Greenhouse gases and building lifetimes

Méquignon, Marc; Haddou, Hassan Ait; Thellier, Françoise; Bonhomme, Marion

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2013.05.017

Cited by 24 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…According to Mequignon et al [54], the lifespan of buildings has a significant impact on the environment. Safari and AzariJafari [55] state that most studies have shown that by focusing on the operational phase, which is the longest phase of a building's life cycle, the greatest environmental impact reduction can be achieved and the lifetime of case studies in the literature ranges from 30 to 100 years.…”

Section: Lifespan Of Buildingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparison of the Environmental Performance between Construction Materials and Operational Energy of Nearly Zero-Energy Wood-Based Educational Building

Mitterpach

Vaňová

Šedivka

et al. 2022

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper focused on the environmental performance of a nearly zero-energy wood-based educational building (NZEB-W) via the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). It identifies the environmental impacts of construction materials and operational energy demands of the NZEB-W and compares them using the SimaPro 8 software with the IMPACT 2002+ method. The LCIA results from NZEB-W show that the overall environmental impact of construction materials (98.9 Pt) and 45 years operational energy demands (98.6 Pt) will be at the same level. Its overall environmental impact 197.75 Pt for 45 years is relatively small. NZEB-W has the greatest impact on the environment in the category of damage respiratory inorganics (34.5%), 419 kg PM2.5 eq from construction materials, and 271 kg PM2.5 eq from operational energy for 45 years; follows global warming (31.7%), 1.98 × 105 kg CO2 eq from construction materials, and 4.23 × 105 kg CO2 eq from operational energy for 45 years; and non-renewable energy (21.8%), 2.82 × 106 MJ primary from construction materials, and 3.73 × 106 MJ primary from operational energy for 45 years. As this environmental assessment shows, the material composition of construction materials compared to the energy consumption in the use phase is an essential element for understanding the life cycle impact of buildings.

show abstract

Section: Lifespan Of Buildingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparison of the Environmental Performance between Construction Materials and Operational Energy of Nearly Zero-Energy Wood-Based Educational Building

Mitterpach

Vaňová

Šedivka

et al. 2022

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Importance Of Supply Chain-linked Understandingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Carbon footprint assessment of buildings and related climate change issues have been addressed extensively in the literature with specific focuses on building construction (Lu et al, 2012;Mequignon et al, 2013;Jiang and Tovey, 2010). While majority of the literature focuses on process, material, product related assessments and improvements, works that addressed the importance of supply chains are not plenty.…”

Section: Importance Of Supply Chain Linked Understandingmentioning

confidence: 99%

From green buildings to green supply chains

Ghani

Eğilmez

Küçükvar

et al. 2017

MEQ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on tracing GHG emissions across the supply chain industries associated with the US residential, commercial and industrial building stock and provides optimized GHG reduction policy plans for sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach A two-step hierarchical approach is developed. First, Economic Input-Output-based Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) is utilized to quantify the GHG emissions associated with the US residential, commercial and industrial building stock. Second, a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) based optimization framework is developed to identify the optimal GHG emissions’ reduction (percent) for each industry across the supply chain network of the US economy. Findings The results indicated that “ready-mix concrete manufacturing”, “electric power generation, transmission and distribution” and “lighting fixture manufacturing” sectors were found to be the main culprits in the GHG emissions’ stock. Additionally, the majorly responsible industries in the supply chains of each building construction categories were also highlighted as the hot-spots in the supply chains with respect to the GHG emission reduction (percent) requirements. Practical implications The decision making in terms of construction-related expenses and energy use options have considerable impacts across the supply chains. Therefore, regulations and actions should be re-organized around the systematic understanding considering the principles of “circular economy” within the context of sustainable development. Originality/value Although the literature is abundant with works that address quantifying environmental impacts of building structures, environmental life cycle impact-based optimization methods are scarce. This paper successfully fills this gap by integrating EIO-LCA and MILP frameworks to identify the most pollutant industries in the supply chains of building structures.

show abstract

“…The authors of the article propose another form of raw material savings in the production of construction products and construction of entire buildings, closely related to energy savings and reduction in CO 2 emissions through diagnostics and research prevention of wood-built materials (structures) and the creation of a secondary market of building materials (not only wood) intended for re-building after a prior determination of technical characteristics and degree of wear and tear [16,43,[60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77]. The research in [39] has led to the development of general conclusions and recommendations for investors and designers of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly houses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Old and Modern Wooden Buildings in the Context of Sustainable Development

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Construction is a powerful industry that is not indifferent to the environment. Neither the maintenance of buildings in a proper technical condition nor their eventual demolition is indifferent to the environment. The main threats to the environment are still the inefficient use of construction materials and energy needed for their production and installation, as well as the emission of harmful substances to the environment at the stage of operation of buildings and their demolition. This article discusses the importance of wood as a renewable material in terms of its physical and mechanical properties. The restoration of forest areas is of great importance to the global ecosystem and the sustainable development system, reducing the threat of global warming and the greenhouse effect by reducing CO2 levels. In addition, demolition wood can be reused in construction, can be safely recycled as it quickly decomposes, or can be used as a source of renewable energy. The preservation of existing timber-framed buildings in good condition contributes to a lower consumption of this raw material for repair, which already significantly reduces the energy required for their manufacture, transport, and assembly. This also reduces the amount of waste that would have to be disposed of in various ways. Both at the stage of design, execution, and then exploitation, one forgets about the physical processes taking place inside the partitions and about the external climatic influences of the environment (precipitation, water vapor, and temperature) on which the type, intensity, and extent of chemical and biological corrosion depend to a very high degree. This paper presents examples of the influence of such impacts on the operational safety of three selected objects: a feed storehouse and an officer casino building from the second half of the nineteenth century and an 18th century rural homestead building. The research carried out on wooden structures of the above-mentioned objects “in situ” was verified by means of simulation models, which presented their initial and current technical conditions in relation to the type and amount of impact they should safely absorb. Moreover, within the framework of this paper, artificial intelligence methods have been implemented to predict the biological corrosion of the structures studied. The aim of the paper was to draw attention to the timber already built into buildings, which may constitute waste even after several years of operation, requiring disposal and at the same time the production of a substitute. The purpose of the research carried out by the authors of the article was to examine the older and newer buildings in use, the structures of which, in whole or in part, were made of wood. On a global scale, there will be considerable demand for the energy required to thermally dispose of this waste or to deposit it in landfills with very limited capacity until its complete biological decomposition. These energy demands and greenhouse gas emissions can be prevented by effective diagnostics of such structures and the predictability of their behaviour over time, with respect to the conditions under which they are operated. The authors of the article, during each assessment of the technical condition of a building containing wooden elements, analysed the condition of their protection each time and predicted the period of their safe life without the need for additional reinforcements or replacement by others. As the later reality shows, it is a very effective method of saving money and energy.

show abstract

Greenhouse gases and building lifetimes

Cited by 24 publications

References 13 publications

A Comparison of the Environmental Performance between Construction Materials and Operational Energy of Nearly Zero-Energy Wood-Based Educational Building

A Comparison of the Environmental Performance between Construction Materials and Operational Energy of Nearly Zero-Energy Wood-Based Educational Building

From green buildings to green supply chains

Old and Modern Wooden Buildings in the Context of Sustainable Development

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About