Use of Life Cycle Assessments in the Construction Sector: Critical Review

Dossche, Charlotte; Boel, Veerle; Corte, Wouter De

doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.01.338

Cited by 58 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…However, the application of LCA methodologies in the construction sector is complicated and results vary across studies. This is due to the fact that the existing standards have failed to establish an exact methodology, and researchers therefore use their own interpretations of these standards [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon Footprint Estimation Tool for Residential Buildings for Non-Specialized Users: OERCO2 Project

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Existing tools for environmental certification of buildings are failing in their ability to reach the general public and to create social awareness, since they require not only specialized knowledge regarding construction and energy sources, but also environmental knowledge. In this paper, an open-source online tool for the estimation of the carbon footprint of residential buildings by non-specialized users is presented as a product from the OERCO2 Erasmus + project. The internal calculations, data management and operation of this tool are extensively explained. The ten most common building typologies built in the last decade in Spain are analysed by using the OERCO2 tool, and the order of magnitude of the results is analysed by comparing them to the ranges determined by other authors. The OERCO2 tool proves itself to be reliable, with its results falling within the defined logical value ranges. Moreover, the major simplification of the interface allows non-specialized users to evaluate the sustainability of buildings. Further research is oriented towards its inclusion in other environmental certification tools and in Building Information Modeling (BIM) environments.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon Footprint Estimation Tool for Residential Buildings for Non-Specialized Users: OERCO2 Project

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…), a diferencias detectadas en la definición de los aspectos que las estructuran y a la carencia de bases de datos ambientales (Anand & Amor, 2017) (Vilches, Garcia-Martinez, & Sanchez-Montañes, 2017). Pese a esto, siguen siendo útiles y aceptados internacionalmente para evaluar el desempeño ambiental de los edificios (Abd Rashid & Yusoff, 2015) (Dossche, Boel, & De Corte, 2017).…”

Section: Análisis De Ciclo De Vida En Viviendasunclassified

Análisis de ciclo de vida en viviendas: un caso que contrasta muro de albañilería con muro de madera en una vivienda social = Life Cycle Assessment of dwellings: a case of study that contrasts masonry wall with wood-frame wall in a social housing

López¹,

Escamilla²,

Pérez³

2019

ADE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Resumen-Esta investigación se centra en el análisis del ciclo de vida de una vivienda social chilena, para la cual es evaluado el cambio de muros de albañilería a muros estructurados en madera. Los cambios fueron evaluados en tres zonas climáticas donde el uso de muro de albañilería predomina sobre el muro estructurado en madera (Antofagasta, Santiago y Concepción). Para todas las zonas climáticas analizadas, las modelaciones mostraron que la vivienda social con muros estructurados en madera es más sustentable y confortable térmicamente. Por ejemplo, para la vivienda modelada en Santiago, los indicadores de impacto ambiental para energía acumulada demandada y para gases de efecto invernadero caen en 10,4% y 11,5% respectivamente. Además, destaca la energía incorporada más baja en la casa modelada con muros estructurados en madera, aproximadamente un tercio menor. Los resultados corresponden a una tipología de vivienda social chilena, donde la incorporación de elementos para reforzar la albañilería es característico en un país altamente sísmico como lo es Chile. Palabras Clave-Sustentabilidad, análisis de ciclo de vida, vivienda social, muro albañilería, muro madera.

show abstract

“…Looking at different LCA studies for concrete there is a surprisingly wide rage in the results for different environmental impacts such as Global Warming Potential (GWP) or Cumulative Energy Demand (CED). Some of this variation can be explained by the use of different data sources or methodological choices (Dossche, Boel and Corte, 2017;Ehrenberg, 2018;Passer et al, 2015). Yet, even within an identical methodological framework using the same data sources, results can vary up to 100% for the same type of concrete (NRMCA, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental assessment in the building materials industry: How are the results of life-cycle-assessment (LCA) for concrete influenced by technology and regulations?

Meglin¹,

Kytzia²

2019

Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies (SCMT)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the building material industry, sustainability concerns are dominated by the role of raw materials, especially in the production of cement (e.g. fuels) and concrete (e.g. recycled aggregates). As raw materials become increasingly scarce worldwide, this an accelerating challenge faced by both individual companies and countries. To investigate the environmental impact of the building materials industry, a widely accepted tool is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Although LCA is frequently used to evaluate the sustainability of building materials, recent studies show that the interpretation of LCA results can be difficult in sustainable construction due to ambiguity of underlying assumptions.In the ongoing research project "Co-Evolution of Business Strategies in material and construction industries and public policies" we analyse how the results of LCA for concrete building materials are influenced by the production technology, regulations (e.g. waste treatment), socio-technical settings (e.g. energy supply systems) and methodological choices in LCA. Our results are based on an intensive literature review and scenario analysis based on a model of the concrete product system using LCA.It shows that differing results of LCA studies can be accounted to variations of cement content, clinker to cement ratio or share of alternative fuels in the fuel mix in cement production. Alternative methodological choices in LCA influence the results for Global Warming Potential GWP when carbon uptake during service life and recycling of concrete is considered (shift of perspective from cradle-to-gate to cradle-to-grave). Allocation rules for SCMs (e.g. ground granulated blast furnace slag GBFS) or alternative fuels also have a relevant effect on LCA results for GWP and Cumulative Energy Demand CED.

show abstract

Use of Life Cycle Assessments in the Construction Sector: Critical Review

Cited by 58 publications

References 20 publications

Carbon Footprint Estimation Tool for Residential Buildings for Non-Specialized Users: OERCO2 Project

Carbon Footprint Estimation Tool for Residential Buildings for Non-Specialized Users: OERCO2 Project

Análisis de ciclo de vida en viviendas: un caso que contrasta muro de albañilería con muro de madera en una vivienda social = Life Cycle Assessment of dwellings: a case of study that contrasts masonry wall with wood-frame wall in a social housing

Environmental assessment in the building materials industry: How are the results of life-cycle-assessment (LCA) for concrete influenced by technology and regulations?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About