Life cycle assessment (LCA) of sustainable building materials: an overview

Ding, Grace

doi:10.1533/9780857097729.1.38

Cited by 65 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…The most accepted ones are using a life cycle approach for assessing environmental impacts associated with buildings and building materials (Ding, 2014). Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a methodology based on the international standards ISO 14040-44 for evaluating the environmental load of processes and products during their life cycle, from cradle to grave (ISO, 2006a, b).…”

Section: Methodology: Life Cycle Assessment (Lca)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental design guidelines for digital fabrication

Agustí-Juan

Habert

2017

Journal of Cleaner Production

181

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Digital fabrication represents an innovative technology with the potential of expanding the boundaries of architecture. The potential to fabricate elements directly from design information is transforming many design and production disciplines. In particular, 3D printing has become the key of modern product development. As the use of additive manufacturing grows, research into large-scale processes is beginning to reveal potential applications in construction. The combined methods of computational design and robotic fabrication have the well-demonstrated potential to create formal and structural advances in architecture. However, their potential contribution to the improvement of sustainability in construction must be evaluated. In this study, we identified environmental guidelines to be considered during the design of digitally fabricated architecture. The key parameters were extracted from the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of three case studies. The environmental assessment performed indicated that the relative sustainability of the projects depended primarily on the building material production. Specifically, the impact of digital fabrication processes was negligible compared to the materials manufacturing process. Furthermore, the study highlighted the opportunities of integrating additional functions in structural elements with digital fabrication to reduce the overall environmental impact of these multi-functional elements. Finally, the analysis proved the potential of digital fabrication to reduce the amount of highly industrialized materials in a project, which are associated with high environmental impacts.

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Section: Methodology: Life Cycle Assessment (Lca)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental design guidelines for digital fabrication

Agustí-Juan

Habert

2017

Journal of Cleaner Production

181

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“…In the same manner, a cross-sectional aspect ratio is reduced due to high-strength concrete as well as a required amount of reinforced bars and concrete changes. Therefore, CO 2 emission is expected to change not only in the construction phase but also in the transportation and disposal phases [28]. Maintenance technology is used to extend the life of existing structures through structure maintenance construction methods.…”

Section: Selection Of Evaluation Targetmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of lifecycle CO₂reduction performance for long-life apartment house

Kim

Tae

Yang

et al. 2014

Environ. Prog. Sustainable Energy

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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

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“…Heeren et al (2015) proposed a holistic view of effects and trade-offs, with a model that combines analysis of building energy demand and material use, and provides the results for different environmental methods. From a designer's perspective, appropriate material selection, mentioned as directive toward energy efficient design, is the critical design decision (Wall and Wimmers, 2018), as such issues influence not only the operational energy performance of the building but also the total embodied energy of the building and its potential impact (Ramesh et al, 2010;Franzoni, 2011;Florez and Castro-Lacouture, 2013;Ding, 2014;Heeren et al, 2015). Another key determinant of the overall embodied energy is the after-use consideration or EoL, as this has the ability to mitigate potential impacts through planning and strategies, beyond decisions on materials, such as techniques to reduce dust, noise, soil, and water contamination in the construction process; measures to manage and minimize waste during construction, building use, and demolition; and measures to achieve a greater degree of material reuse and recycling during the reintegration phase from EoL (Lombera and Rojo, 2010).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A conceptual tool for environmentally benign design: development and evaluation of a “proof of concept”

Acharya

Chakrabarti

2020

AIEDAM

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Design is a decision-making process for which knowledge is a prerequisite. Most decisions are taken at the conceptual stage and have pronounced influence on the final design. The literature, therefore, recommends the incorporation of sustainability criteria, such as environment, at this stage. Difficulty in performing life cycle assessment (LCA) due to low availability of information at the conceptual stage for evaluation and highly abstract nature of solutions, inadequate incorporation of DfE (Design for Environment) guidelines and LCA reports into the design process, and a lack of effective communication of the same to the designers for prompt decision-making are major motivations for the development of a support. This paper discusses a “conceptual Tool for environmentally benign design” – concepTe – that supports designers in decision-making during the conceptual design stage, by offering environmental impact (EI) estimates of abstract solutions with associated uncertainty, for evaluation and selection of the most environmentally benign solution as concept. The EI estimates are calculated by a module in the tool based on a proposed EI estimation method, which requires the support of a knowledge base to fetch appropriate LCA information corresponding to the design element being conceptualized. This knowledge base is grounded in the domain-agnostic SAPPhIRE model ontology, allows semantic operability of the knowledge, and offers the results to the designers in a familiar domain language to aid decision-making. A “proof of concept” of the tool is developed for application in design of building in the AEC (Architectural design, Engineering, and Construction) domain. Further, empirical studies are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the “proof of concept” to support decision-making and results are found favorable. The paper also discusses the future scope for further development of the tool into a holistic design decision-making platform.

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Life cycle assessment (LCA) of sustainable building materials: an overview

Cited by 65 publications

References 50 publications

Environmental design guidelines for digital fabrication

Environmental design guidelines for digital fabrication

Analysis of lifecycle CO₂reduction performance for long-life apartment house

A conceptual tool for environmentally benign design: development and evaluation of a “proof of concept”

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Life cycle assessment (LCA) of sustainable building materials: an overview

Cited by 65 publications

References 50 publications

Environmental design guidelines for digital fabrication

Environmental design guidelines for digital fabrication

Analysis of lifecycle CO2reduction performance for long-life apartment house

A conceptual tool for environmentally benign design: development and evaluation of a “proof of concept”

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Product

Resources

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Analysis of lifecycle CO₂reduction performance for long-life apartment house