Comparison of generic and product-specific Life Cycle Assessment databases: application to construction materials used in building LCA studies

Lasvaux, Sébastien; Habert, Guillaume; Peuportier, Bruno; Chevalier, Jacques

doi:10.1007/s11367-015-0938-z

Cited by 94 publications

(75 citation statements)

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“…From a preliminary screening of the datasets on the unitary environmental production impact of the component materials, a remarkable difference between the deterministic (EPD) and stochastic (ecoinvent) data is ascertainable. This finding is in line with previous studies [24,38,46]. All the considered materials present at least one impact value from EPD "out" of the Ecoinvent PDF 5-95 percentile rank range.…”

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confidence: 92%

“…In this respect, the LCA data refer to the specific product. However, for the same product, generic datasets from commercial databases and EPD's data may be not directly comparable, due to the different data sources [46].Based on the stochastic LCA approach developed by the authors, this work analyses the environmental performance of five insulation solutions and, in addition, investigates the impact of data availability and data quality on the variability of LCA results, by using input data from different sources (i.e., a generic international database and EPDs). Indeed, when a building designer…”

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confidence: 99%

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A Stochastic Approach to LCA of Internal Insulation Solutions for Historic Buildings

Giuseppe

D’Orazio

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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Internal insulation is a typical renovation solution in historic buildings with valuable façades. However, it entails moisture-related risks, which affect the durability and life-cycle environmental performance. In this context, the EU project RIBuild developed a risk assessment method for both hygrothermal and life-cycle performance of internal insulation, to support decision-making. This paper presents the stochastic Life Cycle Assessment method developed, which couples the LCA model to a Monte-Carlo simulation, providing results expressed by probability distributions. It is applied to five insulation solutions, considering different uncertain input parameters and building heating scenarios. In addition, the influence of data variability and quality on the result is analyzed, by using input data from two sources: distributions derived from a generic Life Cycle Inventory database and "deterministic" data from Environmental Product Declarations. The outcomes highlight remarkable differences between the two datasets that lead to substantial variations on the systems performance ranking at the production stage. Looking at the life-cycle impact, the general trend of the output distributions is quite similar among simulation groups and insulation systems. Hence, while a ranking of the solutions based on a "deterministic" approach provides misleading information, the stochastic approach provides more realistic results in the context of decision-making.Sustainability 2020, 12, 1535 2 of 35 and cultural values. For this reason, internal insulation is generally considered as a valid alternative to external insulation in order to improve the buildings' thermal performance. However, its design and application could be technically complex entailing several risks [4,5]. For instance, the risks of internal dampness, mold growth, interstitial condensation, and freeze-thaw damage may further lead to structural deterioration, aesthetical damages, and eventually a reduced service life for the whole renovation intervention. At present, there is a lack of knowledge on how to apply correctly internal insulations and handle the inherent risks. The EU project RIBuild (Robust Internal Thermal Insulation of Historic Buildings) aims to fill this gap, by investigating how and under which conditions internal insulation can be safely used [6].Regarding insulation materials and systems for historical buildings, there is a large number of products available in the market, including natural materials (e.g., cellulose, cork), conventional materials (e.g., mineral wool, glass wool, polyurethane, expanded polystyrene, insulating plaster) and other advanced materials (e.g., calcium silicate, aerated concrete) [7,8]. According to Vereecken, internal insulation systems can be categorized into three types: (i) condensate-preventing insulation systems, based on vapor-tight insulation materials or metal foil; (ii) condensate-limiting insulation systems with normal or smart vapor barrier; (iii) condensate-tolerating insulation systems with capillary act...

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A Stochastic Approach to LCA of Internal Insulation Solutions for Historic Buildings

Giuseppe

D’Orazio

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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“…In 2015, Lasvaux et al [41] assessed the numerical and methodological differences of two existing LCA databases, the ecoinvent generic database and one Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) database developed in France, for 28 building materials using Life Cycle Impact Assessment indicators of the EN 15804 standard. While indicators correlated with fossil fuel consumption, such as the abiotic depletion potential (ADP), the global warming potential (GWP), and the primary energy demand, exhibited only a deviation of approximately 25%, other indicators, such as the photochemical ozone formation (POCP), radioactive waste, and ADP elements, were found to be more variable between EPD and generic data (sometimes by more than 100%).…”

Section: Previous Lca Comparison Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Life Cycle Assessment of Two Residential Buildings Using Two Different LCA Database-Software Combinations: Recognizing Uniformities and Inconsistencies

et al. 2019

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Traditionally, the emissions embodied in construction materials have not been considered important; however, they are becoming crucial due to the short time-frame in which the emissions should be reduced. Moreover, evaluating the environmental burden of construction materials has proven problematic and the reliability of the reported impact estimates is questionable. More reliable information from the construction sector is thus urgently needed to back and guide decision-making. Currently, the building sector environmental impact assessments predominantly employ commercial software with environmental impact databases and report results without knowledge about the impact of the software/database choice on the results. In this study, estimates for the embodied environmental impacts of residential construction from the two most widely used life cycle assessment (LCA) database-software combinations, ecoinvent with SimaPro software and GaBi, are compared to recognize the uniformities and inconsistencies. The impacts caused by two residential buildings of different types, a concrete-element multi-story residential building and a detached wooden house, both located in Finland, were assessed, including all building systems with a high level of detail. Based on the ReCiPe Midpoint method, fifteen impact categories were estimated and compared. The results confirm that the tool choice significantly affects the outcome. For the whole building, the difference is significant, around 15%, even in the most widely assessed category of Climate Change, and yields results that lean in different directions for the two cases. In the others, the estimates are entirely different, 40% or more in the majority of the categories and up to several thousand percentages of difference. The main conclusion is that extensive work is still urgently needed to improve the reliability of LCA tools in the building sector in order to provide reliable and trustworthy information for policy-making.

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“…In fact, the literature is abundant with works that focus on the process life cycle of construction materials based on case studies. Several construction materials are analyzed from a life cycle perspective to quantify the environmental impacts; for example, wood and concrete [6], wood and alternative materials [7], generic vs. product specific comparisons [8], socio-economic aspects of life cycle impacts [9] and the case of multiple life cycles [10][11][12][13]; for recent comprehensive reviews, see [14].…”

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confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment and Optimization-Based Decision Analysis of Construction Waste Recycling for a LEED-Certified University Building

2016

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Abstract:The current waste management literature lacks a comprehensive LCA of the recycling of construction materials that considers both process and supply chain-related impacts as a whole. Furthermore, an optimization-based decision support framework has not been also addressed in any work, which provides a quantifiable understanding about the potential savings and implications associated with recycling of construction materials from a life cycle perspective. The aim of this research is to present a multi-criteria optimization model, which is developed to propose economically-sound and environmentally-benign construction waste management strategies for a LEED-certified university building. First, an economic input-output-based hybrid life cycle assessment model is built to quantify the total environmental impacts of various waste management options: recycling, conventional landfilling and incineration. After quantifying the net environmental pressures associated with these waste treatment alternatives, a compromise programming model is utilized to determine the optimal recycling strategy considering environmental and economic impacts, simultaneously. The analysis results show that recycling of ferrous and non-ferrous metals significantly contributed to reductions in the total carbon footprint of waste management. On the other hand, recycling of asphalt and concrete increased the overall carbon footprint due to high fuel consumption and emissions during the crushing process. Based on the multi-criteria optimization results, 100% recycling of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, cardboard, plastic and glass is suggested to maximize the environmental and economic savings, simultaneously. We believe that the results of this research will facilitate better decision making in treating construction and debris waste for LEED-certified green buildings by combining the results of environmental LCA with multi-objective optimization modeling.

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Comparison of generic and product-specific Life Cycle Assessment databases: application to construction materials used in building LCA studies

Cited by 94 publications

References 13 publications

A Stochastic Approach to LCA of Internal Insulation Solutions for Historic Buildings

A Stochastic Approach to LCA of Internal Insulation Solutions for Historic Buildings

A Life Cycle Assessment of Two Residential Buildings Using Two Different LCA Database-Software Combinations: Recognizing Uniformities and Inconsistencies

Life Cycle Assessment and Optimization-Based Decision Analysis of Construction Waste Recycling for a LEED-Certified University Building

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