Assessing Embodied Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Infrastructure Projects

Krantz, Jan; Larsson, Johan; Lu, Weizhuo; Olofsson, Thomas

doi:10.3390/buildings5041156

Cited by 28 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(45 reference statements)

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“…Due to the uncertainty, the greatest variation for the base scenario in GWP, AP, EP, POCP, ADP, and HTP was 5.1%, 4.1%, 4.1%, 4.7%, 0.3%, and 5.9%, respectively. The variations are lower than the result of a 16.0% increase in GWP by Krantz et al [77]. It could be that previous research has overestimated all construction processes to have a 20% different triangular distribution.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 62%

A Predictive Environmental Assessment Method for Construction Operations: Application to a Northeast China Case Study

Feng

Olofsson

et al. 2018

Sustainability

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Construction accounts for a considerable number of environmental impacts, especially in countries with rapid urbanization. A predictive environmental assessment method enables a comparison of alternatives in construction operations to mitigate these environmental impacts. Process-based life cycle assessment (pLCA), which is the most widely applied environmental assessment method, requires lots of detailed process information to evaluate. However, a construction project usually operates in uncertain and dynamic project environments, and capturing such process information represents a critical challenge for pLCA. Discrete event simulation (DES) provides an opportunity to include uncertainty and capture the dynamic environments of construction operations. This study proposes a predictive assessment method that integrates DES and pLCA (DES-pLCA) to evaluate the environmental impact of on-site construction operations and supply chains. The DES feeds pLCA with process information that considers the uncertain and dynamic environments of construction, while pLCA guides the comprehensive procedure of environmental assessment. A DES-pLCA prototype was developed and implemented in a case study of an 18-storey building in Northeast China. The results showed that the biggest impact variations on the global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication (EP), photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP), abiotic depletion potential (ADP), and human toxicity potential (HTP) were 5.1%, 4.1%, 4.1%, 4.7%, 0.3%, and 5.9%, respectively, due to uncertain and dynamic factors. Based on the proposed method, an average impact reduction can be achieved for these six indictors of 2.5%, 21.7%, 8.2%, 4.8%, 32.5%, and 0.9%, respectively. The method also revealed that the material wastage rate of formwork installation was the most crucial managing factor that influences global warming performance. The method can support contractors in the development and management of environmentally friendly construction operations that consider the effects of uncertainty and dynamics.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 62%

A Predictive Environmental Assessment Method for Construction Operations: Application to a Northeast China Case Study

Feng

Olofsson

et al. 2018

Sustainability

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“…Material emissions accounted for 89.8% of the line's overall emissions. This amount agrees with the results of studies completed by Krantz et al (2015) and Li et al (2016), who found that, for infrastructure construction projects, materials accounted for 81.7% and 89.6% of overall emissions, respectively. As such, future efforts to reduce overall GHG emissions would particularly benefit from efforts to limit material use.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Temporal Assessment of the Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions of a Toronto Streetcar Line

Makarchuk

Saxe

2019

J. Infrastruct. Syst.

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Transportation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions often account for the largest share of urban GHG emissions. Consequently, large-scale reductions in urban GHG emissions will not be possible without significant improvements in the transport sector. Increasing public transit mode share is widely promoted in efforts to reduce GHG emissions from transport. Large increases in public transit use will require the provision of new transportation infrastructure, which is itself GHG intensive. This paper presents a time-dependent analysis of the embodied GHG emissions associated with construction and reconstruction for the refurbishment and street redesign of the 510 Spadina streetcar route in Toronto, Canada during a 38-year period. From 1987 to 2015, the embodied emissions in the line's civil infrastructure are calculated as 27.4 kilotons of CO 2 equivalent (ktCO 2 e). It is expected that, by 2025, further reconstruction of the right-of-way (ROW) will increase embodied GHG emissions to 32.1 ktCO 2 e. Overall, reconstruction projects increase GHG emissions by 25.9% beyond initial construction. When accounting only for at-grade infrastructure, reconstruction increases embodied emissions by 45.8% during the 38-year study period.

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“…There are 2 literatures analysing using the LCA approach [18][19], while [20] uses the LCA combination approach with Input-Output Data to assess carbon emissions against materials used in components residential building structures in Finland. [21] uses the LCA-Experimental approach which produces models on bridge structures, where this model takes into account carbon emission reductions in the construction process. The questionnaire method combined with experimental simulations was used [22] in searching for steps to reduce the role of contained energy and carbon based on building life cycle information.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing carbon emission in construction base on project life cycle (PLC)

Wibowo

Uda

Zhabrinna³

2018

MATEC Web Conf.

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The construction sector accounts for nearly 40% of global energy annually where 1/3 of it will produce emissions of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere [1]. Carbon Emissions (CO2) are a major cause of the greenhouse effect, for example, that which is produced from the combustion process of fossil fuels. Increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere will lead to rising temperatures trapped in the atmosphere causing global warming. There is a lot of literature on carbon emission (discussions) using multiple analytical approaches, but some are reviewing the Project Life Cycle (PLC) approach. This paper will discuss carbon emission mitigation during the life cycle of a construction project (Project Life Cycle (PLC)). Reduction of carbon emissions can be done during the initiation, design and construction phase of the Project Life Cycle (PLC). This literature study will produce a strategy that can have a significant impact on reducing the amount of carbon occurring in any construction project activity.

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Assessing Embodied Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Infrastructure Projects

Cited by 28 publications

References 32 publications

A Predictive Environmental Assessment Method for Construction Operations: Application to a Northeast China Case Study

A Predictive Environmental Assessment Method for Construction Operations: Application to a Northeast China Case Study

Temporal Assessment of the Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions of a Toronto Streetcar Line

Reducing carbon emission in construction base on project life cycle (PLC)

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