| 1. |
- Adl-Zarrabi, Bijan, 1959, et al.
(author)
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Sustainability Assessment of Infrastructure Elements with Integrated Energy Harvesting Technologies
- 2016
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In: Energy and Environment. - : Wiley. - 9781119307761 ; , s. 221-234
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The possibility of integrating energy harvesting devices into the bridge/tunnel structures along Coastal Highway Route E39 has been investigated in a feasibility study by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA). The main advantage of integrating energy conversion devices in a structural element is the reduction of costs compared to stand-alone devices. The construction could be used as a foundation, a mooring point and provide a dry environment for electrical devices. Easy access to the production site could also reduce the cost for installation, operation and maintenance. Two important challenges related to harvesting renewable energy by infrastructure elements, without concerning about the energy source, are to store it or feed the energy to the grid. In the second case, tailoring generation to demand is of critical importance. Tasks such as supply and demand management, for instance, peak hour management, what kind of storage should be used - electrical or thermal - need be solved. Furthermore, integrating energy production devices in a structure might cause negative environmental impacts and affect the life expectancy and maintenance costs of such structures. The potential environmental impacts associated with renewable technologies are the consequences for bird life or marine fauna at the fjord crossing locations, as well as noise and visual impact. Thus, a sustainability assessment should be performed in order to quantify the ecological, economical and societal impacts of the suggested alternatives.
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| 2. |
- Ebrahimi, Babak, 1987, et al.
(author)
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Regionalized environmental impacts of construction machinery
- 2020
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In: International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1614-7502 .- 0948-3349. ; 25:8, s. 1472-1485
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: This study aims to establish a regionalized environmental impact assessment of construction machinery equipped with diesel engines certified by the European emission standard Stage V, and operated in cold climatic zones in Europe. Method: The study quantifies potential environmental impacts associated with construction machinery over the entire lifecycle, from extraction of materials to the end-of-life. For the operation phase, a meso-level emission accounting method is applied to quantify tailpipe emissions for certain subcategories of construction machinery. This is achieved by determining the operational efficiency of each machine in terms of effective hours. The quantified emission data are then adjusted based on engine deterioration models to estimate the rate of increase in emissions throughout the lifetime of each machine. Finally, the CML impact assessment method is applied to inventory data to quantify potential environmental impacts. Results: The study shows that tailpipe emissions, which largely depend on an engine’s fuel consumption, had the largest contribution to environmental impacts in most impact categories. At the same time, there was a positive correlation between the operation weight and the impacts of the machinery. Also, machinery with similar operation weight had relatively similar impact patterns due to similar driving factors and dependencies. In addition, network, sensitivity, and uncertainty analyses were performed to quantify the source of impacts and validate the robustness of the study. Results of the sensitivity analysis showed that the responsiveness of the studied systems is very sensitive to changes in the amount of fuel consumption. In addition, the uncertainty results showed that the domain of uncertainty increased as the operation weight subcategory of machinery increased. Conclusion: This study extends previous work on the life cycle assessment (LCA) of construction machinery, and the methodology developed provides a basis for future extension and improvement in this field. The use of effective hours as the unit of operational efficiency helps to resolve uncertainties linked to lifetime and annual operation hours. Also, the obtained results can be of use for decision support and for assessing the impacts of transition from fossil fuels to alternative fuel types.
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| 3. |
- Heeren, Niko, et al.
(author)
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Towards a 2000 Watt society assessing building-specific saving potentials of the Swiss residential building stock
- 2011
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In: World Sustainable Building Conference 2011, October 18-21, 2011, Helsinki, Finland.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Switzerland declared the notion of the 2000 Watt society as their leitmotif towards a sustainable development in terms of energy. This implies that worldwide, no more than 17520 kWh of total primary energy and 1 ton CO2-eq. are to be consumed per capita and year for all services. Thus, in order to meet the targets of the 2000-Watt society, it is necessary to reduce primary energy demand by 44% and greenhouse gas emissions by 77%. The building stock model, described in this paper, assisted the government of Zurich to identify the necessary steps in order to achieve the goals with regard to the city‟s residential, school, and office buildings. The objective of this paper is to investigate the role of energy demand reduction in residential buildings on the way towards the goals of a 2000-Watt society.In order to illustrate the mechanisms within the building stock and to identify the effects of construction activity, the model works with different scenarios. Specific measures were isolated and analysed individually. All three measures act directly on the building stock; each have comparable reduction potential in terms of primary energy demand (ca. 15%) and greenhouse gas emissions (ca. 40%). In order to further cut back greenhouse gas emissions, measures to reduce carbon intensity of fuels and electricity need to be considered.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Mosteiro-Romero, Martín, et al.
(author)
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Relative importance of electricity sources and construction practices in residential buildings: A Swiss-US comparison of energy related life-cycle impacts
- 2014
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In: Energy and Buildings. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-7788. ; 68:PARTA, s. 620-631
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Comparisons of buildings in similar climates built in accordance with different regional constructionpractices and building rating systems can provide useful insights in sustainable design practices. Theobjectives of this study were: (1) to perform energy related life cycle assessments of a typical LEED-H(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Homes) single-family home in New Jersey (US), and atypical Minergie-P single-family home in Chur, Switzerland; and (2) to assess the effect of rating systemsand construction practices on the buildings’ environmental impacts. Inventory data was obtained fromthe Ecoinvent 2.2 database with a replacement of the Western European electricity mix with the US orNew Jersey electricity mix for the New Jersey home. The Swiss building performed better regarding nonrenewableenergy consumption, Global Warming Potential and Acidification Potential mainly due to thegeothermal heat pump and the Swiss electricity mix while there was less of a difference regarding OzoneLayer Depletion Potential and Eutrophication Potential. The influence of electricity sources exceeded theeffects of longer building life time or the removal of the Swiss basement. Regional building practices, localcodes and environmental policies should take the electricity mix into account because it is so important.
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| 6. |
- Andersen, Sarah Cecilie, et al.
(author)
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Environmental impacts of circularity in the built environment: How do system boundaries affect decision support?
- 2024
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In: Developments in the Built Environment. - 2666-1659. ; 18
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Life-Cycle Assessments (LCA) have become a common tool of decision support in the built environment regarding environmental impacts. The goal of this study is to investigate the influence of different LCA approaches and system boundaries on decision support regarding circular design strategies. Three different ways of applying attributional LCA (ALCA) and one consequential LCA (CLCA) are assessed using a case study of a wooden beam with either virgin or reclaimed timber. While the conclusions are not readily scalable, the case study's results indicate that using reclaimed material is environmentally beneficial when applying ALCA. However, when applying CLCA the reclaimed material performs worse than the virgin material. This highlights the potential pitfalls of scaling up solutions based on LCA results without considering the broader consequences. While the current ALCA approach is useful for declarations, it may not provide comprehensive decision support for driving a transition in the built environment.
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| 7. |
- Frischknecht, Rolf, et al.
(author)
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Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Geosyhnthetics versus Conventional filter layer
- 2013
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In: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. - 9782859784744 ; 4, s. 3203-3206
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Geosynthetics made from plastics can replace filter layers made of gravel. In this article goal and scope, basic data and the results of a comparative life cycle assessment of gravel and geosynthetics based filter layers are described. The filter layers of a road made of 30 cm gravel and a filter geosynthetic, respectively, form the basis for the comparison. The filter layers have the same technical performance and the same life time of 30 years. The product system includes the supply of the raw materials, the manufacture of the geotextiles and the extraction of mineral resources, the construction of the road filter, its use and its end of life phase. The life cycle assessment reveals that the geosynthetics based filter layer causes lower environmental impacts per square metre. The cumulative greenhouse gas emissions amount to 7.8 kg CO2-eq (mineral filter) and to 0.81 kg CO2-eq (geosynthetic filter). The variation of the thickness of the gravel based filter layer confirms the lower environmental impacts of a geosynthetics based filter layer. Environmental impacts of the geosynthetic production are dominated by the raw material provision (plastic granulate) and electricity consumption during manufacturing.
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| 8. |
- Frischknecht, Rolf, et al.
(author)
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Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Geosynthetics versus Concrete Retaining Wall
- 2013
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In: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. - 9782859784744 ; 3, s. 1979-1982
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Geogrids made of geosynthetics can replace conventional building materials like concrete. In this article, goal andscope, basic data and the results of a comparative life cycle assessment of concrete reinforced retaining walls (CRRW) and geosynthetics reinforced retaining walls (GRRW) are described. One running meter of a three meters high retaining wall forms the basis for comparison. The two walls have the same technical performance and an equal life time of 100 years. The GRRW has a lower demand of steel and concrete compared to the CRRW. The product system includes the supply of the raw materials, the manufacture of the geotextiles and the concrete, the construction of the wall, its use and its end of life. The life cycle assessment reveals that the GRRW causes lower environmental impacts. The cumulative greenhouse gas emissions of 300 m CRRW are 400 t and 70 t in case of GRRW. The use of an environmentally friendlier lorry in a sensitivity analysis and monte carlo simulation confirm the lower environmental impacts caused by the construction of a GRRW compared to a CRRW. More than 70 % of the environmental impacts of the geogrids production are caused by the raw material provision (plastic granulate) and the electricity demand in manufacturing.
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| 9. |
- Heeren, Niko, et al.
(author)
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A component based bottom-up building stock model for comprehensive environmental impact assessment and target control
- 2013
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In: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 1879-0690 .- 1364-0321. ; 20:April 2013, s. 45-56
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The building stock is one of the most important energy consumers worldwide. Therefore, a number of energy reduction targets and regulations exist for the construction sector. Different building stock models have been developed in order to investigate the potentials of energy-efficiency and changes in energy source in the building stock. However,these models often have important shortcomings, since they are single-issued and do not include the life cycle of buildings. Thus,we propose an innovative assessment methodology in the form of a life cycle-based building stock model(LC-Build). The building stock is clustered in building cohorts of similar construction and equipment characteristics in terms oftype, construction period and building technology systems. The most important building components are assigned specific thermal transmittance values. Figures for diffusion and retrofit rate describe the development of the building stock fabric. Additionally,environmental impact from the energy supply side is taken into account. This approach facilitates the evaluation of the effectiveness of measures and their dynamics on the building stock, such as newer and more efficient technologies and practicesrelated to energy policies and prices.Furthermore, the model has a direct relationship to the construction activity(energy-efficiency measures, substitution of fossil energy based heating systems) and fosters the comprehension of material flows, related environmental impact,and costs.The practicality of this approach is demonstrated by means of a case study in the city of Zurich in Switzerland. The results suggest that Zurich has are markable potential to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector: 85% by 2050. The case study highlights the advantages of the proposed modeling approach. The LC-Build is a valuable tool to identify and test sustainable energy targets for building stocks, such as the European 20–20–20 target.
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| 10. |
- Jakob, Martin, et al.
(author)
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CREATE: A toolbox to develop, implement and monitor advanced energy and climate goals and strategies
- 2019
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In: Eceee Summer Study Proceedings. - 2001-7960 .- 1653-7025. ; 2019-June, s. 785-792
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Various environmental and regulatory changes, such as climate change mitigation strategies and market regulation, have increased the complexity of the challenges which cities, utilities, and real estate owners face. Thus, cities and their utilities are confronted with various problems: How, and at which costs can ambitious climate change mitigation goals be reached? How can urban planning be developed while simultaneously tackling climate change? How can the long-term economic and environmental performance of the building stock be optimized? How to plan electricity, gas, and thermal networks to suit future energy demand and the existing urban topology? These problems are usually addressed individually and independently from each other using instruments that lack an interdisciplinary approach. Data collections are often done “ad hoc” and not from a systemic point of view, resulting in datasets that are often incomplete, incoherent, and with different structures that make them difficult to merge. The paper describes the Carbon Resource Energy and Adaption Toolbox Europe (CREATE), a comprehensive modelling and data toolbox that can overcome these shortcomings. This toolbox has been developed to include elements that are specially conceived for various use cases of different decision makers (and their service providers): urban planners, energy utilities, network operators, building portfolio owners, building code designers, construction authorities, energy and climate policy makers. CREATE has three main elements: • Expert BSM: GIS-based scenario analysis tool for urban and utility energy planners, providing evaluation and management of energy demand, emissions, renewable energy resources, and other parameters. • Basic Web BSM: Simplified web-based spatial data information, monitoring and visualization tool for smaller municipalities and utilities. • Portfolio BSM: A portfolio assessment tool for real estate portfolio owners and manager to analyse the status quo of their portfolio and the possibility to develop short- and long-term strategies in terms of economic, energy and carbon performance. As such CREATE enables engagement between the various decision-making levels and bodies of cities and municipalities as well as (energy) utilities and building portfolio owners or real estate site developers.
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