Integrated Building Energy Simulation–Life Cycle Assessment (BES–LCA) Approach for Environmental Assessment of Agricultural Building: A Review and Application to Greenhouse Heating Systems
Abstract:A substantial reduction in the environmental impacts related to the construction and operation of agricultural buildings is needed to adapt to the continuing development of agriculture. The life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology used to quantify the environmental impact of different processes involved in the production and therefore has been increasingly applied to assess the environmental burden. However, most LCA-related research studies have focused on the overall environmental impact of the entire sy… Show more
“…A green building is built with local and environmentally friendly materials and ensures the conservation of natural resources [5]. However, implementing green agricultural buildings still needs to be improved [5,6].…”
Rural buildings represent the functional relationship between rural communities and agricultural land. Therefore, research on rural buildings has practical repercussions on environmental and socio-economic sustainability. Comprehensive state-of-the-art research on rural buildings may address research activities. We present a systematic review of the scientific research between 2000 and 2022 based on the PRISMA protocol. Five main topics were identified. The results showed that the primary research focus was production (25.1%) and environmental management issues (23.2%). However, construction and efficiency are rapidly taking centre stage (20.6%). Regarding sustainability (20.8%), life cycle assessment, green buildings, recycling and global warming should be the future research focus. Energy efficiency will benefit from studies on thermal energy. More research on engineering and technologies (10.3%), specifically remote and automatic detection and transport in rural areas, will increase cost efficiency. The results may help improve the global efficiency of rural buildings in a modern farming system.
“…A green building is built with local and environmentally friendly materials and ensures the conservation of natural resources [5]. However, implementing green agricultural buildings still needs to be improved [5,6].…”
Rural buildings represent the functional relationship between rural communities and agricultural land. Therefore, research on rural buildings has practical repercussions on environmental and socio-economic sustainability. Comprehensive state-of-the-art research on rural buildings may address research activities. We present a systematic review of the scientific research between 2000 and 2022 based on the PRISMA protocol. Five main topics were identified. The results showed that the primary research focus was production (25.1%) and environmental management issues (23.2%). However, construction and efficiency are rapidly taking centre stage (20.6%). Regarding sustainability (20.8%), life cycle assessment, green buildings, recycling and global warming should be the future research focus. Energy efficiency will benefit from studies on thermal energy. More research on engineering and technologies (10.3%), specifically remote and automatic detection and transport in rural areas, will increase cost efficiency. The results may help improve the global efficiency of rural buildings in a modern farming system.
“…Some efforts have been made to estimate the heat consumption in semi-closed buildings. Life Cycle Analysis, a recent tool used in this kind of assessment by Decano-Valentin et al [6], found that the energy used for climate control contributes to 86-96% of the gasses emitted, depending on the type, quantity, and energy source [7,8]. In addition, they used Building Energy Simulation (BES) tools to predict air temperature when using cooling or heating.…”
This study proposed an indicator to calculate the regional thermal potential from the local temperature. A probabilistic function curve generalized as a complementary error function (erfc) was used to assume that the temperature curve follows the normal distribution and considered only the portion of the curve where the appropriate temperatures for the crop are located (wi). The Greenhouse Thermal Effectiveness (GTE) index was calculated using (a) the data of measured temperature (outside) and simulated values from inside of the greenhouse, and (b) the normal temperature data from five meteorological stations. Estimations of GTE using average daily temperature (°C) throughout the year indicate that, with an annual mean temperature of around 14 °C, the GTE is 2798 degree units and inside the greenhouse its value goes up to 5800. May is when the highest temperatures occur and when the highest amount of GTE units can be accumulated. The range of temperatures in the analyzed stations were from 13 to 21 °C and the GTE calculated per year was from 2000 to 7000. The perspective will be to calculate if this energy will be enough to grow tomatoes (or other crops) without extra energy for heating or cooling. If more energy may be needed, estimating how much would be the next step.
The global production of plant-based foods is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Indoor vertical farms (IVFs) have emerged as a promising approach to urban agriculture. However, their environmental performance is not well understood, particularly in relation to operational choices where global warming potentials (GWP) can vary between 0.01–54 kg CO2e/kg−1 of leafy greens produced. We conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a building-integrated IVF for microgreen production to analyse a range of operational conditions for cultivation: air temperature, CO2 concentration, and photoperiod. We analyzed a dynamic LCA inventory that combined a process-based plant growth model and a mass balance model for air and heat exchange between the chamber and the outside. Results showed that the GWP of IVFs can vary greatly depending on the operation conditions set, ranging from 3.3 to 63.3 kg CO2e/kg−1. The optimal conditions for minimizing GWP were identified as 20 ℃, maximum CO2 concentration in the chamber, and maximum photoperiod, which led to a minimum GWP of 3.3 kg CO2e/kg−1 and maximum production of 290.5 kg fresh weight week-1. Intensification of production thus led to lower impacts because the marginal increase in yield due to increased resource use was larger than the marginal increase in impact. Therefore, adjusting growing conditions is essential for the sustainability of urban food production.
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