbon sequestration benefits from the timber products. However, it was also found that the steel buildings have a lower impact with respect to the environmental impact categories of smog potential, acidification potential, and ozone depletion potential, where a 48% to 58% reduction was found from the steel to the mass timber building designs.
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Pachta, Vasiliki, and Vasiliki Giourou. "Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of a Historic and a Modern School Building, Located in the City of Naoussa, Greece." Sustainability 14, no. 7 (April 1, 2022): 4216. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14074216.
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Life Cycle Assessment is often applied as a methodological approach for evaluating the environmental performance and impact of the building sector, including building stock. In the present study, two school buildings, located in the city of Naoussa, N. Greece were analyzed, including a historic and a modern one. The survey concerned on-site inspection and documentation of the structures, data collection and analysis, Life Cycle Impact assessment, as well as comparative evaluation of the results. The objective was to indicate the constructional and performance characteristics of the buildings, as well as to comparatively evaluate their environmental performance and impact. Since historic school buildings still function as educational units, these aspects are crucial and may determine their future operation and use. For LCA, the expected life span of the buildings was taken into account (60 years for the modern school and 140 years for the historic one), as well as all life cycle stages (product, construction, use, end of life, beyond building life). Various indicators were assessed, such as Global Warming Potential (GWP), Fossil Fuel Consumption, Total Primary Energy, Non-Renewable Primary Energy. From the correlation of the results, it was asserted that although the two buildings present similar operational characteristics and needs, they have different environmental performances and impacts, mainly attributed to their different service life and structural characteristics. Although the operational GWP value of the historic building is higher (due to the extended life span), the embodied one is significantly lower (due to the natural materials used for its construction). Other indicators, such as fossil fuel consumption are also higher in the case of the modern school building, indicating that its environmental footprint is more intense.
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Mannan, Mehzabeen, and Sami G. Al-Ghamdi. "Water Consumption and Environmental Impact of Multifamily Residential Buildings: A Life Cycle Assessment Study." Buildings 12, no. 1 (January 5, 2022): 48. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings12010048.
Full textAbstract:
Water use in buildings accounts for a large share in global freshwater consumption where research on the impacts of life cycle water use receive little or no attention. Moreover, there is very limited knowledge regarding such impacts that focus on the life cycle emissions from water consumption in building environments in the world’s most water-stressed countries. Hence, this study attempted to quantify the environmental impacts of operational water use in a multi-family residential building through a life cycle assessment (LCA). A small part of a Middle Eastern country, Doha (Qatar), has been selected for the primary assessment, while water-use impact in Miami (Florida) was chosen as a second case study, as both locations fall into similar climate zone according to ASHRAE Climate Zone Map. The LCA score indicated much higher impacts in the Doha case study compared to Miami. The variation in the result is mainly attributed to the raw water treatment stage in Doha, which involves energy-intensive thermal desalination. Again, relative comparison of the annual water and electricity use impacts for the modeled building was performed at the final stage for both locations. Water use was attributable for 18% of the environmental impacts in Miami, while this value increased to 35% in Doha. This initial assembled LCA result will be beneficial to both water authorities and building research communities in establishing more sustainable water use policies for specific regions/countries that will ultimately benefit the overall building environment.
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Habert, Guillaume, and Claudiane Ouellet-Plamondon. "Recent update on the environmental impact of geopolymers." RILEM Technical Letters 1 (April 18, 2016): 17. http://dx.doi.org/10.21809/rilemtechlett.2016.6.
Full textAbstract:
The contribution of building materials’ production to environmental impacts becomes significant in the new energy efficient buildings that are currently built. Among those materials, cement represents a major part of the embodied carbon footprint of buildings. Development of alternatives to traditional Portland cement have emerged over the last decades; however, their environmental assessment over their life cycle have resulted in conflicting results, which give a confusing picture of the strategic path to be followed. This paper focuses on the alkali-activated cement and concrete and points out the variability linked with the choice of energy source for the production of the activators and precursors. A review of existing studies is then performed in order to highlight the main benefits of these alternative cements in terms of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, the results presented here highlight further research trends for new cements and concrete.