Life-cycle assessment and control measures for carbon emissions of typical buildings in China

Zhang, Xiaocun; Wang, Fenglai

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.01.003

Cited by 144 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…However, it must be emphasized that the environmental impact caused by CO 2 emissions from material production and site construction processes are unlikely to ease off, and may even expand with building life span. Zhang et al [26] suggested that although the carbon emissions at the operational stage accounted for approximately 82% to 86% of total emissions, the control of carbon emissions during the cradle-to-site life cycle stages also played an important role in relieving environmental pressures. The cradle-to-site life cycle accounts for a significant part of the construction industry, and the construction phase is when most energy and materials are consumed [27][28][29][30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cradle-to-Site Carbon Emissions Assessment of Prefabricated Rebar Cages for High-Rise Buildings in China

Jiang¹,

Li²,

Dong³

et al. 2018

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Construction industrialization is growing rapidly and has received significant attention worldwide in recent years. The industrialization of construction results in several benefits, including the promotion of sustainable construction and the development and application of prefabrication techniques. The Prefabricated Rebar Cage (PRC) is an emerging solution applied to high-rise buildings as a replacement of the In-situ Reinforcing Bar (ISRB) construction method. This paper investigates the cradle-to-site carbon emissions of PRC, and compares the results with those of conventional in-situ rebar construction methods for high-rise buildings. The cradle-to-site cycle is divided into three stages, namely, material preparation, transportation, and on-site construction. For the material preparation stage, it is found that CO 2 emissions are increased by 3% when using PRC due to the operation of machinery during the prefabrication process. In the transportation stage, CO 2 emissions are found to increase by 3.3 times for PRC, as there is more transportation required for PRCs than for conventional construction methods. During the on-site construction stage, the PRC method demonstrates its advantages by reducing CO 2 emissions by 44.7%, which is attributed to decreased hoisting frequency and lower mechanical utilization for fewer joining activities. Overall, CO 2 emissions can be reduced by 1.24% by adopting the PRC method for high-rise buildings, and it is therefore recommended to adopt PRCs for this purpose. This research studies carbon emissions of PRC and contributes to promoting the sustainable development of prefabricated building techniques.Sustainability 2019, 11, 42 2 of 29 carbon emissions [3]. Being aware of the seriousness of the problem, the Chinese government recently launched the "National Plan for Coping with Climate Change" at the United Nations (UN) Climate Summit held on September 23, 2015, at the UN headquarters in New York, in order to realize the target of reducing carbon emission intensity by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 [4].As a major contributor to carbon emissions, the Chinese construction industry consumes approximately 40% of total energy resources worldwide, and accounts for nearly 36% of global CO 2 emissions [5] and 40% of the global turnover of raw materials [6]. Concrete is an indispensable building material with a global average annual consumption of 1t per capita [7]; it is also recognized as a carbon intensive material. Cement, as the key ingredient of concrete, accounts for 5-7% of global anthropogenic carbon emissions [8]. In China, concrete accounts for the largest proportion of all construction materials. As a result, one of the key ways to reduce carbon emissions of the construction industry is optimizing the construction method of concrete building.Residential buildings dominate in the global building sector, and thus contribute prodigiously to energy consumption and carbon emissions. For example, residential buildings account for 63% of total energy consumption and 77% of carbon emiss...

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cradle-to-Site Carbon Emissions Assessment of Prefabricated Rebar Cages for High-Rise Buildings in China

Jiang¹,

Li²,

Dong³

et al. 2018

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…China has experienced urbanization with an excessively large number of building projects in the past decades [9,10]. Even more, China's urbanization is projected to be accelerating in the future [11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decomposition and Decoupling Analysis of Life-Cycle Carbon Emission in China’s Building Sector

Jiang

2017

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:With accelerating urbanization, building sector has been becoming more important source of China's total carbon emission. In this paper, we try to calculate the life-cycle carbon emission, analyze influencing factors of carbon emission, and assess the delinking index of carbon emission in China's building sector. The results show: (i) Total carbon emission in China's building industry increase from 984.69 million tons of CO 2 in 2005 to 3753.98 million tons of CO 2 in 2013. The average annual growth rate is 18.21% per year. Indirect carbon emission from building material consumption accounted to 96-99% of total carbon emission. (ii) The indirect emission intensity effect was leading contributor to change of carbon emission. The following was economic output effects, which always contributed to increase in carbon emission. Energy intensity effect and energy structure effect took negligible role to offset carbon emission. (iii) Delinking index show the status between carbon emission and economic output in China's building industry during

show abstract

“…As one of the industries with the highest carbon emissions, the construction sector accounts for over one-third of global carbon dioxide emissions [2][3][4][5]. In addition to the carbon emissions from the daily operation of buildings, China has been undertaking many urban construction projects [6], which has led to a tremendous rise in construction carbon emissions [7]. In particular, as one of the six largest energy-consuming industries in China, the construction material industry represents 9% of the total energy consumption and 6% of total electricity consumption in China [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Integrated Carbon Policy-Based Interactive Strategy for Carbon Reduction and Economic Development in a Construction Material Supply Chain

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Carbon emissions from the construction material industry have become of increasing concern due to increasingly urbanization and extensive infrastructure. Faced with serious atmospheric deterioration, governments have been seeking to reduce carbon emissions, with carbon trading and carbon taxes being considered the most effective regulatory policies. Over time, there has been a global consensus that integrated carbon trading/carbon tax policies are more effective in reducing carbon emissions. However, in an integrated carbon reduction policy framework, balancing the relationship between emission reductions and low-carbon benefits has been found to be a critical issue for governments and enterprises in both theoretical research and carbon emission reduction practices. As few papers have sought to address these issues, this paper seeks to reach a trade-off between economic development and environmental protection involving various stakeholders: regional governments which aim to maximize social benefits, and producers who seek economic profit maximization. An iterative interactive algorithmic method with fuzzy random variables (FRVs) is proposed to determine the satisfactory equilibrium between these decision-makers. This methodology is then applied to a real-world case to demonstrate its practicality and efficiency.

show abstract

Life-cycle assessment and control measures for carbon emissions of typical buildings in China

Cited by 144 publications

References 20 publications

Cradle-to-Site Carbon Emissions Assessment of Prefabricated Rebar Cages for High-Rise Buildings in China

Cradle-to-Site Carbon Emissions Assessment of Prefabricated Rebar Cages for High-Rise Buildings in China

Decomposition and Decoupling Analysis of Life-Cycle Carbon Emission in China’s Building Sector

An Integrated Carbon Policy-Based Interactive Strategy for Carbon Reduction and Economic Development in a Construction Material Supply Chain

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About