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Kulkarni, Prof Avadhut. "Life Cycle Cost Assessment of Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Blocks." International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology 9, no. VI (June 30, 2021): 3389–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.22214/ijraset.2021.35712.
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In the Development of construction materials Sustainable use of natural resources has become a necessity in India. In this project work, an LCA study is carry out for an AAC block production for environmental assessment. In addition to the LCA, the Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis is also applied for economic assessment. The LCA is performed according to ISO 14040. Firstly, a cradle to gate LCA method performed for one meter cube of Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Block. The LCCA method include in the OpenLCA software which is choose to calculate impact categories i.e. abiotic depletion, global warming potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, Eco toxicity, ozone depletion potential and photochemical oxidation potential. The last few decades, several approaches have been developed by agencies and institutions for Bricks Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA). The LCC analysis was performed by developing a price model for internal and external cost categories within the software.
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Grzyl, Beata, and Agata Siemaszko. "The Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Cost in public works contracts." E3S Web of Conferences 44 (2018): 00047. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20184400047.
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An important goal, implemented by EU countries under the Europe 2020 strategy, is sustainable development, which includes supporting economy that effectively uses natural and environmentally friendly resources. Solutions in this area are also promoted in tender proceedings in the area of public procurement. The LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) and LCC (Life Cycle Cost) analysis are indicated as the basis for decision-making by awarding entities. In the article, the authors present on the selected example the benefits of using LCA and LCC. Based on the documents analysis for 350 selected public procurement procedures conducted in Poland in 2017, the authors examine types, average weights and frequency of application of non-price criteria for the selection of the best offer in practice. Based on the results of the research, are formulated conclusions.
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Irawati, Desrina Yusi, and Melati Kurniawati. "Life Cycle Assessment dan Life Cycle Cost untuk Serat Kenaf." Jurnal Rekayasa Sistem Industri 9, no. 3 (October 27, 2020): 213–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.26593/jrsi.v9i3.4109.213-224.
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Kenaf fiber from the kenaf plant is the excellent raw material for industry because of the various diversified products it produces. To develop sustainable kenaf fiber, information is needed on the strengths and weaknesses of kenaf cultivation systems with respect to productivity and environmental impact. Therefore, a comprehensive environmental and economic impact assessment was conducted from cultivating kenaf to kenaf fiber. The environmental impact assessment uses the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method and economic calculations from the life cycle of kenaf to kenaf fiber to collectors use the Life Cycle Cost (LCC) method. The calculation of environmental impacts is in accordance with the stages of ISO 14040, using a single score assessment. The LCA results show that the treatment stage is the highest contributor of the three groups of impact categories. The highest to the lowest in the impact category group that was influenced by the treatment stage were resources with a value of 21.4 mPt, human health with a value of 8.76 mPt, and ecosystem quality with a value of 1.91 mPt. The cost identified through the LCC is Rp. 6,088,468,333, NVP and B/Cnet are positive. The results of the sensitivity analysis if there is a reduction in production> 6%, the business is still profitable and can be run.
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Alaloul, Wesam Salah, Muhammad Altaf, Muhammad Ali Musarat, Muhammad Faisal Javed, and Amir Mosavi. "Systematic Review of Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Cost Analysis for Pavement and a Case Study." Sustainability 13, no. 8 (April 14, 2021): 4377. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13084377.
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Development of the pavement network systems, which is inevitable due to the rapid economic growth, has increasingly become a topic of significant concern because of the severe environmental impacts of road expansion. For achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs), the policies and actions towards the pavements’ life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) must be carefully assessed. Consequently, the purpose of this review is to present an overview of LCA and LCCA used in pavement engineering and management. Through the quality control of PRISMA, fifty-five most relevant documents were extracted for a thorough investigation. The state of the art review reveals that a limited number of the papers considered environmental impacts of the pavements. Consequently, to assess the environmental impact cost, a conceptual framework was developed to better consider the LCA and LCCA on various aspects of the pavement projects including the sustainability aspects. Besides, a case study was given to validate the literature review towards proposing a novel framework for the incorporation of environmental impact cost.
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Tighnavard Balasbaneh, Ali, Abdul Kadir Bin Marsono, and Emad Kasra Kermanshahi. "Balancing of life cycle carbon and cost appraisal on alternative wall and roof design verification for residential building." Construction Innovation 18, no. 3 (July 9, 2018): 274–300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ci-03-2017-0024.
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Purpose The purpose of this study is to describe life cycle cost (LCC) and life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluation for single story building house in Malaysia. Two objective functions, namely, LCA and LCC, were evaluated for each design and a total of 20 alternatives were analyzed. Two wall schemes that have been adopted from two different recent studies toward mitigation of climate change require clarification in both life cycle objectives. Design/methodology/approach For this strategic life cycle assessment, Simapro 8.3 tool has been chosen over a 50-year life span. LCC analysis was also used to determine not only the most energy-efficient strategy, but also the most economically feasible one. A present value (PV)-based economic analysis takes LCC into account. Findings The results will appear in present value and LC carbon footprint saving, both individually and in combination with each other. Result of life cycle management shows that timber wall−wooden post and beam covered by steel stud (W5) and wood truss with concrete roof tiles (R1) released less carbon emission to atmosphere and have lower life cycle cost over their life span. W5R1 releases 35 per cent less CO2 emission than the second best choice and costs 25 per cent less. Originality/value The indicator assessed was global warming, and as the focus was on GHG emissions, the focus of this study was mainly in the context of Malaysian construction, although the principles apply universally. The result would support the adoption of sustainable building for building sector.
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Xue, Zhuyuan, Hongbo Liu, Qinxiao Zhang, Jingxin Wang, Jilin Fan, and Xia Zhou. "The Impact Assessment of Campus Buildings Based on a Life Cycle Assessment–Life Cycle Cost Integrated Model." Sustainability 12, no. 1 (December 30, 2019): 294. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12010294.
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The development of higher education has led to an increasing demand for campus buildings. To promote the sustainable development of campus buildings, this paper combines social willingness-to-pay (WTP) with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) based on the characteristics of Chinese campus buildings to establish a life cycle assessment–life cycle cost (LCA–LCC) integrated model. Based on this model, this paper analyses the teaching building at a university in North China. The results show that the environmental impacts and economic costs are largest in the operation phase of the life cycle, mainly because of the use of electric energy. The environmental impacts and economic costs during the construction phase mainly come from the building material production process (BMPP); in this process, steel is the main source. Throughout the life cycle, abiotic depletion-fossil fuel potential (ADP fossil) and global warming potential (GWP) are the most prominent indexes. Further analysis shows that these two indexes should be the emphases of similar building assessments in the near future. Finally, this study offers suggestions for the proposed buildings and existing buildings based on the prominent problems found in the case study, with the aim to provide reference for the design, construction, and operation management of similar buildings.
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Ahmed, Inas Mahmood, and Konstantinos Daniel Tsavdaridis. "Life cycle assessment (LCA) and cost (LCC) studies of lightweight composite flooring systems." Journal of Building Engineering 20 (November 2018): 624–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2018.09.013.
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Petrillo, Antonella, Fabio De Felice, Elio Jannelli, Claudio Autorino, Mariagiovanna Minutillo, and Antonio Lubrano Lavadera. "Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost (LCC) analysis model for a stand-alone hybrid renewable energy system." Renewable Energy 95 (September 2016): 337–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2016.04.027.
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Santamaria, Belen Moreno, Fernando del Ama Gonzalo, Matthew Griffin, Benito Lauret Aguirregabiria, and Juan A. Hernandez Ramos. "Life Cycle Assessment of Dynamic Water Flow Glazing Envelopes: A Case Study with Real Test Facilities." Energies 14, no. 8 (April 14, 2021): 2195. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en14082195.
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High initial costs hinder innovative technologies for building envelopes. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) should consider energy savings to show relevant economic benefits and potential to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Life Cycle Cost (LCC) and Life Cycle Energy (LCE) should focus on investment, operation, maintenance, dismantling, disposal, and/or recycling for the building. This study compares the LCC and LCE analysis of Water Flow Glazing (WFG) envelopes with traditional double and triple glazing facades. The assessment considers initial, operational, and disposal costs and energy consumption as well as different energy systems for heating and cooling. Real prototypes have been built in two different locations to record real-world data of yearly operational energy. WFG systems consistently showed a higher initial investment than traditional glazing. The final Life Cycle Cost analysis demonstrates that WFG systems are better over the operation phase only when it is compared with a traditional double-glazing. However, a Life Cycle Energy assessment over 50 years concluded that energy savings between 36% and 66% and CO2 emissions reduction between 30% and 70% could be achieved.
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Liu, Jingkuang, Zhengjie Huang, and Xuetong Wang. "Economic and Environmental Assessment of Carbon Emissions from Demolition Waste Based on LCA and LCC." Sustainability 12, no. 16 (August 18, 2020): 6683. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12166683.
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In China, urban renewal and renovation projects generate a large amount of demolition waste every year, the disposal of which has certain impacts on the environment. Therefore, more effective policies should be implemented for the management of demolition waste. This study combines life cycle assessment (LCA) with life cycle costing (LCC) to analyze the environmental and economic drivers of three different waste disposal scenarios in Guangzhou, China, in the context of carbon trading: S1 (landfilling), S2 (recycled aggregate), and S3 (recycled powder). In this study, the carbon emissions of demolition waste were obtained by LCA, and the carbon emission cost was calculated based on the carbon price in the carbon trading market of Guangdong Province. The LCA results showed that waste recycling can greatly reduce carbon emissions. The results showed that compared to S1, S2 reduced 6.790 × 108 kg CO2 eq. Additionally, S3 reduced 4.172 × 108 kg CO2 eq. compared to S2. The LCC results show that waste recycling can greatly reduce the total costs of the demolition sector, while the production of recycled powder can generate 57.35% of the revenue from recycled aggregate to the recycling plant. This study combines LCA and LCC, and considers environmental factors to assess the economic results using carbon emissions cost, thereby forging a new exploration method in the field of life cycle theory. The findings of this study could provide a basis for the formulation of a new demolition waste management policy. In the case of the gradual implementation of carbon trading, it could also provide new ideas for current demolition waste treatment from economic and environmental perspectives.
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Widiyanto, Anugerah, Seizo Kato, and Naoki Maruyama. "A LCA/LCC Optimized Selection of Power Plant System With Additional Facilities Options." Journal of Energy Resources Technology 124, no. 4 (November 20, 2002): 290–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/1.1507329.
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In the past, the selection of an energy resource for electricity generation was dominated by finding the least expensive power generating plant. Although such an approach is essential, there is growing concern about other aspects of power generation such as social, environmental and technological benefits and consequences of the energy source selection. The aims of this paper are first to introduce a life cycle assessment (LCA) scheme with the aid of the NETS (Numerical Eco-load Total Standardization) method that we have newly proposed. This method provides a numerical measure for evaluating the quantitative load of any industrial activity on the environment, and has been used to analyze the energy flow and the environmental loads of various power generation systems. A second goal is to develop a computer program to examine the applicability of technology options based on cost performance and environmental load reduction. A final goal of this work is to select the power system using life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC). As a result, environmental load and economical cost for various power generation systems are discussed from the LCA point of view for further ecological improvement.
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Loukopoulos, Andreas, Christos Katsiropoulos, and Spiros Pantelakis. "Life cycle assessment and cost analysis evaluation of a helicopter's canopy production using different manufacturing processes." MATEC Web of Conferences 188 (2018): 01020. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201818801020.
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In the present work, Life Cycle analysis (LCA) and Life cycle costing (LCC) models were developed in order to quantify the environmental footprint and cost and thus compare different manufacturing scenarios associated with the production of aeronautical structural components. To validate the models developed, they were implemented for the case of a helicopter's canopy processed by two techniques commonly used in aeronautics, namely the autoclave and the Resin Transfer moulding (RTM). The canopy was assumed to be made of a carbon fiber reinforced thermosetting material. Using the models developed the expected environmental and cost benefits by involving the RTM technique have been quantified.
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Kaewunruen, Sakdirat, Jessada Sresakoolchai, and Shuonan Yu. "Global Warming Potentials Due to Railway Tunnel Construction and Maintenance." Applied Sciences 10, no. 18 (September 16, 2020): 6459. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app10186459.
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Global warming is a critical issue nowadays. Although the railway system is considered as green transportation, it cannot be denied that railway tunnels have a significant environmental impact during construction and maintenance. At the same time, asset management of a project becomes more popular in project analysis. Therefore, this study aims to analyse life-cycle cost (LCC) and life-cycle assessment (LCA) for the Xikema No. 1 high-speed railway tunnel in China to consider the environmental impact of rail tunnel construction. The initial capital costs of tunnel and rail construction, operation, and maintenance costs have been separately considered in terms of the life-cycle cost analysis and net present value (NPV) with various discount rates. The LCA analysis has presented the CO2 emissions and energy consumption over the construction and operation processes into consideration. The CO2 emissions and energy consumption caused by material production, maintenance, and material transportation have been accounted for. The results show that the materials used during the construction process contribute to about 97.1% of CO2 emissions of the life-cycle while CO2 emissions caused by the operation and maintenance process are relatively small compared with the construction process. Moreover, the maintenance process consumes over 55% of the life-cycle energy. The energy consumption of the tunnel construction process is approximately 44.3%. At the same time, the construction contributes to the main proportion of LCC due to relatively low cost in the operation and maintenance stages.
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Lerkkasemsan, Nuttapol, and Luke E. K. Achenie. "Life Cycle Costs and Life Cycle Assessment for the Harvesting, Conversion, and the Use of Switchgrass to Produce Electricity." International Journal of Chemical Engineering 2013 (2013): 1–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/492058.
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This paper considers both LCA and LCC of the pyrolysis of switchgrass to use as an energy source in a conventional power plant. The process consists of cultivation, harvesting, transportation, storage, pyrolysis, transportation, and power generation. Here pyrolysis oil is converted to electric power through cocombustion in conventional fossil fuel power plants. Several scenarios are conducted to determine the effect of selected design variables on the production of pyrolysis oil and type of conventional power plants. The set of design variables consist of land fraction, land shape, the distance needed to transport switchgrass to the pyrolysis plant, the distance needed to transport pyrolysis oil to electric generation plant, and the pyrolysis plant capacity. Using an average agriculture land fraction of the United States at 0.4, the estimated cost of electricity from pyrolysis of 5000 tons of switchgrass is the lowest at $0.12 per kwh. Using natural gas turbine power plant for electricity generation, the price of electricity can go as low as 7.70 cent/kwh. The main advantage in using a pyrolysis plant is the negative GHG emission from the process which can define that the process is environmentally friendly.
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Oğuz, Elif, and Ayşe Eylül Şentürk. "Selection of the Most Sustainable Renewable Energy System for Bozcaada Island: Wind vs. Photovoltaic." Sustainability 11, no. 15 (July 29, 2019): 4098. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11154098.
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Energy production without destroying the environment has been one of the most crucial issues for people living in today’s world. In order to analyze whole environmental and/or economic impacts of the energy production process, life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost (LCC) are widely used. In this study, two distinct renewable energy systems are assessed. First, a land-based wind farm, which has been operating in Bozcaada Island since 2000, is compared to a proposed solar photovoltaic power plant in terms of Energy Pay-Back Time (EPBT) periods and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and life cycle cost. The energy production process including the recycling phase evaluated “from cradle to grave” using GaBi software for both cases. All scenarios are compared by considering different impact categories such as global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), and eutrophication potential (EP). Following this, levelized unit cost to produce 1 MWh electricity (LUCE) is calculated for both systems. This study revealed that LCA and LCCA are useful and practical tools that help to determine drawbacks and benefits of different renewable energy systems considering their long-term environmental and economic impacts. Our findings show that onshore wind farms have a number of benefits than proposed photovoltaic power plants in terms of environmental and cost aspects.
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Liang, Shaobo, Hongmei Gu, and Richard Bergman. "Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment and Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of a High-Rise Mass Timber Building: A Case Study in Pacific Northwestern United States." Sustainability 13, no. 14 (July 13, 2021): 7831. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13147831.
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Global construction industry has a huge influence on world primary energy consumption, spending, and greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions. To better understand these factors for mass timber construction, this work quantified the life cycle environmental and economic performances of a high-rise mass timber building in U.S. Pacific Northwest region through the use of life-cycle assessment (LCA) and life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA). Using the TRACI impact category method, the cradle-to-grave LCA results showed better environmental performances for the mass timber building relative to conventional concrete building, with 3153 kg CO2-eq per m2 floor area compared to 3203 CO2-eq per m2 floor area, respectively. Over 90% of GHGs emissions occur at the operational stage with a 60-year study period. The end-of-life recycling of mass timber could provide carbon offset of 364 kg CO2-eq per m2 floor that lowers the GHG emissions of the mass timber building to a total 12% lower GHGs emissions than concrete building. The LCCA results showed that mass timber building had total life cycle cost of $3976 per m2 floor area that was 9.6% higher than concrete building, driven mainly by upfront construction costs related to the mass timber material. Uncertainty analysis of mass timber product pricing provided a pathway for builders to make mass timber buildings cost competitive. The integration of LCA and LCCA on mass timber building study can contribute more information to the decision makers such as building developers and policymakers.
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Fong, Ming-Lun Alan. "Sustainable Ventilation Strategies for a Medium-Sized Space with Regional Effect." Sustainability 13, no. 9 (April 22, 2021): 4651. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13094651.
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The analysis of ventilation strategies is fundamentally affected by regional climate conditions and local cost databases, in terms of energy consumption, CO2 emission and cost-effective analysis. A systematic approach is covered in this paper to estimate a local economic and environmental impact on a medium-sized space located in two regions during supply-and-installation and operation phases. Three ventilation strategies, including mixing ventilation (MV), displacement ventilation (DV) and stratum ventilation (SV) were applied to medium-sized air-conditioned space with this approach. The trend of the results for three ventilation systems in the life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost (LCC) analysis is SV < DV < MV. The result of CO2 emission and regional LCC shows that SV is the lowest one in both regional studies. In comparison with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) during 20 Service years, the case analysis demonstrates that the percentage differences in LCC analysis of MV, DV & SV in Guangdong are less than 20.5%, 19.4% and 18.82% respectively. Their CO2 emission of MV, DV and SV in Guangdong are more than HKSAR in 10.69%, 11.22% and 12.05%, respectively. The present study could provide information about regional effects in the LCA and LCC analysis of three ventilation strategies emissions, and thereby help set up models for decision-making on high efficiency and cost-effective ventilation strategy plans.
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Babashamsi, Peyman, Nur Izzi Md Yusoff, Halil Ceylan, and Nor Ghani Md Nor. "Life Cycle Assessment for Pavement Sustainable Development: Critical Review." Applied Mechanics and Materials 802 (October 2015): 333–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.802.333.
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Certainly, one of the most cost effective and comprehensive infrastructure assets of the build environment is road infrastructure. The environmental impacts of this asset during its life-cycle drive researchers to create a foundational framework to quantify these effects. Life cycle assessment (LCA), a method for the assessment of all modules in a life cycle, has been examined to evaluate all the environmental modules and components of road projects due to constraints of environmental assessments. The enthusiasm for enhancing the sustainable development of basic infrastructure leads to quick expansion on pavement life cycle assessment. An audit of applicable published LCA studies has recognized that environmental modules, such as the usage module (rolling resistance of pavement, carbonation, and albedo), end of life (EOL) module, and components such as traffic congestion during the construction module are not regarded in most of the articles. These modules potentially have the same environmental impact as other regularly considered modules such as materials, transportation, and construction. The goal of this study is to recognize shortfalls in the fields that bolster pavement LCA, to prepare a comprehensive and straight forward methodology, and to provide a basis on which related studies can move forward
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Kamble, Sheetal, Anju Singh, Absar Kazmi, and Markus Starkl. "Environmental and economic performance evaluation of municipal wastewater treatment plants in India: a life cycle approach." Water Science and Technology 79, no. 6 (March 15, 2019): 1102–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wst.2019.110.
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Abstract Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Moreover, an economic evaluation was also addressed using life cycle cost (LCC) approach. Emissions associated with electricity production for operating the WWTPs, emissions from the treated effluent and hazardous heavy metals emissions have been identified as the main contributors to the overall environmental impact. Among the WWTPs considered, soil biotechnology (SBT) obtained the lowest environmental impact in all the evaluated impact categories, except for eutrophication potential. While the aerated lagoons (AL) system presented the worst results due to the high electricity and chemicals consumption. Moreover, the results obtained from the evaluation of benefit from treated effluent reuse clearly indicate that there is a drop in the toxicity potential when the rate of effluent reuse is increased. On the other hand, the present worth of SBT was estimated to be Rs. 40 million/millions of litres per day (MLD) which is the highest as compared to other technologies. Membrane bioreactor (MBR) is the second highest (Rs. 24.7 million/MLD), which is mainly contributed by civil, electro-mechanical and membrane cost. The results of LCA and LCC provide specific insights about the factors which play a major role during the life cycle of wastewater treatment technology and its associated impacts.
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Haslett, Katie E., Eshan V. Dave, and Weiwei Mo. "Realistic Traffic Condition Informed Life Cycle Assessment: Interstate 495 Maintenance and Rehabilitation Case Study." Sustainability 11, no. 12 (June 12, 2019): 3245. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11123245.
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As construction costs continue to rise and adequate amounts of funding continues to be a challenge, the allocation of resources is of critical importance when it comes to the maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) of highway infrastructure. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is presented here that integrates realistic traffic conditions in the operational phase to compare M&R scenarios over the analysis period of a 26-km stretch of Interstate-495. Pavement International Roughness Index (IRI) were determined using American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) PavementME System. Meanwhile, vehicle fuel consumption and emission factors were calculated using a combination of Google Maps®, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator, the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) Naturalistic Driving Study, and MassDOT’s Transportation Data Management System. The evaluation of pavement performance with realistic traffic conditions, varying M&R strategies, and material characteristics was quantified in terms of Life Cycle Cost (LCC), Global Warming Potential (GWP), and Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) for both agencies and users. The inclusion of realistic traffic conditions into the use phase of the LCA resulted in a 6.4% increase in CED and GWP when compared to baseline conditions simulated for a week long operation duration. Results from this study show that optimization of M&R type, material selection, and timing may lead to a 2.72% decrease in operations cost and 47.6% decrease in construction and maintenance costs.
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Ma, Yongxi, Shuao Yu, Juanli Wang, and Wei Yu. "LCA/LCC analysis of starting-lighting-ignition lead-acid battery in China." PeerJ 6 (July 26, 2018): e5238. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5238.
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Background China has the largest lead–acid battery (LAB) industry and market around the world, and this situation causes unavoidable emissions of Pb and other pollutants. Methods On the basis of a field survey on a starting–lighting–ignition (SLI) LAB plant in Zhejiang Province, this study applies life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) methods to assess the environmental impacts and environment-related costs derived from the LAB industry during the life phases, including material preparation, battery assembly, transportation, and regeneration of the plant. Results Material preparation and regeneration phases contribute 3.4 and 42.2 g to Pb emission, respectively, and result in 3.29 × 108 CHY of environmental cost for each function unit (1 KVA h LAB capacity). The material preparation phase is the largest mass contributor to global warming potential (GWP, 97%), photo-chemical oxidation potential (POCP, 88.9%), and eutrophication potential (EP, 82.5%) and produces 2.68 × 108 CHY of environmental cost. Discussion Decision makers in the Chinese LAB industry should replace the pyrogenic process in smelting with the use of clean energy, increase the lead recovery rate while producing the same capacity of LABs, and develop new technologies to reduce heavy metal emission, especially in the regeneration phase.
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Ma, Mingjun, and Kurt A. Rosentrater. "Techno-economic Analysis (TEA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a Low Temperature Closed-Cycle Grain Drying System." Journal of Agricultural Science 11, no. 6 (May 15, 2019): 52. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jas.v11n6p52.
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The aim of this study was to understand the environmental and economic impact of the low temperature closed-cycle grain drying system by using techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA). For TEA, three scales including small (60 bu/batch), medium (600 bu/batch) and large (6000 bu/batch) were chosen for analysis the total annual drying cost and unit drying cost. For LCA, the greenhouse gasses (GHG) emission was the only environmental impact that considered in this study, since the electricity was the only energy source for this drying system. The TEA result shows that the drying costs for one bushel of corn were $0.62, $0.49, $0.46 for the small, medium and large scales of this drying system, respectively, and the drying cost could potentially be lower than grain elevators. The LCA results indicate that greenhouse gas emissions will increase along with the expansion of the drying system since the electricity comes from a local coal-based electricity plant, which potentially makes this drying system’s greenhouse gas emissions higher than other types of drying systems. Farmers can use this method to make decisions when handling their grain.
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Joachimiak-Lechman, Katarzyna, Dawid Garstecki, Marcin Konopczyński, and Anna Lewandowska. "Implementation of Life Cycle Based Tools in the Circular Economy Context—Case Study of Plastic Waste." Sustainability 12, no. 23 (November 27, 2020): 9938. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12239938.
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This article describes research done within the CIRCE2020 project, implemented under the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE 2014–2020 Programme. The main aim is to present the results of a life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) carried out for a recycling plant in Wielkopolska. From the LCA perspective, the analyzed recycling plant performs two functions; therefore, two research approaches were adopted: from the final waste management perspective (Approach 1) and from the production of secondary products (Approach 2). From the first perspective, the total environmental impact for the reference flow (215.140 kg of multi-material waste) was 552.32 Pt. When focused on the second perspective, the environmental impact for the production of plastic boards (3.073 boards) reached 659.58 Pt. The difference in the obtained values results from the fact that the second analysis, besides waste processing, included additionally the generation of raw materials corrected by the quality factor. The total production cost of boards made of multi-material waste was PLN 165,957.23. Energy consumption is the main cost-generating element of production and also the most important environmental hot spot. To increase environmental efficiency and reduce costs, the use of technology allowing for the reduction of energy demand should be considered first.
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Mohammadi Ashnani, Mohammad Hossein, Anwar Johari, Haslenda Hashim, and Elham Hasani. "Life Cycle Assessment of Palm Oil Biodiesel Production in Malaysia." Applied Mechanics and Materials 465-466 (December 2013): 1080–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.465-466.1080.
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Almost identical properties with petroleum-derived diesel make biodiesel one of the best options of renewable and sustainable fuel supply to the transportation sector. Thanks to plentiful sources of palm oil and reasonable cost, it can be a proper feedstock for biodiesel production in Malaysia. Still, there is a paucity of studies concerning the effects of palm biodiesel on the environment. This paper, therefore, deals with life cycle assessment (LCA) of palm biodiesel to find out and validate the common belief regarding suitability of palm biodiesel as a green and sustainable fuel. The LCA study was conducted through three main stages including agricultural activities, oil milling, and transesterification process of biodiesel production. Palm oil biodiesel production results in the production of 1627.748kgCO2-eq of GHG and energy consumption of 12449.48MJ per ton PME. The results indicate that the most relevant environmental impact of this biofuel system is depletion of fossil resources.
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Bianchi, Pollyanna Fernandes, Víctor Yepes, Paulo Cezar Vitorio, and Moacir Kripka. "Study of Alternatives for the Design of Sustainable Low-Income Housing in Brazil." Sustainability 13, no. 9 (April 23, 2021): 4757. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13094757.
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Despite insufficient housing facilities, particularly in developing countries, construction systems are generally selected intuitively or based on conventional solutions sanctioned by practice. The present study aims to evaluate different options for the design of low-income housing in Brazil by integrating the life cycle assessment (LCA) into the decision-making process. To achieve this objective, three single-family projects with different construction systems were selected and analyzed. The most sustainable design was selected through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The considered parameters, which were obtained through a survey with professionals and customers, included cost, environmental impact, thermal comfort, construction time, and cultural acceptance. LCA and life cycle cost assessment (LCCA) were performed with the frontier’s system considering the cradle-to-gate cycle, which included the extraction of raw materials, manufacture of building materials, and housing construction. The projects were modelled using Autodesk Revit software with the Tally application for LCA evaluation. The results indicated that light steel frame houses present a better behavior than other conventional alternatives, and the integration of building information modelling with LCA and LCCA in the design phase can lead to the development of more sustainable houses.
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Decorte, Yanaika, Marijke Steeman, Nathan Van Den Bossche, and Klaas Calle. "Environmental evaluation of pareto optimal renovation strategies: a multidimensional life-cycle analysis." E3S Web of Conferences 172 (2020): 18003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202017218003.
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The substantial contribution of buildings in the energy consumption and emissions renders the existing building stock a key element to tackle the climate crisis. Consequently, defining a deliberate decision-making process gains importance. Decisions are currently often based on building codes, budget, and in the best case Pareto optimality of the energy performance and the net present value of the life-cycle cost. The growing attention to sustainability, however, raises questions about the effect of environmental considerations on the outcome of the Pareto optimal solutions. This study quantifies the effect of including the environmental aspect as a third dimension to the current evaluation approach. Therefore, the most appropriate renovation measures are selected using a multidimensional Pareto optimization. The method is applied to a residential high-rise building in Belgium. Firstly, the Pareto front is constituted based on life-cycle costing and life-cycle assessment separately. Subsequently, the respective results are combined into an integrated life cycle approach by enumerating the LCA results as an external cost to the LCC results. The results show that the Pareto optimal solutions from a financial and environmental perspective do not coincide. Although the financial aspect dominates, adding the environmental cost eliminates low-performant financial optima, leading to optimal solutions with a larger insulation thickness.
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Kulczycka, Joanna, and Marzena Smol. "Environmentally friendly pathways for the evaluation of investment projects using life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA)." Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy 18, no. 3 (October 24, 2015): 829–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10098-015-1059-x.
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Medgyasszay, Péter, and Zsuzsa Szalay. "Optimization of Building Envelope Components Based on Life Cycle Environmental Impacts and Costs." Advanced Materials Research 899 (February 2014): 93–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.899.93.
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Recent national and international building regulations on the energy performance of buildings focus mainly on the reduction of operational energy. This can be achieved by increasing the energy efficiency of the building, installing highly efficient building service systems and applying renewable energy sources. However, these measures have a price in terms of investment costs, and also in terms of environmental impacts. The life-cycle of building materials, building constructions or whole buildings from cradle to grave can be assessed using the method of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Cost analysis (LCC). These tools take into account not only the heating energy saving due to additional insulation, but also the embodied environmental impacts and costs of the investment. In this paper, the optimum thickness of various insulation materials, including natural and recycled materials is examined considering three main environmental indicators and global costs. The analysis is performed for a typical Hungarian single-family house subject to retrofit.
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Shin, Young-su, and Kyuman Cho. "BIM Application to Select Appropriate Design Alternative with Consideration of LCA and LCCA." Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2015 (2015): 1–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/281640.
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Advancements in building materials and technology have led to the rapid development of various design solutions. At the same time, life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) of such solutions have become a great burden to engineers and project managers. To help conduct LCA and LCCA conveniently, this study (i) analyzed the information needed to conduct LCA and LCCA, (ii) evaluated a way to obtain such information in an easy and accurate manner using a building information modeling tool, and (iii) developed an Excel spreadsheet-based framework that allowed for the simultaneous implementation of LCA and LCCA. The framework developed for LCA and LCCA was applied to a real building case to evaluate three possible alternatives for an external skin system. The framework could easily and accurately determine which skin system had good properties in terms of the LCA and LCCA performance. Therefore, these results are expected to assist in decision making based on the perspectives of economic and environmental performances in the early phases of a project, where various alternatives can be created and evaluated.
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Saosee, Piyarath, Boonrod Sajjakulnukit, and Shabbir Gheewala. "Life Cycle Assessment of Wood Pellet Production in Thailand." Sustainability 12, no. 17 (August 27, 2020): 6996. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12176996.
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Thailand has increased wood pellet production for export and domestic use. The variations in production processes, raw materials, and transportation related to wood pellet production make it necessary to evaluate the environmental impacts assessment. The objective of this study was to compare via Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), eight different cases of wood pellet production varying in terms of raw materials, production processes, energy use, and the format of transportation and to compare LCA of electricity production from wood pellets and fossil fuels. The comparison results show that leucaena is better as a feedstock for wood pellet production than acacia due to shorter harvest cycle and lesser use of resources. Pellet production consumes the most energy contributing significantly to the environmental impacts. The use of fossil fuels in wood pellet production and transportation also has a major contribution to the environmental impacts. Using wood pellets for electricity production is better than lignite in terms of human health, ecosystem quality and resource scarcity. Recommendations from this study include increasing yield of feedstock plants, shortening harvest cycle, reducing overuse of fertilizers and herbicides, pollution control, reducing fossil fuel use in the supply chain, good logistics, feedstock access, and offering incentives considering the externality cost.
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Canaj, Kledja, Andi Mehmeti, and Julio Berbel. "The Economics of Fruit and Vegetable Production Irrigated with Reclaimed Water Incorporating the Hidden Costs of Life Cycle Environmental Impacts." Resources 10, no. 9 (September 3, 2021): 90. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/resources10090090.
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The estimation and quantification of external environmental costs (hidden costs) are crucial to sustainability assessments of treated wastewater reuse projects. These costs, however, are rarely considered in economic analysis studies. In this work, monetized life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) were combined into a hybrid model to calculate cradle-to-farm gate external environmental costs (EEC) and internal costs (IC) of producing 1 t of plant-based product irrigated with reclaimed water in a Mediterranean context. The total cost was calculated by combining monetized LCA and LCC results. The results for the crops under consideration were 119.4 €/t for tomatoes, 344.4 €/t for table grapes, and 557 €/t for artichokes. Our findings show that there are significant hidden costs at the farm level, with EEC accounting for 57%, 23%, and 38% of the total cost of tomatoes, table grapes, and artichokes, respectively. Electricity use for water treatment and fertilization generated most of the EEC driven by the global warming, particulate matter, acidification, and fossil resource scarcity impact categories. When compared to groundwater, the higher internal costs of reclaimed water were offset by lower external costs, particularly when supported by low-energy wastewater treatment. This demonstrates that incorporating EEC into economic analyses might generate a better understanding of the profitability of treated wastewater reuse in crop production. In Italy and the Mediterranean region, research on the sustainability of water reuse in irrigation through life cycle thinking is still limited. Using a multi-metric approach, our analysis brought new insights into both economic and environmental performance – and their tradeoff relationships in wastewater reuse for irrigation of agricultural crops. In future research, it would be of interest to use different monetization methods as well as to investigate social externalities to explore their size and role in the total external costs.
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Zawadzki, Przemyslaw, Firdaus Muhammad-Sukki, Siti Hawa Abu-Bakar, Nurul Aini Bani, Abdullahi Abubakar Mas’ud, Jorge Alfredo Ardila-Rey, and Abu Bakar Munir. "Life Cycle Assessment of a Rotationally Asymmetrical Compound Parabolic Concentrator (RACPC)." Sustainability 12, no. 11 (June 10, 2020): 4750. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12114750.
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Integrating a concentrator into the building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) design has resulted in a new technology known as the building integrated concentrating photovoltaic (BICPV). The rotationally asymmetrical compound parabolic concentrator (RACPC) is an example of a concentrator design that has been explored for use in BICPV. This paper evaluates the life cycle assessment (LCA) for the RACPC-PV module, which has never been explored before. The LCA of the RACPC-PV module has found a cost reduction of 29.09% and a reduction of 11.76% of embodied energy material manufacture when compared to a conventional solar photovoltaic (PV) module. The energy payback time for an RACPC-PV and a conventional PV was calculated to be 8.01 and 6.63 years, respectively. Moreover, the energy return on investment ratio was calculated to be 3.12 for a conventional PV and 3.77 for an RACPC-PV.
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Petrauskienė, Kamilė, Arvydas Galinis, Daina Kliaugaitė, and Jolanta Dvarionienė. "Comparative Environmental Life Cycle and Cost Assessment of Electric, Hybrid, and Conventional Vehicles in Lithuania." Sustainability 13, no. 2 (January 19, 2021): 957. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13020957.
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Electric mobility is promoted as a future transport option that has environmental and economic benefits and encourages sustainable urban transportation. The aim of this study is to reveal the changes in environmental and economic performance if we switched from internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) to battery electric (BEV) or hybrid electric (HEV) vehicles. Therefore, this research presents a comparative environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) from the Cradle-to-Grave perspective of the vehicles and a Well-to-Wheel analysis of their fuel supply. Moreover, an LCA of a BEV was performed under diverse electricity mix scenarios, which are forecasted for 2015–2050 in Lithuania. From an economic point of view, a life cycle costing was conducted for the same vehicles to estimate the economic impacts over the vehicle life cycles under Lithuanian conditions. The results show that ICEV-petrol contributes the major environmental damage in all damage categories. BEVs with the electricity mix of 2020–2050 scenarios, which are composed mainly of renewable energy sources, provide the least environmental impact. The economic results reveal that BEV and ICEV-diesel are the most cost-efficient vehicles, with the total consumer life cycle costs of approximately 5% and 15% less than ICEV-petrol and HEV, respectively.
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Hu, Ren, Zhao Xia Jing, Qing Hua Wu, Ren Bao Yan, and Zhe Cheng Cao. "Life Cycle Assessment of Environmental Impacts and Total Cost of Power Cable." Applied Mechanics and Materials 872 (October 2017): 412–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.872.412.
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For responding the national demand of energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER) and promoting the green purchase of power equipments, it’s highly of importance to perform the analytic process of environmental impacts and total cost in lifetime for power equipments. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an analytic approach which completely supervises the concerned objective within its life cycle. In this paper the life cycle is hypothetically divided into three main phases, respectively, the production phase, the operation phase and the recycling phase. On the basis of LCA, this study develops a model regarding the environmental impact analysis and total cost calculation for power cable within its life cycle. This model computes the emission level of main pollutants at each stage and illustrates the trend of total cost change with respect to changeable power load parameters. The experimental research indicates that the developed model is practically useful and rational with conclusions. In terms of environmental impacts of power cable, the effect from the production phase mostly lies in the discharge of abundant waste water. And the effect from the operation phase mainly concentrates upon the energy consumption and the emission of greenhouse gas. However, the effect from the recycling phase is very slight. Meanwhile, as for the perspective of total cost of power cable, the operating cost increases obviously as the power load arises.
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Kaewunruen, Sakdirat, Jessada Sresakoolchai, and Junying Peng. "Life Cycle Cost, Energy and Carbon Assessments of Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway." Sustainability 12, no. 1 (December 25, 2019): 206. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12010206.
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The Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway (HSR) is one of the most important railways in China, but it also has impacts on the economy and the environment while creating social benefits. This paper uses a life cycle assessment (LCA) method and a life cycle cost (LCC) analysis method to summarize the energy consumption, carbon emissions and costs of the Beijing-Shanghai HSR from the perspective of life cycle, and proposes some corresponding suggestions based on the results. The research objective of this paper is to analyse the carbon emissions, energy consumption, and costs of the rail system which includes the structure of the track and earthwork of the Beijing-Shanghai HSR during four stages: conception stage, construction stage, operation and maintenance stage, and disposal stage. It is concluded that the majority of the carbon emissions and energy consumption of the entire rail system are from the construction stage, accounting for 64.86% and 54.31% respectively. It is followed by the operation and maintenance stage with 31.60% and 35.32% respectively. In contrast, the amount of carbon emissions and energy consumption from the conception stage is too small to be considered. Furthermore, cement is the major contributor to the carbon emissions and energy consumption during the construction stage. As for the cost, the construction stage spends the largest amount of money (US$4614.00 million), followed by the operation and maintenance stage (US$910.61 million). Improving production technologies and choosing construction machinery are proposed to reduce the cost and protect the environment.
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Li, Yu Wen, Mei Ling Zhang, and Shou Yan Deng. "Life Cycle Assessment of Forestry (Pulp) and Paper-Making Industry." Advanced Materials Research 113-116 (June 2010): 1496–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.113-116.1496.
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The work presented in this paper aims at developing a tool based on the LCA approach which could be used systematically for the environmental evaluation of Forestry(Pulp) and Paper-making industry,seeking a way to reduce energy consumption, product cost and find the opportunity and way to reduce the pollution load. So it should be controled in every link which is possible to generate radiation in the process from gain of raw material in forestation pulp making and paper making to processing of waste products to prevent and reduce pollution and realize sustainable development of the economic, environmental and human society.
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Faridmehr, Iman, Moncef L. Nehdi, Mehdi Nikoo, Ghasan Fahim Huseien, and Togay Ozbakkaloglu. "Life-Cycle Assessment of Alkali-Activated Materials Incorporating Industrial Byproducts." Materials 14, no. 9 (May 5, 2021): 2401. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma14092401.
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Eco-friendly and sustainable materials that are cost-effective, while having a reduced carbon footprint and energy consumption, are in great demand by the construction industry worldwide. Accordingly, alkali-activated materials (AAM) composed primarily of industrial byproducts have emerged as more desirable alternatives to ordinary Portland cement (OPC)-based concrete. Hence, this study investigates the cradle-to-gate life-cycle assessment (LCA) of ternary blended alkali-activated mortars made with industrial byproducts. Moreover, the embodied energy (EE), which represents an important parameter in cradle-to-gate life-cycle analysis, was investigated for 42 AAM mixtures. The boundary of the cradle-to-gate system was extended to include the mechanical and durability properties of AAMs on the basis of performance criteria. Using the experimental test database thus developed, an optimized artificial neural network (ANN) combined with the cuckoo optimization algorithm (COA) was developed to estimate the CO2 emissions and EE of AAMs. Considering the lack of systematic research on the cradle-to-gate LCA of AAMs in the literature, the results of this research provide new insights into the assessment of the environmental impact of AAM made with industrial byproducts. The final weight and bias values of the AAN model can be used to design AAM mixtures with targeted mechanical properties and CO2 emission considering desired amounts of industrial byproduct utilization in the mixture.
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Ingram, Dewayne L., and R. Thomas Fernandez. "Life Cycle Assessment: A Tool for Determining the Environmental Impact of Horticultural Crop Production." HortTechnology 22, no. 3 (June 2012): 275–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.21273/horttech.22.3.275.
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System-level research has resulted in significant advancements in horticultural crop production. Contributions of individual components to production efficiency, cost, and environmental impact have been a focus of such research. Public awareness of the environmental impact of products and services is increasing. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool to study horticultural crop production systems and horticultural services and their individual components on environmental impacts such as the carbon footprint, stated as global warming potential. This manuscript introduces LCA and describes how this tool can be used to generate information important to the industry and consuming public.
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Reddy, Krishna R., Sanjeeta N. Ghimire, Emmanuelle Wemeyi, Roya Zanjani, and Liang Zhao. "Life cycle sustainability assessment of geothermal heating and cooling system: UIC case study." E3S Web of Conferences 205 (2020): 07003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202020507003.
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This study presents a sustainability assessment of geothermal heating and cooling system of three buildings at the University of Illinois at Chicago - Grant, Lincoln, and Douglas Halls based upon the triple bottom line sustainability framework and presents a comparison between geothermal and conventional heating and cooling systems. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed to evaluate and quantify the environmental impacts for both geothermal and conventional systems. Similarly, economic impacts were evaluated by making a comparison between direct and indirect costs of both systems. Indirect costs were calculated using Stepwise 2006 incorporated in monetized LCA and compared that cost with social cost of carbon. Social impacts were quantified using Social Sustainability Evaluation Matrix (SSEM) which covers four major dimensions of society: social-individual, socio-institutional, socio-economic, and socio-environmental. An overall sustainability index for geothermal system and conventional system was calculated by evaluating environmental, economic, and social impacts using Integrated Value Model for Sustainability Assessment (MIVES) methodology. The results show that the geothermal heating and cooling system is more sustainable and environmentally friendly than the conventional system.
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Gallego-Schmid, Alejandro, Ximena C. Schmidt Rivera, and Laurence Stamford. "Introduction of life cycle assessment and sustainability concepts in chemical engineering curricula." International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 19, no. 3 (March 5, 2018): 442–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijshe-09-2017-0146.
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Purpose The implementation of life cycle assessment (LCA) and carbon footprinting represents an important professional and research opportunity for chemical engineers, but this is not broadly reflected in chemical engineering curricula worldwide. This paper aims to present the implementation of a coursework that is easy to apply, free of cost, valid worldwide and flexible enough to cover such holistic topics. Design/methodology/approach An analysis of chemical engineering curricula worldwide, a literature review and the implementation of a coursework case study are detailed. The latter combines practical exercises using free LCA software, oral presentations and debates. Findings The coursework goes beyond the calculation of results, giving the students key transferable skills to increase their employability, such as the capacity to negotiate/discuss in groups, software learning and development of critical thinking. The course is affordable and flexible, enabling adaptation to different sectors and engineering schools. One limitation is the challenge of ensuring robustness and consistency in marking, but this has been already improved with a more explicit rubric. The feedback of the students confirms these findings, including the learning of transferable skills as the major advantage. Originality/value This paper addresses, for the first time, the current state of “life cycle thinking” teaching in the curricula of the top 25 chemical engineering schools worldwide, a literature review of previous experience and a description of a novel coursework taking a theoretical and practical approach to LCA, carbon footprinting and socio-economic sustainability via a free software and a comprehensive range of didactic activities.
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Trovato, Maria Rosa, Francesco Nocera, and Salvatore Giuffrida. "Life-Cycle Assessment and Monetary Measurements for the Carbon Footprint Reduction of Public Buildings." Sustainability 12, no. 8 (April 23, 2020): 3460. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12083460.
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Energy consumption in public buildings increased drastically over the last decade. Significant policy actions towards the promotion of energy efficiency in the building sector have been developed involving sustainable low-CO2-emission technologies. This paper presents the results of an economic–environmental valuation of a standard energy retrofit project for a public building in a Mediterranean area, integrating a life-cycle assessment (LCA) into the traditional economic–financial evaluation pattern. The study results show that simple retrofit of sustainable low-CO2-emission strategies such as wooden double-glazed windows, organic external wall insulation systems, and green roofs can reduce energy needs for heating and cooling by 58.5% and 33.4%, respectively. Furthermore, the implementation of an LCA highlights that the use of sustainable materials reduces the building’s carbon footprint index by 54.1% after retrofit compared to standard materials, thus providing an additional increase in the socio-environmental–economic–financial results of 18%. Some proposals are made about the accounting of the replacement costs and the residual value as requested in the logic of life-cycle cost (that is the economic extension of the LCA), namely concerning the method to take into account the replacement costs and the residual value. The economic calculation highlights the fundamental role played by tax benefits supporting the building energy retrofit, also in temperate climate zones, thus allowing the creation of environmental benefits in addition to remarkable cost savings.
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MILIUTENKO, SOFIIA, INGEBORG KLUTS, KRISTINA LUNDBERG, SUSANNA TOLLER, HELGE BRATTEBØ, HARPA BIRGISDÓTTIR, and JOSÉ POTTING. "CONSIDERATION OF LIFE CYCLE ENERGY USE AND GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING PROCESSES: EXAMPLES OF SWEDEN, NORWAY, DENMARK AND THE NETHERLANDS." Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management 16, no. 04 (December 2014): 1450038. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s1464333214500380.
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Energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with life cycle stages of road infrastructure are currently rarely assessed during road infrastructure planning. This study examines the road infrastructure planning process, with emphasis on its use of Environmental Assessments (EA), and identifies when and how Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can be integrated in the early planning stages for supporting decisions such as choice of road corridor. Road infrastructure planning processes are compared for four European countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands). The results show that only Norway has a formalised way of using LCA during choice of road corridor. Only the Netherlands has a requirement for using LCA in the later procurement stage. It is concluded that during the early stages of planning, LCA could be integrated as part of an EA, as a separate process or as part of a Cost-Benefit Analysis.
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Arnell, Magnus, Magnus Rahmberg, Felipe Oliveira, and Ulf Jeppsson. "Multi-objective performance assessment of wastewater treatment plants combining plant-wide process models and life cycle assessment." Journal of Water and Climate Change 8, no. 4 (July 13, 2017): 715–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2017.179.
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Abstract Multi-objective performance assessment of operational strategies at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is a challenging task. The holistic perspective applied to evaluation of modern WWTPs, including not only effluent quality but also resource efficiency and recovery, global environmental impact and operational cost calls for assessment methods including both on- and off-site effects. In this study, a method combining dynamic process models – including greenhouse gas (GHG), detailed energy models and operational cost – and life cycle assessment (LCA) was developed. The method was applied and calibrated to a large Swedish WWTP. In a performance assessment study, changing the operational strategy to chemically enhanced primary treatment was evaluated. The results show that the primary objectives, to enhance bio-methane production and reduce GHG emissions were reached. Bio-methane production increased by 14% and the global warming potential decreased by 28%. However, due to increased consumption of chemicals, the operational cost increased by 87% and the LCA revealed that the abiotic depletion of elements and fossil resources increased by 77 and 305%, respectively. The results emphasize the importance of using plant-wide mechanistic models and life cycle analysis to capture both the dynamics of the plant and the potential environmental impacts.
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Overturf, Emily, Simon Pezzutto, Martina Boschiero, Nicoletta Ravasio, and Achille Monegato. "The CirCo (Circular Coffee) Project: A Case Study on Valorization of Coffee Silverskin in the Context of Circular Economy in Italy." Sustainability 13, no. 16 (August 13, 2021): 9069. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13169069.
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Coffee silverskin (CSS) is one of the main byproducts of coffee roasting and poses a potential risk to the environment if disposed of incorrectly. Each year in Italy, over 500,000 tonnes of green coffee are imported for roasting followed by consumption or export. This results in over 7500 tonnes of CSS produced each year which is typically disposed of as solid waste. Silverskin contains lignocellulose and can be used as a substitute for other raw materials to produce paper pulp. Both Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) were performed to compare the impact and cost of CSS paper production to conventional paper production using only virgin pulp. It was shown that the addition of CSS reduces the environmental impact of paper production by 10% and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 13% compared to conventional production with no cost increase (0.01% reduction with addition of CSS) for the producer. The results of this case study show that the utilization of CSS for paper production at the national level in Italy represents a suitable example of circular economy (CE).
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Butt, Ali Azhar, John Harvey, Arash Saboori, Maryam Ostovar, Manuel Bejarano, and Navneet Garg. "Decision Support in Selecting Airfield Pavement Design Alternatives Using Life Cycle Assessment: Case Study of Nashville Airport." Sustainability 13, no. 1 (December 31, 2020): 299. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13010299.
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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has taken measures to improve safety, reduce costs, increase resilience, and improve the sustainability of the United States (U.S.) airfield infrastructure by using a life-cycle cost analysis methodology to increase the efficient use of economic resources needed for expanding and preserving the airfield system. However, a life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach for evaluating the environmental impacts of decisions regarding airfield infrastructure has yet to be fully developed and applied. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the use of the airfield LCA framework that was developed for the FAA and can be used by U.S. airports. The comparison of alternative pavement designs at Nashville International Airport (BNA) is presented. The scope of the study was from cradle to laid; materials, materials transportation, and construction stages of the pavement life cycle are considered, and the maintenance, use and end of life stages are not considered. Primary data were acquired from BNA and secondary data were used in situations of unavailability of primary data. The case study showed that performing LCA provides opportunities for airports to consider energy use and environment-related impacts in the decision-making process.
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Wang, Zhou, Li, and Wei. "Comprehensive Evaluation of the Sustainable Development of Battery Electric Vehicles in China." Sustainability 11, no. 20 (October 12, 2019): 5635. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11205635.
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Due to the rapid growth in the total number of vehicles in China, energy consumption and environmental pollution are serious problems. The development of electric vehicles (EVs) has become one of the important measures for solving these problems. As EVs are in a period of rapid development, sustainability research on them is conducive to the timely discovery of—and solution to—problems in the development process, but current research on the sustainability of EVs is still scarce. Based on the strategic development direction of EVs in China, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were chosen as the research object of this study. The theory and method of the life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) were used to study the sustainability of BEVs. Specifically, the indicators of the life cycle assessment (LCA) were constructed, and the GaBi software was used to assess the environmental dimensions. The framework of life cycle costing (LCC) was used to assess the economic dimensions from the perspective of consumers. The indicators of the social life cycle assessment (SLCA) of stakeholders were constructed to assess the social dimension. Then, the method of the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was selected for multicriteria decision-making in order to integrate the three dimensions. A specific conclusion was drawn from a comparison of BEVs and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). The study found that the life cycle sustainability of ICEVs in China was better than that of BEVs. This result might be unexpected, but there were reasons for it. Through sensitivity analysis, it was concluded that the current power structure and energy consumption in the operation phase of BEVs had a higher environmental impact, and the high cost of batteries and the government subsidy policy had a higher impact on the cost of BEVs. Corresponding suggestions are put forward at the end of the article.
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Paprocki, Marcin. "The use of methods and computer aided systems in the ecological design of product development." Mechanik 91, no. 1 (January 8, 2018): 73–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.17814/mechanik.2018.1.17.
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Presented are two concepts of the process planning design procedure and the cost estimation aided by CAPP systems. Methods aiding ecological design of the product development, such as DFMA, DFE, FMEA, QFD and LCA, are presented too. The Eco-indicator 99 method which is used in the assessment of product life cycle impact on the environment (LCIA) is discussed. The paper recommends complementing the strategic enterprise backbone with the environmental component of the product life cycle assessment (Ecological Backbone).
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Kamari, Aliakbar, Ashwin Paari, and Henrik Øien Torvund. "BIM-Enabled Virtual Reality (VR) for Sustainability Life Cycle and Cost Assessment." Sustainability 13, no. 1 (December 29, 2020): 249. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13010249.
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Virtual Reality (VR) is receiving ever-increasing attention and is utilized by many construction companies in their current practices. This paper aims at a critical investigation of the impact of VR technology on how sustainability and cost are understood and perceived by the users in building design projects, which could lead to improving and supporting the actual building design processes. The research study focused on evaluating design alternatives using Building Information Modeling (BIM)-enabled VR technology integrated with cost and sustainability life cycle assessment (LCA) software. In doing so, the paper begins with reviewing the relevant literature in the mentioned areas. Thereafter, it adopts an experimental-qualitative-quantitative method to test the research hypothesis and analyze the effects of 360-degree VR on the users (66 participants), while distinguishing between users who have a relevant background in building/construction engineering (i.e., architect engineers and civil engineers), and those who have not (i.e., owners and clients). It is observed that despite their background, the user participants positively embrace the ideas and aspirations of sustainability, and that there is some evidence of respondents preferring the economy over sustainability. Likewise, the participants are not making an effort to measure the emissions of their design options rather than focus on the building’s economic aspects.
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Nguyen, Thu Trang, Helmut Brunner, and Mario Hirz. "Towards a Holistic Sustainability Evaluation for Transport Alternatives." European Journal of Sustainable Development 9, no. 4 (October 1, 2020): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2020.v9n4p1.
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The transport sector is responsible for a broad range of ecologic impacts, e.g., energy consumption, greenhouse gas emission or air pollution. It is therefore highly important to assess transport solutions in terms of their sustainability. Widely used approaches for sustainability analysis in the transport sector include life cycle assessment (LCA), economic approach, multi-criteria decision analysis (MDCA), and assessments based on indicators. In practice, these approaches consist of several methods, i.e., product-based LCA, fleet-based LCA, cost benefit analysis (CBA), cost effectiveness analysis (CEA), value measurement MDCA, ideal-solution based MDCA, outranking MDCA, and indicator-based assessment. Even though there is a larger number of assessment methods, a holistic framework for sustainability evaluation of different transport solutions is still missing. Selection of suitable assessment methods depends on a vast array of factors. This paper proposes to utilise “application levels” for the selection process. Firstly, the paper provides an analysis of the application levels of the common assessment methods and evaluation criteria within the transport sector based on a literature review. The application levels are illustrated by identifying two dimensions, namely system level and decision-making level, ranging from Low to High. Afterwards, a six-step framework for a holistic evaluation of transport alternatives is proposed.
Keywords: sustainability assessment, economic approach, indicator-based assessment, life cycle assessment, multi-criteria decision analysis, sustainable transport
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Teah, Heng Shue, Qinyu Yang, Motoharu Onuki, and Heng Yi Teah. "Incorporating External Effects into Project Sustainability Assessments: The Case of a Green Campus Initiative Based on a Solar PV System." Sustainability 11, no. 20 (October 18, 2019): 5786. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11205786.
Full textAbstract:
We demonstrated that a green campus initiative can reduce the carbon footprint of a university and improve the disaster resilience of the local community. A project sustainability assessment framework was structured to support the initiative. First, an on-campus solar photovoltaic (PV) system was designed. The project performance in terms of financial cost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was assessed using life cycle cost analysis (LCC) and a life cycle assessment (LCA), respectively. Then, we explored the incorporation of positive social impacts on the local community in the context of natural disaster-prone Japan. Indicators for improving the disaster resilience of the residents were defined based on the Sendai Framework. Our results showed that the proposed solar PV system could provide an electricity self-sufficiency rate of 31% for the campus. Greenhouse gas emissions of 0.0811 kg CO2-eq/kWh would decrease the annual emissions from campus electricity use by 27%. Considering the substituted daytime electricity purchase, a payback period of 12.9 years was achievable. This solar PV system could serve as an emergency power source to 4666–8454 nearby residents and 8532 smart city residents. This external effect would encourage stakeholders like local government and developers to participate in the project.