Towards a life cycle sustainability assessment method for the quantification and reduction of impacts of buildings life cycle

The construction and building sectorsare one of the highestconsumersof resourcesand energy. Literature evidences the potentialities of the design phase towardsthe improvement of environmental, economic and social performance of buildings. Thus, the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) approach is recognized as suitable method. It isbased on the “triple bottom line”principle, to calculate environmental, economic, social impacts produced by buildings during itslife cycle. The present paper aims to present a methodological framework based on anLCSA, used during design stages of buildings and integrated into a building’s design technology such as Building Information Modeling (BIM). A conceptual approach to conduct the data integration and a possible workflow to integrate the LCSA into BIMis proposed. The value of the present approach is the possibility to conductquantitative environmental, economic and social assessment of buildings to guide designers to measure and predict the building’s performanc

Environmental Impact Assessment of Construction Waste Recycling versus Disposal Scenarios Using an LCA-BIM Tool during the Design Stage

The scientific community has revealed the environmental benefits of recycling construction waste (CW) versus its disposal, and its contribution to circularity. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method enables the environmental impact of CW management to be quantified and facilitates the comparison of recycling versus alternative disposal scenarios. However, due to its complexity, LCA is seldom used by technicians during the design phase, which constitutes a crucial stage in the prevention of environmental impacts. This paper therefore proposes an LCA-based tool, integrated into the Building Information Modelling (BIM) methodology, that helps designers to automate the environmental assessment of recycling versus disposal. The CW-LCA-BIM tool uses impact factors obtained from an LCA model applied to CW and was applied to the structural system of a building in Spain. Up to 99% of the non-hazardous waste was recyclable or reusable. The management of three types of recyclable waste was assessed: concrete (27.2 t), plastics (4.2 t), and steel (1.5 t). Recycling is shown to be the best option since it prevents 1.4 times (14.6 t) the emissions of the disposal scenario and saves 85 times (148.5 GJ) its energy consumption. This tool can be developed in other waste management systems and infrastructures. It can be useful both for designers for the reduction of the environmental impact of their buildings, and for policy managers for waste-prevention policies. © 2022 by the authors

An LCA-based model for assessing prevention versus non-prevention of construction waste in buildings

Waste generated by the Construction Sector represents an environmental problem in many countries. To achieve increasingly eco-efficient waste management, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) provides an objective method for the quantification of the potential impact that waste management exerts on the environment. Traditionally, LCA has focused on the evaluation of non-prevention scenarios once the waste is generated, mainly by showing the benefits of recycling vs. disposal. Consequently, the literature has hardly addressed the positive environmental impacts caused by waste prevention, that is, the reduction at source, which constitutes the preferred option of any waste management hierarchy. Therefore, this study proposes a model to simulate the environmental performance of the prevention vs. the non-prevention of construction waste production. The model is applied to an urban system of residential buildings in Spain. The results provide evidence of the environmental benefits achieved with the prevention scenario. The prevention scenario reduces the construction waste generated in the non-prevention scenarios by up to 57%. Furthermore, it allows a potential reduction of up to 4.6 and 171.1 times the impact caused by the disposal scenario; and up to 1.7 and 8.3 times those of the recycling scenario. The model can be implemented in other contexts with other reference buildings, and enables the environmental benefits of reduction strategies to be studied, thereby providing a tool to guide and support decision-making during the building design stage. Moreover, the results obtained can help professionals and policymakers to incorporate effective construction waste prevention measures in waste prevention plans and programs.Spanish Government Spanish Government ref. BIA2017-84830-

An LCA-based model for assessing prevention versus non-prevention of construction waste in buildings

Waste generated by the Construction Sector represents an environmental problem in many countries. To achieve increasingly eco-efficient waste management, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) provides an objective method for the quantification of the potential impact that waste management exerts on the environment. Traditionally, LCA has focused on the evaluation of non-prevention scenarios once the waste is generated, mainly by showing the benefits of recycling vs. disposal. Consequently, the literature has hardly addressed the positive environmental impacts caused by waste prevention, that is, the reduction at source, which constitutes the preferred option of any waste management hierarchy. Therefore, this study proposes a model to simulate the environmental performance of the prevention vs. the non-prevention of construction waste production. The model is applied to an urban system of residential buildings in Spain. The results provide evidence of the environmental benefits achieved with the prevention scenario. The prevention scenario reduces the construction waste generated in the non-prevention scenarios by up to 57%. Furthermore, it allows a potential reduction of up to 4.6 and 171.1 times the impact caused by the disposal scenario; and up to 1.7 and 8.3 times those of the recycling scenario. The model can be implemented in other contexts with other reference buildings, and enables the environmental benefits of reduction strategies to be studied, thereby providing a tool to guide and support decision-making during the building design stage. Moreover, the results obtained can help professionals and policymakers to incorporate effective construction waste prevention measures in waste prevention plans and programs. © 2021 Elsevier Lt