Sensitivity analysis of the use of Life Cycle Impact Assessment methods: a case study on building materials

Bueno, Cristiane; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Rossignolo, João Adriano; Ometto, Aldo Roberto; Mendes, Natália Crespo

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.10.006

Cited by 88 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Owsianiak and colleagues () and Bueno and colleagues () reported that use of different impact assessment methods resulted in different patterns of environmental contribution and subsequently different LCA results, and emphasized the need to perform sensitivity analyses in order to show transparency and support decision making with the most comprehensive environmental information and make LCA studies more reliable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequential Life Cycle Assessment of Pasture‐based Milk Production: A Case Study in the Waikato Region, New Zealand

Chobtang¹,

McLaren²,

Ledgard³

et al. 2016

J of Industrial Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Farm intensification options in pasture‐based dairy systems are generally associated with increased stocking rates coupled with the increased use of off‐farm inputs to support the additional feed demand of animals. However, as well as increasing milk production per hectare, intensification can also exacerbate adverse impacts on the environment. The objective of the present study was to investigate environmental trade‐offs associated with potential intensification methods for pasture‐based dairy farming systems in the Waikato region, New Zealand. The intensification scenarios selected were (1) increased pasture utilization efficiency (PUE scenario), (2) increased use of nitrogen (N) fertilizer to boost on‐farm pasture production (N fertilizer scenario), and (3) increased use of brought‐in feed as maize silage (MS) (MS scenario). Twelve impact categories were assessed. The PUE scenario was the environmentally preferred intensification method, and the preferred choice between the N fertilizer and MS scenarios depended upon trade‐offs between different environmental impacts. Sensitivity analysis was carried out to test the effects of choice associated with: (1) the approaches used to account for indirect land‐use change (ILUC) and (2) the competing product systems (conventional beef systems) used to handle the co‐product dairy meat for the climate change (CC) indicator. Results showed that the magnitude of the CC indicator results was influenced by the ILUC accounting approaches and the choice associated with a global marginal beef mix, but the relative CC indicator results for the three intensification scenarios remained unchanged.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequential Life Cycle Assessment of Pasture‐based Milk Production: A Case Study in the Waikato Region, New Zealand

Chobtang¹,

McLaren²,

Ledgard³

et al. 2016

J of Industrial Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The CML-IA 2001 impact assessment was selected for this study because of its widely accepted use in the LCA literature and because it can operate with CMLCA, a freely available LCA software tool. When compared to other impact assessment methods such as EDIP 97/2003, Impact 2002+, ReCiPe, and ILCD, Bueno et al (2016) finds that the methods concur in finding the most impactful alternative. Differences were found in the results of the ozone and resource depletion and photochemical oxidation impact categories, because of differences in characterization factors.…”

Section: Lca Of Coca and Substitution Cropsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…When compared to other impact assessment methods such as EDIP 97/2003, Impact 2002+, ReCiPe, and ILCD, Bueno et al. () finds that the methods concur in finding the most impactful alternative. Differences were found in the results of the ozone and resource depletion and photochemical oxidation impact categories, because of differences in characterization factors.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment and socioeconomic evaluation of the illicit crop substitution policy in Colombia

Barrera‐Ramírez

Prado²,

Solheim

2019

J of Industrial Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The peace treaty of Colombia contemplates a crop substitution policy seeking to replace coca crops with legal alternatives. Although crop substitution diverts funding of illegal activities and provides an income to farmers, it is important to understand how the change to a variety of legal crops (coffee, sugarcane, and cacao) affects the income of farmers, and whether there is an environmental advantage of a crop over another. This study applies life cycle assessment (LCA) coupled with socioeconomic indicators to two regions, Putumayo and Catatumbo, over different policy scenarios. LCA results show that a policy success does not ensure a lower environmental impact across the board. Legal crops consume less fuel than coca crops, which reduce fuel‐related impacts, but the use of fertilizer in coffee and pesticide use in sugarcane increase toxicity‐related impacts. The results, however, are affected by a lack of characterization factors of agrochemicals, but once these are replaced by proxies, coca crops appear to have greater toxicity impacts. In terms of individual crops, cacao crops have a lower environmental impact than coffee and sugarcane, but it also takes the longest to harvest, which may pose a financial risk to farmers. The socioeconomic analysis reveals that for Catatumbo farmers, a policy success reduces the income, whereas for Putumayo farmers, a policy success increases income and job generation. In general, it was observed that the dynamics of the illegal supply chain vary for each region, influencing the environmental and socioeconomic outcome of the substitution policy.

show abstract

“…No âmbito nacional, citam-se Bueno et al (2016), que realizaram um estudo comparativo de ACV em cinco sistemas de vedação externa sem função estrutural; Sansão (2011), que investigou a envoltória composta de painéis de blocos de concreto e cerâmico; Campos (2012), que realizou um estudo comparativo entre vedações estruturais em painéis pré-moldados e alvenaria em blocos de concreto; Passuello et al (2014), que propuseram uma ACV calculando a pegada de carbono para clínqueres alternativos; e Souza et al (2015), que realizaram um estudo comparativo entre telhas cerâmicas e telhas de concreto.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Contribuição para a avaliação de ciclo de vida na quantificação de impactos ambientais de sistemas construtivos

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Resumo ste estudo consiste em uma avaliação do ciclo de vida (ACV) aplicada a uma edificação de ensino localizada na região Centro-Oeste do Brasil. O objetivo foi identificar a contribuição dos sistemas construtivos de fundação e superestrutura, ambos em concreto armado, vedações compostas por tijolos cerâmicos e argamassas, cobertura com telhas termoacústicas, esquadrias em alumínio e revestimentos cerâmicos nas categorias de impacto ambiental definidas na metodologia. Considerou-se a abordagem de berço ao portão para uma unidade funcional de 1,0 m² de área construída. O inventário do ciclo de vida (ICV) foi elaborado a partir da base de dados Ecoinvent 2.0, adotando-se o World ReCiPe midpoint H como método de avaliação do impacto do ciclo de vida (AICV). Utilizou-se o software SimaPro 8.0 para modelagem. Constatou-se que os sistemas de superestrutura, cobertura e vedações foram os mais contributivos, o que reforça a necessidade de busca de alternativas inovadoras para minimizar os impactos ambientais dos sistemas tradicionalmente praticados. Contribui-se dessa forma para o desenvolvimento da ACV no Brasil ao se discutir os gargalos e dificuldades encontrados para sua aplicação. Demonstram-se ainda as adaptações necessárias nos inventários dos processos europeus de fabricação para maior adequabilidade à realidade brasileira, visto que os nacionais ainda são incipientes.Palavras-chaves: Impactos ambientais. Sistemas construtivos. Análise de sensibilidade. AbstractThis study consists of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) applied to a school building located in the Midwestern region of Brazil. The objective was to identify the contribution of the foundation and superstructure systems, both made of reinforced concrete; mortar coated masonry walls; a roof covered with thermo-acoustic tiles; aluminum window frames; and ceramic floors to the environmental impact categories defined in the methodology. The study used the cradle-to-gate approach for a functional unit with 1.0sqm of built area. The Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) was calculated using the Ecoinvent 2.0 database, considering World ReCiPe Midpoint H for the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method. The SimaPro 8.0 software was used for modeling. The conclusion was that the superstructure, roof and masonry walls were the systems that had the greatest impact, which indicates the need to find innovative alternatives to minimize the environmental impacts of the systems usually employed. Hence, this paper contributes to the development of LCA in Brazil, as it discusses the bottlenecks and difficulties observed in its application. This study also demonstrates the need to adapt the European manufacturing processes inventories to the Brazilian reality, since national inventories are still incipient.

show abstract

Sensitivity analysis of the use of Life Cycle Impact Assessment methods: a case study on building materials

Cited by 88 publications

References 11 publications

Consequential Life Cycle Assessment of Pasture‐based Milk Production: A Case Study in the Waikato Region, New Zealand

Consequential Life Cycle Assessment of Pasture‐based Milk Production: A Case Study in the Waikato Region, New Zealand

Life cycle assessment and socioeconomic evaluation of the illicit crop substitution policy in Colombia

Contribuição para a avaliação de ciclo de vida na quantificação de impactos ambientais de sistemas construtivos

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About