Environmental Impact Assessment of a School Building in Iceland Using LCA-Including the Effect of Long Distance Transport of Materials

Emami, Nargessadat; Marteinsson, Björn; Heinonen, Jukka

doi:10.3390/buildings6040046

Cited by 21 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…While the building industry generates 5 to 15% of the global GDP, the built environment is responsible for one-third of the total final energy use and half of worldwide electricity consumption, as well as one-third of global carbon emissions. According to the latest IPCC report, the energy use and related emissions from buildings can double or possibly even triple until 2050 as a result of several key trends, including growth in population, relocation to urban areas, changes in family size, rising levels of affluence, and behavioral changes (Emami et al, 2016).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barriers to solving environmental problems caused by building constructions in Nigeria: Trudgills’s framework

Abdullah¹,

Gaya²,

Wakil³

et al. 2021

Glo. J. Earth Environ. Sci.

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Our environment has been compromised through unwise and unplanned use of land, air, and water exacerbated by population increase, science and technology so much that some areas in Nigeria no longer support life as it ought to. Continuous impacting negatively on the environment to afford us the luxury building construction can afford, eventually leads us to short term and long term economic and environmental grief. At various forum, conferences and literatures, scientists have raised this concern. Not only have concerns been raised, solutions and recommendations were proffered, yet the problems linger. This work adopted Trudgill’s a range of possible barriers to a better environment occasioned by many facets of human activities on earth, ranked the barriers according to Likert’s scale to determine which of these barriers hinders solving environmental problems caused by building constructions. Data from building and construction practitioners were collected using a questionnaire on masons, architects, land surveyors, structural engineers and clients/contractors through semi-structured. The result indicates that lack of political will and political ideology to implement the solutions proffered and the recommendations made in various researches was ranked as the first or major barrier to solving environmental problem caused by building constructions followed by economic insufficiencies. The third barrier according to the study was technology related barrier. The study recommends green building initiative by government and all stake holders in the construction sector

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barriers to solving environmental problems caused by building constructions in Nigeria: Trudgills’s framework

Abdullah¹,

Gaya²,

Wakil³

et al. 2021

Glo. J. Earth Environ. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, GHG emissions during the operational phase are tied to the energy efficiency of buildings and the GHG intensity of energy production. Thus, the ongoing rapid development of stationary energy systems towards higher energy efficiency levels and decarbonization leads to the increasing importance of embodied, or pre-use phase, emissions (S€ ayn€ ajoki et al, 2012;Passer et al, 2012;Emami et al, 2016). For example, S€ ayn€ ajoki et al (2012) found that embodied, or pre-use phase, emissions actually dominated life cycle emissions over a 50-year life cycle in a lowenergy residential building in Finland.…”

Section: Literature Review 21 Building Life Cycle Ghg Emissionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A life cycle assessment of a ‘minus carbon’ refugee house: global warming potential and sensitivity analysis

Dabaieh

Emami

Heinonen

et al. 2020

ARCH

Self Cite

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PurposeOver the last eight years, the Middle East has experienced a series of high profile conflicts which have resulted in over 5.6 million Syrians forced to migrate to neighbouring countries within the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region or to Europe. That have exerted huge pressure on hosting countries trying to accommodate refugees in decent shelters and in quick manner. Temporary shelters normally carry a high environmental burden due to their short lifespan, and the majority are fabricated from industrialised materials. This study assesses the carbon impact for a minus carbon experimental refugee house in Sweden using life cycle assessment (LCA) as tool. SimaPro and GaBi software were used for the calculations and the ReCiPe midpoint method for impact assessment. The results show that using local plant-based materials such as straw, reeds and wood, together with clay dug from close to the construction site, can drastically reduce the carbon footprint of temporary shelters and even attain a negative carbon impact of 226.2 kg CO2 eq/m2. Based on the results of the uncertainty importance analysis, the overall global warming potential impact without and with sequestration potential are mostly sensitive to the variability of the GWP impact of wood fibre insulation.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology is designed to calculate the GWP impact of the refugee house over its entire life cycle (production, operation and maintenance and end of life). Then, the sensitivity analysis was performed to explore the impact of input uncertainties (selection of material from the database and the method) on the total GWP impact of the refugee house with and without sequestration. The ISO standards (International Standard 14040 2006; International Standard 14044 2006) divide the LCA framework into four steps of Goal and scope, inventory analysis, impact assessment, and interpretation.FindingsThis study has shown an example for proof of concept for a low impact refugee house prototype using straw, reeds, clay, lime and wood as the principle raw materials for building construction. Using natural materials, especially plant-based fibres, as the main construction materials, proved to achieve a minus carbon outcome over the life cycle of the building. The GWP of the shelter house without and with sequestration are found to be 254.7 kg CO2 eq/m2 and -226.2 kg CO2 eq/m2, respectively.Originality/valueAs there are still very few studies concerned with the environmental impact of temporary refugee housing, this study contributes to the pool of knowledge by introducing a complete LCA calculation for a physical house prototype as a proof of concept on how using low impact raw materials for construction combined with passive solutions for heating and cooling can reach a minus carbon outcome. The GWP of the shelter house without and with sequestration are found to be 254.7 kg CO2 eq/m2 and -226.2 kg CO2 eq/m2.

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“…The increase in population, consumption, and depletion of non-renewable resources has impacted the built environment [1]. These changing conditions increase the need for resource-efficient buildings that consume minimal energy, provide a suitable indoor environment, and are constructed with materials that have long-term value and less waste generation [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

LEED Scores of Residential Buildings in Poor Cities: Kabul City Case

et al. 2021

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Urbanization and technology have proven to be detrimental to the environment. Buildings contribute a significant portion of this damage. This issue motivated governments, builders, engineers, and architects to seek ways to reduce buildings’ environmental footprints. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is one of the most widely used strategies to ensure energy efficiency and a clean environment in buildings. In Afghanistan, where there are no active regulatory frameworks for energy saving and efficiency for the building sector, it is imperative to promote the transformation of the building industry and practices towards sustainability. In this regard, the role of the residential building sector is of utmost importance due to its major share in the country’s energy consumption and GHG emissions profile. Thus, this study assesses the energy efficiency and environmental impact of existing buildings in Kabul city concerning the LEED rating system. This research suggests practical steps to improve the sustainability of the residential building stock in Kabul city. Robust sets of data on existing residential buildings in Kabul are collected, classified, evaluated, and compared to LEED standards. This research reveals and concludes that most of the existing buildings in Kabul city are in poor conditions and do not meet the minimum requirements to be a candidate for LEED certification. A detailed analysis of the results has led to recommendations on how these buildings could improve to meet the LEED criteria. This is the first study of its kind conducted for Kabul city residential building. Considering the cross-sectoral nature of the building industry, the findings of this study will contribute to many other areas such as water, transportation, ICT, health, energy and the environment.

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Environmental Impact Assessment of a School Building in Iceland Using LCA-Including the Effect of Long Distance Transport of Materials

Cited by 21 publications

References 37 publications

Barriers to solving environmental problems caused by building constructions in Nigeria: Trudgills’s framework

Barriers to solving environmental problems caused by building constructions in Nigeria: Trudgills’s framework

A life cycle assessment of a ‘minus carbon’ refugee house: global warming potential and sensitivity analysis

LEED Scores of Residential Buildings in Poor Cities: Kabul City Case

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