Benchmark LCA e uso di EPD nei Green Building Rating System

Lo studio indaga l’utilizzo di valori soglia di riferimento (benchmark) relativi all’analisi Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) e all’uso di certificazioni EPD all’interno dei Green Building Rating Systems (GBRSs). La domanda di certificazioni inerenti alla sostenibilità ambientale in edilizia è in aumento, ma la non comparabilità dei risultati LCA dovuta alle differenti richieste dei sistemi multicriteri costituisce un problema. La scelta di includere nell’analisi LCA diverse parti dell’edificio e di adottare differenti confini di sistema porta ad un’inconfrontabilità delle valutazioni LCA. Lo studio mette in luce potenzialità e criticità dell’uso del Life Cycle Assessment e di EPD nei GBRSs, mostrando come un’uniformità delle scelte legate all’intero ciclo di vita e l’adozione di valori soglia comuni possa portare ad una confrontabilità delle informazioni ambientali degli edifici certificati

Valutazione LCA all’interno dei protocolli ambientali multicriteri per il settore delle costruzioni

La ricerca affronta il tema dell’inserimento dell’analisi Life Cycle Assessment all’interno dei sistemi di certificazione ambientali multicriteri degli edifici (Green Building Rating Systems e certificazioni energetiche), sottolineandone il ruolo centrale, o ancora marginale, che la metodologia acquista al loro interno. I sistemi a punteggio dei protocolli ambientali, sempre più frequentemente, prevedono l’uso di indicatori LCA per conteggiare le prestazioni ambientali di un edificio in termini di impatti prodotti e risorse consumate durante l’intero ciclo di vita, ma il peso che l’analisi acquista all’interno dei criteri valutativi della certificazione è differente. A partire dai diversi approcci vengono messi in luce gli aspetti potenziali e critici nell’uso dell’analisi LCA all’interno di alcune certificazioni e le possibilità di sviluppo

LCA benchmarks in building's environmental certification systems

The paper deals with the definition of reference values (benchmarks) referred to the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) indicators used in the environmental certification systems of buildings (Green Building Rating Systems, energy-environmental certifications and environmental labels) highlighting their potentiality and criticality. The environmental certification systems more and more often consider the use of indicators based on LCA methodology which allow to draw attention to environmental performances of building in terms of impacts during the whole life cycle, from the raw materials extraction to the disposal. Today, the environmental impact measure obtained, could be interpreted through the comparison between similar solutions, due to the absence of thresholds which indicate the eco-efficiency of buildings: the benchmark applied to the LCA indicators becomes the threshold value through which measure the real environmental performance of the object analysed. It is a variable value because it depends on the evolution of technologies and construction practices. The environmental certification systems are the first ones which develop a process to define benchmarks because they have to assign a rating score to the indicators in order to obtain the certification. Through the analysis of principal certification systems, characterized by the use of LCA methodology within the score criteria, the different benchmarks methodologies (related to the LCA indicators) are identified and explained. Benchmarks are typically developed through linear interpolation systems, statistical analysis or the modelling of a reference building. In particular the analysis refers to the Green Building Rating Systems (GBRSs), such as DGNB, LEED, and BREEAM, and the energy-environmental certifications (Minergie-Eco). It is showed how the benchmark, into the certification systems, assumes different meanings: it could be the starting standard value (reference value), or the improvement value (target value) or the minimum value to obtain the certification. Starting from these differences and peculiarities, the paper demonstrates potentiality and criticality of the methodological approaches used, in order to understand the role of benchmark in the development of new policies and environmental strategies

Environment load of EFTE cushions and future ways for their self-sufficient performances

p. 754-766Monticelli, C.; Campioli, A.; Zanelli, A. (2009). Environment load of EFTE cushions and future ways for their self-sufficient performances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/673

Strumenti LCA di supporto al settore delle costruzioni

Il metodo LCA, grazie alle sue caratteristiche di sistematicità e scientificità, costituisce oggi per il settore delle costruzioni un riferimento sempre più diffuso ai fini della valutazione delle prestazioni ambientali degli edifici, sia per la misura delle prestazioni a valle della costruzione, sia per confrontare le diverse opzioni in fase di progetto. Rispetto a questa seconda dimensione, la peculiare complessità del prodotto “edificio” rispetto ad altri prodotti industriali ha orientato la ricerca del settore alla messa a punto di software per l’elaborazione di valutazioni LCA atti a semplificare il processo di calcolo, facilitando l’utilizzo da parte dei progettisti e agevolando quindi l’introduzione del criterio dell’efficienza ambientale come elemento di scelta fin dalle prime fasi dei processi decisionali. Il paper restituisce i risultati parziali di una ricerca volta ad analizzare le caratteristiche dei principali software disponibili sul mercato, con particolare riferimento a quelli più diffusi a livello europeo, delineandone criticità e potenzialità

Architectural quality: innovation, technological research and design

Architectural redevelopment and the revival of the construction sector are conditional on the incentivisation and bolstering of innovation processes. Thus the partial declensions that have been attached to these processes over the last few years have seen research and experimentation being tailored to the spectacularisation of shapes or the hidden performance optimisation of materials and components. Genuine improvement in the quality of architecture and its construction in this day and age depends on the abilities of designers to adopt the entire life cycle of buildings as a reference framework and on the willingness of all those working in the construction supply chain to activate virtuous cooperation

n-3 Dietary supplementation and lipid metabolism: Differences between vegetable- and fish-derived oils

Abstract The effect of flaxseed oil rich in linolenic acid (ALA), and a mixed oil (flaxseed oil and fish oil) rich in eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), on the lipid clearance and peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) in liver and adipose tissue of rats fed for 30 days with the two oils was evaluated. The results showed that after treatment with the mixed oil the hematic triacylglycerol content was significantly decreased compared to control animals. Regarding the tissue distribution of the major omega-3 fatty acids, both oils were able to increase ALA, EPA, docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) in liver and adipose tissue; and DHA solely in the adipose tissue. Finally the treatment with either flaxseed or mixed oil increased hepatic PPAR-γ expression but only the mixed oil enhanced the hepatic expression of PPAR-α. No effect on adipose tissue PPAR-γ expression was observed with both oils' treatment

Change management and new expertise in AEC firms: improvement in environmental competence

The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of the change management inherent Architecture, Engineering and Construction firms, focusing the attention on the transformation made by environmental issues and their related drivers. Over the last years, building sector has become increasingly complex, due to the heavy demand of a wide range of requirements and to the globalization of the market. This leads on one side the innovation of digital tools, as a result of the development of Information and Communication Technology – ICT, and on the other the division of labour in AEC firms, that is socially spread with an even more highly specialization. The fragmentation can take place in two directions: along what is conventionally defined as the vertical dimension of the process (i.e. the sequence of operations that proceed from inception to implementation phase) as well as along the horizontal dimension (i.e. operations occurring at any given stage). The paper shows the results of the analysis carried out on some of the AEC firms established at international level, highlighting the inner structure, organization, competences and tools used in practice. The configuration of the process structure and the consequent division of labour turn out to be established by a set of internal conditions, generated by the project itself as well as the available technology. Furthermore, the decision to structure internal firm hierarchies or to have external equipment (both experts and tools) depends on the cost that the firms should undertake in order to acquire knowledge, services or products that are external to their sphere of governance. The overview gives an evidence that the explosion of product/service options and the connected specialized systems for the whole building, from exterior cladding to computer-controlled HVAC, require even more a highly amount of knowledge and skills and the demand of new competences and expertise. In particular, the study shows the increasingly request in AEC firms of experts and tools, to deal with the challenging environmental topics. Firms themselves are taking advantage by the integration of environmental topics and goals, as proven by the fact that in the top ten global AEC firms seven of them are considered environmentally friendly (source: ENR). The paper highlights that many drivers are pushing effort in that direction: on one hand, policy and legislation at international and national level, incentive programs and also voluntary certification such as Green Building Rating System; and on the other hand design firms themselves, stimulated by competiveness or, in few case, by their philosophy