Life Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Hybrid Energy Storage System for Residential Buildings in Continental Climates

Abstract

With the aim of contributing to achieving the decarbonization of the energy sector, the environmental impact of an innovative system to produce heating and domestic hot water for heating demand-dominated climates is assessed is evaluated. The evaluation is conducted using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology and the ReCiPe and IPCC GWP indicators for the manufacturing and operation stages, and comparing the system to a reference one. Results show that the innovative system has a lower overall impact than the reference one. Moreover, a parametric study to evaluate the impact of the refrigerant is carried out, showing that the impact of the overall systems is not affected if the amount of refrigerant or the impact of refrigerant is increased.

Effect of Climate Change and Occupant Behaviour on the Environmental Impact of the Heating and Cooling Systems of a Real Apartment. A Parametric Study through Life Cycle Assessment

“…The results showed that the total impact of heat pumps could decrease as the percentage of renewable energy sources in the UK electricity mix increases, while still exceeding the impact of the gas boiler. Llantoy et al [18] performed an LCA for a lifespan of 30 years to compare the environmental impact of an innovative hybrid energy storage system for heating and domestic hot water production in continental climates with the environmental impact of a traditional system. The results of the analysis, performed through the ReCiPe and the IPCC global warming potential GWP indicators, showed that the total impact of the innovative hybrid energy storage system was lower than the reference one.…”

“…The lifetime of the entire analysis was assumed to be 90 years, while the lifespan and the number of replacements of each system during the 90 years were calculated according to the lifetime of the various systems. Conventionally, the LCAs of products or buildings are performed with a lifetime ranging from 30 to 50 years [12,18,19,53,54], without considering any external variations (e.g., climate change) to the system boundary that could alter the environmental impact of the systems or the buildings. Following the conventional methodology, the LCA for 90 years (hereinafter referred to as LCA b ) was assessed by considering the same weather data for the entire period, as shown in Figure 2a.…”

“…In the end, the LCA for the entire lifetime of 90 years (hereinafter referred to as LCAcc) was calculated as the sum of three contributions: LCA 1, LCA 2, and LCA 3, as shown in Figure 2b. Based on previous studies carried out in this field [12,18,19,53], the functional unit of 1 m 2 of usable floor area was adopted in this analysis. The scope of the study is from 'cradle to grave'.…”

“…Based on previous studies carried out in this field [12,18,19,53], the functional unit of 1 m 2 of usable floor area was adopted in this analysis. The scope of the study is from 'cradle to grave'.…”

“…The higher damage of the heat pump to the ecosystem could be caused by the presence of refrigerant in the system. The heat pump found in the Ecoinvent database includes the R134a refrigerant that is one of the most damaging, by varying the typology of the refrigerant it could be possible reducing the impact of the heat pump [18]. Additionally, the damage due to the gas boiler may be reduced by decreasing the quantity of material used for manufacturing.…”