The embodied CO2e of sustainable energy technologies used in buildings: A review article

Finnegan, Stephen; Jones, Craig I.; Sharples, Steve

doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2018.09.037

Cited by 45 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 61 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Planning the life cycle of a building (or building elements) becomes imperative to support the decision-making process, and this is demonstrated by the numerous studies in which optimization strategies, based on very different approaches, are developed in the literature, ranging from genetic algorithms to combined Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and LCC procedures [6][7][8][9]. This allows an increased awareness of the burden of both the costs and environmental impacts of alternative technological and design solutions at every stage of the life cycle (from the raw materials supplied for the construction process to the demolition at the end of its useful life) [10][11][12][13][14]. In Italy, the attempts to apply technical-economic evaluations on energy saving strategies are numerous and are not only limited to the building envelope components but also extend to the technical systems, which are designed to maintain comfort conditions [15][16][17].…”

Section: Life Cycle Cost Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Upgrading of Residential Building Stock: Use of Life Cycle Cost Analysis to Assess Interventions on Social Housing in Italy

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The debate on the relevance of the global sustainability (including energy, environmental, social, economic, and political aspects) of building stock is becoming increasingly important in Europe. In this context, special attention is placed on the refurbishment of existing buildings, in particular those characterized by significant volumes and poor energy performance. Directive 2012/27/EU introduced stringent constraints (often disregarded) for public administrations to ensure a minimum yearly renovation quota of its building stock. This study describes how Life Cycle Cost analysis (LCC) can be used as a tool to identify the “cost-optimal level” among different design solutions to improve the energy performance of existing buildings. With this aim, a social housing building located in the town of Pisa (Italy) was chosen as the case study, for which two alternative renovation designs were compared using the LCC methodology to identify the optimal solution. The two alternatives were characterized by the same energy performance—one was based on the demolition of the existing building and the construction of a new building (with a wooden frame structure, as proposed by the public company owner of the building), while the other was based on the renovation of the existing building. This study can provide useful information, especially for designers and public authorities, about the relevance of the economic issues related to the renovation of social housing in a Mediterranean climate.

show abstract

Section: Life Cycle Cost Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Upgrading of Residential Building Stock: Use of Life Cycle Cost Analysis to Assess Interventions on Social Housing in Italy

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, the total number of PV panels to be installed in each climate zone varied in order to avoid overproduction issues. Although the overproduced electricity of the system can be sold back to the grid [34], PV panels had significantly higher embodied CO2 when compared with other supply systems [35]. Louwen, Van Sark [36] discussed about great downward trends of the environmental impact of PV production.…”

Section: Energy Supply Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Profitability of Various Energy Supply Systems in Light of Their Different Energy Prices and Climate Conditions

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The majority of the single-family houses in Sweden are affected by deteriorations in building envelopes as well as heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. These dwellings are, therefore, in need of extensive renovation, which provides an excellent opportunity to install renewable energy supply systems to reduce the total energy consumption. The high investment costs of the renewable energy supply systems were previously distinguished as the main barrier in the installation of these systems in Sweden. House-owners should, therefore, compare the profitability of the energy supply systems and select the one, which will allow them to reduce their operational costs. This study analyses the profitability of a ground source heat pump, photovoltaic solar panels and an integrated ground source heat pump with a photovoltaic system, as three energy supply systems for a single-family house in Sweden. The profitability of the supply systems was analysed by calculating the payback period (PBP) and internal rate of return (IRR) for these systems. Three different energy prices, three different interest rates, and two different lifespans were considered when calculating the IRR and PBP. In addition, the profitability of the supply systems was analysed for four Swedish climate zones. The analyses of results show that the ground source heat pump system was the most profitable energy supply system since it provided a short PBP and high IRR in all climate zones when compared with the other energy supply systems. Additionally, results show that increasing the energy price improved the profitability of the supply systems in all climate zones.

show abstract

“…For the research on the sustainability of buildings, researchers have focused on the operation period of buildings, which has prompted the comparison of different green building standards [7], sustainable energy technologies [8], and ventilation strategies [9]. Additionally, the research of comprehensive analysis about sustainability has gradually penetrated the construction of buildings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bibliometric and Social Network Analysis of Civil Engineering Sustainability Research from 2015 to 2019

Zhou

Wang

et al. 2020

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

With the development of civil engineering sustainability, the scope of corresponding research covers a broader range. It is difficult for researchers to master the holistic situation of the study, leading to duplication and lag of their research. Therefore, this paper aims to present a state-of-the-art of the research of civil engineering sustainability by adopting two new methods (bibliometric and social network analysis) to review the literature of this field. It is concluded that the existing research takes engineering as the main subject to improve its sustainability through technologies. Current research mainly focuses on technological innovations and evaluations of environmental impacts in the fields of construction technology, energy consumption, material preparation, and design. The countries with the largest number of published articles are the United States and China. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University is the institution that has published more articles than others. Journal of Cleaner Production and Sustainability are the journals that have published the most articles. For the researchers, a professor of the University of Adelaide is the researcher who has published the most articles, and experts from South China University of Technology, Chongqing University, and University of Brighton are the main hubs among different researchers.

show abstract

The embodied CO2e of sustainable energy technologies used in buildings: A review article

Cited by 45 publications

References 61 publications

Energy Upgrading of Residential Building Stock: Use of Life Cycle Cost Analysis to Assess Interventions on Social Housing in Italy

Energy Upgrading of Residential Building Stock: Use of Life Cycle Cost Analysis to Assess Interventions on Social Housing in Italy

Profitability of Various Energy Supply Systems in Light of Their Different Energy Prices and Climate Conditions

Bibliometric and Social Network Analysis of Civil Engineering Sustainability Research from 2015 to 2019

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About