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Carbon Footprint Diploma

Carbon Neutral Cities and

Sustainable Buildings Cycles CO2

By Carbon Neutral
Dr. Rania Fouad Ismail Initiative
 Carbon Neutral
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Carbon Footprint Diploma

Lecture 2

Building and Material CO2

Life Cycle Assessment Carbon Neutral
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By
Dr. Rania Fouad Ismail
Our Goal

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 Life cycle assessment (LCA) is one of the best
mechanisms for allowing architects and other building professionals to
understand the energy use and other environmental impact associated
with all the phases of a building’s life cycle: procurement, construction,
operation, and decommissioning.

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Life Cycle Assessment

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 Apply a system-wide examination

Use a multi-media approach (air, water,

solid waste)

LCA is an
Identify trade-offs among alternatives
environmental
management Identify opportunities to improve
systems
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tool to:
Support environmental decision making Carbon Neutral
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Achieve sustainable development

“Life Cycle Studies” often focus on a single
issue, such as…
 Recycling/Resource Conservation
 Greenhouse Gas Emissions
 Climate Change
 Carbon Balance
 Energy Balance
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but miss the element of trade-offs. Carbon Neutral
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So, what is Life Cycle Assessment?

 It is an alteration of the
initial characteristics of the
environment caused by a
project, work or activity.

Environmental It is the set of consequences

for human health, the future
Impact availability of natural
resources.
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Attributable to the input or Carbon Neutral

output streams of a system Initiative
Environmental
Impact Assessment

It is an instrument
that identifies, describes
and assesses the
expected effects that
cause the realization of CO2
a project on various
environmental issues Carbon Neutral
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Life Cycle Assessment

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 Life Cycle
Assessment
It is a technique that tries to
identify, measure and characterize
different potential environmental
impacts associated to each one of CO2
the stages of the life cycle of a
product.
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• Sustainable Development
requires balancing
environmental, economic
and social factor
• It does not consider
economic issues, neither
social CO2
But LCA care only about Carbon Neutral
environmental impact Initiative
Life Cycle
Assessment
The goal is to understand the
Wows of matter and energy
involved in the product, material,
manufacturing process, packaging,
etc. CO2
And find out what are the
environmentally critical points and Carbon Neutral
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prevent or remove them using
other materials or systems.
There is a standardized tool for conducting a
multi-media, cradle-to-grave assessment

 ISO 14040 “Life Cycle Assessment – Principles and

Framework” 1997
 ISO 14044 “Life Cycle Assessment – Requirements and
Guidelines” 2006 CO2

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* ISO – International Standards Organization
Phases of the LCA study
• Phase of goal and scope definition
• Phase of inventory analysis ‫تحليل المخزون‬
• Phase of impact assessment ‫تقييم االثر‬
• Phase of interpretation ‫ترجمة‬
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Phases of the LCA study

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1. Phase of goal and scope definition
The basic concepts are defined, such as:

• Product system to study

• The functions of the product system
• The functional unit
• The system limits
• Assumptions ‫االفتراضات‬ CO2
• Limitations
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• Data Requirements Initiative
2. Phase of the inventory analysis

Data collection and

quantification of needed
input/output data
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Inventory data availability is a barrier to
conducting LCAs
 National LCI database still being developed (www.nrel.gov/lci)
 Data come from many different sources, such as:
 Proprietary company data
 Consultants, labs, universities
 Public, e.g., Toxics Release Inventory (EPA)
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 Databases use different units or different reference flows;
report on different time periods
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 Often more than one source is needed to calculate the necessary Initiative
inventory data
 Data for new products must be estimated
LCA Software/Consultants
 EPS
 AIST-LCA
 GaBi
 APME
 GEMIS
 Athena
 GREET
 ATHENA
 IdeMAT
 BEES
 KCL-Eco 3.0
 Boustead
 LCAiT
 CMLCA
 LCAPix
 Dubo-Calc CO2
 MIET
 EcoInvent
 REGIS
 EcoQuantum
 SimaPro 5.0 Carbon Neutral
 EDIP Initiative
 SPINE
 eiolca.net
 TEAM
 EMIS
 Umberto
31 National Databases (in varying stages of
development)
Argentina Chile France Malaysia Spain

Australia China Germany Norway Sweden

Austria Chinese India The Switzerland

Tapei Netherlands

Belgium Denmark Italy Portugal Thailand CO2

Brazil Estonia Japan Poland UK
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Canada Finland Korea South Africa USA Initiative

Vietnam
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3. Phase of impact assessment

Understand and
assess the
importance of
potential
environmental CO2
impacts Carbon Neutral
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Impact Assessment -Common Impact Categories
Impact Category Indicator Measurement
Resources kg Scarce Resources
Water m3 Water
Global Warming kg CO2 equivalents
Ozone Depletion CFC-11 equivalents
Acidification kg SO2 equivalents
Eutrophication kg PO43- equivalents
Smog Formation kg Ethene equivalents CO2
Human Toxicity HTx equivalents
Eco Toxicity ETx equivalents
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Waste kg Waste
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Land Use equivalent hectares
Noise equivalent decibels
Odor ??
LCIA (Life Cycle Impact Assessment) usually
models to midpoints
Emissions (CFCs, Halons)

Chemical reaction releases Cl- and Br-

Cl-, Br- destroys ozone

MIDPOINT measures ozone depletion potential (ODP)

Less ozone allows increased UVB radiation

which leads to following ENDPOINTS CO2

skin cancer Carbon Neutral

cataracts Initiative
crop damage marine life damage

immune system suppression damage to materials like plastics

4. Phase of interpretation
The results of inventory
and/or impact assessment
are summarized and
discussed as basis for the
conclusions,
recommendations and CO2
decision making
according to the objective Carbon Neutral
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and scope defined.
Phases of the LCA study
Life cycle assessment framework

Goal and
Scope
Definition

Inventory
Interpretation
Analysis CO2

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Impact
Assessment

ISO 14040 Standards

Current LCA Practice
 Public LCI data sources are few
 Vendor data lack transparency
 No guidance exists for data modeling
 Impact modeling varies
 No guidance exists for peer review
 International UNEP/SETAC workgroup is slowly making CO2
progress
 US Database is underway but struggling to get Carbon Neutral
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Questions??

Do you need CO2

break? Carbon Neutral

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What LCA does with Materials?
LCA tool go beyond materials decisions

• Focusing on single attributes

• Moves the market toward conversations about
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optimizing environmental, social and health impacts
• Gaining a better understanding of the trade-offs. Carbon Neutral
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How LCA Evaluates the
Use of Materials?
Materials and Resources is one of six
green building categories addressed
in the LEED rating system.
 One of the key strategies is the use
of local and regional materials from
within 500 miles of the project. CO2
All materials, including wood,
sourced or manufactured within 500 Carbon Neutral
miles receive credit in LEED. Initiative
1. Why Material’s Embodied Energy?
- Energy is embodied in everything we use and depend on; it includes:
• Extraction of raw materials
• Transportation of materials
• Manufacture/processing of materials, food, clothing, etc.
• Usage and disposal/recycling
- Greenhouse gas emissions of manufacturing processes
- Often ignored because not as ―visible‖ or easy to track as operational energy

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Architecture industry’s interest in embodied energy:
- Understand how building materials are manufactured
- Specify sustainable products
- Consider entire life-cycle of products
- Encourage manufacturers to find more efficient processes
- Commitment to reduce carbon footprint of buildings CO2

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 LCA encourages more environmentally
responsible product attributes like
recyclability, recycled content and third-
LCA encourages party certification by recognized
more environmental and efficiency programs
like ENERGY STAR—by awarding credits
Environmentally within the LEED rating system for top
Responsible performance.
Product Environmental rating systems like LEED, CO2
its credits are scientifically weighted to
Attributes award greater point values for greater
human and environmental health Carbon Neutral
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 LCA of Material Stages
1. Defining Material Embodied Energy
- Embodied energy = the sum of energy inputs to make a product
- For full cradle-to-grave cycle, energy inputs from:
• Extraction of raw materials
• Transportation to factory
• Manufacture of product / components
• Assembly of product / system
• Transportation to site / point of sale
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• Installation / construction
• Maintenance
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• Replacement Initiative
• Disposal / re-purposing / recycling
 2.Inventory Stage
- Embodied energy for building materials is often measured cradle-to-gate (extraction,
transportation, manufacture, packaging)

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 WASTE ENERGY SITE ENERGY

Embodied
Fossil Fuel Carbon Embodied
Energy

Non-fossil Fuel
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Energy to manufacture product Product or Impact Initiative
Building
3. Research Process & Findings
Multi-disciplinary research team

Goals:

• Calculate and evaluate embodied energy of building materials

• Develop embodied energy calculator specific to building industry

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• Develop design tools to help with material selection

• Adopt a comprehensive and sustainable approach to material selection Carbon Neutral

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Environmental rating systems indirectly
addresses embodied energy:

• Regional materials

• Recycled content

• Material / building reuse

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4. Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) and
Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)
- Governed by ISO standards

- Cradle-to grave analysis of products/materials

- Include embodied energy as well as other environmental factors

- Drive product comparison within industry

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4. Mbod-E Calculator

- Goal of calculator: calculate embodied energy of building materials, assemblies,

and entire projects

- Resources used:
• ICE database
• Product-specific LCAs from manufacturers
• Product-specific EPDs from manufacturers
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• Information acquired from manufacturers (when available)
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- Current format: Excel calculator
4. Mbod-E Calculator

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- E20 – Furnishings
• E2010 – Fixed
• E2020 - Movable
4. Mbod-E Calculator

- Categories not currently included:

• D10 – Conveying
• D20 – Plumbing
• D30 – HVAC
• D40 – Fire Protection
• D50 – Electrical
• E10 – Equipment
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- Not included due to difficulty of
assembly calculations
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- Best way to get values: Initiative
directly from manufacturers
4. Mbod-E Calculator
Inputs for calculator = material quantities
- Finishes: typically in m2 / ft2
- Partitions: m2 / ft2 of wall (calculator accounts for thickness)
- Furnishings: # of units
- Lumber & steel studs: linear feet

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Example on Mbod-E Calculator
BIM warehouses and Mbod-E
- Completed warehouses: partitions, doors
- Future work: window warehouse, finish tags, etc.

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Example on Mbod-E Calculator
BIM schedules and Mbod-E
- Embodied energy built into wall property = efficient system
- Automated calculation
- Unit values and total values appear in schedules
- Creating project baselines for firm

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 CO2

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 Assignment

Read “AIA
Guide to Building
Life Cycle Assessment in
Practice”
To download the book click on this link

https://content.aia.org/sites/default/files/2016-
04/Building-Life-Cycle-Assessment-Guide.pdf CO2

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Questions ??

Thanks