Modelling of building LCA

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leonora
Posts: 7
Joined: 06 Apr 2016 18:12

Modelling of building LCA

Post by leonora » 06 Apr 2016 20:24

Hi,

for my master thesis I am doing a research project for a company, investigating the environmental impacts of a convetional building compared to if it had been designed for disassembly (meaning that a big part of the Building structure can be reused in another Building or product system after the Buildings end of life).

At the moment I am struggeling on how to build up my model due to these issues: 1) I want to be able to compare the environmental impacts for the convetionel Building with the design for disassembly building (my gues is that I need to build up the conventional building as a reference model (or product system) where all materials are disposed of at end of life stage, and another model (or product system) with the design for disassembly scenario where the materials are transfered to nex product system), 2) I want to build up my model to relate to the method used in CEN TC 350 (EN 15978) however only to distringuishes between selected life stages such as: A1: Extraxtion of raw materials, A2: Transport, A3: production, B4: replacement, B6: Energy comsumption for operation, C3: Waste recovery, C4: Disposal (only for reference model), D: Potential for reuse, recov-ery and recycling (only for design for disassembly model, 3) there are an extensive amount of materials and components in the building to keep track of.

Can you give me some advice on how to build up my model according to the above stated?
(a quick response would be much appreciated :) )

Kind Regards
Leonora

aciroth
Posts: 750
Joined: 09 May 2010 23:28

Re: Modelling of building LCA

Post by aciroth » 07 Apr 2016 12:08

Hi Leonora,
here my replies, I hope in time ->
1) then you probably should create two product systems, one for each of the building types, and then compre them in a project; you can also use parameters for sensitivity analyses
2) here you can make several processes, one for each phase, and link them for the entire life cycle in one final "life cycle" process which delivers the functional unit
3) that is quite common for buildings but more a data collection and data set creation issue than a modeling or software issue? Modeling can be an issue for different replacement rates (carpet - light bulb - wall), but maybe this was not your question?
Hope this helps,
Andreas

leonora
Posts: 7
Joined: 06 Apr 2016 18:12

Re: Modelling of building LCA

Post by leonora » 07 Apr 2016 16:06

Hi Andreas,

Thank you for your quick reply, I am a bit short in time so it is very helpful to me!

Regarding 2) I am still unsure about the methodology: As an example lets say that my building (the product system) consists of columns, beams, slabs, walls and foundations and I wish to be able to get results for each life cycle phase of the building as a whole (if possible also for each building component or material). By clicking on the dropbox link below you will find three pictures of conceptual models showing how I imagine the product system can be set up in openLCA, can you tell me which one would be more suitable or suggest a different approach if you have a better suggestion? (I'm sorry I couldn't figure out how to attach pictures in the forum)

Kind Regards
Leonora

aciroth
Posts: 750
Joined: 09 May 2010 23:28

Re: Modelling of building LCA

Post by aciroth » 08 Apr 2016 10:07

Sorry Leonora I needed to remove the link (because it is a public forum, anyone could upload anything) - please post pictures using the "upload attachment" option, thank you.

leonora
Posts: 7
Joined: 06 Apr 2016 18:12

Re: Modelling of building LCA

Post by leonora » 08 Apr 2016 10:09

Hi Andreas,

Thank you for your quick reply, I am a bit short in time so it is very helpful to me!

Regarding 2) I am still unsure about the methodology: As an example lets say that my building (the product system) consists of columns, beams, slabs, walls and foundations and I wish to be able to get results for each life cycle phase of the building as a whole (if possible also for each building component or material). In the three attachments you will find three pictures of conceptual models showing how I imagine the product system can be set up in openLCA, can you tell me which one would be more suitable or suggest a different approach if you have a better suggestion?
Attachments
Example 1.jpg
Example 1.jpg (1.35 MiB) Viewed 7074 times
Example 2.jpg
Example 2.jpg (1.33 MiB) Viewed 7074 times
Example 3.jpg
Example 3.jpg (1.26 MiB) Viewed 7074 times

aciroth
Posts: 750
Joined: 09 May 2010 23:28

Re: Modelling of building LCA

Post by aciroth » 08 Apr 2016 13:56

Thank you - model 3 is probably the most intuitive one. It is not complete we assume (coloumns will be produced out of something) but the principle is clear I think.
Success!
Andreas

leonora
Posts: 7
Joined: 06 Apr 2016 18:12

Re: Modelling of building LCA

Post by leonora » 08 Apr 2016 14:14

Hi Andreas,

Thank you so much! Now I have most of it figured out :)
I hope you have the time and patience to answers a few more of my questions:

I was wondering how to model module D: potential for reuse, recovery and recycling, e.g. a column made of concrete and reinforcement steel will be transfered to another product system after the Buildings end of life. My guess is that I can use allocation or system expantion to model the avoided impact however from what I can find on the internet and in the user manual I am not quite sure about what the difference between them are or how to apply these functions in my model correctly. Can you maybe elaborate?

Regarding module B4: Replacement, using the column as example again, let's say I would like to replace it after 50 years, is it possible to vary the replacement rate by using an input in kg/year or kg/replacement somehow?

Kind Regards
Leonora

aciroth
Posts: 750
Joined: 09 May 2010 23:28

Re: Modelling of building LCA

Post by aciroth » 08 Apr 2016 15:28

Hi Leonora,
here you go, my last two answers ->
*allocation and system expansion are two different ways to deal with multifunctional processes (and please check any basic LCA book or also the ecoinvent or ILCD guidelines for more details). Probably you would use system expansion
* you could provide the replacement rate as a parameter, then you could change it in a quite flexible way.
Best wishes,
Andreas

leonora
Posts: 7
Joined: 06 Apr 2016 18:12

Re: Modelling of building LCA

Post by leonora » 08 Apr 2016 15:30

Ok, thanks a lot - you have been a big help to me!
I wish you a good weekend :)

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