This report is a life cycle assessment of a relatively newly built semidetached passive house/low energy house located in Östersund/Jämtland. The analysis concentrates on the building materials in the construction phase and the energy in the use phase for 50 years. The construction phase include frame, foundation, interior and exterior walls, ceiling and roof, middle floor structure, floor coverings, interior and exterior doors, windows, interior staircase with banisters, stove and FTX-ventilation system. The inventory to obtain the volume of each material has been made with the help of blueprints and interviews. The inventory of the use phase has been made using measurements from a parallel study by Itai Danielski of the energy use in the house (Danielski, Svensson & Fröling, 2013). The database Ecoinvent has been used to get a result for the volume and energy values. The inventory data is allocated and the characterization methods GWP, CED (cumulative energy demand) and USEtox are used. The aim of this study was to compare the construction phase with the use phase to see which phase that has the highest energy values ​​and environmental impact. Another goal was to examine which materials in the construction phase that has the highest embodied energy and environmental impact. The result shows that in a comparison between the construction phase and the use phase, and when considering the parameters included in this study, the use phase has the highest values for global warming potentials (around 54 %), cumulative energy demand (around 80 %), ecotoxicity (around 56 %), human non-carcinogenic toxicity (around 77 %) and total human toxicity (around 75 %). The construction phase has the highest values for human carcinogenic toxicity (around 57 %). Even if the use phase has the highest values in most categories the construction phase also has high values. As buildings become more energy efficient and with increasing use of renewable energy, the construction phase becomes more important from an environmental perspective. This means that the material choices which are made in passive houses become increasingly important if passive houses should be considered to be environmentally friendly also in the future. The study also shows that the FTX-ventilation system, some of the insulation materials (with cellular plastic sheets and rock wool in top), metals (with sheet metal roofing of steel in top), glued laminated timber and wood fiber boards  have some of the highest values of environmental impact and the highest embodied energy. These materials should in future buildings be considered, if possible, to be replaced with materials with less environmental impact. / Den här rapporten är en livscykelanalys av ett relativt nybyggt passivhus/lågenergihus som också är ett parhus (ett hus delat i två separata lägenheter) beläget i Östersund/Jämtland. Analysen koncentrerar sig på byggnadsmaterialen i konstruktionsfasen och energin i användningsfasen under 50 år. Konstruktionsfasen inkluderar stomme, grund, inner- och ytterväggar, inner- och yttertak, mellanbjälklag, golvbeklädnader, inner- och ytterdörrar, fönster, invändig trappa med trappräcke, kamin och FTX-ventilationssystem. Inventeringen för att få fram volymen på varje material har gjorts med hjälp av ritningar och intervjuer. Inventeringen av användningsfasen har gjorts med hjälp av mätvärden från en parallell studie av Itai Danielski på energianvändningen i huset (Danielski, Svensson & Fröling, 2013). Databasen Ecoinvent har sedan använts för att få fram ett resultat för volym- och energivärdena. Inventeringsdatan är allokerad och karaktäriseringsmetoderna GWP (globalt uppvärmingspotential), CED (kumulativt energibehov) och USEtox (toxicitet) har använts. Målet med studien är att jämföra konstruktionsfasen med användningsfasen för att kunna se vilken fas som har högst energivärden och miljöpåverkan. Målet är också att undersöka vilka material i konstruktionsfasen som har högst förkroppsligad energi och miljöpåverkan, i syftet att eventuellt kunna byta ut vissa material till miljövänligare alternativ, för att få ett miljövänligare hus i framtida liknande byggnationer. Resultaten visar att i en jämförelse mellan konstruktionsfasen och användningsfasen, och med hänsyn till de parametrar som ingår i studien, att användningsfasen har de högsta värdena för globalt uppvämingspotential (runt 54 %), kumulativt energibehov (runt 80 %), ekotoxicitet (runt 56 %), human icke-cancerogen toxicitet (runt 77 %) och total human toxicitet (runt 75 %). Konstruktionsfasen har högst värden för human cancerogen toxicitet (runt 57 %). Även om användningsfasen har högst värden i de flesta kategorierna så har även konstruktionsfasen höga värden. Ju mer energieffektiva husen blir och med en ökad användning av energi från förnyelsebara källor, desto viktigare blir konstruktionsfasen ur ett miljöperspektiv. Det betyder att materialvalen som görs i huset blir väldigt viktiga om passivhus ska fortsätta anses som miljövänliga även i framtiden. Denna studie visar också att FTX-ventilationssystemet, några av isoleringsmaterialen (med cellplasten och stenullen i topp), metallerna (med plåttaket av stål i topp), limträbalkar och träfiberskivor har några av de högsta värdena av miljöpåverkan och den högsta förkroppsligade energin. Dessa material borde i framtida byggnationer övervägas att om möjligt ersättas med andra material med mindre miljöpåverkan.

This investigation strives to determine the level of ecodesign awareness as well as to map the use of methods and tools for this concept in the electrical and electronics industries of Thailand. The foundation of the thesis is eight semi-structured qualitative research interviews performed with various people at Thai organisations, an electronics manufacturer in Thailand, and experts from Swedish, Danish and Thai universities. The research method has yielded the following results: The level of ecodesign awareness within the country is low, and so is the general level of environmental knowledge. The concept of Life Cycle thinking is mostly unknown, and at best used only to parts of its full potential. The ecodesign education is limited to basic courses at university level and much of the problems with the use of methods and tools for ecodesign can be traced to the lack of ecodesign knowledge amongst its presumptive users. Respondents of this research suggests that the ecodesign knowledge and awareness is significantly higher amongst larger companies with foreign connections than it is amongst Small and Medium sized Enterprises of Thailand, which often have no such contacts. At present, efforts are being made to educate Thai companies in ecodesign through networking, seminars, workshops and student/expert internships. These endeavours have been arranged by various organizations with the aid from foreign experts and have resulted in successful ecodesign/redesign of products within Thailand. Stakeholder demands such as cost-down or legislation compliance demands are the main driving forces for ecodesign in Thailand, and very few attempts at ecodesign for the pure benefit of the environment are being made. Present trends suggest that the future of ecodesign in Thailand will include the finalisation of a Thai-RoHS directive and possibly further work on a Thai-WEEE directive as well. As for Life Cycle thinking, practices of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are still basic, but some uses of such LCA tools as SimaPro and GaBi have been proven. Commercial LCA software licenses are considered expensive by most Thai companies and it has become common practice to utilize licenses bought by organisations instead of buying licenses for one’s own company. This results in high costs having to be carried by the organisations and diminishes investment possibilities in other ecodesign fields. At current, LCI data is being requested by companies and might lead to more work being made in this area in the future. In conclusion, more effort needs to be put into education on all levels and the application of educational methods and tools is advised.

Energy and environmental impacts are two factors that will influence urban region composition in the near future. One emerging issue is the effect on water usage resulting from changes in regional or urban transportation trends. With many regions experiencing stresses on water availability, transportation planners and users need to combine information on transportation-related water consumption for any region and assess potential impacts on local water resources from the expansion of alternative transportation modes. This thesis will focus on use-phase water consumption factors for multiple vehicle modes, energy and fuel pathways, roads, and vehicle infrastructure for a given transportation network. While there are studies examining life cycle impacts for energy generation and vehicle usage, few repeatable models exist for assessing overall water consumption across several transportation modes within urban regions. As such, the question is: is it possible to develop a traceable decision support model that combines and assesses water consumption from transportation modes and related mobility infrastructure for a given mobility network? Based on this, an object-oriented system model of transportation elements was developed using the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) and Model-Based Systems Engineering principles to compare water consumption across vehicle modes for assessing the resiliency of existing infrastructure and water resources. To demonstrate the intent of this model, daily network usage water consumption will be analyzed for current and alternative network scenarios projected by policies regarding the expansion of alternative energy. The model is expected to show variations in water consumption due to fluctuations in energy pathways, market shares, and driving conditions, from which the model should help determine the feasibility of expanding alterative vehicles and fuels in these networks. While spatially explicit data is limited compared to the national averages that are used as model inputs, the analytical framework within this model closely follows that of existing assessments and the reusable nature of SysML model elements allows for the future expansion of additional transportation modes and infrastructure as well as other environmental analyses.

Cette thèse de doctorat, a consisté, dans une première partie, à introduire d’une part, la notion de l’analyse du cycle de vie « ACV » et celle des biocarburants. D’autre part, à présenter l’intérêt d’appliquer une ACV sur des biocarburants afin de valoriser leurs bilans énergétiques et analyser leurs impacts environnementaux face aux carburants conventionnels. Dans une deuxième partie, nous avons comparé, d’un point de vue énergétique et environnemental, 3 scénarios de production d’électricité : 2 scénarios de cogénération (turbine à vapeur et ORC) pour la production d’énergie électrique et thermique à partir de biomasse, et un scénario de cogénération par moteur diesel. Ces scénarios sont comparés à l’aide de deux méthodes orientées « analyse des dommages »: Eco-indicateur 99 (E) et IMPACT2002+Dans une troisième partie, on a abordé la valorisation du biogaz sous forme de carburant dans des moteurs "dual fuel" pour des engins agricoles dans le but de déterminer l’impact environnemental lié à l’utilisation de ce carburant alternatif au diesel par rapport aux autres biocarburants. Les méthodes Eco-indicateur 99 (E) et CML ont été utilisées ici. On a pu ainsi identifier les principaux polluants générés à chaque étape du cycle de vie de l’agrocarburant et les étapes qui ont les plus grands impacts environnementaux et on a identifié, selon nos critères et par rapport au contexte, le scénario énergétique le plus compatible avec le principe de développement durable. / This thesis has consisted in a first part to introduce, on one hand, the concept of each of: lifecycle assessment "LCA" and biofuels, on the other hand, to present the benefits of applying aLCA on biofuels to evaluate their energy balances and to analyze their environmental impactsagainst conventional fuels.In a second part, we compared, from point of view energetic and environmental, 3 scenariosof electricity production: 2 scenarios of cogeneration (steam turbine and ORC) for theproduction of electrical energy and of heat from biomass, and a scenario of cogeneration by adiesel engine, these scenarios have been compared using two damage-oriented analysismethods: Eco-indicator 99 (E) and IMPACT2002 +In a third part, we worked on the evaluation of methane as fuel in "dual fuel" engines foragricultural purpose, the aim was to determine the environmental impact associated with theuse of this alternative fuel for diesel compared to other biofuels. Methods Eco-indicator 99(E) and CML have been used here.We were able to identify the main pollutants generated at each stage of the life cycle ofbiofuel and the steps that have the greatest environmental impacts, and to identify, accordingto our criteria and to the context the energy scenario the most consistent with the principle ofsustainable development.

The production and consumption of information and communication technology (ICT) products and services continue to grow worldwide. This trend is accompanied by a corresponding increase in electricity use by ICT, as well as direct environmental impacts of the technology. Yet a more complicated picture of ICT’s effects is emerging. Positive indirect effects on environmental sustainability can be seen in substitution and optimization (enabling effects), and negative indirect effects can be seen in additional demand due to efficiency improvements (rebound effects). A variety of methods can be employed to model and assess these direct and indirect effects of ICT on environmental sustainability. This doctoral thesis explores methods of modeling and assessing environmental effects of ICT, including electronic media. In a series of five studies, three methods were at times applied in case studies and at others analyzed theoretically. These methods include life cycle assessment (LCA) and complex systems modeling approaches, including System Dynamics (SD) and agent-based (AB) modeling. The first two studies employ the LCA approach in a case study of an ICT application, namely, the tablet edition of a Swedish design magazine. The use of tablets has skyrocketed in recent years, and this phenomenon has been little studied to date. Potential environmental impacts of the magazine’s tablet edition were assessed and compared with those of the print edition. The tablet edition’s emerging version (which is marked by a low number of readers and low reading time per copy) resulted in higher potential environmental impacts per reader than did the print edition. However, the mature tablet edition (with a higher number of readers and greater reading time per copy) yielded lower impacts per reader in half the ten impact categories assessed. While previous studies of electronic media have reported that the main life-cycle contributor to environmental impacts is the use phase (which includes operational electricity use as well as the manufacture of the electronic device), the present study did not support those findings in all scenarios studied in this thesis. Rather, this study found that the number of readers played an important role in determining which life-cycle phase had the greatest impacts. For the emerging version, with few readers, content production was the leading driver of environmental impacts. For the mature version, with a higher number of readers, electronic storage and distribution were the major contributors to environmental impacts. Only when there were many readers but low overall use of the tablet device was the use phase the main contributor to environmental impacts of the tablet edition of the magazine. The third study goes beyond direct effects at product- and service-level LCAs, revisiting an SD simulation study originally conducted in 2002 to model indirect environmental effects of ICT in 15 European countries for the period 2000-2020. In the current study, three scenarios of the 2002 study were validated in light of new empirical data from the period 2000–2012. A new scenario was developed to revisit the quantitative and qualitative results of the original study. The results showed, inter alia, that ICT has a stimulating influence on total passenger transport, for it makes it more cost- and time-efficient (rebound effects). The modeling mechanism used to represent this rebound effect is further investigated in the fourth study, which discusses the feedback loops used to model two types of rebound effects in passenger transport (direct economic rebound and time rebound). Finally, the role of systems thinking and modeling in conceptualizing and communicating the dynamics of rebound effects is examined. The aim of the fifth study was to explore the power of systems modeling and simulation to represent nonlinearities of the complex and dynamic systems examined elsewhere in this thesis. That study reviews previous studies that have compared the SD and AB approaches and models, summarizing their purpose, methodology, and results, based on certain criteria for choosing between SD and AB approaches. The transformation procedure used to develop an AB model for purposes of comparison with an SD model is also explored. In conclusion, first-order or direct environmental effects of ICT production, use, and disposal can be assessed employing an LCA method. This method can also be used to assess second-order or enabling effects by comparing ICT applications with conventional alternatives. However, the assessment of enabling effects can benefit from systems modeling methods, which are able to formally describe the drivers of change, as well as the dynamics of complex social, technical, and environmental systems associated with ICT applications. Such systems methods can also be used to model third-order or rebound effects of efficiency improvements by ICT. / Den ökande produktionen och konsumtionen av produkter och tjänster inom informations- och kommunikationsteknik (IKT) leder till en ökning av den globala elanvändningen samt direkta miljökonsekvenser kopplade till IKT. Men IKT har även indirekta miljömässiga effekter. Dessa kan vara positiva till exempel genom substitutions- och optimeringseffekter eller negativa genom att till exempel ge upphov till ytterligare efterfrågan på grund av effektivisering (så kallade reboundeffekter). Olika metoder kan användas för att modellera och bedöma både direkta och indirekta effekter av IKT. Syftet med denna avhandling är att undersöka metoder för modellering samt att studera miljöeffekter av IKT och elektronisk media med hjälp av livscykelanalys (LCA) och även modellering av komplexa och dynamiska system, samt simuleringsteknik, så som System Dynamics (SD) och agentbaserad (AB) modellering. Avhandlingen omfattar fem artiklar (artikel I-V). Artikel I &amp; II beskriver resultaten från en fallstudie där miljöeffekter kopplade till en svensk tidskrift studeras med LCA. Tidskriftens version för surfplatta samt motsvarande tryckta version studeras och jämförs. Artikel III går ett steg vidare från produktnivåns LCA. Artikeln återkopplar till en SD simuleringsstudie som ursprungligen genomfördes under 2002. Simuleringsstudien gällde framtida miljöeffekter av IKT i 15 europeiska länder med tidspespektivet 2000-2020. I artikeln valideras tre scenarier från simuleringsstudien med hjälp av nya empiriska data från 2000-2012 och ett nytt scenario modelleras. Kvantitativa och kvalitativa resultat från den ursprungliga studien diskuteras. Till exempel visar artikel III att IKT har en stimulerande effekt på den totala persontrafiken genom att göra den mer kostnads- och tidseffektiv (reboundeffekt). Modelleringsmekanismen som används för att representera denna reboundeffekt diskuteras vidare i artikel IV. Artikeln belyser och diskuterar den återkopplingsslinga (feedback-loop) som används för att modellera två typer av reboundeffekter kopplade till persontrafik (direkt ekonomisk rebound och tidsrelaterad rebound) samt jämför med en tidigare studie. Artikel IV behandlar också den roll systemtänkande och modellering kan spela i konceptualisering och kommunikation av reboundeffekters dynamik. För att ytterligare undersöka systemmodelleringens och simuleringens möjligheter att representera icke-linjära komplexa och dynamiska system (exempel på sådana diskuteras i artikel III och IV), sammanställer artikel V tidigare studier som jämför SD och AB-metoder och -modeller.  Studiernas mål och metod summeras och resultaten med avseende på vilka kriterier som presenteras för att välja mellan SD och AB sammanställs. Även processen för att omvandla en befintlig SD-modell till en AB-modell beskrivs. Avhandlingens slutsats är att LCA och systemmodelleringsmetoder kan vara användbara för att studera IKTs direkta effekter så väl som indirekta effekter på miljön. / <p>QC 20150813</p>

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The well-to-wheel (WTW) environmental performance of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) is sensitive to driving patterns, which vary within and across regions. This thesis develops and applies a novel approach for estimating specific regional driving patterns. The approach employs a macroscopic traffic assignment model linked with a vehicle motion model to construct driving cycles, which is done for a wide range of driving patterns. For each driving cycle, the tank-to-wheel energy use of two PHEVs and comparable non-plug-in alternatives is estimated. These estimates are then employed within a WTW analysis to investigate implications of driving patterns on the energy use and greenhouse gas emission of PHEVs, and the WTW performance of PHEVs relative to non-plug-in alternatives for various electricity generation scenarios. The results of the WTW analysis demonstrate that driving patterns and the electricity generation supply interact to substantially impact the WTW performance of PHEVs.

The well-to-wheel (WTW) environmental performance of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) is sensitive to driving patterns, which vary within and across regions. This thesis develops and applies a novel approach for estimating specific regional driving patterns. The approach employs a macroscopic traffic assignment model linked with a vehicle motion model to construct driving cycles, which is done for a wide range of driving patterns. For each driving cycle, the tank-to-wheel energy use of two PHEVs and comparable non-plug-in alternatives is estimated. These estimates are then employed within a WTW analysis to investigate implications of driving patterns on the energy use and greenhouse gas emission of PHEVs, and the WTW performance of PHEVs relative to non-plug-in alternatives for various electricity generation scenarios. The results of the WTW analysis demonstrate that driving patterns and the electricity generation supply interact to substantially impact the WTW performance of PHEVs.

Författarna har haft ett samarbete med Panduro Hobby i samband med deras årliga miljökampanj. Syftet med examensarbetet har varit att med hjälp av befintliga produktutvecklingsprocesser och livscykelanalyser (LCA) ta fram en hållbar textil produkt med växtfärgning. Tanken var att konsumenter sedan själva skall kunna ta fram och växtfärga denna hållbara textilprodukt. Miljömedvetenhet och hållbarhet inom textilindustrin är ett aktuellt ämne. Trots det saknar dagens konsumenter förståelse för textilindustrins påverkan på miljön och har bristande kunskap om textila material för att kunna göra miljövänliga val ute i handeln. Både konsumenter och företag uttrycker att de gärna vill bidra till en mer miljövänlig textilindustri men att de saknar kännedom, resurser och verktyg för att göra det. Därför valde författarna av examensarbetet att undersöka hur en hållbar textil produkt kan tas fram med hjälp av livscykelanalyser, produktutvecklingsmetoden Product Ideas Tree (PIT) samt växtfärgning. Alla steg under produktutvecklingsprocessen valdes ur miljöhänsyn och efter de förutsättningar som krävs för att göra en så miljövänlig textil produkt som möjligt. Resultatet av undersökningen blev en växtfärgad tygkasse i 100 % lin. Efter framtagningen av produkten gjordes en livscykelanalys benämnd MET-matris för att analysera produktens miljöpåfrestning. Matrisen konstaterade att produkten inte har avsevärda miljöbrister. Med examensarbetet och den framtagna produkten vill författarna uppmuntra konsumenter och företag till att fortsätta visa engagemang och intresse för förändringar som gynnar miljön med förhoppningen om att få fler att agera mer hållbart. / The authors have had a collaboration with Panduro Hobby in addition to their annual environmental sustainability campaign. The aim of the thesis has been to develop a sustainable textile product with natural dye using existing product development processes and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The idea was that consumers later on would be able to produce this sustainable textile product and dye it themselves. Environmental awareness and sustainability in the textile industry is a topical subject. Nevertheless many consumers lack sufficient knowledge of textile materials to make environmentally friendly choices in the commerce. Both consumers and businesses express that they would like to contribute to a more environmentally friendly textile industry, but that they lack the knowledge, resources and tools to do it. Therefore, the authors of the thesis chose to explore how a sustainable textile product may be produced with the help of Life Cycle Assessment and the product development method Product Ideas Tree (PIT). All steps in the product development process were carefully chosen with consideration to the environment and the circumstances required to make the textile product as sustainable as possible. The study resulted in the development of a canvas bag made out of 100% linen dyed it with natural dye. After the product development a Life Cycle Analysis, referred to as MET Matrix, was done to analyse the product's environmental strain. The matrix noted that the product does not have significant environmental burdens. With the thesis and the produced product the authors would like to encourage consumers and businesses to continue to show commitment and interest in changes that benefit the environment, with the hope of getting more people to act more sustainably.

Recent literature has recommended that life cycle assessments (LCA) of forest bioenergy supply chains consider the impact of biomass harvest on ecosystem carbon stocks as well as the net emissions arising from combustion of various forms of biofuels compared with reference fossil fuel systems. The present study evaluated the magnitude and temporal variation of ecosystem C stock changes resulting from harvest of roadside residues and unutilized whole trees for bioenergy. The Carbon Budget Model (CBM-CFS3) was applied to the Gordon Cosens Forest, in northeastern Ontario, along with the Biomass Opportunity Supply Model (BiOS-Map), for cost analysis of different types of biomass comminution. Natural gas (NG) steam and electricity, grid electricity, and coal electricity reference systems were analyzed for a pulp and paper mill. The findings showed that the forested landscape becomes a net sink for carbon following the 20th year of roadside residue harvest, compared to whole-tree harvest, where the forested landscape remained a net source of carbon over the entire 100 year rotation. The cumulative ecosystem carbon loss from whole-tree harvest was 11 times greater compared to roadside residue harvest. BiOS-Map analysis suggested that due to technical and operational limits, between 55%-59% and 16%-24% of aboveground biomass was not recovered under roadside residue and whole-tree harvest respectively. The cost of delivering roadside residues was estimated at $52.32/odt–$57.45/odt, and for whole trees $92.63/odt–$97.44/odt. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis showed break-even points of 25, 33 and 6 years for roadside residues displacing NG steam, NG electricity, and coal, respectively. No GHG reduction was achieved when forest biomass was used to displace grid electricity that is generated in Ontario. Whole-tree bioenergy resulted in no GHG reduction for NG displacement, and a break-even point of 70-86 years for coal. A net GHG reduction of 67% and 16% was realized when roadside residues and whole trees were used to displace coal, compared to 45% and 38% when roadside residues were used to displace NG steam and NG electricity, respectively. Therefore, it is recommended that bioenergy deployment strategies focus on the utilization of roadside residues, if the main goal is GHG mitigation.