SLiCE: An Open Data Model for Scalable High-Definition Life Cycle Engineering, Hotspot Analysis and Dynamic Assessment of Buildings.

Abstract Building construction and operation are responsible for around 40% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. To identify emissions reduction and removal potentials as well as wider environmental impacts, researchers, policy, and decision makers need comprehensive life cycle sustainability assessment insights on individual buildings and building stocks at large. This article proposes a data model for scalable, high-definition life cycle analysis of building – the SLiCE data model – as a promising solution to overcome the limitations identified for existing models. The article conceptualizes the problem within the Space-Time-Indicator Nexus; presents the proposed SLiCE data structure; and showcases practical uses of SLiCE data for environmental hotspot analysis as well as for dynamic assessment of climate impacts. The open SLiCE data model and SLiCE hotspot analysis tool are henceforth available for implementation within life cycle assessment of building and building stocks, enabling comprehensive insights on buildings’ environmental impacts across spatiotemporal scales. Software and data availability The SLiCE building data model as well as the presented implementation in the SLiCE hotspot analysis prototype are open source and available with this article. The SLiCE hotspot analysis, implemented as an IPython Jupyer Notebook with interactive widgets, tool is available on Github (https://github.com/mroeck/slice_hotspots/), with the submission pre-release published via Zenodo (https://zenodo.org/badge/latestdoi/645859866). All items are published under a GNU General Public License v3.0. We encourage you to review, reuse, and refine the model and scripts and share-alike. Preprint (not peer-reviewed) Röck M, Passer A, Allacker K. “SLiCE: An Open Data Model for Scalable High-Definition Life Cycle Engineering, Hotspot Analysis and Dynamic Assessment of Buildings.” 2023, Preprint DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.836924

Benefits of wooden structure reuse:the case of an Austrian building

The building sector is responsible for 39% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; thus, it has a significant amount of potential to reduce the effects of climate change. Several active- and passive solutions and strategies have been developed and proposed in the literature. Among them, wood is highlighted as a promising solution to minimize GHG from buildings. However, the benefits, especially in the circular economy, are not fully evaluated due to methodological choices. Motivated by this knowledge gap, this article aims to evaluate the benefits of wood reuse compared to traditional building construction solutions. For this purpose, we have calculated the environmental impacts of a building situated in Graz, Austria. Four different scenarios are considered. The first scenario is a fully reinforced concrete building. The second scenario is a structural beam-column made from reinforced concrete with walls made of concrete blocks. The third scenario is a beam-column made from reinforced concrete with external walls based on clay blocks. Finally, the last scenario is a full wooden building. Following the standardized life cycle assessment (LCA) method, global warming potential (GWP) is calculated through a 0/0 approach. These evaluations were made possible by correlating the impacts released from producing wooden elements and the uptake of biogenic carbon from the forest. Without considering the possibility of material reuse, the wooden structure has a 5 % lower GWP value than the reinforced concrete building. Comparatively, the other building scenarios have almost similar impacts as the building in reinforced concrete. In the case of material reuse, the wooden structure building shows potential to develop projects with 44% lower environmental impacts

LCA and BIM: Integrated Assessment and Visualization of Building Elements’ Embodied Impacts for Design Guidance in Early Stages

The importance of evaluation and improvement of life cycle performance of buildings in early design stages is widely acknowledged, the wide application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) however, is restrained by big uncertainty in design and material decisions at this stage. The approach presented in this paper aims to provide a proof-of-concept for an integrated assessment of the environmental impact of building construction using Building Information Modeling (BIM). To support decision-making in the critical early design stages, we propose a workflow of using conceptual BIM models and visual scripting to test a wide variety of possible construction options. The overall effects on the building's total impact are calculated for the various options to identify design specific hotspots. Different aspects of the results can be visualized to support intuitive design guidance.ISSN:2212-827

Leitprojekt ECR_Energy City Graz-Reininghaus

Die Gelegenheit zur Erstellung des Rahmenplanes Energie ECR für das Areal von Graz-Reininghaus ist einzigartig. Erstmalig in der Steiermark kann die energetische Ausrichtung eines ganzen Stadtteils auf Gebäudeverbandsebene (Quartier- und Stadtteilebene) wissenschaftlich betrachtet und strategisch vorbereitet werden. Das Haus der Zukunft Plus Leitprojekt ECR Energy City Graz Reininghaus ist eine Kooperation zwischen der Stadt Graz, dem Land Steiermark und verschiedenen Instituten der TU Graz unter Leitung des Instituts für Städtebau. Das Grazer Umweltamt und die Energie Graz liefern fachlichen Input für das Projekt. Bei Bedarf werden zusätzliche Experten und Ämter der Stadt Graz zu Rate gezogen. In Zukunft werden sich die Gebäude vom Energieverbraucher zum Energieerzeuger wandeln. Der Plus-Energieansatz soll in der ECR Energy City Graz Reininghaus nicht auf Gebäudeebene, sondern auf Quartiersebene stattfinden. Im Rahmenplan Energie ECR wird die Optimierung somit nicht innerhalb der Systemgrenze eines Gebäudes, sondern auf Ebene der einzelnen Stadtquartiere und auf Ebene des gesamten Stadtteils von Graz-Reininghaus erarbeitet. Ziel ist ein energieautarker, CO2-neutraler Stadtteil. Derzeit entsteht der erste Stadtbaustein in Graz-Reininghaus: das Demobauvorhaben Wohnbau „Plus-Energieverbund Reininghaus Süd“. Im Süden der Peter Rosegger Straße, im Stadtquartier 9, errichtet die Fa. WEGRAZ und die Firma Aktiv Klimahaus GmbH. in vier Bauabschnitten ein städtisches Wohnquartier mit rund 140 Wohneinheiten. Der Plusenergieansatz findet gemäß dem Energierahmenplan innerhalb eines multifunktionalen Gebäudeverbundes statt. In einem ersten Schritt wird das einzelne Gebäude optimiert und wandelt sich vom Energieverbraucher zum Energieerzeuger, im zweiten Schritt bringen Synergien innerhalb des Gebäudeverbundes eine weitere Optimierung des Systems