04/02/2013

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Type to search for People, Research Interests and Universities Searching... 217 Using LCA In a Green Building Projectmore by Dominique Hes Research Interests: Green Building, Green Building Materials (Architecture), Life Cycle Processes of Building Products, and Life Cycle Assessmentedit Download (.pdf) Quick view Share Facebook Twitter EditDeleteMove section 217 Download (.pdf)

Using LCA in a gr een bu ild ing p roj ect

Dominique Hes Centre for Design at RMIT dominique.hes@rmit.edu.au

Abstract
Sustainability is a term easily used and well recognised to mean, among other things, responsible environmental performance. Within the building industry there are increasing pressures to integrate sustainability criteria in buildings. To do this what the industry needs is a methodology that gives the right answer at the right time, with rigour and integrity so that decisions are defendable. This paper explores the role that LCA can have in the built environment. It begins by defining the life cycle stages of the building process. Each stage is then analysed for its information needs, its impacts on the environmental performance of the building and the resulting life cycle assessment technique, which can inform this stage. The discussion is illustrated by the use of a case study outlining what is currently possible and the areas where further research is needed to make LCA part of the answer.

Introduction
Sustainability is a term easily used and well recognised to mean, among other things, responsible environmental performance. Within the building industry there are increasing pressures to integrate sustainability criteria in building projects. To do this the industry needs a methodology that gives the right answer at the right time, with rigour and integrity so that decision are defendable. This paper explores the role that Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can have within the built environment. begins by defining the life stages of the building process. Each stage is then analysed It for its information needs, its cycle impacts on the environmental performance of the building and the resulting life cycle assessment technique that could be used to inform this stage.

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Sustainability

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Using LCA In a Green Building Project | Dominique Hes - Academia.edu

Sustainability
Sustainability is a contested term but for this paper it is seen in as it was defined in the Brundtland Commission Report: Our Common Future [1]. Maintaining the environmental, social and economic system in such away as to not take away from future generations. In Australia this has been translated in to the term Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) - development that uses, conserves and enhances the communitys resources so ecological processes on which life depends are maintained and the total quality of life, now and in the future, can be ensured [2]. Within the building industry this aim for will, ESD at has not stage, yet crystallised into a direction or methodology with most fearing that they some need to address it with little understanding of how. LCA in many ways is a methodology which some are looking towards to give them the answers the how to do sustainability without understanding its strengths and weaknesses or even what it does and how it does it. This paper explores this in simple terms and with the use of a case study tries to outline what is currently possible and the areas where further research is needed to really make LCA part of the answer.

Life cycle of a building

There are five main stages of the building life cycle (figure 1) as identified in the Building Life Cycle project [3], these are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. brief development design construction operation de-construction

Figur e 1 Buildi ng Life Cycle

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5

Estimators

Mater ial S pecifi cation Construction phase

Use and Maintenance

Design brief

Concept design

Detailed Design

Detailed engineering specification

End-of-life reuse/ recovery/ recycling/ disposal

Refurbishment

Brief Development
In brief development the body that is thinking of building a new building defines how this building will function and determines the main issues it should address. Within the process of scoping out this brief often energy efficiency and other environmental attributes are included. It is at this stage that the greatest potential for minimising the buildings future environmental impact is determined. The brief sets the scene, outlines the requirements and determines the direction of the new building. It is at this stage that the brief development team needs to think about the life cycle of their building, carefully define its functions and determine their priorities. The main role for LCA at this is as a methodology thinking of the is a costs, building is not just stage something which you pay for forguiding at the the start and thats it! group. It has That ongoing ongoing impacts and ongoing opportunities. It is at this stage that it is important to set quantitative performance goals. For example that the building should meet a 5 star rating, that it should use no rainforest timbers, that it will collect and reuse rainwater, use no fossil fuels for heating and cooling, etc. Life cycle thinking is therefore the appropriate tool for this part of the life cycle. That is having a basic understanding on how the decision made at the start of a project impact the

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having a basic understanding on how the decision made at the start of a project impact the life performance of the building. There is no such summary that I am aware of a useful development would be if a simple model brief was developed, based on LCA, possibly in a similar form to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Victoria model brief [4]. In summary the main questions to be answered here are: 1. Do we need a new building? 2. What will be the function of the building and how best will this building fulfil these functions? 3. What quantitative goal do we want to put into the brief including environmental? Within this stage the decision also needs to be made between the design and construct mode, Build/Own/Operate/Transfer (BOOT), staged design then construct and other models. Currently there is no information on the environmental impact difference of the models

though some research has just been started at the University of Queensland on their efficiency [5]. From a life cycle perspective this type of study could be very interesting.

Design
Below we discuss the option of separate design then construct, it briefly outlines their LCA and information needs. Other methods of building design and construction will have slightly different needs. The design itself is divided into several stages: schematic design, detailed design and documentation (specification). While the brief will set the goals and has the greatest opportunity to influence the life cycle impact of the building it is the design, which makes this potential concrete. It is at this stage that the greatest opportunities for minimising the impact of the building can be implemented. Both in the minimisation of operational impact and emergy (embodied energy) this stage is incredibly important. In the concept or schematic design the important issues to look at are the orientation of the building, its use of the natural airflow, use of natural flora and the landform. In this phase life cycle thinking is again the main focus - knowing that orientation and the other issues will have a major impact on the operational performance of the building. Other issues to be addressed are if a rainwater tank or water treatment system is going to be used where this shouldhere be placed. In summary the main questions to be answered here are: 1. How do we minimise operational energy requirements? 2. How do we meet the needs of the clients efficiently? 3. How do we make the most use of those attributes already present on the site natural ventilations, orientations and vegetation? This stage therefore has the greatest impact on the ongoing performance of the building, the operational aspect of the life cycle. In detailed design the specifics of the building are developed, engineers are used for the technical details, the buildings materiality is resolved and time is spent with the clients to ensure that the building is meeting their needs. It is here where the goals set for the project at the beginning need to be looked at, ensuring that building design meets the defined targets. The information required here are detailed energy, lighting and comfort modelling tools. These are not LCA tools but are an important method for optimising the operational impact of the building. In determining the main materiality of the building information is required on the relative impact of major materials such as concrete, steel, aluminium, timber, etc. currently emphasis is placed on emergy (value of the energy, and therefore green house gas equivalents, embodied by the material) rather than the full life cycle impact. Various studies have shown that as the energy efficiency of a building improves the energy embodied in its materials become more important [6,7,8], some studies showing that over the life of an efficient building the emergy can be up to 40% of the total energy impact [6]. Especially with

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efficient building the emergy can be up to 40% of the total energy impact [6]. Especially with the current focus on greenhouse gasses the impact of energy is at the forefront in decisionmaking. LCAs role at this phase is in material decisions, to choose vinyl or linoleum, which type of insulation is best, etc.. But this stage also needs to be informed by indoor air quality requirements, currently IAQ is mainly informed by rules of thumb as there are no regulations and standards, though research is being done by organisations such as CSIRO. In summary the main questions to be answered here are: 1. Which materials should we use? 2. What is the trade-off between operational energy saved and extra materiality (emergy)?

3. What are the indoor air quality impacts of the materials? Finally, in the documentation phase of the design process all of the decisions made about the form, the technology and the materiality are defined in precise and intricate detail. It is here where the choices of specific materials are made and recommendations including alternatives are documented. It is between the detailed design and the documentation that we currently find the greatest role for LCA. LCA tools that quickly and empirically can show the result of a material selection [9] are the most practical examples of how LCA is used in practice today. In summary the main questions to be answered here are: 1. In specifying materials which alternatives can be found based on life cycle impacts? 2. What requirements can be written in to minimise life cycle impacts?

Construction
Once the building has been designed the documents are passed on to the builder. It is imperative that in doing so the targets set in the brief and designed into the previous phase are also articulated in the contracts and requirements of the builders and sub-contractors. A building may perform very well in simulations and may be designed to use the best materials but if the builder does not build it to meet the design criteria it may perform well below expected. The main issue at this stage is that in attempting to minimise costs, the cheaper rather than the most environmentally friendly option is often chosen. Even with thorough specification and documentation without constant vigilance the objectives of the project can be subverted. This is not because the builder is a bad environmental citizen it is simply that priorities are to save money and time, not to meet environmental goals. It is imperative that within a life cycle optimised building the environmental goals are given equal weight to the financial ones. From a life cycle performance perspective the main impact that this stage has is in building it as designed, the only real impact the construction process its self has is the generation of waste and immediate impacts of stormwater runoff, air pollution and noise. In summary the main questions to be answered here are: 1. What alternatives can be found based on life cycle impacts? The tools which are required are: 1. a tool that can quickly evaluate alternative material options if those which are specified are not available 2. well thought out contracts with specific goals 3. clear methods for reporting the impacts of decision and progress.

Operation
Life cycle assessment does not play a role in the decision making at this stage except when it comes time to do any refurbishment. At the operational phase of the building, the most important factor which influences the life cycle impact of the building is that it is use the way
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important factor which influences the life cycle impact of the building is that it is use the way that it was designed eg no opening the windows when the heating system is on. In summary the main questions to be answered here are: 1. Is the building performing as expected, if it is not performing as deigned why? 2. When refurbishing which materials should I choose? 3. are the newer technologies which will give a life cycle saving?

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