Life Cycle Assessment

BG 59-14 Building systems Life Cycle Assessment_D3-2010 Legislation cover.
qxd 04/11/2014 14:39 Page 1
A BSRIA Guide www.bsria.co.uk
Life Cycle Assessment
An assessment of a building services system

by David Churcher
BG 59/2014
1
Acknowledgements
This project has received funding from the European Union Seventh
Framework Programme (FP7-NMP-2010-Small-5) under grant agreement
no. 280393.
BSRIA’s technical author was David Churcher. It was designed and

produced by Joanna Smith of BSRIA.
The guidance given in this publication is correct to the best of BSRIA’s knowledge. However
BSRIA cannot guarantee that it is free of errors. Material in this publication does not constitute
any warranty, endorsement or guarantee by BSRIA. Risk associated with the use of material from
this publication is assumed entirely by the user.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying,
recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the publisher.
© BSRIA November 2014 ISBN 978-0-86022-737-3 Printed by Berforts Information Press
Life Cycle assessment

© BSRIA BG 59/2014
LCA - NanoPigmy_1.indd 3 04/11/2014 21:14:24

contents
1 INTRODUCTION 1
2 DEFINING THE EXAMPLE SYSTEM 2
3 SUMMARY OF THE GOAL OF THE ASSESSMENT 3
4 SUMMARY OF THE SCOPE OF THE ASSESSMENT 4

4.1 Deliverables, review, data quality and reporting 4
4.2 Definition of the product system for the base case 4
4.3 Definition of the system boundary 6
5 COLLATING LIFE CYCLE INVENTORIES FOR THE BASE CASE 9
5.1 Identifying existing and substitutable boundaries 9

5.2 Compiling new life cycle inventories 11
6 CALCULATING LIFE CYCLE IMPACTS FOR THE BASE CASE 19

6.1 Mid-point impacts 19
6.2 Endpoint impacts 22
6.3 Conclusions from impact assessment 23
7 AMENDMENTS IN THE ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO 24

7.1 Changes to the product system 24
7.2 Changes to the system boundary process maps 26
7.3 Changes to life cycle inventories 27
7.4 Changes to the impact assessments for mid-points and endpoints 28
7.5 Comparison of results from base case and alterative scenarios 30
APPENDIX A : REFERENCE FLOWS: BASE CASE SCENARIO 32

APPENDIX B : REFERENCE FLOWS: ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO 36
REFERENCES 38
Life Cycle Assessment

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

INTRODUCTION 1
1 INTRODUCTION
This guide supplements the introductory guide to Life Cycle Assessment

(LCA) published by BSRIA (BG 52/2013[1]). That guide provided an
overview of LCA, explained the LCA process with reference to the
relevant ISO standards, and illustrated the process through a simple worked
example.
This guide builds on BG 52/2013 to explain in more detail how LCA is

applied to an entire HVAC building system. Essentially, this guide is a more
detailed worked example and its aim is to provide a template for applying
LCA to the complex systems that are common in building services.
This is particularly relevant as the construction content of standard life
cycle inventory databases, such as Ecoinvent[2], tends to focus on building
materials and static elements such as doors, windows and roof coverings.
Where there are examples of the engineering equipment used in building
services, such as boilers, chillers, pumps, fans and valves and distribution
systems such as ductwork and pipework then the inventory databases only
include one or two items of each type and do not cover the full range of
equipment types and sizes necessary to model building services.
Even this more detailed supplement will not be able to cover the full
range of building services components. Instead, it shows how a life cycle
inventory for a typical system could be developed. The intention is that
this provides a model for LCA analysts to follow.
As LCA can also be used to compare different design solutions, this guide
shows how the environmental impact of an HVAC system would be
affected by introducing an energy saving technology into the building. In
this case, the technology is a new type of pigment which is incorporated
into polymer board internal partitions and interior wall paint. This
pigment contains a phase change material (PCM). The effect of this
advanced pigment is to absorb heat from the occupied space during the
summer months and thereby reduce the cooling loads in the building. The
reduction in cooling load is then reflected in reduced energy consumption
during the operation of the building. This technology has been researched
and developed through the EU-funded NanoPigmy project.
LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT 1

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

2 DEFINING THE EXAMPLE SYSTEM
2 Defining the example system
The example HVAC system being modelled in this guide is the heating and
air conditioning system used in the example building information models
and drawings from BSRIA’s Design Framework guide (BG 6/2014[3]).
This is a 4-pipe fan coil design for a 8-storey office building, with roof-top
plant comprising boilers, pump sets, chillers and air handling units, plus
ductwork and pipework in vertical risers serving each floor. Pipework and
ductwork is distributed around each floor feeding a standard layout of fan
coil units concealed above a false ceiling. These feed conditioned air into
the occupied space through plenum boxes and strip diffusers. The return
air path is through grilles into the ceiling void which is used as the return
plenum.
To simplify the LCA, it is assumed that all the boilers are the same size, as
are the chillers, the air handling units and the fan coil units. However, it
is unlikely that the precise equipment sizes will be found in the standard
LCA inventory databases, so substitutions will need to be made or specialist
inventories will need to be developed for some of these items.
Pipework and ductwork will vary in size between the risers and the fan coil
units, but the different pipe and duct sizes have been minimised to simplify
the assessment. Pipework and ductwork would vary in size along the vertical
risers, but these have been assumed to have a constant cross section to
simplify the assessment.
For the purposes of this example, it has been assumed that night purge
ventilation, for rejecting heat from the PCM, can be provided by the
installed HVAC system.
2 Life Cycle Assessment

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

SUMMARY OF THE GOAL OF THE ASSESSMENT 3
3 SUMMARY OF THE GOAL OF THE ASSESSMENT
The goal of the assessment establishes the high-level aims and nature of the
study.
The goal comprises six statements. Statements 1 to 3 explain the purpose

and limitations of the study and are written as they might appear in
the goal statement of an actual LCA study. Statements 4 to 6 have been
written as they might appear had this study been commissioned as part of
a live construction project as described in the 2013 RIBA Plan of Work[4].
1. The purpose of this study is to provide supporting evidence for the
selection of an innovative wall paint and polymer board partition
system, incorporating phase change material. This is done by assessing
the effect on the environmental impacts of the HVAC system for a
new office building in the UK. In terms of the design process, this
assessment is carried out during RIBA Stage 3 (Developed Design).
2. This is a cradle-to-grave study. It therefore needs to include processes
representing the extraction of raw materials, manufacturing of
components and equipment, assembly of components and equipment,
use of the installed system and disposal or recycling of materials or
equipment at the end of their useful lives.
3. The limitations on this study are as follows. The technical scope of
the design is simplified to optimise the time required to carry out
the assessment in line with the level of design precision expected at
RIBA Stage 3. The environmental impacts of the innovative paint and
polymer board are limited to any additional impacts arising from the
additional raw materials used.
4. If this assessment had been carried out for a live project, then this part
of the goal might say “The audience for this study is the project client
and design team only”.
5. If this assessment had been carried out for a live project, then this part
of the goal might say “The study does include comparisons but these
are not for public disclosure”.
6. If this assessment had been carried out for a live project, then this
part of the goal might say “The study has been commissioned by the
building services design consultant on behalf of the project client. The
study is based on engineering information supplied by the building
services consultant”.
Life Cycle assessment 3

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

4 SUMMARY OF THE SCOPE OF THE ASSESSMENT
4 SUMMARY OF THE scope OF THE ASSESSMENT
The scope sets out in more detail what is to be analysed and how. For this
study, the scope is defined as follows.
4.1 Deliverables, If this assessment had been carried out for a live project, then the
review, data
quality and
deliverable from this study would be an internal project team report. This
reporting would cover the environmental impact of the proposed HVAC system for
the target building, with and without the effects of the innovative paint
and polymer board incorporating phase change material. The Base Case
scenario is the standard HVAC system design and the Alternative scenario
is the amended design taking account of the cooling effects of the PCM in
the innovative paint and polymer board.
Critical review is not required for this assessment.
The data quality standard required for this assessment is for a Data Quality
Rating of 2 (good) according to the ILCD Handbook[5].
The assessment report must comply with the requirements for Internal
Reports in ISO 14044[6].
4.2 Definition of This section only refers to the Base Case scenario. Any changes reflected in
the product the Alternative scenario are discussed later in this guide (see Section 7).
system for the
Base Case
The functional unit used to define the product system is based on the
requirements of the example buildings specified in BSRIA’s Design
Framework guide[3]. The example building has a floor plate with
dimensions of 54 m x 36 m. The building has 8 treated floors (Ground
Floor and 1st to 7th Floors), giving a gross internal area of 15,552 m2.
The heating, cooling and ventilation systems in the building are designed
to be operating for 10 hours each day, 5 days per week (representing
typical office working hours).
BSRIA’s Rules of Thumb[7] gives average heating and cooling peak loads
for office buildings of 70 W/m2 and 87 W/m2 respectively. These give
loads of:
• Heating: 1,090 kW (from which it will be assumed that the average
heating load across the year is 20% of this figure, i.e. 218 kW)
• Cooling: 1,350 kW (from which it will be assumed that the average
cooling load across the year is 20% of this figure, i.e. 270 kW).
The life expectancy of the office building is set at 100 years to agree with
the IPCC definition of Global Warming Potential, as this will be one of
the principal life cycle impact categories to be assessed.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

SUMMARY OF THE SCOPE OF THE ASSESSMENT 4
So, the functional unit is defined as: Delivering a peak load heating
capacity of 1,090 kW and a peak load cooling capacity of 1,350 kW for
100 years without loss of performance.
The product system that is being used to deliver the functionality specified
in the functional unit is a mechanical services system comprising:
• Central heating, cooling and air handling plant mounted on the roof
of the building
• Vertical risers for each half of the building floor plate
• Horizontal distribution of hot and cold water and air from each
riser across each floor plate to fan coil units mounted in the ceiling
void
• Local air delivery from fan coil units to ceiling mounted slot
diffusers.
The reference flows within the product system that is being analysed in
response to this functional unit is a mechanical services system comprising
the following components:
• Heating central plant: 3 boilers, 6 pump sets
• Cooling central plant: 3 chillers, 3 pump sets
• Ventilation central plant: 10 air handling units
• Hot water distribution: pipework to and from 384 fan coil units
• Chilled water distribution: pipework to and from 384 fan coil units
• Air distribution: ductwork to 384 fan coil units and to 1152 plenum
boxes and slot diffusers.
The sizes of the plant, distribution and terminal units have been
standardised to simplify the LCA study, and are based on typical industry
rules of thumb for sizing mechanical equipment for building services:
• Boilers: 500 kW each, running at 80% efficiency
• Chillers: 450 kW each, running at a coefficient of performance
of 3.0
• AHUs: 5 m3/s each, with a specific fan power of 1.4 kW per m3/s
• Fan coil units: 3 kW heating and 5 kW cooling, with a specific fan
power of 0.6 kW per m3/s
• Grilles: 50 l/s air delivery
• Pumps: 16 l/s for hot water, 28 l/s for cold water
• Hot water distribution: 60 m of 80 mm diameter vertical pipework,
336 m of 40 mm diameter pipework (42 m per floor), 1920 m of
20 mm diameter pipework (240 m per floor)
• Chilled water distribution: 60 m of 100 mm diameter vertical
pipework, 336 m of 50 mm diameter pipework (42 m per floor),
1920 m of 25 mm diameter pipework (240 m per floor)

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

• Air distribution: 60 m of 900 x 450 vertical ductwork, 384 m of

400 x 300 ductwork (48 m per floor), 1,728 m of 200 mm diameter
ductwork (216 m per floor between duct runs and fan coil units),
2,304 m of 200 mm diameter flexible ductwork (average of 2 m
between fan coil unit and diffuser).
Calculations of these reference flows related to the Base Case product

system are explained in Appendix A.
4.3 Definition of This section only refers to the Base Case scenario. Any changes reflected in
the system
boundary
the Alternative scenario are discussed later in this guide (see Section 7).
The system boundary for this study is defined through the process maps
contained in the figures below. Figures 2, 3 and 4 set out the reference
flows (quantities) for each process.
Figure 1: High level process map
Heating system
components Installation(s) Transport
Cooling system
Use Energy
components
Ventilation system
Waste disposal
components
The extent of the system boundary includes:

• The extraction of raw materials and resources for each process
• The assembly of intermediate components
• The transport and installation of the components in the example
building with the assumption that each component travels an
average distance of 100 km during its manufacture and installation
• The operation of the components during a 100-year study period
The completeness of the assessment is set at 95%, meaning that processes

that together contribute less than 5% of the total impacts are excluded.
This simplification means that many precursor processes, such as
the extraction of materials that are only used in small quantities, or
the manufacture of capital equipment, are not included in the LCA
calculations.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

SUMMARY OF THE SCOPE OF THE ASSESSMENT 4
Figure 2: Heating system process map
Boilers, 500 kW, 2.5 3 boilers 62 tonnes

Installation(s) Transport
tonnes each 5 installations 100 km
Pumps, 4.6 l/s, 12 pumps 70.85 GWh gas (boilers)

Use Energy
68 kg each 5 installations 0.93 GWh elec (pumps)
Distribution pipework
80 mm diameter, 62 tonnes
60 m Waste disposal Transport
50 mm insulation, 100 km
7.6 mm wall 3 installations
(pipe 15.3 kg/m)
40 mm diameter, 336 m
40 mm insulation,
5 mm wall 3 installations
(pipe 5.4 kg/m)
40 mm insulation,
(pipe 2.2 kg/m)
Figure 3: Cooling system process map
Chillers, 450 kW, 3.2 3 chillers 70 tonnes

tonnes each 4 installations 100 km
Pumps, 18.9 l/s, 6 pumps 25.1 GWh elec

Use Energy
170 kg each 5 installations (chillers + pumps)
100 mm diameter, 60 m 70 tonnes
40 mm insulation, Waste disposal Transport
3 installations 100 km
8.5 mm wall
(pipe 22.3 kg/m)
40 mm insulation,
(pipe 4.5 kg/m)
30 mm insulation,
(pipe 3.2 kg/m)

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

Figure 4: Ventilation system process map
AHUs, 5 m3/s, 10 AHUs 519 tonnes

2.5 tonnes each 7 installations 100 km
Fancoil units, 3 kW, 384 FCUs

Heating, 5 kW 26 GWh elec
Use Energy
7 installations (AHU + FCU fans)
cooling, 66 kg each
Grilles and plenum 1152 units 519 tonnes

boxes 1.8 m, 50 l/s Waste disposal Transport
10 kg each 4 installations 100 km
Distribution ductwork, 60 m
900 x 450 mm
(21.2 kg/m) 3 installations

400 x 300 mm
(11 kg/m) 3 installations
1728 m
Distribution ductwork, 3 installations
200 mm diameter
(4.9 kg/m) 2304 m
7 installations
Multifunctionality is not considered as part of this life cycle assessment.

There are some areas where multifunctionality (multiple outputs from a
single process) could occur, but in the interests of simplicity these have
been ignored.
• The factories where the principal components and sub-components
are manufactured and assembled will in all likelihood be used to
produce a range of different components, but the background
resources (heat, light, primary energy) are all calculated on the basis
that each component is produced in its own factory.
• The operation of HVAC equipment generates heat which could
affect the heating and cooling loads of the building itself, and
therefore the sizing of the HVAC equipment. This is ignored in
the thermal analysis carried out to calculate the peak heating and
cooling loads.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

COLLATING LIFE CYCLE INVENTORIES FOR THE BASE CASE 5
5 Collating life cycle inventories for the Base Case
5.1 Identifying The first step in collating the life cycle inventories for the product system
existing and
substitutable
being analysed is to find out which processes already have inventories or
boundaries close substitutes in the databases contained in the LCA software being
used.
Processes for which there is already an inventory in the database just

need to be scaled up from the unit quoted in the database. This is usually
kilograms for materials, MJ or kWh for energy processes, and tonne-
kilometers for transport processes.
A process which does not have an exact match in the database may be
substituted using an inventory of a similar process (product). Judgement
is required to ensure that the substitution is permissible within the data
quality definition for the assessment. For example, there is no cradle-to-
gate inventory for manufacture of steel pipework, but for the purposes
of this study it has been decided that this can be substituted using the
process for manufacturing hot-rolled steel coil and the process for general
manufacturing of steel products.
Any remaining processes from the product system being analysed that
cannot be represented directly or indirectly using existing inventories need
to have new inventories developed for them.
Table 1 lists all the processes involved in the product system and divides
them according to whether they exist directly, exist indirectly or do not
exist in the databases.
Table 1: Processes for which inventories do and do not exist within the available databases
Inventories directly available in the databases Lifetime quantity
Insulation for 80 mm pipework, 50 mm thick 180 m

Insulation for 40 mm pipework, 40 mm thick 1,008 m
Insulation for 100 mm pipework, 40 mm thick 180 m
Ductwork 900 x 4 50 mm 180 m
Ductwork 400 x 300 mm 1,152 m
Ductwork 200 mm diameter, rigid 5,184 m
Ductwork 200 mm diameter, flexible 16,128 m
Transport, 16-32 t lorry 124,000 tonne-km
Primary energy, electricity 52.03 GWh
Primary energy, natural gas 70.85 GWh
Disposal to landfill
Continues overleaf

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

5 COLLATING LIFE CYCLE INVENTORIES FOR THE BASE CASE
Inventories indirectly available in the databases Database equivalent
Boiler 500 kW (15) Use 1 MW boiler (7.5)

Pump 4.6 l/s 600 W (60) Use 40 W pump (900)
Steel pipework, 80 mm diameter (180 m length) Use steel coil + steel
manufacturing process for
equivalent weight
Steel pipework, 40 mm diameter (1,008 m length) Ditto
Chiller 450 kW (12) Use 500 kW chiller (12)
Pump 18.9 l/s 2.2 kW (30) Use 40 W pump (1650)
Steel pipework, 100 mm diameter (180 m) Use steel coil + steel
manufacturing process for
equivalent weight
Steel pipework, 50 mm diameter (1,008 m) Ditto
Strip diffuser and plenum box (4,608) Ditto
Inventories not available in the databases Lifetime quantity
Air handling unit 5 m /s

3
70
Fan coil unit 3 kW heating, 5 kW cooling 2,688
For the inventories that are not available in the databases, a strategy is
needed for obtaining the appropriate inventory information. These are
summarised in Table 2. As both the processes are deemed to be foreground
processes (i.e. they are fundamental to the product system) it has been
decided to develop new inventories. If one or the other of them had been
background systems, it would have been decided to search for substitute
processes from the database.
Table 2: Dividing unavailable processes into foreground and background

Process or product Foreground (F) or Strategy for acquiring the
Background (B) inventory
Air handling unit 5 m3/s F Develop a new inventory based

on a material and component
breakdown, plus generic
manufacturing processes
Fan coil unit 3 kW heating, F Develop a new inventory based
5 kW cooling on a material and component
breakdown, plus generic
manufacturing processes
For these two processes, a simplified inventory development process is used

in each case. This is based on the following steps:
1. Catalogue the raw materials or sub-components that are used in each
process or product
2. Measure or estimate the weight of each raw material or the number
and type of each sub-component, taking account of the degree of
wastage in the overall manufacturing process.
© BSRIA BG 59/2014

3. If the raw material or sub-component appears in the

inventory database then use that inventory.
4. If the raw material or sub-component does not appear in
the inventory database then either decompose it into further
raw materials or select an appropriate substitute.
5. Use generic manufacturing processes based on the principal
material(s) by weight, to model the assembly of the materials
and sub-components into the final product. It has been
assumed that the manufacturing process generates 5% waste.
6. Measure or estimate the amount of transport involved in
gathering raw materials or sub-components for each process
or product.
7. Measure or estimate the amount of primary energy required
to process and assemble raw materials and sub-components
into the finished product. Ignore the energy required to
manufacture sub-components that are already available in
the inventory database, so that these inputs are not double-
counted.
Ideally, all the data for this inventory development would be

obtained from the manufacturer responsible for producing each
product. However this is not always possible, and often published
information such as equipment specifications or related research
reports must be used instead.
5.2 Compiling the The compilation of a life cycle inventory for the fan coil unit is
new life cycle described below.
inventories
The fan coil unit has a required technical specification: 3 kW

heating, 5kW cooling and 130 l/s maximum air movement. Based
on this specification, a potential equipment selection has been
made from a certain manufacturer. The technical data available
from the manufacturer gives the following information:
• Unit dimensions: 270 mm high, 1,250 mm wide, 900 mm
long
• Hot and chilled water coils traverse the width of the unit
30 times using 10 mm copper tube and 50 mm square
aluminium fins at 5 mm spacing
• The unit is enclosed in a galvanised steel case made from
1.2 mm sheet, with steel strengthening brackets
• The insulation in the fan coil unit is Class 0 (non-
flammable) polyurethane foam and the air filter is 10 mm
thick polyester fibre matting.
The figure for energy use has not been able to be measured
directly from a fan coil unit assembly plant, as would be preferred.
Instead, a typical figure for industrial assembly processes has been
inferred from a US study on energy efficiency in car assembly[8].

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

From this study, it has been assumed that the electricity used during the
assembly process is 1/20 of that used to assemble a car omitting the energy
associated with the paint shop. This equates to 30 kWh per fan coil unit.
It is also assumed that the gas used for heating the factory and other
processes is 1/3 of the electricity use, or 10 kWh per fan coil unit.
Based on this information, and other assumptions about the assembly of

fan coil units, the list of sub-components and resources can be compiled.
An example of the decomposition of the fan coil unit is shown below.
Figure 5 shows the component split into its functional sub-components
and input processes (transport and energy). Figure 6 shows the component
split into different materials and resources.
Figure 5: Detailed process map for fan coil unit by sub-component
Internal skeleton 6.6 kg

(galvanised steel)
Fan blades/housing 3 kg
(galvanised steel)
Fan motor 2.5 kg iron

(50:50 iron:copper) 2.5 kg copper
Hot/cold coils 8.4 kg

(10 mm copper tube) 66 kg
Transport
100 km
Hot/cold coil fins 9 kg

(0.2 mm alumininium) Assembly
30 kWh elec Energy

Insulation 0.3 kg
(class O foam) 10 kWh gas
1 unit (new)
Electrical controls 0.5 kg
(circuit board)
Control valves 3 kg Waste (5% across all

(brass) sub-components)
Filter 0.2 kg
(polyester fibre mat)
Casing/condensate tray 30 kg
(galvenised steel)

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

Figure 6: Detailed process map for fan coil unit by material
Galvanised steel 41.58 kg

sheet
2.625 kg
Cast iron
Copper tube 11.445 kg

and wire
9.45 kg
Aluminium 6.93 tonne-km Lorry 16-32t,
diesel engine
0.315 kg
Polyurethane foam Assembly
PCB/electronic 0.525 kg 69.3 kg Diesel

0.088 kg
components
1 unit (new) 66 kg
31.5 kWh Electricity (UK mix)
3.15 kg
Brass
Waste (5% across all 10.5 kWh

Polyester fibre 0.21 kg Natural gas
matting sub-components)
= 3.3 kg
Note that the quantities in Figure 5 are for each sub-component in

one finished fan coil unit, whereas the quantities in Figure 6 have been
increased to take account of the 5% wastage.
Using the standard processes for all the items identified in Figures 5 and
6, the Life Cycle Inventory for the fan coil unit can be assembled. The
first part of this inventory is shown in Table 3. The full inventory contains
1,391 lines of data.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

Table 3: Part Life Cycle Inventory for the fan coil unit
SimaPro Inventory Date: 26/08/2014 Time: 16:10:58
8.0.3.14
Project : NanoPigmy LCA System Guide - Base Case
Calculation: Analyse
Results: Inventory
Product: 1 p Assembly: Fan coil unit (of project NanoPigmy LCA System Guide - Base case)
Method: ILCD 2011 Midpoint V1.03
Indicator: Inventory
Compartment: All compartments
Per sub-compartment: No
Default units: No
Exclude infrastructure processes: No
Exclude long-term emissions: No
Sorted on item: Substance
Sort order: Ascending
Truncation: 4 decimal places
No. Substance Compartment Unit Total Steel, low- Cast iron Copper Aluminium Poly
alloyed, hot removed by flexi
rolled drilling
1 1-Butanol Air µg 2.9406 0.7426 0.0362 0.4837 0.4912

2 1-Butanol Water mg 4.7657 0.3053 0.0188 1.0565 0.4497
3 1-Pentanol Air µg 1.7261 0.1662 0.0077 0.3363 0.0869
4 1-Pentanol Water µg 4.1428 0.3989 0.0186 0.8070 0.2086
5 1-Pentene Air µg 5.0726 0.9723 0.0554 1.3891 0.4613
6 1-Pentene Water µg 3.1306 0.3015 0.0141 0.6099 0.1577
7 1-Propanol Air µg 42.2113 3.8387 0.1811 6.1648 2.3453
8 1-Propanol Water µg 13.8673 1.4103 0.0684 2.3176 0.7102
9 1,4-Butanediol Air µg 541.0316 198.4961 9.7299 100.5833 135.2107
10 1,4-Butanediol Water µg 216.4126 79.3984 3.8920 40.2333 54.0843
11 2-Aminopropanol Air µg 1.1949 0.1226 0.0060 0.1749 0.0627
12 2-Aminopropanol Water µg 2.8694 0.2945 0.0145 0.4200 0.1506
13 2-Butene, 2-methyl- Air ng 463.2828 13.9247 0.2842 28.6602 377.9164
14 2-Butene, 2-methyl- Water µg 1.1119 0.0334 0.0007 0.0688 0.9070
15 2-Methyl-1-propanol Air µg 2.7730 0.2572 0.0122 0.5447 0.1393
16 2-Methyl-1-propanol Water µg 6.6550 0.6172 0.0292 1.3074 0.3343
17 2-Methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic Soil µg 24.2984 2.8592 0.0277 7.0732 0.9610
acid
18 2-Nitrobenzoic acid Air ng 979.7064 96.3490 4.7038 137.0978 48.8240
19 2-Propanol Air g 4.1797 0.0027 0.0001 0.0056 0.0132
20 2-Propanol Water µg 35.2851 3.5534 0.1734 4.9188 3.8443
21 2,4-D Air µg 18.2288 1.8502 0.0900 1.7920 1.4926
22 2,4-D Soil mg 4.1859 0.4075 0.0203 0.4906 0.2992
23 4-Methyl-2-pentanone Water µg 111.1935 14.0267 0.8234 10.2010 13.5681
24 Acenaphthene Air µg 7.9926 0.6655 0.0383 0.6298 2.1850
25 Acenaphthene Water µg 3.6475 0.6761 0.0300 0.3613 0.7976

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

e case)
um Polyurethane, Printed Brass Metal Transport, Electricity, Heat, Air filter,

by flexible foam wiring working freight, lorry low voltage, central or decentralized
board, Pb 16-32 metric at grid/GB U small-scale, unit, 180-250
free ton, EURO5 natural gas m3/h
0.4912 0.0007 0.6954 0.1030 0.3749 0.0025 0.0001 0.0012 0.0091
0.4497 0.0006 2.0951 0.2231 0.2234 0.0040 0.0002 0.0002 0.3888
0.0869 0.0010 0.7053 0.0786 0.3113 0.0013 0.0010 0.0023 0.0282
0.2086 0.0023 1.6927 0.1886 0.7471 0.0032 0.0025 0.0054 0.0677
0.4613 0.0034 1.0495 0.3035 0.7929 0.0025 0.0008 0.0076 0.0344
0.1577 0.0018 1.2792 0.1425 0.5646 0.0024 0.0019 0.0041 0.0511
2.3453 0.0234 15.9932 1.4496 11.7192 0.0338 0.0187 0.0745 0.3691
0.7102 0.0090 5.9394 0.5379 2.6953 0.0109 0.0039 0.0217 0.1428
5.2107 0.0336 27.6848 19.8734 49.0865 0.1274 0.0011 0.0350 0.1697
4.0843 0.0135 11.0739 7.9494 19.6346 0.0509 0.0004 0.0140 0.0679
0.0627 0.0008 0.5344 0.0406 0.2426 0.0010 0.0001 0.0017 0.0074
0.1506 0.0018 1.2834 0.0976 0.5826 0.0025 0.0001 0.0041 0.0177
7.9164 0.0513 23.0822 9.5976 9.4273 0.1194 0.0002 0.0319 0.1875
0.9070 0.0001 0.0554 0.0230 0.0226 0.0003 0.0000 0.0001 0.0005
0.1393 0.0014 1.1624 0.1269 0.4747 0.0025 0.0018 0.0028 0.0470
0.3343 0.0033 2.7898 0.3045 1.1394 0.0059 0.0044 0.0068 0.1128
0.9610 0.0016 5.8830 1.9807 5.4212 0.0096 0.0000 0.0010 0.0802
8.8240 0.4651 469.1305 32.2861 183.3649 1.1184 0.0834 0.6450 5.6383

0.0132 0.0001 4.1556 0.0012 0.0009 0.0001 0.0000 0.0000 0.0001
3.8443 0.0223 14.6836 1.1372 6.6576 0.0675 0.0009 0.0503 0.1757
1.4926 0.0070 11.1354 0.4752 1.0458 0.0971 0.0000 0.0202 0.2232
0.2992 0.0016 2.3399 0.1210 0.4478 0.0152 0.0003 0.0032 0.0393
3.5681 0.0431 45.3035 2.6774 24.1038 0.0327 0.0005 0.0092 0.4042
2.1850 0.0029 2.8498 0.2130 1.2809 0.0018 0.1009 0.0006 0.0240
0.7976 0.0026 0.9570 0.1148 0.5394 0.0349 0.1217 0.0010 0.0109

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

The compilation of a life cycle inventory for the air handling unit is
described below.
The air handling unit has a required technical specification: 5 m3/s air
delivery, with pre-heating and pre-cooling of the mixed fresh/recirculated
air. Based on this specification, a potential equipment selection has
been made from a manufacturer. The technical data available from the
manufacturer gives the following information:
• The air handling unit comprises of the following functional
components:
-- Protective cowls (galvanised steel) and control dampers
(aluminium) for fresh air entering the AHU and stale air being
discharged
-- Panel filters across the fresh air inlet and the room extract air –
these are made of unwoven fabric in a galvanised steel frame
-- Cross flow plate heat exchanger using stale extract air to heat or
cool fresh supply air. The fins of the heat exchanger are aluminium
and the structure is galvanised steel
-- Extract fan drawing air from the rooms and blowing air into the
heat exchanger. The fan housing and blades are galvanised steel, the
motor is a mixture of iron and copper wire.
-- Supply fan drawing air from the heat exchanger and blowing air
across the heating and cooling coils back to the rooms.
-- Heating and cooling coils of 16 mm copper tubing and aluminium
fins 75 mm square and 100 mm square at spacings of 4 mm and
5 mm respectively, mounted in a framework of galvanised steel
channel and sheet.
-- Electronic printed circuit boards
• The whole unit is mounted on a channel base, encased in double-
skin sheet steel with mineral wool infill, and protected with a
weatherproof lid.
The figure for energy use during assembly of the air handling unit has been
estimated in the same way as that for the fan coil unit. It has been inferred
from the same US study on energy efficiency in car assembly[8]. The
assembly of the AHU is assumed to be equivalent to the assembly of a car
without the energy requirements of the paint shop. Although the AHU is
heavier the construction is simpler. This equates to 600 kWh per AHU. It is
also assumed that the gas used for heating the factory and other processes is
1/3 of the electricity use, or 200 kWh per AHU.
Based on this information, and other assumptions about the assembly of air
handling units, the list of sub-components and resources can be compiled.
The decomposition of the AHU into its constituent parts is shown in
Figures 7 and 8. This shows firstly the functional sub-components and
input processes (transport and energy), and secondly the different materials
and resources. Note that the quantities in Figure 7 are for each sub-
component in one finished AHU, whereas the quantities in Figure 8 have
been increased to take account of the 5% wastage.
© BSRIA BG 59/2014

Figure 7: Detailed process map for air handling unit by sub-component
Channel base 155 kg

(galvanised steel)
Weather lid 110 kg

(powder coated steel)
Inlet/discharge cowls 140 kg steel

dampers (galvanised
steel, aluminium) 2.5 kg aluminium
Heat recovery unit 170 kg steel

(galvanised. steel, 2983 kg
aluminium sheet) 180 kg aluminium Transport
100 km
2 panel filters 60 kg steel

(galvanised steel, fabric) 10 kg fabric Assembly
Extract and supply fans 350 kg steel 600 kWh elec Energy
(galvanised steel, iron, 200 kWh gas
copper) 70 kg iron
60 kg copper
1 unit (new)
Electrical controls 3 kg
(circuit board)
Heating battery 130 kg steel

(copper, galvanised Waste (5% across all
steel, aluminium sheet) 30 kg copper sub-components)
115 kg aluminium
Cooling battery 90 kg steel

(copper, galvanised
steel, aluminium sheet) 30 kg copper
130 kg aluminium
Casing
(galvanised steel, 750 kg steel
aluminium tube, 240 kg aluminium
mineral wool) 100 kg mineral wool

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

Figure 8: Detailed process map for air handling unit by material
Galvanised steel 2052.75 kg

sheet
73.5 kg
Cast iron
Copper tube 126 kg

and wire
313.2 tonne-km Lorry 16-32 t,

diesel engine
509.25 kg
Aluminium sheet Assembly
105 kg 3132 kg Diesel fuel

Mineral wool 3.98 kg
1 unit (new) 2983 kg

630 kWh Electricity (UK mix)
PCB/electronic 3.15 kg
components
210 kWh
10.5 kg Waste (5% across all Natural gas
Non-woven fabric sub-components)
= 149 kg

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

CALCULATING LIFE CYCLE IMPACTS FOR THE BASE CASE 6
6 Calculating life cycle iMPACTS for the Base Case
Calculation of the life cycle impacts requires that the environmental

impacts to be modelled are selected. For this example, the mid-point
impacts are measured using the ILCD 2011 Midpoint method[9]. This
method includes 16 environmental impact categories. The endpoint
impacts are measured using the ReCiPe endpoint method[10], giving
environmental impact in terms of Ecopoints. All calculations are carried
out using commercial LCA software.
6.1 Mid-point The midpoint impact categories in the ILCD 2011 method are:
impacts
• Climate change
• Ozone depletion
• Human toxicity (cancer and non-cancer effects are calculated
separately)
• Particulate matter
• Ionising radiation (human health and environmental impacts are
calculated separately)
• Photochemical oxygen formation
• Acidification
• Eutrophication (terrestrial, freshwater and marine impacts are
calculated seperately)
• Freshwater ecotoxicity
• Land use
• Water resource depletion
• Mineral, fossil and renewable resource depletion.
The environmental impacts calculated for each of these categories are

shown in Table 4 and in Figure 9. Each impact category is reported in
its reference unit, for example climate change is reported in kgCO2-
equivalent.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

6 CALCULATING LIFE CYCLE IMPACTS FOR THE BASE CASE
Table 4: Mid-point environmental impacts for Base Case scenario

SimaPro 8.0.3.14 Impact Date: 28/08/2014 Time: 11:04
assessment
Project NanoPigmy LCA System Guide - Base case
Results: Impact assessment
Product: 1 p Assembly: HVAC system (of project NanoPigmy LCA System Guide - Base case)
Indicator: Characterisation
Skip categories: Never
Sorted on item: Impact category
Sort order Ascending
Impact category Unit Total Cooling Heating Ventilation
system system system
Climate change kg CO2 eq 60,798,218.28 23,496,357.73 16,176,932.93 21,124,927.62
Ozone depletion kg CFC-11 eq 1.75 0.86 0.09 0.80
Human toxicity, cancer effects CTUh 7.12 4.49 0.28 2.36
Human toxicity, non-cancer CTUh 42.58 25.11 0.80 16.66
effects
Particulate matter kg PM2.5 eq 22,454.85 11,419.18 860.79 10,174.88
Ionizing radiation HH kBq U235 eq 18,449,349.20 9,408,134.71 649,904.45 8,391,310.04
Ionizing radiation E (interim) CTUe 55.15 28.47 1.50 25.18
Photochemical ozone formation kg NMVOC eq 115,639.01 56,608.52 8,266.58 50,763.91
Acidification molc H+ eq 270,155.24 136,430.36 11,358.12 122,366.76
Terrestrial eutrophication molc N eq 470,291.22 239,617.96 29,715.19 200,958.07
Freshwater eutrophication kg P eq 31,972.93 18,217.87 888.36 12,866.70
Marine eutrophication kg N eq 41,334.17 19,951.68 2,856.69 18,525.80
Freshwater ecotoxicity CTUe 953,089,320.25 567,312,011.04 17,845,470.06 367,931,839.15
Land use kg C deficit 26,089,611.62 13,545,270.08 888,635.52 11,655,706.02
Water resource depletion m water eq
3
28,871,172.58 17,201,291.25 2,536,076.48 9,133,804.85
Mineral, fossil & renewable kg Sb eq 5,807.36 1,415.46 145.94 4,245.96
resource depletion

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

LCA - NanoPigmy_1.indd 21
Normalised impacts
C
H lim
um at
e
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
H an O ch
um to z o an
an xc n e ge
to i c dep
ity l
xc
ici , ca e tio
ty, nc
er n
no
ef
n-
ca f e ct
Pa
nc
er s
rt e f
Io
icu fe
ct
Io ni lat
e s
ni zin m
z in g a
Ph
ot g ra r ad t t
oc d iat er
io
Figure 9: Chart of mid-point impacts
he iat n
m io
H
ica n E
lo H
(in
zo te
ne ri
fo m)
rm
Te
rr Ac atio
es
tr id n
Fr ial ific
es a
hw eutr tion
at op
er ica
M t
Impact category
eu
ar tro ion
in h
e ica
Fr eu tio
es tro
M hw ph n
in a i ca
er te tio
al, re
fo co n
ss
il W tox
& a te ici
re rr ty
ne
w
es L
ab o ur
an
d
le ce u
re de se
so
ur p let
ce io
de n
pl
et
io
n
CALCULATING LIFE CYCLE IMPACTS FOR THE BASE CASE
system
system
system
Heating
Cooling
Ventilation
Life Cycle assessment

© BSRIA BG 59/2014
6
21
04/11/2014 14:35:40
6 CALCULATING LIFE CYCLE IMPACTS FOR THE BASE CASE
6.2 Endpoint The environmental endpoint impact of the Base Case scenario is shown in
impacts
Table 5.
Table 5: Endpoint environmental impact for Base Case scenario

assessment
Project NanoPigmy LCA System Guide - Base case
Method: ReCiPe Endpoint (E) V1.10 / Europe ReCiPe E/A
Indicator: Single score
Default units: No
Per impact category: No
Sorted on item: Damage category
Damage category Unit Total Cooling Heating Ventilation
system system system
Total Pt 19,534,777.97 10,611,855.63 1,332,733.23 7,590,189.11
Human Health Pt 15,035,739.48 8,370,519.32 814,238.12 5,850,982.04
Ecosystems Pt 2,407,862.06 1,062,846.86 459,775.26 885,239.95
Resources Pt 2,091,176.43 1,178,489.46 58,719.85 853,967.12
Figure 10: Chart of endpoint impacts
20,000,000.00
18,000,000.00
16,000,000.00
14,000,000.00
12,000,000.00 Ventilation
system
Ecopoints
10,000,000.00
Heating
system
8,000,000.00
Cooling
6,000,000.00
system
4,000,000.00
2,000,000.00
0.00
al
s
m
ce
alt
t
To
te
ur
he
ys
so
an
os
Re
um
Ec
H
Damage category

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

CALCULATING LIFE CYCLE IMPACTS FOR THE BASE CASE 6
6.3 Conclusions The assessment of mid-point impacts in Figure 9 shows that across 14 of
from impact
assessment the 16 impact categories there is a very similar pattern of impact from the
three parts of the HVAC system. For these categories, the cooling system
generates 50-60% of the impacts, the ventilation system generates 30-45%
of the impacts, and the heating system generates 2-8% of the impacts.
There are two exceptions to this general pattern. Firstly, for climate change
the impacts are more evenly spread across all three systems. This is due to
the energy needed to operate the systems, both gas and electricity. Secondly,
for mineral, fossil and renewable resource depletion the impacts are greater
from the ventilation system than the heating or cooling systems. This is due
to the shorter life expectancy of ventilation system components, including
central plant, local plant and distribution ductwork, meaning that more
frequent replacements are built in to the model.
The figures in Table 4 show how the impact categories differ in scale. This
can be seen particularly in the total figures for climate change (61,000
tonnes CO2-equivalent) and for ozone depletion (1.75 kg CFC-11
equivalent). These results illustrate how difficult it is to compare two or
more mid-point impact categories in terms of their relative overall harm.
The assessment of endpoint impacts in Table 5 and Figure 10 shows the

weighted impact of the HVAC system over 100 years in terms of Ecopoints,
where 1000 Ecopoints is equivalent to the environmental impact of an
average citizen over the course of a year. The total impact of the HVAC
system over 100 years is nearly 20 million Ecopoints. The proportion of this
impact attributed to the three systems making up the HVAC installation is
very similar to the broad pattern seen in the mid-point impact assessment in
Figure 9.
By way of a reality check it is also worth checking whether the endpoint

impact of the whole HVAC system is in the right ballpark in relation to
provision of indoor comfort for an office block full of people over a 100-
year period.
The Ecopoints total calculated in Table 6, derived from some reasonable

assumptions about occupancy and impact allocation, is close enough to the
total Ecopoints calculated in Table 5 to satisfy the reality check.
Table 6: Reality check for overall endpoint impact

Approximate number of occupants of office block (15,552 m2 GIA, 10 m2 per person) 1,555 people
Average proportion of year that office is occupied by each person 60% (see Note 1)
Full Time Equivalent occupants 933
Proportion of average citizen’s annual impact attributed to office thermal comfort (8h/day, 5d/wk) 20% (see Note 2)
Ecopoints from office thermal comfort 200/year
Ecopoints related to office block occupants’ thermal comfort 186,600
Ecopoints over 100 years 18.6 million
1. This figure is an estimate based on 10% of the working year as annual leave and a mixture of occupancy patterns with
some people in the office all day, 5 days per week, and others being away from the office for some or much of their time.
2. This figure is an estimate based on other major impact-creating activities such as travel (for work and leisure), thermal
comfort at home, food preparation and cooking, purchase of manufactured goods and other services.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

7 AMENDMENTS IN THE ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO
7 Amendments in the Alternative scenario
The overview of the Alternative scenario is that the use of two innovative
materials throughout the interior of the building leads firstly to a reduction
in the cooling loads within the building, and secondly to a reduction in
the energy used for cooling and possibly to a reduction in the sizing of the
plant and equipment to be installed in the cooling system.
7.1 Changes to The extent and overall design of the building is the same as in the Base
the product Case, i.e. a floor plate with dimensions of 54 m x 36 m and 8 treated
system
floors (Ground Floor and 1st to 7th Floors), giving a gross internal area of
15,552 m2.
The areas of internal wall treated with PCM paint and polymer board are
5,856 m2 and 2,304 m2 respectively. The calculation of these quantities is
explained in Appendix B.
To a first approximation, the cooling loads within the building are

estimated to be reduced by the latent heat absorbed by the PCM as it
changes from solid to liquid multiplied by the number of working days
each year that the phase change material is expected to go through the
phase change cycle.
The melting point of the phase change material will be above the set point
for the heating system, so the PCM is not expected to have any impact on
the heating loads within the building. This means there is not expected to
be any change to the sizing of the heating plant and equipment or to the
energy used for heating.
Appendix B shows the overall effect of the phase change material on the
cooling load as 9700 MJ per year, equivalent to 2700 kWh per year. This
reduces the annual energy consumption of the cooling plant by
900 kWh per year as the coefficient of performance of the plant is 3.0.
This reduces the energy consumption of the chillers from 234 MWh per
year (see Appendix A) to 233 MWh per year – a reduction of 0.4%. The
mass flow rate of chilled water being circulated by the cooling pumps
reduces in proportion to the cooling load (a reduction of 1.3%). The
power drawn by the pump is proportional to the cube root of flow rate,
giving a reduction of 1.1% or 0.19 MWh per year.
Such a small reduction in cooling load will not make any difference to
the size of the central cooling plant or circulation pumps selected for the
cooling system. So any reduction in environmental impact through use
of the modified paint and polymer board will be from the reduction in
operational energy consumption.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

AMENDMENTS IN THE ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO 7
The reduction in cooling load should also be considered in respect of the

local cooling plant (fan coil units which are part of the ventilation system
process map). In practice, changes in cooling load would be accommodated
by reducing the capacity of each fan coil unit. In this example it is assumed
that the number of units can be reduced. A cooling load reduction of 1.3%
represents less than one fan coil unit per floor as the Base Case design has
48 units per floor. In theory the number of fan coil units over the whole
building (384) could be reduced to 379 although this would result in
unequal numbers of units on each floor. The effect of any reduction in fan
coil unit provision would also need to be assessed in relation to the heating
load and fresh air requirement in the building, which are both unchanged
from the Base Case.
For the purposes of this example, to illustrate the potential benefit of

substituting innovative materials for the traditional paint and polymer
board, the Alternative scenario has been modelled with the reduced
number of fan coil units on the assumption that the heating load can
still be satisfied. The energy consumption of the fan coil units is linked
partly to the level of heating and cooling that the units deliver and also to
the requirement for fresh air for the building’s occupants. As the heating
requirement and the fresh air requirement are both unchanged, it is
reasonable to assume that the fan coil units would only use a little less
energy in the Alternative scenario than the Base Case, and for the purposes
of this example this reduction has been ignored.
However, the reduction in the number of fan coil units installed

throughout the building can be reflected in a reduction in transport. The
lifetime reduction in fan coil units is 35 (5 fewer fan coils, 7 replacements
during the 100-year study period), each weighing 66 kg. This reduces the
weight of transported goods by 2 tonnes.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

7.2 Changes to The changes to the boundary process maps are as follows:
the system
boundary • The overall high level process map is unchanged (see Figure 1)
process maps
• The heating system process map is unchanged (see Figure 2)
• New versions of the cooling system process map and the ventilation
system process map are shown below in Figures 11 and 12.
Figure 11: Cooling system process map for Alternative scenario
Chillers, 450 kW, 3 chillers 70 tonnes

Pumps, 18.9 l/s, 6 pumps 24.98 GWh elec

Use Energy
170 kg each 5 installations (chillers + pumps)
100 mm diameter, 60 m 70 tonnes
40 mm insulation, Waste disposal Transport
3 installations 100 km
8.5 mm wall
(pipe 22.3 kg/m)
40 mm insulation,
(pipe 4.5 kg/m)
30 mm insulation,
(pipe 3.2 kg/m)
Note: The only change between Figures 3 and 11 is the amount of energy
consumed during the Use stage of the life cycle.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

Figure 12: Ventilation system process map for Alternative scenario
AHUs, 5 m3/s, 10 AHUs 552 tonnes

Fan coil units, 3 kW, 379 FCUs

Heating, 5 kW 26 GWh elec
Use Energy
7 installations (AHU + FCU fans)
cooling, 66 kg each
Grilles and plenum 1152 units 552 tonnes

boxes 1.8 m, 50 l/s Waste disposal Transport
10 kg each 4 installations 100 km
900 x 450 mm
(21.2 kg/m) 3 installations

400 x 300 mm
(11 kg/m) 3 installations
1728 m
Distribution ductwork, 3 installations
200 mm diameter
(4.9 kg/m) 2304 m
7 installations
Note: The only change between Figures 4 and 12 is the number of fan coil
units installed in the system.
7.3 Changes to The HVAC components, or processes, in the Alternative scenario are the
life cycle
inventories
same. Some of the quantities have changed but that is taken into account
in the LCA calculation.
The Life Cycle Inventory for the Alternative scenario also needs to
include any change in environmental emissions and wastes as a result of
substituting the PCM paint and polymer board for the traditional items.
The inventories for the traditional materials are available in the software
databases. The inventories for the innovative materials have been developed
as part of the NanoPigmy project within the LCA software used at
BSRIA.
The quantities of paint and polymer board used in the example project are
calculated in Appendix B.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

7.4 Changes The environmental impacts of the traditional and innovative paint
to impact
assessments
and polymer board for the quantities noted in Appendix B have been
for mid-points summarised in Table 7. This table also indicates the net change in impact
and endponts
for each mid-point and endpoint impact category.
Table 7: Environmental impacts for traditional and innovative materials

Impact Date: : 3/09/2014
SimaPro 8.0.3.14
assessment
Project Nanopigmy
Product: 1 p Modified paint-standard paint (of project Nanopigmy)
Impact category Unit Sub-total for Sub-total for Total net
change in paint change in change
(Innovative- polymer board
traditional) (Innovative-
traditional)
Midpoint impacts
Climate change kg CO2 eq 768.027 2840.697 3608.724
Ozone depletion kg CFC-11 eq 0.000 0.000 0.000
Human toxicity, cancer effects CTUh 0.000 0.000 0.000
Human toxicity, non-cancer effects CTUh 0.000 0.001 0.002
Particulate matter kg PM2.5 eq 0.527 1.951 2.478
Ionizing radiation HH kBq U235 eq 28.659 105.999 134.658
Ionizing radiation E (interim) CTUe 0.000 0.000 0.000
Photochemical ozone formation kg NMVOC eq 4.095 15.148 19.243
Acidification molc H+ eq 5.355 19.806 25.161
Terrestrial eutrophication molc N eq 13.720 50.747 64.468
Freshwater eutrophication kg P eq 0.371 1.371 1.741
Marine eutrophication kg N eq 1.238 4.580 5.818
Freshwater ecotoxicity CTUe 8900.444 32919.998 41820.442
Land use kg C deficit 324.149 1198.926 1523.074
Water resource depletion m3 water eq 1413.624 5228.560 6642.184
Mineral, fossil & renewable resource kg Sb eq 68.005 251.528 319.532
depletion
Endpoint impacts
Damage category
Total Pt 307.427 1137.078 1444.506
Human Health Pt 125.911 465.706 591.617
Ecosystems Pt 30.042 111.115 141.157
Resources Pt 151.474 560.257 711.732

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

Table 8 presents the mid-point environmental impacts of the new HVAC

product system, with detail columns indicating the impacts arising from
the changes to the cooling system and the ventilation system. This table
also includes the net mid-point impacts arising from the paint and polymer
board changes.
Table 9 shows the endpoint impacts of the new HVAC product system and
the net impacts of the innovative materials.
Table 8: Mid-point impacts for the alternative scenario

SimaPro 8.0.3.14 Date: 03/09/2014 Time: 12:10
Project NanoPigmy LCA System Guide - Alternative
Exclude infrastructure No
processes:
Exclude long-term No
emissions:
Impact category Unit Sub-total Cooling Heating Ventilation Net Total impact
for HVAC system system system difference for
system Innovative
materials
Climate change kg CO2 eq 60,696,784.80 23,414,266.09 16,176,932.93 21,105,585.78 3,608.72 60,700,393.52
Ozone depletion kg CFC-11 eq 1.75 0.86 0.09 0.80 0.00 1.75
Human toxicity, cancer CTUh 7.11 4.49 0.28 2.35 0.00 7.11
effects
Human toxicity, non- CTUh 42.44 25.10 0.80 16.54 0.00 42.44
cancer effects
Particulate matter kg PM2.5 eq 22,398.28 11,391.34 860.79 10,146.15 2.48 22,400.76
Ionizing radiation HH kBq U235 eq 18,409,795.22 9,371,042.84 649,904.45 8,388,847.93 134.66 18,409,929.88
Ionizing radiation E CTUe 55.03 28.36 1.50 25.18 0.00 55.03
(interim)
Photochemical ozone kg NMVOC eq 115,372.35 56,442.74 8,266.58 50,663.03 19.24 115,391.59
formation
Acidification molc H+ eq 269,463.72 136,085.46 11,358.12 122,020.15 25.16 269,488.88

Terrestrial eutrophication molc N eq 469,324.44 238,988.89 29,715.19 200,620.35 64.47 469,388.91
Freshwater eutrophication kg P eq 31,878.34 18,190.74 888.36 12,799.24 1.74 31,880.08
Marine eutrophication kg N eq 41,235.44 19,891.36 2,856.69 18,487.39 5.82 41,241.26
Freshwater ecotoxicity CTUe 949,947,818.96 566,921,622.53 17,845,470.06 365,180,726.37 41,820.44 949,989,639.40
Land use kg C deficit 26,030,038.67 13,514,487.21 888,635.52 11,626,915.95 1,523.07 26,031,561.74
3
28,820,605.82 17,181,558.77 2,536,076.48 9,102,970.57 6,642.18 28,827,248.00
Mineral, fossil & renewable kg Sb eq 5,788.22 1,415.04 145.94 4,227.24 319.53 6,107.75
resource depletion

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

Table 9: Endpoint impacts for the Alternative scenario

assessment
Project NanoPigmy LCA System Guide - Alternative
Product: 1 p Assembly: HVAC system (of project NanoPigmy LCA System Guide - Alternative)
Method: ReCiPe Endpoint (E) V1.10 / Europe ReCiPe E/A
Indicator: Single score
Default units: No
Exclude infrastructure No
processes:
Per impact category: No
Sorted on item: Damage category
Damage category Unit Sub-total Cooling Heating Ventilation Net Total
for HVAC system system system difference impact
system for
innovative
materials
Total Pt 19,478,308.97 10,596,407.71 1,332,733.23 7,549,168.03 1,137.08 19,479,446.05

Human Health Pt 14,988,859.41 8,360,615.00 814,238.12 5,814,006.29 465.71 14,989,325.12
Ecosystems Pt 2,403,121.47 1,059,965.25 459,775.26 883,380.97 111.12 2,403,232.58
Resources Pt 2,086,328.09 1,175,827.46 58,719.85 851,780.77 560.26 2,086,888.34
7.5 Comparison of Table 10 compares the mid-point and the endpoint impacts for the
results from
base case and
two scenarios - the Base Case with the original HVAC system and the
alternative Alternative with the modified HVAC system. The Alternative allows for
scenarios the benefits of using the innovative materials to reduce energy use and
the additional impacts from using those new materials over and above
traditional materials.
The results in Table 10 show that in practically all cases, the Alternative
scenario using innovative materials to reduce the energy demand on the
HVAC system gives lower environmental impacts than the Base Case
scenario using the standard HVAC system design. These reductions
are over and above the additional impacts caused by manufacturing the
innovative paint and polymer board.
While this is a change in right direction, it is clear that the reductions in

environmental impact are very small in percentage terms, typically in the
region of 0.2%. It is possible that such small changes may be considered
to be within the margin of error of the modelling and the calculations.
However, at least the analysis has showed that the introduction of
innovative materials into the design of this HVAC system has not caused
an overall increase in environmental impact.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

Table 10: Comparison of impacts between Base Case and Alternative scenarios
Mid-point impacts Base Case Alternative
Impact category Unit Total Total Difference
Climate change kg CO2 eq 60,798,218.28 60,700,393.52 97,875
Ozone depletion kg CFC-11 eq 1.75 1.75 Nil
Human toxicity, cancer effects CTUh 7.12 7.11 0.01
Human toxicity, non-cancer effects CTUh 42.58 42.44 0.14
Particulate matter kg PM2.5 eq 22,454.85 22,400.76 54
Ionizing radiation HH kBq U235 eq 18,449,349.20 18,409,929.88 39,420
Ionizing radiation E (interim) CTUe 55.15 55.03 0.12
Photochemical ozone formation kg NMVOC eq 115,639.01 115,391.59 248
Acidification molc H+ eq 270,155.24 269,488.88 667
Terrestrial eutrophication molc N eq 470,291.22 469,388.91 903
Freshwater eutrophication kg P eq 31,972.93 31,880.08 92
Marine eutrophication kg N eq 41,334.17 41,241.26 93
Freshwater ecotoxicity CTUe 953,089,320.25 949,989,639.40 3,099,681
Land use kg C deficit 26,089,611.62 26,031,561.74 58,050
3
28,871,172.58 28,827,248.00 43,924
Mineral, fossil & renewable resource kg Sb eq 5,807.36 6,107.75 -300
depletion
Endpoint impacts Base Case Alternative

Damage category Unit Total Total Difference
Total Pt 19,534,777.97 19,479,446.05 55,331
Human Health Pt 15,035,739.48 14,989,325.12 46,414
Ecosystems Pt 2,407,862.06 2,403,232.58 4,630
Resources Pt 2,091,176.43 2,086,888.34 4,288
It must be remembered that this study has only considered the

environmental impacts of these two scenarios. No conclusions regarding
cost effectiveness or any other assessment of these design scenarios can be
drawn.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

A APPENDIX
APPENDIX A - REFERENCE FLOWS: BASE CASE SCENARIO
Figures 13, 14 and 15 show the HVAC design applied to the example
building. Figure 13 shows the rooftop plant area at RIBA Stage 3, Figure
14 shows the HVAC central plant schematic at RIBA Stage 3 and Figure
15 shows the HVAC developed design at RIBA Stage 4. Although Figure
15 is a more developed design than has been used for this LCA study, it
shows the layout (but not sizing) of distribution and terminals assumed in
the reference flows.
Figure 13: Rooftop plant area - developed design drawing

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

APPENDIX A
Figure 14: HVAC developed schematic
Figure 15: HVAC technical design drawing – typical floor area layout

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

A APPENDIX
For each component being assessed, the system design has been used to
estimate the size of typical products. Energy consumption is estimated to
enable a calculation of the primary energy demand for each fuel type. The
weight and life expectancy of each component is estimated to enable a
calculation of the transport requirement for installation and for disposal.
Heating central plant

Figure 13 shows three boilers adjacent to grid 5 and between grids D and
E. The peak load is 1,090 kW. A rule of thumb is to use three boilers each
capable of delivering approximately 50% of the peak load. This gives three
gas-fired boilers rated at 500 kW each.
Assuming an average heating load of 20% peak load, i.e. 218 kW and a
boiler efficiency of 80% this means that the average energy demand across
all three boilers is 272.5 kW. This is equivalent to 708.5 MWh/year.
From the literature of a typical manufacturer, the weight of a boiler of this

size is 2.5 tonnes, and the life expectancy is 20 years meaning that an initial
installation and four replacements will be required during the 100-year
study period.
The heating pump room contains six pump sets arranged in dual sets
for interruption-free switch out. The peak flow rate for the system is
calculated from the peak heating load with a standard 6% allowance for
system losses, and based on a temperature drop at the terminals of 10˚C.
It has been calculated that the peak mass flow rate is 4.6 kg/s per pump
set. From the literature of a typical manufacturer, this leads to a pump
weighing 68 kg. The average energy consumption per pump at 20% load is
0.6 kW, leading to an annual energy consumption of 9.3 MWh/year across
all six operating pumps.
The life expectancy of the pump is 20 years meaning that an initial

study period.
Cooling central plant

Figure 13 shows three chillers, adjacent to grid B between grids 2 and
4 and adjacent to grid 8 and grid C. For a peak load of 1,350 kW, it is
assumed that each chiller has a duty of 450 kW. Assuming an average
cooling load of 20% of peak, i,e, 270 kW and that each chiller has a
coefficient of performance (CoP) of 3.0, the average energy input to all
three chillers is 90 kW. This is equivalent to an energy consumption of
234 MWh/year.
From the literature of a typical manufacturer, the weight of a chiller of this

size is 3.2 tonnes, and the life expectancy is 30 years meaning that an initial
installation and three replacements will be required during the 100-year
study period.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

APPENDIX A
The chilled water pump room contains three pump sets arranged in dual
sets for interruption-free switch out. The peak flow rate for the system is
calculated from the peak cooling load with a standard 6% allowance for
system losses, and based on a temperature rise across the cooling coils of
6˚C. It has been calculated that the Peak mass flow rate is 18.9 kg/s per
pump set. From the literature of a typical manufacturer, this leads to a
pump weighing 170 kg. The average energy consumption per pump at
20% load is 2.2 kW, leading to an annual energy consumption of 17.2
MWh per year across all three operating pumps.
The life expectancy of the pump is 20 years meaning that an initial

study period.
Ventilation central plant

Figure 13 and 14 show 10 air handling units. For a flow rate of 5 m3/s
and a specific fan power of 1.4 kW, it is assumed that the energy input to
each AHU is 7 kW, making 70 kW in all. This is equivalent to an energy
consumption of 182 MWh per year.
From the literature of a typical manufacturer, the weight of an AHU of

this size is 3.0 tonnes, and the life expectancy is 15 years meaning that an
initial installation and six replacements will be required during the 100-
year study period.
Ventilation local plant

Figure 15 shows a corner of a typical floor plate layout for the HVAC
system. This figure includes 8 fan coil units (FCUs) and represents one
sixth of the total floor plate. This gives an estimate of 48 FCUs per floor,
and over an 8-storey building this gives a total of 384 FCUs. Based on
the peak load for heating, this gives a maximum heat output of 3 kW per
FCU, and based on the total air flow rate through the AHUs this gives a
maximum air delivery of 130 l/s per FCU.
From the literature of a typical manufacturer, the weight of a FCU of this

size is 66 kg. The specific fan power of a typical FCU is 0.6 kW per m3/s,
which multiplied across the 50 m3/s total air flow rate gives a total energy
consumption of the FCUs of 78 MWh/year.
Distribution components
Figure 15 also shows the local distribution components on a typical floor –
hot and chilled water flow and return pipework, and ductwork.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

B APPENDIX
APPENDIX B - REFERENCE FLOWS: ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO
Area of painted internal wall

The interior of the external façade of the building comprises plasterboard dry-
lining decorated with two coats of paint up to a height of 1 m above the floor
and double glazed windows reaching up to the suspended ceiling.
Internal walls between fire compartments are also dry-lined with plasterboard
and decorated with two coats of paint, floor to ceiling. All other internal
partitions are floor to ceiling polymer board panels mounted in an aluminium
framing system.
The perimeter distance of the external façade is 2 ×(54 m + 36 m) = 180 m.

The area of external façade coated with paint is 180 m2 per floor. The length
of internal walls between fire compartments is 44 m (central core), 24 m (south
emergency core), 24 m (north emergency core). These walls are painted on
both sides, giving a wall area of 552 m2 per floor assuming a floor to ceiling
height of 3 m.
The total painted wall area over all 8 floors is 5,856 m2.
Area of polymer board partitioning

The length of internal partitions, not separating fire compartments, is 48 m
(toilet block), 48 m (central risers). The area of polymer board is 288 m2 per
floor.
The total polymer board area over all 8 floors is 2,304 m2.
Calculation of quantity of phase change material

The concentration of phase change material in the pigment is 8 kg of PCM in
18 kg of modified pigment (a ratio of 44%) and the pigment represents 10% of
the finished paint. So the ratio of PCM to paint is 4.4% by mass. The paint is
applied at a rate of 0.3 kg/m2 (two coats), so this gives a total quantity of PCM
in the painted walls of 77.3 kg.
The same pigment is used in the polymer board (44% PCM), but here the
pigment is used at a concentration of 15% of the finished epoxy resin by
weight. So the ratio of phase change material in the resin is 6.6%. The resin is
used at a rate of 4.6 kg/m2 (both faces), so this gives a total quantity of PCM in
the polymer board of 699 kg.
The total quantity of PCM in the building is 776 kg.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

APPENDIX B
Calculation of change in cooling load due to phase change material

The specific heat of melting of the PCM is 125 J/g, so the phase change
material extracts a total of 97 MJ from the interior of the building each
day that it goes through a melting cycle.
The building is located in the southern counties of the UK and it is

estimated that the cooling system operates for 100 days each year. This
gives a reduction in cooling of 9,700 MJ or 2,700 kWh per year. Over the
100-year life of the building, the PCM reduces the total cooling load by
970,000 MJ.

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

REFERENCES
REFERENCES
BSRIA Publications are available from www.bsria.co.uk, with free downloads for BSRIA members.
1. BSRIA BG 52/2013 Life Cycle Assessment
2. The ecoinvent Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database. Available from www.ecoinvent.org
3. BSRIA BG 6/2014 A Design Framework for Building Services 4th Edition
4. RIBA Plan of Work 2013. Available from www.ribaplanofwork.com
5. European Commission Joint Research Commission, 2010, ILCD handbook. General guide for Life
Cycle Assessment - Detailed guidance. Can be downloaded for free from eplca.jrc.ec.europa.eu
6. ISO 14044: 2006 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Requirements and guidelines.
7. BSRIA BG 9/2011 Rules of Thumb 5th Edition
8. Galitsky C and Worrell E, 2008, Energy efficiency improvement and cost saving opportunities for the vehicle
assembly industry, Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: USA.
9. European Commission Joint Research Commission, 2011, ILCD handbook. Recommendations for Life
Cycle Assessment in the European context.
Can be downloaded for free from eplca.jrc.ec.europa.eu
10. ReCiPe website: www.lcia-recipe.net

© BSRIA BG 59/2014

BG 59-14 Building systems Life Cycle Assessment_D3-2010 Legislation cover.qxd 04/11/2014 14:39 Page 2
BSRIA ⳮ the built

environment experts
BSRIA gives you confidence in design, added value in
manufacture, competitive advantage in marketing,
profitable construction, and efficient buildings
¢ Testing ¢ Troubleshooting
¢ Modelling ¢ Information
¢ Research ¢ Training
¢ Consultancy ¢ Publications
Whatever your building ¢ Instrument hire, ¢ Market research and

services requirement sales and calibration intelligence
contact BSRIA:
T: +44 (0)1344 465600

F: +44 (0)1344 465626 Membership is the foundation of BSRIA’s
E: bsria@bsria.co.uk
W: www.bsria.co.uk expertise and independence
Old Bracknell Lane West,

Bracknell, Berkshire,
RG12 7AH, UK
Offices in Bracknell, Beijing, Dunfermline,
Kuala Lumpur, Ottawa, St Helens, Stuttgart
and Toulouse. Associates in Armagh

Life Cycle Assessment - An Assessment of A Building Services System - Sample

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Life Cycle Assessment - An Assessment of A Building Services System - Sample

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

BG 59-14 Building systems Life Cycle Assessment_D3-2010 Legislation cover.

qxd 04/11/2014 14:39 Page 1

A BSRIA Guide www.bsria.co.uk

An assessment of a building services system

BSRIA’s technical author was David Churcher. It was designed and

Life Cycle assessment

LCA - NanoPigmy_1.indd 3 04/11/2014 21:14:24

2 DEFINING THE EXAMPLE SYSTEM 2

3 SUMMARY OF THE GOAL OF THE ASSESSMENT 3

4 SUMMARY OF THE SCOPE OF THE ASSESSMENT 4

5 COLLATING LIFE CYCLE INVENTORIES FOR THE BASE CASE 9

5.1 Identifying existing and substitutable boundaries 9

6 CALCULATING LIFE CYCLE IMPACTS FOR THE BASE CASE 19

7 AMENDMENTS IN THE ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO 24

APPENDIX A : REFERENCE FLOWS: BASE CASE SCENARIO 32

Life Cycle Assessment

LCA - NanoPigmy_1.indd 4 04/11/2014 14:35:32

This guide supplements the introductory guide to Life Cycle Assessment

This guide builds on BG 52/2013 to explain in more detail how LCA is

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT 1

LCA - NanoPigmy_1.indd 1 10/11/2014 09:52:36

2 Defining the example system

2 Life Cycle Assessment

LCA - NanoPigmy_1.indd 2 04/11/2014 14:35:32

3 SUMMARY OF THE GOAL OF THE ASSESSMENT

The goal comprises six statements. Statements 1 to 3 explain the purpose

Life Cycle assessment 3

LCA - NanoPigmy_1.indd 3 04/11/2014 14:35:32

4 SUMMARY OF THE scope OF THE ASSESSMENT

Critical review is not required for this assessment.

4 Life Cycle Assessment

LCA - NanoPigmy_1.indd 4 04/11/2014 14:35:32

Life Cycle assessment 5

LCA - NanoPigmy_1.indd 5 04/11/2014 14:35:33

• Air distribution: 60 m of 900 x 450 vertical ductwork, 384 m of

Calculations of these reference flows related to the Base Case product

Figure 1: High level process map

The extent of the system boundary includes:

The completeness of the assessment is set at 95%, meaning that processes

6 Life Cycle Assessment

LCA - NanoPigmy_1.indd 6 04/11/2014 14:35:34

Figure 2: Heating system process map

Boilers, 500 kW, 2.5 3 boilers 62 tonnes

Pumps, 4.6 l/s, 12 pumps 70.85 GWh gas (boilers)

Figure 3: Cooling system process map

Chillers, 450 kW, 3.2 3 chillers 70 tonnes

Pumps, 18.9 l/s, 6 pumps 25.1 GWh elec

Life Cycle assessment 7

LCA - NanoPigmy_1.indd 7 04/11/2014 14:35:35

Figure 4: Ventilation system process map

AHUs, 5 m3/s, 10 AHUs 519 tonnes

Fancoil units, 3 kW, 384 FCUs

Grilles and plenum 1152 units 519 tonnes

Distribution ductwork, 384 m

Multifunctionality is not considered as part of this life cycle assessment.

8 Life Cycle Assessment

LCA - NanoPigmy_1.indd 8 04/11/2014 14:35:35

5 Collating life cycle inventories for the Base Case

Processes for which there is already an inventory in the database just

Insulation for 80 mm pipework, 50 mm thick 180 m

Life Cycle assessment 9

LCA - NanoPigmy_1.indd 9 04/11/2014 14:35:35