scholarly journals Life Cycle Impact Assessment of Load-Bearing Straw Bale Residential Building

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3064
Author(s):  
Rozalia Vanova ◽  
Michal Vlcko ◽  
Jozef Stefko
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle Impact Assessment ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Load Bearing ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Life Cycle Impact ◽  
Straw Bale

As a renewable raw material, straw bale represents a sustainable way of construction with minimal environmental impact. This paper focused on life cycle impact assessment of load-bearing straw bale residential building. Product stage from raw materials extraction to manufacture of construction materials was considered in the assessment including seven variations of straw bale. Construction materials were evaluated due to IMPACT 2002+ method. Both midpoint and endpoint impact categories were included. The results showed the importance of straw bale origin. Ecosystem quality impact of straw from extensively cultivated pastures was twenty times higher than that of intensive crop production, thus making a significant difference to an overall score of the construction. Results showed advantage of straw as a construction material particularly when used locally. In addition, significant contributions of other construction materials were identified.

scholarly journals Measuring Product Material Footprint as New Life Cycle Impact Assessment Method: Indicators and Abiotic Characterization Factors

Resources ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostert ◽  
Bringezu
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle Impact Assessment ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Resource Efficiency ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Characterization Factors ◽  
Life Cycle Impact ◽  
Lcia Method

The global economy is using growing amounts of natural resources such as raw materials, water, and land by making and using goods, services, and infrastructure. Aspirations on international, regional, and national levels e.g., the Sustainable Development Goals, the EU flagship initiative Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe or the German Program for Resource Efficiency are showing an urgent need to bring the global raw material use down to sustainable levels. An essential prerequisite to identify resource efficient options and to implement resource efficiency measures and solutions is the ability to compare different products or services regarding their raw material use. Until today, there is no internationally standardized approach defined and no software supported calculation method including the necessary data basis available to measure the raw material intensity of products. A new life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) method Product Material Footprint PMF is described. Two indicators are used to quantify the PMF: the Raw Material Input RMI and the Total Material Requirement TMR. The calculation of global median values for the characterization factors CFRMI and CFTMR of abiotic materials was done based on different databases. This article presents the methodological approach of the PMF, the calculation results for CFRMI of 42 abiotic materials and CFTMR of 36 abiotic materials, and the implementation of the LCIA method into the software openLCA for use with the ecoinvent database.

scholarly journals A Cradle to Gate Approach for Life-Cycle-Assessment of Blisk Manufacturing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kilian Fricke ◽  
Sascha Gierlings ◽  
Philipp Ganser ◽  
Martin Seimann ◽  
Thomas Bergs
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle Impact Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle Inventory ◽  
Material Selection ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Cradle To Gate ◽  
Life Cycle Impact ◽  
Goal And Scope

Abstract The aviation industry has been growing continuously over the past decades. Despite the current Covid-19 crisis, this trend is likely to resume in the near future. On an international level, initiatives like the Green Recovery Plan promoted by the European Union set the basis towards a more environmentally friendly future approach for the aero-industry. The increasing air traffic and the focus on a more sustainable industry as a whole lead to an extensive need for a more balanced assessment of a products life cycle especially on an ecological level. Blisks (or IBRs) remain a central component of every current and very possible every future aero engine configuration. Their advantages during operation compared to conventional compressor rotors are met with a considerably complex manufacturing and production process. In the high-pressure compressor segment of an engine, the material selection is limited to Titanium alloys such as Ti6Al4V and heat-resistant Nickel-alloys such as Inconel718. The corresponding process chains consist of numerous different process steps starting with the initial raw material extraction and ending with the quality assurance (cradle to gate). Especially the central milling process requires a highly qualified process design to ensure a part of sufficient quality. Life-Cycle-Assessments enable an investigation of a products overall environmental impact and ecological footprint throughout its distinct life-cycle. Formal LCAs are generally divided by international standards into four separate steps of analysis: the goal and scope definition, the acquisition of Life Cycle-Inventory, the Life-Cycle-Impact-Assessment and the interpretation. This content of this paper focuses on a general approach for Life-Cycle-Assessment for Blisk manufacturing. • Firstly, the goal and scope is set by presenting three separate process chain scenarios for Blisk manufacturing, which mainly differ in terms of raw material selection and individual process selections for blade manufacturing. • Secondly, the LCI data (Life-Cycle Inventory) acquisition is illustrated by defining all significant in- and outputs of each individual process step. • Thirdly, the approach of a Life-Cycle-Impact-Assessment is presented by introducing the modelling approach in an LCA-software environment. • Fourthly, an outlook and discussion on relevant impact-indicators for a subsequent interpretation of future results are conducted.

scholarly journals Comparative Life Cycle Impact Assessment between the Productions of Zinc from Conventional Concentrates Versus Waelz Oxides Obtained from Slags

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 580
Author(s):  
Voicu-Teodor Muica ◽  
Alexandru Ozunu ◽  
Zoltàn Török
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle Impact Assessment ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Process Data ◽  
Medicinal Uses ◽  
Zinc Metal ◽  
Real Process ◽  
Life Cycle Impact

(1) Background: The importance of Zinc in today’s world can hardly be exaggerated—from anticorrosion properties, to its durability, aesthetic, and even medicinal uses—zinc is ever-present in our daily lives ever since its discovery in ancient times. The natural, essential, durable, and recyclable features of zinc make it a prized material with uses in many applications across a wide array of fields. The purpose of this study was to compare two life cycle impact assessments of zinc production by using two different main raw materials: (A) zinc concentrates (sulfide ore) and (B) Waelz oxides (obtained through recycling existing imperial smelting process furnace slags). The Waelz oxide scenario was based on a case study regarding the existing slag deposit located in Copsa Mica town, Sibiu county, Romania. (2) Methods: consequential life cycle impact assessment methods were applied to each built system, with real process data obtained from the case study enterprise. (3) Results: Overall, the use of slags in the Waelz kiln to produce zinc oxides for use in the production of zinc metal is beneficial to the environment in some areas (acidification, water, and terrestrial eutrophication), whereas in other areas it has a slightly larger impact (climate change, photochemical ozone formation, and ozone depletion). (4) Conclusions: The use of slags (considered a waste) is encouraged to produce zinc metal, where available. The results are not absolute, suggesting the further need for fine-tuning the input data and other process parameters.

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