scholarly journals Environmental Impact of a Mass Timber Building—A Case Study

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1571
Author(s):  
Rozalia Vanova ◽  
Patrik Stompf ◽  
Jozef Stefko ◽  
Jaroslava Stefkova
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Construction Material ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Photochemical Oxidation ◽  
Ecoinvent Database ◽  
Mass Timber

The study focuses on a life cycle assessment of a wood-based residential building and evaluates the magnitude of individual construction components—foundations, flooring, peripheral wall, inner walls, ceiling, roof, windows, and doors—in terms of climate change; acidification; eutrophication; photochemical oxidation; depletion of abiotic elements and fossil fuels; and water scarcity categories within the system boundaries of the Product stage of the life cycle. The assessment was done using the SimaPro software and the ecoinvent database. The results pointed at the advantages of mass timber as a construction material and highlighted the significance in the type of insulation used. Foundations were found to bear the highest share of impact on photochemical oxidation reaching nearly 30% and depletion of fossil fuels accounting for about 25% of that impact. Peripheral wall was ranked the worst in terms of impact on acidification and eutrophication (more than 25% of both), depletion of elements (responsible for 50% of that impact), and had about 60% impact on water scarcity. After adding up carbon emissions and removals, the embodied impact of the whole construction on climate change was detected to be 8185.19 kg CO2 eq emissions which corresponded with 57.08 kg CO2 eq/m2 of gross internal area. A negative carbon composition of the construction was also set.

A Life Cycle Assessment Study on a New Countertop Material

2021 ◽  
Vol 897 ◽  
pp. 137-142
Author(s):  
Luiza Silva ◽  
Elisabete Silva ◽  
Isabel Brás ◽  
Idalina Domingos ◽  
Dulcineia Wessel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Photochemical Oxidation ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Product Packaging ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Abiotic Depletion

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one of the most important analytical tools available to provide the scientific basis of engineering solutions for sustainability. The focus of this study was a LCA (cradle to gate) of a product intended to be used in countertops. The functional unit chosen was 1 m2 of finished panel (countertop) and the boundary system involved the study of raw materials and product packaging and the panel’s production process. The chosen method for impact assessment was EPD (2018) available in SimaPro PhD software and Acidification, Eutrophication, Global Warming, Photochemical Oxidation, Abiotic Depletion (elements), Abiotic Depletion (fossil fuels), Water Scarcity and Ozone Layer Depletion were the impact categories considered. Results showed that the panel’s manufacturing is the process that presented the highest influence in all categories analyzed ranging from 88% on Abiotic Depletion to approximately 101% on Water Scarcity. Polyvinylchloride (PVC) is the greatest contributors to all impact categories except to Photochemical Oxidation that is the Polyester.

The Life Cycle Assessment of a Polypropylene Product, Part B: Comparison of Fuel Options for Generating Electricity and Disposal Methods

2014 ◽  
Vol 535 ◽  
pp. 519-522
Author(s):  
Karin Kandananond
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Hydro Power ◽  
Crucial Problem ◽  
The One ◽  
Mixed Oil ◽  
Product Part

Electricity is one of the most important resources in the manufacturing process. This research has demonstrated the environmental impact caused from two fuel options for generating electricity, coal and mixed (oil/ petroleum gas/ hydro power), in Thailand. The case study is conducted on a sample plastic product, a polypropylene (PP) stacking chair. Moreover, the effect from different disposal scenarios, landfill and incineration, is also analyzed as well. Due to the results, the electricity generated from coal has caused more impact than the one from mixed fuels. For coal option, respiratory inorganics seem to be the most crucial problem while the use of fossil fuels is the major impact from mixed fuels option. When the disposal methods are considered, the incineration is a better choice for disposing PP waste since it causes the least impact on the environment. By the categories of impacts, carcinogens are highly contributed to the landfill method while the climate change is the result from the incineration.

Evaluation of GHG Emissions from the Production of Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT): Analysis of Different Life Cycle Inventories

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Rosse Caldas ◽  
Jorge Sierra-Pérez ◽  
Romildo Dias Toledo Filho ◽  
Marcos Silvoso
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
The United States ◽  
Life Cycle Inventories ◽  
Cross Laminated Timber ◽  
Mass Timber

The Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) has been receiving special attention in recent research as an alternative for climate change mitigation since it is a renewable source and can remove and stock high amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. Some countries, such as Brazil, still do not have mature and large CLT industry. However, the development of this industry in other countries is expected since the CLT is considered the main wood material to be used in high-rise mass timber buildings. It is particularly important to have environmental information, especially concerning the climate change impacts, in terms of life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, for this product to increase its competitiveness in a new market. In this context, this research aimed to evaluate three different Life cycle inventories (LCIs) for CLT production of studies from Japan and the United States. Based on the first findings, we summarized the critical items in the LCI of CLT production and listed some actions for the reduction of GHG emissions that occur in this process. The LCIs are adapted considering the context of Brazil (a country with a cleaner electricity matrix) and China (a country with the highest share of fossil fuels). The main inconsistencies present in the LCIs are presented and discussed. The GHG emissions are concentrated in the following hotspots: (1) Roundwood production; (2) electricity consumption; and (3) adhesives production for CLT production. Therefore, the reduction of the consumption of these materials and activities should be encouraged for the decrease of GHG emissions. The data of Roundwood used in the modelling severely affects the final results. Their GHG emissions are related to the consumption of diesel in forestry activities. This research brings insights into the evaluation of the life cycle GHG emissions from the production of CLT.

Incorporating Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in Freight Transportation Infrastructure Project Evaluation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumith Kumar Oduru ◽  
Pasi Lautala
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Freight Transportation ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Planning Stage ◽  
Simplified Lca ◽  
Modal Route

Transportation industry at large is a major consumer of fossil fuels and contributes heavily to the global greenhouse gas emissions. A significant portion of these emissions come from freight transportation and decisions on mode/route may affect the overall scale of emissions from a specific movement. It is common to consider several alternatives for a new freight activity and compare the alternatives from economic perspective. However, there is a growing emphasis for adding emissions to this evaluation process. One of the approaches to do this is through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); a method for estimating the emissions, energy consumption and environmental impacts of the project throughout its life cycle. Since modal/route selections are often investigated early in the planning stage of the project, availability of data and resources for analysis may become a challenge for completing a detailed LCA on alternatives. This research builds on such detailed LCA comparison performed on a previous case study by Kalluri et al. (2016), but it also investigates whether a simplified LCA process that only includes emissions from operations phase could be used as a less resource intensive option for the analysis while still providing relevant outcomes. The detailed LCA is performed using SimaPro software and simplified LCA is performed using GREET 2016 model. The results are obtained in terms of Kg CO2 equivalents of GHG emissions. This paper introduces both detailed and simplified methodologies and applies them to a case study of a nickel and copper mine in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The analysis’ are done for three modal alternatives (two truck routes and one rail route) and for multiple mine lives.

Risk Analysis in Renewable Energy System (RES) Investment for a Developing Country: A Case Study in Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-223
Author(s):  
Izzet Alp Gul ◽  
Gülgün Kayakutlu ◽  
M. Özgür Kayalica
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Infrastructure Investments

Technological improvements allow changing a significant part of the electricity generation investments to renewable energies. Especially in emerging markets and energy import-dependent countries, shift to renewable energy generation became more important to break the links of dependency. Pakistan relies on imported fossil fuels; however, the country’s experience and ambition about the renewable energy transition gain prominence in recent years. Considering the long-term life cycle of energy infrastructure investments, possible risk factors and their dynamic nature must be analysed before the financial decisions are taken. This article aims to propose a system dynamics model for the risk analysis of investment life cycle. In this study, possible risk factors are detected and discussed in different categories. The casual loop diagram of possible risk factors and risk assessment model are designed, and the impacts are analysed. Case study of the proposed model in Pakistan highlighted the importance of commercial risks. The results achieved through this study will guide investors, sector participants and policymakers to develop stable strategies for promoting renewable energy in the country. JEL: Q42, P48, O13

Mapping green water scarcity under climate change: A case study of Portugal

2019 ◽  
Vol 696 ◽  
pp. 134024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Quinteiro ◽  
Sandra Rafael ◽  
Bruno Vicente ◽  
Martinho Marta-Almeida ◽  
Alfredo Rocha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Green Water
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