Embodied energy: Soil retaining geosystems

Soga, Kenichi; Chau, Chris; Nicholson, Duncan; Pantelidou, Heleni

doi:10.1007/s12205-011-0013-7

Cited by 27 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a cradle-to-grave approach in assessing a product or system's impact on the environment during every stage of its development, use, and disposal (FHWA, 2012). Geotechnical engineering has traditionally focused on cradle-to-site LCA analyses due to the long lives that are typical of geotechnical projects, uncertainty about the methods of future service and disposal, and because the significant majority of environmental impacts occur between raw material extraction and foundation construction (Soga et al, 2011). However, a LCA analysis for a thermo-active geotechnical system also needs to include the service/maintenance stage of the system due to the simple fact that they are now integrated with a structure's heating/cooling system.…”

Section: Life Cycle Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Embodied energy is the total amount of energy required to bring a product to its current state (Soga et al, 2011). It is similar to calculations for embodied carbon in that it considers the same stages shown in Figure 6, but may be a more accurate representation of the efficiency of a system as it deals with total energy as opposed to just emissions.…”

Section: Embodied Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ideally, both should be used together in assessing the environmental impact of a product. Soga et al (2011) explain that embodied energy results can be interpreted in at least four ways:…”

Section: Embodied Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental impact calculations, life cycle cost analysis

Nicholson

Smith

Bowers³

et al. 2014

DFI Journal - The Journal of the Deep Foundations Institute

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This session explored the evaluation and characterization of the sustainability of thermo-active geotechnical systems. Thermo-active geotechnical systems take advantage of shallow geothermal energy by using the foundation of a structure as a heat source and sink for use with a ground source heat pump. Methods for their evaluation within a sustainability framework still need to be developed. This can be done within larger regulatory frameworks such as the Code for Sustainable Homes. The Life Cycle Analysis methodology has been used to examine nonthermo-active geotechnical systems using both embodied carbon and embodied energy as metrics. Life Cycle Analyses have also been performed on ground-source heat pumps and can provide valuable insight into the indirect operational environmental impacts of thermo-active geotechnical systems.

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Section: Life Cycle Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Embodied Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental impact calculations, life cycle cost analysis

Nicholson

Smith

Bowers³

et al. 2014

DFI Journal - The Journal of the Deep Foundations Institute

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“…One is in the area of geo-environmental remediation and the design of new facilities in view of life-cycle needs and decommissioning. The other is the development of geotechnical construction methods that can reduce the embodied energy in infrastructure projects (Soga et al, 2011).…”

Section: Energy Geotechnology -Contributions To This Issue (Shown In mentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy geotechnology

Santamarina

Cho

2011

KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering

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Energy consumption is closely correlated with quality of life. A 1% annual increase in power production is required to sustain current trends, and a 2% annual increase will be needed to satisfy anticipated growth in the developing world. On average, 85% of all primary energy comes from fossil fuels; this carbon-based economy faces limitations in reserves and climate-change implications. Energy Geotechnology must play a central role in the development of a sustainable energy strategy. Geotechnology is intimately involved in all energy resources, including fossil fuels (petroleum gas and coal), nuclear energy, and renewable sources (wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, biofuels, and tidal energy). While wind and solar energy are surface processes that require limited geotechnical engineering, subsurface geo-storage is a viable alternative to bridge the time-gap between production and demand peaks. Geotechnical engineering is required to manage energy-related waste, ranging from fly ash to CO 2 emissions and nuclear waste. Furthermore, geotechnical engineering can contribute to geo-environmental remediation, the design of new facilities in view of life-cycle needs and decommissioning, and geotechnical construction methods that reduce the embodied energy in infrastructure projects. Education programs must be restructured to prepare the next generation of geotechnical engineers to address the needs in the energy sector.

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“…Recently, the concept of embodied energy has comprehensively been utilized in assessing the environmental impacts of different geosystems (e.g., retaining walls, pile foundations, tunnels, office buildings) as part of life cycle analysis (Chau et al, 2006;Soga et al, 2011). However, the overall assessment for sustainability of geosystems, incorporating environmental, societal, and economic consideration, is often not been performed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability Assessment of Two Alternate Earth-Retaining Structures

Giri

Reddy

2015

Ifcee 2015

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This study presents the sustainability assessment of two alternate earthretaining structures: cantilever retaining wall and mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) wall over their respective life cycle period. Sustainability evaluation of both retaining structures is performed based on three commonly employed assessment pillars, which are environmental, economic, and social impacts. The environmental impact assessment of cantilever wall and MSE wall is performed by considering various life cycle stages of both systems that cover raw material acquisition, construction, maintenance, and demolition efforts. For design purposes, total wall span, wall height, subsurface soils and backfill soil profiles of both earth-retaining structures are considered to be the same. Technical designs of both earth-retaining structures are carried out based on limit equilibrium method, and it is found that both earth-retaining structures are safe against failure criterion, such as, sliding along the base, overturning about the toe, and bearing failure capacity. The life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted using SimaPro 8.0 software, related databases and impact assessment methods. It is observed that potential environmental impacts, such as global warming, acidification, and smog are primarily influenced by the concrete and steel production along with the diesel used for transportation and on-site machinery due to mineral extraction, refining, and required energy inputs for processing. Based on the LCA, it is assessed that MSE wall is more environmentally sustainable than cantilever retaining wall. Subsequently, economic evaluation and social impact analyses are conducted for the two retaining structures and the results are compared. It is concluded that the mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) wall is overall more sustainable than the cantilever retaining wall in terms of environmental, economic, and social aspects over their entire life cycle.

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Embodied energy: Soil retaining geosystems

Cited by 27 publications

References 8 publications

Environmental impact calculations, life cycle cost analysis

Environmental impact calculations, life cycle cost analysis

Energy geotechnology

Sustainability Assessment of Two Alternate Earth-Retaining Structures

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