Recent research in the construction industry has focused on the reduction of CO 2 emission using quantitative assessment of building life. However, most of this research has focused on the operational stage of a building's life cycle. Few comprehensive studies of CO 2 emissions during building construction have been performed. The purpose of this study is to analyze the CO 2 emissions of an apartment housing during the construction process. The quantity of CO 2 emissions associated with the utilization of selected building materials and construction equipment were used to estimate the CO 2 emissions related to the apartment housing life cycle. In order to set the system boundary for the construction materials, equipment, and transportation used, 13 types of construction work were identified; then the CO 2 emissions produced by the identified materials were calculated for each type of construction work. The comprehensive results showed that construction work involving reinforced concrete accounted for more than 73% of the total CO 2 emissions. The CO 2 emissions related to reinforced concrete work was mainly due to transportation from the supplier to the construction site. Therefore, at the time that reinforced concrete is being supplied, shipping distance and fuel economy management of concrete transportation vehicles should be considered thoroughly for significant reduction of CO 2 emissions.
Abstract:The block type and structural systems in buildings affect the amount of building materials required as well as the CO 2 emissions that occur throughout the building life cycle (LCCO 2 ). The purpose of this study was to assess the life cycle CO 2 emissions when an apartment housing with 'flat-type' blocks (the reference case) was replaced with more sustainable 'T-type' blocks with fewer CO 2 emissions (the alternative case) maintaining the same total floor area. The quantity of building materials used and building energy simulations were analyzed for each block type using building information modeling techniques, and improvements in LCCO 2 emission were calculated by considering high-strength concrete alternatives. By changing the bearing wall system of the 'flat-type' block to the 'column and beam' system of the 'T-type' block, LCCO 2 emissions of the alternative case were 4299 kg-CO 2 /m 2 , of which 26% was at the construction stage, 73% was as the operational stage and 1% was at the dismantling and disposal stage. These total LCCO 2 emissions were 30% less than the reference case.
This study assessed the influence of matter discharged during the production (dry/wet) of recycled aggregate on global warming potential (GWP) and acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), ozone depletion potential (ODP), biotic resource depletion potential (ADP), photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP) using the ISO 14044 (LCA) standard. The LCIA of dry recycled aggregate was 2.94 × 10−2 kg-CO2eq/kg, 2.93 × 10−5 kg-SO2eq/kg, 5.44 × 10−6 kg-PO43eq/kg, 4.70 × 10−10 kg-CFC11eq/kg, 1.25 × 10−5 kg-C2H4eq/kg, and 1.60 × 10−5 kg-Antimonyeq/kg, respectively. The environmental impact of recycled aggregate (wet) was up to 16~40% higher compared with recycled aggregate (dry); the amount of energy used by impact crushers while producing wet recycled aggregate was the main cause for this result. The environmental impact of using recycled aggregate was found to be up to twice as high as that of using natural aggregate, largely due to the greater simplicity of production of natural aggregate requiring less energy. However, ADP was approximately 20 times higher in the use of natural aggregate because doing so depletes natural resources, whereas recycled aggregate is recycled from existing construction waste. Among the life cycle impacts assessment of recycled aggregate, GWP was lower than for artificial light-weight aggregate but greater than for slag aggregate.
Long‐life apartment houses are sustainable buildings that use fewer resources and can reduce CO2 emission over the course of their life cycle. However, there have been few quantitative evaluations of the CO2 emission reduction effect when the life of apartment houses is increased. In this study, the CO2 emission reduction rate over the life cycle of long‐life apartment houses (Types II and III) was evaluated using high durability and maintenance technologies from general apartment houses (Type I) as reference data. CO2 emissions over the life of the apartment houses were evaluated by dividing the life cycle into construction, operation, maintenance/management, and dismantlement/disposal phase. To achieve this goal, the life of apartment houses was calculated using the life calculation technique, and the CO2 emission amount over a 100‐year evaluation period was compared. The life of general apartment houses was set to about 40 years, while that of long‐life apartment houses, due to the application of long‐life construction technologies, was set to more than 100 years. CO2 emissions of long‐life apartment houses over their life cycle tended to decrease compared with that of general apartment houses. In particular, the maximum CO2 emission reduction rates of long‐life apartment houses were 36.18% and 33.04%, respectively. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 34: 555–566, 2015
The building industry is currently strengthening the building life cycle assessment (LCA) criteria of the green building certification system to encourage carbon emission reduction. However, the voluntary approach of the LCA criteria does not provide sufficient incentive to effectively drive green building construction. Furthermore, additional costs associated with green building construction are not given enough weightage, thus hampering the incorporation of green building technologies. This study developed a Green Building Index (GBI) Certification System to effectively reduce carbon emissions in South Korea's building industry. Consequently, the assessment areas for green buildings were divided into a carbon emission index, a building habitability index, and a carbon economic index, and assessment methods were suggested for each area. In addition, eco-efficiency, which represents an environmental value, was incorporated into the three indices from the perspective of green building certification and used to estimate a GBI that represents overall building sustainability. This GBI was then integrated into an overall GBI Certification System, and a case study was used to evaluate its applicability. The results indicate the validity of the proposed GBI Certification System, which promotes voluntary carbon emission reduction by evaluating cost effectiveness based on life cycle carbon emissions and carbon economic efficiency.
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