Evaluation of Life-Cycle Assessment Analysis: Application to Restoration Projects and New Construction in Alpine Climate, Japan

Abstract

The present paper discusses the applications of life-cycle assessment (LCA) to construction works in Japan. LCA has been frequently used to assess the environmental impacts of new construction. Nonetheless, the applications of LCA to restoration have not been fully confirmed to date. It is said that historical buildings may contribute to sustainable development. Nonetheless, as for heritage buildings, since the protection of cultural value is usually prioritised, their environmental impacts may not be sufficiently explored. To this aim, this paper evaluated the environmental impacts of the restoration of heritage buildings. This paper consisted of two tasks. First, the restoration projects of heritage buildings in Japan were introduced. The restoration of two heritage houses was discussed, referring to heritage protection legislation in Japan. Second, LCA was performed on the restoration of heritage houses and the construction of contemporary houses. Environmental impacts were compared between the restoration and new construction with regard to greenhouse gas emissions and operational energy use. A focus was given to the amount of materials used. Restoration consumes a limited amount of materials compared to new construction, although the energy use of heritage buildings is considerable. The environmental impacts of restoration were quantified so that they were compared with those of new construction. The comparison indicated issues applying LCA to heritage buildings.

Research on Multiple Optimization of Engineering Management Models under the Concept of Environmental Protection

“…With the increasing prominence of global environmental problems and the deepening of the concept of sustainable development, eco-friendly construction, as an important development direction of the construction industry, has attracted widespread attention. As the core element of realizing the goal of environmental protection construction, the management of environmental protection construction projects is also facing new challenges and opportunities while improving the quality and efficiency of construction [18][19][20].…”

Modeling the Size of Protection Zones of Cultural Heritage Sites Based on Factors of the Historical and Cultural Assessment of Lands

“…However, none of the studied approaches considers the establishment of buffer zones for cultural heritage sites from the point of view of mathematical interpretation and modeling, which makes it impossible to obtain objectively and mathematically substantiated basic dimensions of such zones. In their paper, Y. Endo and H. Takamura [20] emphasize that historical buildings have an impact on the use of territories, but the assessment of this impact has been little studied. In this field, it is proposed to improve the historical and cultural assessment of territories by substantiation and mathematical interpretation of applied assessment factors that describe the urban environment [20].…”

“…In their paper, Y. Endo and H. Takamura [20] emphasize that historical buildings have an impact on the use of territories, but the assessment of this impact has been little studied. In this field, it is proposed to improve the historical and cultural assessment of territories by substantiation and mathematical interpretation of applied assessment factors that describe the urban environment [20].…”