A method for allocation according to the economic behaviour in the EU-ETS for by-products used in cement industry

Purpose: The most efficient way to reduce the environmental impact of cement production is to replace Portland cement with alternative cementitious materials. These are most often industrial waste such as blast-furnace slags (GBFS) and coal combustion fly ashes (FA). However, a recent European directive no longer considers these products as waste but as by-products. Therefore, the impact of their production has to be considered. Within this new framework, this study develops an evaluation method of their environmental impacts. Method: This paper presents pre-existing methods and underlines their limits. Through our evaluation of these methods, it has become clear that the allocation procedure is necessary; however, results depend highly on the chosen allocation procedure. This study presents a new allocation method, based on the fact that both cement and the alternative materials, GBFS and FA, are produced by energy-intensive industries (cement iron and coal) which are all subjected to the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading System. In this carbon trading system, it is economically beneficial for industries to reduce their environmental impact, like for when, by example, by-products from one industry are used as alternative ‘green' material by another industry. Our allocation coefficient is calculated so that the economic gains and losses are the same for all of the industries involved in these exchanges and provides the overall environmental benefit of the exchanges. Results and discussion: The discussion shows that whilst this method has much in common with other allocation methods, it is more accurate as it allocates the environmental costs fairly over the industries involved and is more robust because of its constant value. One of its limits is that it cannot be used for life cycle inventories; however, we test the possibility of choosing a coefficient from one impact category and applying it to all the others. Conclusion: Lastly, the technical term of the equation this paper presents could be employed for consequential life cycle assessment, to calculate the most environmental uses by-products could be put t

Comparaison in vivo de l'effet agalactogène de surnageants de culture de deux mycoplasmes

L'objectif de cette expérimentation était d'évaluer la spécificité de l'action pathogène du surnageant d'une culture de Mycoplasma agalactiae par rapport au surnageant d'un autre mycoplasme témoin. L'auteur procède d'abord à un rappel concernant les mycoplasmes en général, puis les deux mycoplasmes utilisés dans cette manipulation et les pathologies associées : Mycoplasma agalactiae et Mycoplasma gallisepticum. Dans une seconde partie, l'expérimentation est détaillée : deux lots de brebis sont inoculées par voie intra-mammaire avec deux surnageants différents, l'un de M. agalactiae et l'autre de M. gallisepticum ; un troisième lot de brebis sert de témoin négatif. L'inoculation des deux surnageants provoque des hypogalacties unilatérales (côté inoculé), contrairement au lot témoin. L'effet hypogalactogène de M. gallisepticum est plus important que celui de M. agalactiae. Cet essai préliminaire infirme la spécificité du surnageant de culture de M agalactiae comme agent d'hypogalacties expérimentales. En effet, un mycoplasme pathogène des volailles et non de la mamelle provoque un effet similaire. D'autres manipulations devront ainsi avoir lieu pour mieux comprendre la pathogénie de M. agalactiae. Ces premiers résultats ne contredisent pas la thèse actuelle concernant le pouvoir pathogène des mycoplasmes : action de catabolites ou de " toxiques " jouant le rôle d'oxydant, ainsi que d'enzymes

Detailed Assessment of Embodied Carbon of HVAC Systems for a New Office Building Based on BIM

The global shift towards embodied carbon reduction in the building sector has indicated the need for a detailed analysis of environmental impacts across the whole lifecycle of buildings. The environmental impact of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems has rarely been studied in detail. Most of the published studies are based on assumptions and rule of thumb techniques. In this study, the requirements and methods to perform a detailed life cycle assessment (LCA) for HVAC systems based on building information modelling (BIM) are assessed and framed for the first time. The approach of linking external product data information to objects using visual programming language (VPL) is tested, and its benefits over the existing workflows are presented. The detailed BIM model of a newly built office building in Switzerland is used as a case study. In addition, detailed project documentation is used to ensure the plausibility of the calculated impact. The LCA results show that the embodied impact of the HVAC systems is three times higher than the targets provided by the Swiss Energy Efficiency Path (SIA 2040). Furthermore, it is shown that the embodied impact of HVAC systems lies in the range of 15–36% of the total embodied impact of office buildings. Nevertheless, further research and similar case studies are needed to provide a robust picture of the embodied environmental impact of HVAC systems. The results could contribute to setting stricter targets in line with the vision of decarbonization of the building sector

Evaluation of BIM-based LCA results for building design

Digital tools based on Building Information Modelling (BIM) provide the potential to facilitate environmental performance assessments of buildings. Various tools that use a BIM model for automatic quantity take-off as basis for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) have been developed recently. This paper describes the first application of such a BIM-LCA tool to evaluate the embodied global warming potential (GWP) throughout the whole design process of a real building. 34 states of the BIM model are analysed weekly. The results show that the embodied GWP during the design phase is twice as high as for the final building. These changes can be mainly attributed to the designers\u27 approach of using placeholder materials that are refined later, besides other reasons. As such, the embodied GWP is highly overestimated and a BIM-based environmental assessment during the design process could be misleading and counterproductive. Finally, three alternatives to the established automatic quantity take-off are discussed for future developments

Where to focus? Developing a LCA impact category selection tool for manufacturers of building materials

Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been widely applied to improve the environmental performance of the building sector. However, due to the complexity of LCA results including the multitude of impact categories, decision makers of the building materials manufacturing industry are grappling with allocating their limited resources to the most influential impact categories. The aim of this article, therefore, is to propose an impact category selection tool that enables performance improvement of building materials without sacrificing the validity of LCA results. The developed method selects common building materials, and defines foreground processes that can be influenced by manufacturers of building materials and background processes that can hardly be impacted using the US Input-Output database. Following the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) analysis with the ReCiPe2016 Midpoint method, our results indicate that, among the 18 impact categories of the ReCiPe2016 Midpoint method, Global Warming Potential, Ozone Formation and Human Health, Fine Particulate Matter Formation, Ozone Formation and Terrestrial Ecosystems, Terrestrial Acidification, and Terrestrial Ecotoxicity should be considered the first priority group while Ionizing Radiation, Freshwater Eutrophication, Marine Eutrophication, Freshwater Ecotoxicity, Water Consumption should be placed in the last priority group. It further suggests that by shifting the limited available resources to the first priority group, decision makers can readily improve the environmental performance of building materials during the manufacturing process. The contribution of the proposed selection tool lies in that it can be adapted by decision makers to different geographical contexts, LCIA methods, and building materials to efficiently ameliorate the environmental performance of the building sector

Integrated BIM-based LCA for the entire building process using an existing structure for cost estimation in the Swiss context

The building sector has a significant potential to reduce the material resource demand needed for construction and therefore, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Digitalization can help to make use of this potential and improve sustainability throughout the entire building\u27s life cycle. One way to address this potential is through the integration of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) into the building process by employing Building Information Modeling (BIM). BIM can reduce the effort needed to carry out an LCA, and therefore, facilitate the integration into the building process. Areview of current industry practice and scientific literature shows that companies are lacking the incentive to apply LCA. If applied, there are two main approaches. Either the LCA is performed in a simplified way at the beginning of the building process using imprecise techniques, or it is done at the very end when all the needed information is available, but it is too late for decision-making. One reason for this is the lack of methods, workflows and tools to implement BIM-LCA integration over the whole building development. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to develop an integrated BIM-LCA method for the entire building process by relating it to an established workflow. To avoid an additional effort for practitioners, an existing structure for cost estimation in the Swiss context is used. The established method is implemented in a tool and used in a case study in Switzerland to test the approach. The results of this study show that LCA can be performed continuously in each building phase over the entire building process using existing Building Information Modeling (BIM) techniques for cost estimation. The main benefit of this approach is that it simplifies the application of LCA in the building process and therefore gives incentives for companies to apply it. Moreover, the re-work caused by the need for re-entering data and the usage of many different software tools that characterize most of the current LCA practices is minimized. Furthermore, decision-making, both at the element and building levels, is supported

A data-driven parametric tool for under-specified LCA in the design phase

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is increasingly applied to evaluate the environmental performance of buildings. However, current tools for building LCA require detailed information not available in the decisive early design stages. As a result, LCA is usually applied as post-design evaluation and not used to improve the building design. The goal of this paper is to adapt the method of structured under-specified LCA to the Swiss context and implement it in a design-integrated tool. The users of the tool should be able to get a complete estimation of the life cycle impact based on very few inputs, such as building type, intended use and structural system. In addition, the tool should allow to replace these assumptions with more detailed information step by step throughout the design process. The paper describes the development of a structured database and a parametric tool. Furthermore, it exemplifies the intended workflow during the design process on a building design. The presented approach can be scaled up and adapted to the needs of other national contexts in the future. It facilitates environmental performance optimisation of buildings and supports making use of the big potential the building sector has regarding contributing towards climate action (UN SDG 13)

Adaptation of environmental data to national and sectorial context: application for reinforcing steel sold on the French market

Purpose: Environmental data for steel products are generally proposed at a continental or a global scale. The question we are tackling here is: does the fact that steel as a global market necessarily reduces the need for national data? Methods: In this study, the environmental impact of reinforcing steel sold in France is evaluated. To do so, a specific environmental inventory is adapted from Ecoinvent database. CML method is used for impact calculation and both methods "recycled content” as well as "end of life recycling approach” are tested. Results and discussion: This study shows that there is a specificity of reinforcing steel products sold in France compared to European value. It is due to the fact that reinforcing steel is mainly made with recycled steel as the market growth for construction product in France is limited allowing a very high recycled content. This result is not sensitive neither to the allocation method used for recycling (cut-off approach or system expansion) nor to transport distance and electricity country mix used. Conclusions: The result of this study can be used with confidence in every construction site work located on the French territory. Furthermore, the present study advocates for an adaptation of global database to local context defined by a specific industrial sector and a geographic region even for product such as steel that may be considered as a first approximation as a global produc

ARCHES D14 - Recommendations for the use of UHPFRC in composite structural members – rehabilitation Log Čezsoški bridge

The increasing volume of European transport urgently requires an effective road and rail system in Central European and Eastern Countries (CEEC) with a major investment in building new and assessing and rehabilitating old structures. Following 5 successful applications of rehabilitation with Ultra High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concretes in Switzerland, since 2004, the same concept was applied to a bridge in Slovenia in July 2009 with new UHPFRC mixes from local products. An innovative concept of cement replacement by high dosages of limestone filler, developed at EPFL, helped break the workability barrier and produce a Slovenian UHPFRC with local cement (SALONIT), and superplasticiser (TKK), The material has excellent rheological properties and was tailored to be applied on slopes up to 5 %, without sacrificing the protective function and mechanical properties. The full section of the deck and footpaths of the 65 m span Log Čezsoški bridge over Soča river in Slovenia was cast in one step, over two days for the full length. An original combination of UHPFRC with Controlled Permeability Formwork (CPF) membrane (ZEMDRAIN®) developed at ZAG helped produce finished footpath surfaces ready to walk barefoot which was one of the challenges set by the owner. The specially tailored thixotropic mix held the 5 % slope without difficulties. The newly designed ECO-UHPFRC recipes have a dramatically reduced cement content which makes them more economical and particularly attractive from an environmental point of view. Over the whole life cycle, rehabilitations with ECO-UHPFRC have a much lower impact than traditional methods. This successful example of transfer of technology opens up very promising perspectives for the dissemination of this new concept of rehabilitation of civil infrastructures not only in New Member States (which was the goal of the project ARCHES) but also in virtually any country

Fair Play: Why Reliable Data for Low-Tech Construction and Non-conventional Materials Are Needed

The paper proposes considerations stemming from the analysis of twenty-two buildings that show different approaches to ‘vegetarian architecture’—a theoretical stance based on principles learnt from agriculture and nutrition. The first phase consisted in a systematic investigation of the constructional characteristics of each building, and the cataloguing of their components. The ‘cradle to gate’ embodied energy (EE) and ‘embodied carbon’ (EC) were then calculated, based on two open access databases: ICE and Ökobaudat. The applicability of these databases was considered, as they do not cover low industrialised bio-based construction materials. For some materials, data are missing; while in others, EE values are overestimated since high energy-intensive manufacturing processes seem to be assumed. In a second phase, the uses and production process of some non-conventional materials was investigated, evidencing their variability. Building technologies that are not just aimed at low operational energy but at a more holistic understanding of low environmental impact represent a paradigm shift in ‘sustainable’ construction prac-tices. Despite ongoing actions and policies, as long as these materials and techniques are not suitably represented in reliable and accessible databases, it will be difficult to make such a shift happen. Manufacturers and contractors who produce and use such materials would benefit from the availability of easily applicable, scientific data demonstrating environmental advantages offered by non-conventional materials