Study on BIM based Life Cycle Assessment of Environmental Impacts and Decision Making Analysis for Building Construction

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xu Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Building Construction

USING LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT METHODS TO GUIDE ARCHITECTURAL DECISION-MAKING FOR SUSTAINABLE PREFABRICATED MODULAR BUILDINGS

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Faludi ◽  
Michael D. Lepech ◽  
George Loisos
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Material Design ◽  
Design Decision ◽  
Commercial Building ◽  
Operational Energy

Within this work, life cycle assessment modeling is used to determine top design priorities and quantitatively inform sustainable design decision-making for a prefabricated modular building. A case-study life-cycle assessment was performed for a 5,000 ft2prefabricated commercial building constructed in San Francisco, California, and scenario analysis was run examining the life cycle environmental impacts of various energy and material design substitutions, and a structural design change. Results show that even for a highly energy-efficient modular building, the top design priority is still minimizing operational energy impacts, since this strongly dominates the building life cycle's environmental impacts. However, as an energy-efficient building approaches net zero energy, manufacturing-phase impacts are dominant, and a new set of design priorities emerges. Transportation and end-of-life disposal impacts were of low to negligible importance in both cases.

Probabilistic Pareto Decision Making Framework for Sustainable Packaging Life Cycle Assessment

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huihui Qi ◽  
Euihark Lee ◽  
Hae Chang Gea ◽  
Bin Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Impact Factors ◽  
Package Design ◽  
Sustainable Packaging ◽  
Decision Making Framework ◽  
Design Options

The Packaging industry is one of the largest industries in the world and is associated with many environmental concerns. To reduce its environmental impacts, designing sustainable packaging has been one of the top priorities in packaging industries. A common tools for evaluating the environmental impact of a package design is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) which provides information on environmental impacts for different indicators. However, making decisions based on the LCA results leaves us with major challenges. First, the LCA tools should consider various uncertainties such as measurement and data quality. Second, the LCA may give conflicting results on different environmental impact factors. To address these issues, a ranking based decision making framework is proposed in this paper. Within this framework a Probabilistic Pareto Selection method is introduced to select the Pareto Front with uncertainty first. Then, the Ranking based Rate of Substitution is implemented in the decision making process in order to select the best design options based on the trade-off of each Pareto design. Tow case studies are presented to demonstrate the functionality of this framework.

scholarly journals A Method to Include Life Cycle Assessment Results in Choosing by Advantage (CBA) Multicriteria Decision Analysis. A Case Study for Seismic Retrofit in Peruvian Primary Schools

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8139
Author(s):  
Ian Vázquez-Rowe ◽  
Cristina Córdova-Arias ◽  
Xavier Brioso ◽  
Sandra Santa-Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Final Decision

Building information modeling (BIM) is an emerging technology that improves visualization, understanding, and transparency in construction projects. Its use in Latin America and the Caribbean (LA&C), while still scarce, is developing in combination with multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, such as the choosing by advantages (CBA) method. Despite the holistic nature of MCDM methods, the inclusion of life cycle environmental metrics is lagging in construction projects in LA&C. However, recent studies point toward the need to optimize the synergies between BIM and life cycle assessment (LCA), in which a method like CBA could allow improving the quality of the decisions. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to integrate LCA and CBA methods to identify the effect that the inclusion of environmental impacts can have on decision-making in public procurement, as well as comparing how this final decision differs from an exclusively LCA-oriented interpretation of the results. Once the LCA was performed, a set of additional criteria for the CBA method were fixed, including transparency, technical, and social indicators. Thereafter, a stakeholder participative workshop was held in order to gather experts to elucidate on the final decision. The methodology was applied to a relevant construction sector problem modelled with BIM in the city of Lima (Peru), which consisted of three different construction techniques needed to retrofit educational institutions. Results from the LCA-oriented assessment, which was supported by Monte Carlo simulation, revealed a situation in which the masonry-based technique showed significantly lower environmental impacts than the remaining two options. However, when a wider range of technical, social, and transparency criteria are added to the environmental indicators, this low-carbon technique only prevailed in those workshop tables in which environmental experts were present and under specific computational assumptions, whereas teams with a higher proportion of government members were inclined to foster alternatives that imply less bureaucratic barriers. Finally, the results constitute an important milestone when it comes to including environmental factors in public procurement in LA&C.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment Framework for Embodied Environmental Impacts of Building Construction Systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 461
Author(s):  
Mona Abouhamad ◽  
Metwally Abu-Hamd
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Building Construction ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Assessment Framework ◽  
Production Stage ◽  
Credit Points ◽  
Construction System

This paper develops a life cycle assessment framework for embodied environmental impacts of building construction systems. The framework is intended to be used early in the design stage to assist decision making in identifying sources of higher embodied impacts and in selecting sustainable design alternatives. The framework covers commonly used building construction systems such as reinforced concrete construction (RCC), hot-rolled steel construction (HRS), and light steel construction (LSC). The system boundary is defined for the framework from cradle-to-grave plus recycling and reuse possibilities. Building Information Modeling (BIM) and life cycle assessment are integrated in the developed framework to evaluate life cycle embodied energy and embodied greenhouse emissions of design options. The life cycle inventory data used to develop the framework were extracted from BIM models for the building material quantities, verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for the material production stage, and the design of construction operations for the construction and end-of-life stages. Application of the developed framework to a case study of a university building revealed the following results. The material production stage had the highest contribution to embodied impacts, reaching about 90%. Compared with the conventional RCC construction system, the HRS construction system had 41% more life cycle embodied energy, while the LSC construction system had 34% less life cycle embodied energy. When each system was credited with the net benefits resulting from possible recycling/reuse beyond building life, the HRS construction system had 10% less life cycle embodied energy, while the LSC construction system had 68% less life cycle embodied energy. Similarly, the HRS construction system had 29% less life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while the LSC construction system had 62% less life cycle GHG emissions. Sustainability assessment results showed that the RCC construction system received zero Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credit points, the HRS construction system received three LEED credit points, while the LSC construction system received five LEED credit points.

scholarly journals Permeable Pavements Life Cycle Assessment: A Literature Review

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Antunes ◽  
Enedir Ghisi ◽  
Liseane Thives
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Inventory Analysis ◽  
Permeable Pavements ◽  
Great Heterogeneity ◽  
Goal And Scope

The number of studies involving life cycle assessment has increased significantly in recent years. The life cycle assessment has been applied to assess the environmental performance of water infrastructures, including the environmental impacts associated with construction, maintenance and disposal, mainly evaluating the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the consumption of energy and natural resources. The objective of this paper is to present an overview of permeable pavements and show studies of life cycle assessment that compare the environmental performance of permeable pavements with traditional drainage systems. Although the studies found in the literature present an estimate of the sustainability of permeable pavements, the great heterogeneity in the evaluation methods and results is still notable. Therefore, it is necessary to homogenize the phases of goal and scope, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation. It is also necessary to define the phases and processes of the evaluation, as well as the minimum amount of data to be considered in the modelling of life cycle assessment, in order to avoid heterogeneity in the functional units and other components. Thus, more consistent results will lead to a real evaluation of the environmental impacts caused by permeable pavements. Life cycle assessment studies are essential to guide planning and decision-making, leading to systems that consider increasing water resources and reducing natural disasters and environmental impacts.

scholarly journals Models for Sustainability

BioResources ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Yuan Yao
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
One Dimension ◽  
Model Resolution ◽  
Big Picture ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Growing Population

As one of the major methodologies used in the modeling of sustainability, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is widely used to evaluate the environmental impacts of emerging technologies and to enhance decision making towards sustainable development. However, most of the current LCA models are static and deterministic. More insights could be generated when LCA models are coupled with higher-resolution techniques in a prospective fashion. Instead of trying to accurately predict the future, the purpose and value of integrated prospective models are to explore the boundaries of possibility and to shed light on directions that can lead to sustainable pathways. The biggest challenge is to determine the appropriate model resolution so that both big-picture insights and critical details are included. This challenge is hard to address, especially for interdisciplinary models that try to incorporate more than one dimension related to sustainability. However, improvements can be made continually through efforts from a growing population of interdisciplinary researchers.

scholarly journals Environmental Consequences of Closing the Textile Loop—Life Cycle Assessment of a Circular Polyester Jacket

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2964
Author(s):  
Gregor Braun ◽  
Claudia Som ◽  
Mélanie Schmutz ◽  
Roland Hischier
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Textile Industry ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Environmental Consequences ◽  
Energy And Material Flows

The textile industry is recognized as being one of the most polluting industries. Thus, the European Union aims to transform the textile industry with its “European Green Deal” and “Circular Economy Action Plan”. Awareness regarding the environmental impact of textiles is increasing and initiatives are appearing to make more sustainable products with a strong wish to move towards a circular economy. One of these initiatives is wear2wearTM, a collaboration consisting of multiple companies aiming to close the loop for polyester textiles. However, designing a circular product system does not lead automatically to lower environmental impacts. Therefore, a Life Cycle Assessment study has been conducted in order to compare the environmental impacts of a circular with a linear workwear jacket. The results show that a thoughtful “circular economy system” design approach can result in significantly lower environmental impacts than linear product systems. The study illustrates at the same time the necessity for Life Cycle Assessment practitioners to go beyond a simple comparison of one product to another when it comes to circular economy. Such products require a wider system analysis approach that takes into account multiple loops, having interconnected energy and material flows through reuse, remanufacture, and various recycling practices.

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