Reused, recycled and regional product criteria within the LEED Green Building rating system are not based on comprehensive environmental assessments and do not ensure a measurable and consistent reduction of environmental burdens. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted for the LEED-certified Medical Sciences Building at the University of Victoria to illustrate how LCA can be used to improve these criteria. It was found that a lack of public LCA data for building products, insufficient reporting transparency and inconsistent data collection methodologies prevent a full incorporation of LCA into LEED. At present, LCA data can be used to determine what building products are generally associated with the highest environmental burdens per unit cost and thus require separate LEED criteria. Provided its deficiencies are rectified in the future, LCA can be fully incorporated into LEED to design environmental burden-based criteria that ensure a measurable and consistent reduction of environmental burdens.

Depuis 1974, date de l'apparition des exigences thermiques sur les bâtiments en France, les réglementations thermiques n’ont cessé d'évoluer pour rendre les bâtiments de plus en plus performants énergétiquement. Aujourd'hui, il apparaît nécessaire d'introduire d'autres indicateurs que la seule consommation d'énergie comme critère de performance d'un bâtiment.L'évaluation environnementale des bâtiments se base sur l'analyse de cycle de vie (ACV). A l'heure actuelle, il existe différents logiciels dédiés à l'ACV bâtiment avec leurs données, leurs méthodologies et leurs indicateurs propres.Par ailleurs, le développement des bâtiments producteurs d'énergie et des systèmes de gestion de la demande électrique soulève de nouvelles problématiques. En effet, l'approche actuelle en ACV tend à utiliser des résultats de simulations thermiques agrégés à l'année alors que pour évaluer les avantages et inconvénients de tels systèmes une granulométrie temporelle plus fine est plus adaptée.Les travaux de cette thèse portent plus particulièrement sur le calcul des impacts environnementaux de la consommation d'énergie en phase d'utilisation et visent à répondre aux problématiques suivantes :Comment, à partir d'un bilan énergétique exhaustif, peut-on récupérer l'information nécessaire à l'évaluation de l'énergie utilisée tout au long du cycle de vie d'un bâtiment ?Par la suite, quelles données environnementales pertinentes peut-on lui affecter ?Comment exprimer et afficher les résultats des impacts liés à cette utilisation d'énergie ?Ainsi, pour les bâtiments producteurs d'énergie, l'échelle de temps à laquelle doit être effectué le bilan énergétique (calcul import/export/autoconsommation) pour évaluer de manière correcte les impacts environnementaux liés à l'usage d'énergie est identifiée. De plus, un bâtiment peut utiliser des énergies renouvelables en profitant de la synergie que peut créer un ensemble de bâtiments, (mutualisation des productions en utilisant les meilleurs emplacements, foisonnement des consommations qui permet une éventuelle meilleure autoconsommation de la production). La manière dont le bilan import/export doit être effectué dans ce cas est déterminée.Les variabilités temporelles et spatiales des mix énergétiques utilisés dans le bâtiment à court et moyen terme sont caractérisées pour mettre en évidence leur influence sur les impacts environnementaux. Puis, l'utilisation de facteurs de caractérisation dynamique sur des cas d'études permet de mieux cerner les potentialités de l'ACV dynamique dans le bâtiment.Enfin, les différences dues aux méthodologies de prise en compte de l'énergie produite localement sur l'expression des résultats d’ACV sont présentées. Par ailleurs, la sensibilité des résultats d'ACV et des valeurs de référence à la variabilité de la donnée environnementale du mix électrique est exposée. / In France, since 1974 when the first thermal regulation on buildings appeared, thermal regulations have never stopped evolving in order to make more and more energy efficient buildings. Today, it is necessary to add new indicators, and not only energy, to describe building performance.Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the basis for buildings environmental assessment. Several building LCA software currently exist; they have their own methodologies and indicators.Besides, the development of buildings producing energy and of electrical load management systems raises new questions. Indeed, the current LCA practice use results from dynamic energy simulation at yearly level whereas assessing benefits and drawbacks of such systems has to be done with a smaller time step.This thesis is particularly focused on the calculation of the environmental impacts from energy consumption during the building use phase and aims to answer the following questions:From a complete energy balance, how can we extract information necessary to the assessment of energy consumption during the building life cycle?Then, which environmental data are relevant and should be assigned?How can you express and display impacts linked to energy use?Thus, for buildings producing energy, the time step that should be used for the energy balance (i.e. differentiation between energy consumed on site, exported and imported) in order to assess properly environmental impacts of energy consumption is identified. Moreover, a building can benefit from renewable energy sharing and thus, the way to realize the energy balance for building block is determined.Temporal (short and long term) and spatial variations of energy mixes used in a building are characterized in order to show their influence on the environmental impacts. Then, the use of dynamic characterisation factors on case studies allows to better understand the potentials of dynamic LCA for buildings.Last but not least, the differences between methodologies to handle onsite energy production on the results are presented. Besides, the sensibility of the LCA results and reference values to the variation of the electricity mix environmental data is displayed.

abstract: In the U.S., high-speed passenger rail has recently become an active political topic, with multiple corridors currently being considered through federal and state level initiatives. One frequently cited benefit of high-speed rail proposals is that they offer a transition to a more sustainable transportation system with reduced greenhouse gas emissions and fossil energy consumption. This study investigates the feasibility of high-speed rail development as a long-term greenhouse gas emission mitigation strategy while considering major uncertainties in the technological and operational characteristics of intercity travel. First, I develop a general model for evaluating the emissions impact of intercity travel modes. This model incorporates aspects of life-cycle assessment and technological forecasting. The model is then used to compare future scenarios of energy and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the development of high-speed rail and other intercity travel technologies. Three specific rail corridors are evaluated and policy guidelines are developed regarding the emissions impacts of these investments. The results suggest prioritizing high-speed rail investments on short, dense corridors with fewer stops. Likewise, less emphasis should be placed on larger investments that require long construction times due to risks associated with payback of embedded emissions as competing technology improves. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Sustainability 2011

abstract: Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is one of the important mitigation options for climate change. Numerous technologies to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) are in development but currently, capture using amines is the predominant technology. When the flue gas reacts with amines (Monoethanaloamine) the CO2 is absorbed into the solution and forms an intermediate product which then releases CO2 at higher temperature. The high temperature necessary to strip CO2 is provided by steam extracted from the powerplant thus reducing the net output of the powerplant by 25% to 35%. The reduction in electricity output for the same input of coal increases the emissions factor of Nitrogen Oxides, Mercury, Particulate matter, Ammonia, Volatile organic compounds for the same unit of electricity produced. The thesis questions if this tradeoff between CO2 and other emissions is beneficial or not. Three different methodologies, Life Cycle Assessment, Valuation models and cost benefit analysis are used to identify if there is a net benefit to the society on implementation of CCS to a Pulverized coal powerplant. These methodologies include the benefits due to reduction of CO2 and the disbenefits due to the increase of other emissions. The life cycle assessment using ecoindicator'99 methodology shows the CCS is not beneficial under Hierarchical and Egalitarian perspective. The valuation model shows that the inclusion of the other emissions reduces the benefit associated with CCS. For a lower CO2 price the valuation model shows that CCS is detrimental to the environment. The cost benefit analysis shows that a CO2 price of at least $80/tCO2 is required for the cost benefit ratio to be 1. The methodology integrates Montecarlo simulation to characterize the uncertainties associated with the valuation models. / Dissertation/Thesis / sima pro / excel sheets / M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering 2012

Resumo: Em virtude da pressão exercida pelos diversos segmentos da sociedade, para que o setor da construção civil se torne ambientalmente mais adequado, muito tem se discutido a respeito do aproveitamento de resíduos na produção de materiais de construção e uma infinidade de pesquisas vem sendo desenvolvidas com este objetivo. Porém, antes que estes produtos possam ser chamados de "sustentáveis" e que efetivamente um sitema de reciclagem seja implantado, é imprescindível que se compreendam todas as consequências envolvidas nesta ação e, principalmente, quais os reais ganhos para o ambiente (e para o setor) se isto ocorrer. Para que se possa obter um quadro geral dos impactos ambientais associados a estes produtos, uma das ferramentas mais utilizadas é a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV), que vem sendo cada vez mais aceita como resposta às indagações ambientais do novo milênio. Diante do exposto, o objetivo deste trabalho é contribuir para um maior entendimento a respeito dos impactos ambientais na construção civil, por meio da realização de um estudo comparativo de ACV dos diferentes tipos de chapas de partículas fabricadas a partir de resíduos, que vêm sendo desenvolvidas na Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), campus de Bauru. As chapas foram fabricadas a partir dos seguintes resíduos: bagaço de cana-de-açúcar (Saccharum spp); folhas caulinares do bambu (Dendrocalamus giganteus); cavacos provenientes do beneficiamento das madeiras pinos (Pinus elliotti) e imbuia (Ocotea porosa). O estudo foi desenvolvido com base nas orientações metodológicas da série de Normas NBR ISO 14040 (2009), a unidade funcional adotada foi o m² das chapas e para avaliação dos impactos foi empregado o método EDIP. De acordo os resultados, as chapas produzidas a partir das folhas do bambu apresentaram o menor potencial de impacto ambiental, na maioria das categorias avaliadas. Em ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Regarding the pressure from various sectors of the society, the construction industry is becoming more concerned about the environment impacts associated at its activities, and recently, particular attention has being devoted to the use of waste in construction materials ans several research projects have been developed in this field. However, before labeling these products as "sustainable" and before initiate the production of any product based on recycling, it is necessary to comprehend all the steps involved in this action, and mainly, to quantify the real gains for the environment (and for the industry) associated to it. In the evaluation of the environmental impacts associated with these products, the most used tool is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which is being increasingly accepted in research for the environmental goals of the new millennium. Therefore, the main objective of this master thesis was to study the environmental impacts in the construction, namely through the completion of a comparative LCA of different types of particleboards made of residues, which have being developed at Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) Campus of Bauru. The boards were manufactured using the following residues: sugar cane bagasse (saccharum spp); bamboo stalk leaves (Dendrocalamus giganteus); pieces from the processing of pine wood (Pinus elliottii) and imbuia (Ocotea porosa). The study was developed based on the methodological guidelines included in the standards series NBR ISO 14040 (2009). The functional unit adopted was the square meter of boards, and the EDIP method was employed for the impacts assessment. The results demonstrate that the boards produced of bamboo stalk leaves had the least environmental impact potential in most the evaluated categories. In contrast, the boards made of pine particles showed the largest environmental impact potential. Among the factors that most ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: Rosane Aparecida Gomes Battistelle / Coorientador: Ivaldo De Domenico Valarelli / Banca: Humberto S. A. Varum / Banca: Adilson Renofio / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-09-24Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:54:27Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 santos_mfn_me_bauru.pdf: 2258051 bytes, checksum: ed707b2833785d94e16b821f4bdc2630 (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Em virtude da pressão exercida pelos diversos segmentos da sociedade, para que o setor da construção civil se torne ambientalmente mais adequado, muito tem se discutido a respeito do aproveitamento de resíduos na produção de materiais de construção e uma infinidade de pesquisas vem sendo desenvolvidas com este objetivo. Porém, antes que estes produtos possam ser chamados de sustentáveis e que efetivamente um sitema de reciclagem seja implantado, é imprescindível que se compreendam todas as consequências envolvidas nesta ação e, principalmente, quais os reais ganhos para o ambiente (e para o setor) se isto ocorrer. Para que se possa obter um quadro geral dos impactos ambientais associados a estes produtos, uma das ferramentas mais utilizadas é a Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV), que vem sendo cada vez mais aceita como resposta às indagações ambientais do novo milênio. Diante do exposto, o objetivo deste trabalho é contribuir para um maior entendimento a respeito dos impactos ambientais na construção civil, por meio da realização de um estudo comparativo de ACV dos diferentes tipos de chapas de partículas fabricadas a partir de resíduos, que vêm sendo desenvolvidas na Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), campus de Bauru. As chapas foram fabricadas a partir dos seguintes resíduos: bagaço de cana-de-açúcar (Saccharum spp); folhas caulinares do bambu (Dendrocalamus giganteus); cavacos provenientes do beneficiamento das madeiras pinos (Pinus elliotti) e imbuia (Ocotea porosa). O estudo foi desenvolvido com base nas orientações metodológicas da série de Normas NBR ISO 14040 (2009), a unidade funcional adotada foi o m² das chapas e para avaliação dos impactos foi empregado o método EDIP. De acordo os resultados, as chapas produzidas a partir das folhas do bambu apresentaram o menor potencial de impacto ambiental, na maioria das categorias avaliadas. Em... / Regarding the pressure from various sectors of the society, the construction industry is becoming more concerned about the environment impacts associated at its activities, and recently, particular attention has being devoted to the use of waste in construction materials ans several research projects have been developed in this field. However, before labeling these products as sustainable and before initiate the production of any product based on recycling, it is necessary to comprehend all the steps involved in this action, and mainly, to quantify the real gains for the environment (and for the industry) associated to it. In the evaluation of the environmental impacts associated with these products, the most used tool is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which is being increasingly accepted in research for the environmental goals of the new millennium. Therefore, the main objective of this master thesis was to study the environmental impacts in the construction, namely through the completion of a comparative LCA of different types of particleboards made of residues, which have being developed at Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) Campus of Bauru. The boards were manufactured using the following residues: sugar cane bagasse (saccharum spp); bamboo stalk leaves (Dendrocalamus giganteus); pieces from the processing of pine wood (Pinus elliottii) and imbuia (Ocotea porosa). The study was developed based on the methodological guidelines included in the standards series NBR ISO 14040 (2009). The functional unit adopted was the square meter of boards, and the EDIP method was employed for the impacts assessment. The results demonstrate that the boards produced of bamboo stalk leaves had the least environmental impact potential in most the evaluated categories. In contrast, the boards made of pine particles showed the largest environmental impact potential. Among the factors that most ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:00:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5350.pdf: 3043288 bytes, checksum: 695716ff1fea60272e8ff4ecfd329880 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-09 / Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos / The civil construction is one of the most important activities for the economic and social development, however it also behaves as a major generator of environmental impacts. The aggregates for construction include crushed stone, sand and gravel and they are the most consumed inputs in the world. About 60 to 80% of the volume of concrete is composed by them and crushed stone has an extensive use. This study aims to wage the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of crushed stone in the production of concrete applied in civil construction, through the identification and discussion of quantitative stages of extraction, processing, storage, transport, use and final disposal. In the developing of the methodology we used the standard recommendations of ISO 14040 and 14044, where the study is divided in four parts: Definition of goal and scope, Life Cycle Inventory Analysis (LCI), Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) and Interpretation. The largest impacts related to the following categories: Human toxicity (soil), Acidification, Nutrient enrichment and Global Warming. The results indicate that the critical steps of the whole life cycle of gravel are, in descending order: Extraction, Transportation from processing to trucks and Final disposal. The emissions from these critical stages correspond to those of higher fuel consumption. As alternatives to mitigate and minimize these impacts we proposed preventive maintenance of equipment and investment in technologies that allow the use of less polluting fuels, such as S50, S10, biodiesel and other biofuels. / A construção civil é uma das mais importantes atividades para o desenvolvimento econômico e social, entretanto comporta-se também como uma grande geradora de impactos ambientais. Os agregados da construção civil perfazem os insumos minerais mais consumidos no mundo, dentre eles enquadram-se a brita, a areia e o cascalho. Cerca de 60 a 80% do volume de concreto é composto pelos agregados e a brita destaca-se devido à sua extensa utilização. Este trabalho tem por objetivo realizar a Avaliação do Ciclo de vida (ACV) da brita na produção de concretos para a construção civil, por meio da identificação e discussão de indicadores quantitativos das etapas de extração, beneficiamento, armazenagem, transporte, uso e disposição final. No desenvolvimento da metodologia foram utilizadas as recomendações normativas das NBR 14040 e 14044, em que há a divisão do estudo em quatro partes: Definição de objetivo e escopo; Análise de inventário do ciclo de vida (ICV); Avaliação do impacto do ciclo de vida (AICV) e Interpretação. Os maiores impactos correspondem às seguintes categorias: Toxicidade humana (solo), Acidificação, Eutrofização e Aquecimento Global. Os resultados permitem afirmar que as etapas críticas de todo o ciclo de vida da brita são, em ordem decrescente: Extração, Transporte do beneficiamento aos caminhões e Disposição final. As emissões provenientes dessas etapas críticas correspondem àquelas de maior consumo de combustível. Como alternativas para mitigar e minimizar esses impactos propõe-se a manutenção preventiva dos equipamentos e o investimento em tecnologias que permitam a utilização de combustíveis menos poluentes, tais como o S50, S10, biodiesel e outros biocombustíveis.

abstract: Comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates the relative performance of multiple products, services, or technologies with the purpose of selecting the least impactful alternative. Nevertheless, characterized results are seldom conclusive. When one alternative performs best in some aspects, it may also performs worse in others. These tradeoffs among different impact categories make it difficult to identify environmentally preferable alternatives. To help reconcile this dilemma, LCA analysts have the option to apply normalization and weighting to generate comparisons based upon a single score. However, these approaches can be misleading because they suffer from problems of reference dataset incompletion, linear and fully compensatory aggregation, masking of salient tradeoffs, weight insensitivity and difficulties incorporating uncertainty in performance assessment and weights. Consequently, most LCA studies truncate impacts assessment at characterization, which leaves decision-makers to confront highly uncertain multi-criteria problems without the aid of analytic guideposts. This study introduces Stochastic Multi attribute Analysis (SMAA), a novel approach to normalization and weighting of characterized life-cycle inventory data for use in comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The proposed method avoids the bias introduced by external normalization references, and is capable of exploring high uncertainty in both the input parameters and weights. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil and Environmental Engineering 2015

abstract: With high potential for automobiles to cause air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, there is concern that automobiles accessing or egressing public transportation may cause emissions similar to regular automobile use. Due to limited literature and research that evaluates and discusses environmental impacts from first and last mile portions of transit trips, there is a lack of understanding on this topic. This research aims to comprehensively evaluate the life cycle impacts of first and last mile trips on multimodal transit. A case study of transit and automobile travel in the greater Los Angeles region is evaluated by using a comprehensive life cycle assessment combined with regional household travel survey data to evaluate first-last mile trip impacts in multimodal transit focusing on automobile trips accessing or egressing transit. First and last mile automobile trips were found to increase total multimodal transit trip emissions by 2 to 12 times (most extreme cases were carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds). High amounts of coal-fired energy generation can cause electric propelled rail trips with automobile access or egress to have similar or more emissions (commonly greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide, and mono-nitrogen oxides) than competing automobile trips, however, most criteria air pollutants occur remotely. Methods to reduce first-last mile impacts depend on the characteristics of the transit systems and may include promoting first-last mile carpooling, adjusting station parking pricing and availability, and increased emphasis on walking and biking paths in areas with low access-egress trip distances. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Civil and Environmental Engineering 2016

A cana-de-açúcar e o dendê estão entre as culturas de maior produtividade, 6 a 7,5 mil litros de etanol/ha.ano e 4 a 6 toneladas de óleo/ha.ano, respectivamente. A produção integrada de biocombustíveis derivados dessas culturas é uma alternativa atraente para melhorar o ciclo de vida através da redução no consumo de combustível fóssil e emissão de gases de efeito estufa (GEE), bem como no aumento da eficiência energética. Nesse sentido, o objetivo desta dissertação é comparar, por meio de indicadores ambientais, o sistema produtivo brasileiro de etanol de cana-de-açúcar com uma proposta de sistema integrado de produção desse álcool com biodiesel de dendê, sendo os indicadores avaliados sob o enfoque do ciclo de vida, segundo norma ISO 14.044/2006. Considerou-se a produção dessas culturas sob bioma de Cerrado, Cerradão e pastagem degradada. Para tanto, foram avaliados o balanço de energia, balanço de carbono e mudança no uso do solo. O sistema integrado inclui a substituição de 100% do diesel, utilizado nas etapas agrícolas do ciclo de vida, por biodiesel de dendê. Foram avaliados os indicadores para diferentes frações de cana-de-açúcar destinada à produção de açúcar, considerando, nesse caso, a produção de etanol via mel final. Os dados foram levantados através de observação direta extensiva por meio de questionários e a partir de dados secundários já publicados. Foram selecionadas três usinas sucroenergéticas no interior de São Paulo e uma unidade industrial de óleo de palma localizada no Pará. Os resultados demonstraram um aumento de 164% no balanço de energia no sistema integrado de produção, quando comparado ao sistema tradicional de etanol de cana-de-açúcar. Além disso, o sistema integrado apresentou 24% de redução nas emissões de GEE. Na avaliação dos indicadores para a produção de etanol via mel final, o balanço de energia foi até 59% e 162% superior nos cenários 1 e 2, respectivamente, os quais se diferenciam pelo tipo de caldeira utilizada. Para as emissões de GEE, a redução pode chegar a 91%. A mudança no uso do solo identificou que o tempo de reposição do carbono liberado com a substituição dos biomas de Cerrado, Cerradão e Pastagem Degradada será, em média, 5, 10 e -5 anos, respectivamente. Por fim, verificou-se que a produção integrada das culturas de cana-de-açúcar e palma de dendê, para a produção de biocombustíveis, apresentou melhorias no ciclo de vida do etanol de cana-de-açúcar sob os aspectos de balanço de energia, balanço de emissões de GEE e mudança no uso do solo. / Sugarcane and palm are amongst the crops with the highest yields, which can reach 6 to 7.5 thousand liters of ethanol per hectare year and 4 to 6 metric tons of oil per hectare year, respectively. A joint production of biofuels from these crops is an interesting alternative for life cycle assessment improvement through fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emissions reduction, besides energy efficiency gains. The objective of this work is comparing the Brazilian production system sugarcane ethanol with an integrated system proposal where the ethanol and palm biodiesel are produced together. This comparative study is based on a life cycle approach using the ISO 14.044/2006 and appropriate indicators. Production systems in Cerrado, Cerradão and grassland ecosystem were considered. The energy balance, carbon balance and land use change were evaluated. The integrated system includes a 100% substitution of biodiesel by diesel, which is used in life cycle agriculture stages. Distinct fractions of sugarcane used for sugar production were assessed. When all sugarcane is sent to sugar production, ethanol is produced by molasses. The data were collected by direct observation method by questionnaire and secondary sources. Three sugarcane mills situated in São Paulo state and a palm mill located in Para state were surveyed. Results showed a 164% increase in energy balance for the joint production system in comparison to the traditional system. Besides this, the joint production system demonstrated a 24% GHG emission reduction. For ethanol production by molasses, the energy balance was up to 59% and 162% higher in scenarios 1 and 2, respectively, which differ each other through of the boiler that was utilized. For GHG emission, the reduction can reach 91%. The land use change identify an average ecosystem carbon payback time for Cerrado, Cerradão and Degraded Grassland of 5, 10, and -5 years, respectively. In conclusion, the joint production system of sugarcane ethanol and palm biodiesel presents an improvement in energy balance, GHG emissions and land use change impacts in comparison to the traditional ethanol system.