This project, in collaboration with The Nordic Swan Ecolabel, deals with optimization of daylighting as well energy usage within a residential building for the purposes of Nordic ecolabelling/certification. One of the main purposes of this study is to understand the fundamentals of daylighting and to explore commonly used methods of daylight optimization and how these affect the energy consumption of the building. The other purpose of this study entails a comprehensive study of the evolution of daylight regulations within the Swedish building standard.In order to achieve the above intended aims of the project, a literature review was done on the fundamentals of daylighting as well as a review of the Swedish building standard. In order to evaluate the daylight optimization methods and how they affect energy usage, a mathematical model of a residential building was used within IDA ICE software. The simulated model was built based on certain requirements by the Nordic Swan Ecolabel.Due to time limitations, the study was focused on simulation of metric of daylight factor, and this limited the scope of the study. More realistic simulations with regards to control signals for internal shading were not possible within IDA ICE software. Therefore, simulations were done for only two extremes, that is, always drawn window blinds and never drawn.The window size, presence, and type of internal blinds as well as light transmittance affected both the average daylight factor as well energy consumption the most. The use of large windows with venetian blinds and light transmittance of 0.71 were the best alternatives for both average daylight factor and energy use. Increase in window size increased both the average daylight factor as well as the operational energy used within the building.

The built environment puts the greatest pressure on the natural environment out of all human activities, so it has a fundamental obligation to be environmentally sustainable. Carbon dioxide (CO2) or carbon emissions is a significant greenhouse gas that is inevitably associated with energy use when energy is produced via the combustion of fuels. Total life cycle energy, embodied and operational energy over a building's lifetime, creates significant environmental impacts through the production of CO2. By keeping and reusing existing and historic buildings rather than discarding them and building new, the embodied energy, or the energy that is locked up, can help to mitigate future damage. These buildings already exist, which indicates that the energy consumed to build them has been applied and the carbon associated with their construction has been released. The greenest buildings are ones that are already built. They are inherently more sustainable than any new buildings even with green and zero net energy systems and can be retrofitted to become more energy efficient. To demonstrate this thesis specifically, a design project engages with an abandoned late nineteenth-century bank building in Philadelphia and transforms it into a high-performance building that is prepared for long-term use. For the immediate next use, the project creates a work environment and a new vertical expansion of residential units. The preservation field always confronts the challenge of bridging the gap between embodied energy and operational energy. In the abandoned bank, there are some aspects of this building that are near permanent and define its character, such as brick walls with masonry ornament, two bank vaults, Wissahickon Schist foundation wall, and ceiling trusses. This thesis explores new approaches to leverage the embodied energy of the permanent parts of the abandoned bank and transform it into a high-performance building. A lot of energy of the abandoned bank, the building's material, and thermal mass is still actively performing. The building's envelope, the thick masonry wall, provides a moderately good insulating effect that will temper the indoor air that also preserves its historical character both inside and outside. The embodied energy of the building's envelope is leveraged by pairing it with localized heating and cooling using a radiation and conduction system. Other approaches that increase energy performance in the existing building, include the use of phase-change material for cooling the process water, solar hot water, creating drinking water via a solar still in the skylight, and distilled water from radiant cooling surfaces. In the new construction, a thermal switch facade and double-skin facade for the residential units are proposed, along with providing flexible space with thick mobile interior wall units. / Master of Architecture / Global warming as a problem of the twenty-first-century increase concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to human actions like burning fossil fuels. The built environment puts the greatest pressure on the natural environment of all industrial parts, and it has a fundamental role to manage the environment sustainably. Total life cycle energy, embodied and operational energy over the lifetime of the buildings, creates significant environmental impacts through the production of CO2. Embodied energy is the whole amount of energy applied to extract the raw materials, manufacture, transport, install, and use the product across its life cycle. Assessments of the embodied energy of historic and existing buildings are helping to mitigate future damage to resources. These buildings already exist, which indicates that the energy consumed to build them has been applied and the carbon associated with their construction has been released. The greenest buildings are ones that are already built. They are inherently sustainable and can be retrofitted to become more energy efficient. Specifically, this design engages with an abandoned late nineteenth-century bank building in Philadelphia and transforms it into a high-performance building that is prepared for long-term use. For the immediate next use, the project creates a work environment and in a new vertical expansion, residential units. In the abandoned bank, there are some aspects of this building that are near-permanent and define its characters, such as brick walls with masonry ornament, two bank vaults, Wissahickon Schist wall, and ceiling trusses. This thesis explores the new approaches to leverage the embodied energy of the permanent parts of the abandoned bank and transform it into a high-performance building. This is achieved through various means such as providing localized heating and cooling by using a radiation and conduction system, the use of phase-change material for cooling the process water, solar hot water, creating drinking water via a solar still in the skylight and distilled water from radiant cooling surfaces. In the new construction, a thermal switch facade and double-skin facade for the residential units are proposed, along with providing flexible space with thick mobile interior wall units.

In 2017, the Swedish Parliament voted for a climate aim which says Sweden should achieve zero net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2045. The building and construction sector is one of the sectors that needs to reduce it’s climate impact. As of 2016, 12.8 million tons of CO2-equivalents was estimated emitted from the sector, which represented about 21 percent oftotal amounts of GHG-gases emitted from Sweden in that year. Several studies has shown that the operational energy use in the life cycle of buildings is source to the majority of the emissions. This thesis was written in collaboration with Skanska Sweden, a Swedish construction company. Currently, there is no available value for the CO2-emissions emitted per m2 from the operational energy use in facilities and households at Skanska Sweden. The aim of this report is therefore to estimate the CO2-emissions emitted per m2 from various building types.This has been achieved through data investigations of what data is available and missing. Furthermore, methodologies have been investigated as well as energy sources for various buildings. Then the emissions were calculated as CO2-eq/m2 per building type. A sensitivity scenario was additionally performed by calcuating climate impact from different electric grids (Swedish, Nordic and European). Finally, a future energy scenario was investigated for2050 to estimate future climate impact from the operational energy use in various building types. The energy data was based on two different databases, Base and Follow Up, whereas Base presented estimated energy interval values. Follow Up presented estimated and verified values. In the data collection, a categorisation was made depending on the various building types Skanska Sweden produces. The 7 categories was Houses, Multi-dwelling buildings,Offices, Care centers, Schools, Pre-schools and Other. The findings were that in all categories but two (schools and offices), the operational energy use is higher when the values are verified, rather than estimated. Recommendations are therefore to increase the amount of available verified values, however, at the same time the amount of estimated values need to increase as well as many categories had a deficient amount of available data, this to increase the reliability of the results. The difference in calculated climate impact is relatively large between categories, depending on energy sources for heating and hot tap water. For instance is the climate impact lowest for Houses when the majority of the energy comes from electricity. At the same time, the climate impact from the category Other is highest, which is because the energy use is high, but additionally because the majority of the energy comes from district heating. Overall, this energy source has higher climate impact than when the electricity is used. Nevertheless, it should be observed that the difference in categories is overall huge, depending on the chosen electricity grid. Future emissions (2050) will be significantly lower than today, especially when the European grid and the EU reference scenario is chosen, but will be dependent on electricity prices additionally. However, if the Swedish climate aim of climate neutrality will be achieved, the climate impact from the operational energy will be minimal in 2050. An important aspect in environmental evaluations of energy is methodological choice. In this project, the attributional perspective has been chosen, however, many studies imply the importance of margin energy, which the attributional perspective does not include.Furthermore, the attributional may present a lower climate impact than when other methodologies are chosen. It is therefore important to be aware of the methodology used and recommendations for future studies would be to investigate the methods more thouroughly. / Under 2017 röstade svenska riksdagen igenom en klimatlag som begränsar klimatpåverkan till netto noll år 2045 från samtliga sektorer. Bygg- och fastighetssektorn är en sektor medstor klimatpåverkan och utgjorde år 2016 21 procent (12.8 miljoner ton) av totala utsläpp i Sverige. Historiskt sett har energianvändningen i drift av byggnader utgjort majoriteten av utsläppen från bygg- och fastighetssektorn och är därför en viktig del att utforska. Skanska Sverige är ett svenskt byggföretag och detta arbete har gjorts i samarbete med företaget. För tillfället finns inget värde på CO2-utsläppen kopplade till energin i drift av byggnader (hushåll och lokaler) som byggts av Skanska Sverige och målet med denna rapport är därför att estimera CO2-utsläpp/m2 från olika byggnadstyper. Detta har upnåtts genom att bland annat utforska vilken data som finns tillgänglig och vad som saknats, samt att utforska metodval och energikällor för olika byggnader för att sedan omvandla energidatan til lgenererade CO2-utsläpp/m2. Vidare utfördes en känslighetsanalys genom att beräkna CO2/m2 för olika elnät (svenskt, nordiskt och europeiskt). Slutligen har även ett framtida energiscenario beräknat för år 2050 använts för att beräkna klimatutsläpp från driftenergin iframtiden. Datan är baserad på två olika databaser, Base och Follow Up, där Base har endast redovisat estimerade energivärden som anges som intervall av nio kWh, samtidigt har Follow Up redovisat både estimerade och verifierade värden. På grund av större datatillgänglighet i Base valdes denna att huvudsakligen basera beräkningar på, men Follow Up och dess verifierade värden har använts till jämförelse. En kategorisering gjordes beroende av vilka byggnadstyper Skanska producerar mest av. De 7 kategorierna var småhus (villor och radhus), flerfamiljshus (lägenheter), kontor, sjukhem, förskolor, skolor och övrigt som inkluderade bland annat sjukhus och hotell. Resultaten har visat att i alla kategorier utom två (skolor och kontor) är energianvändning högre när energin är verifierad än när den är estimerad. Rekommendationer är därför att öka antalet verifierade värden som samlas in, samtidigt som de estimerade även behöver öka för att öka pålitligheten av resultaten då många kategorier har begränsad mängd indata. Skillnaden i beräknad klimatpåverkan är relativt stor mellan olika kategorier, beroende av energikällor för värme och varmvatten. Exempelvis är klimatpåverkan lägst för småhus då största andelen energitillförsel för småhus utgörs av elektricitet. Samtidigt är klimatpåverkan hög från kategori Other, vilket till stor del beror på att energianvändningen (kWh/m2) är hög, men även på grund av att majoriteten av energitillförseln kommer från fjärrvärme. Generellt sett har denna energikälla högre klimatpåverkan. Dock skall det observeras att skillnaden inom kategorier även den är stor, beroende av vilket elnät som valts. Exempelvis är skillnaden stor mellan småhus där elnätet som använts är svenskt, och när elnätet varit europeiskt. Framtida utsläpp kommer vara betydligt lägre än idag, speciellt när det europeiska nätet väljs och EUs referensscenario är utforskat, men är även beroende av framtida elpriser och satsningar på förnybart. Ska det svenska målet om klimatneutralitet 2045 dock uppfyllas kommer klimatpåverkan vara minimal år 2050. En viktig aspekt vid miljövärdering av energi är metodval. I detta projekt har bokföringsperspektivet använts, men flertalet studier har påpekat vikten av att inkludera marginalenergi, samt visat att perspektivet ofta redovisar lägre klimatpåverkan än till exempel konsekvensperspektivet. Det är därför viktigt att vara medveten om vilken metodik som väljs och framtida rekommendationer för studier är förslagsvis att utforska flera metoder,gärna parallellt för att se skillnader.

Detta arbete undersöker skillnaden i användning av återbrukade fönster och nytillverkade fönster vid nyproduktion. Återbruk kan främja det cirkulära byggandet som är ett viktigt element i arbetet att nå de globala målen i Agenda 2030. Återbruk av fönster har stor potential att minska en byggnads klimatpåverkan då tidigare studier uppskattat att 50 tusen ton fönster- och glasavfall kan återbrukas per år. I många fall kommer återbrukade fönster från byggnader där man valt att byta till nyare för att minska uppvärmningskostnaderna. Problem som identifierats är tillgång, kunskap, nedmontering och bevaring av gamla fönster samt en designprocess som sällan tänker återbruk. Målet med studien i detta arbete var att undersöka hur en byggnads klimatavtryck påverkas, både i byggskedet och i användningsskedet, av att använda återbrukade fönster istället för nyproducerade. Dessutom undersöks hur klimatbesparingspotentialen skiljer sig mellan fyra orter; Båstad, Stockholm, Östersund och Luleå. Användningsskedet har satts till de nytillverkade fönstrens tekniska livslängd 40 år. Metoderna som används är livscykelanalys, energiberäkningar samt en fallstudie av Matkulturhuset som är en byggnad, ritad av Hampus Jonason, vilken potentiellt ska byggas för Bjäre Härads Hembygdsförening belägen utanför Båstad. För beräkningarna av driftskedet har VIP-Energy använts för att simulera driftenergi i olika scenarier baserade på olika fönstertyper. De fönster som används är nytillverkade träfönster med ett U-värde på 0,76 W/m2K och tre olika återbrukade fönster; U-värde 1,1 W/m2K, 1,3 W/m2K och 2,9 W/m2K. Klimatavryck för driftenergi har uttryckts i koldioxidekvivalenter, CO2e , där två energislag har studerats; nordisk elmix och fjärrvärme. CO2e har i sin tur använts för att jämföra de olika fönstertyperna i varje scenario. För beräkningar i byggskedet har de nytillverkade fönstrens produktdatablad använts. Resultatet visar att Återbruk typ I med ett U-värde på 1,1 W/m2K är klimatnyttigare än nya fönster för alla de fyra undersökta orterna då fjärrvärme används som energislag. Återbruk typ I är har även mindre klimatpåverkan i Båstad och Stockholm då nordisk elmix används som energikälla. Återbruk typ II som har U-värdet 1,3 W/m2K är endast gynnsamma dvs. att de har en lägre klimatpåverkan, i de södra orterna Stockholm och Båstad då fjärrvärme används som energislag. Återbruk typ III med U-värde 2,9 W/m2K har en högre klimatpåverkan än nya fönster för samtliga orter och energislag. Slutsatsen var att det i denna fallstudie var möjligt att minska en byggnads klimatavtryck genom att använda återbrukade fönster typ I och i vissa fall typ II. Därför bör det kunna implementeras oftare och tidigare även i andra projekt. En begränsning i denna studie var att tillgänglighet av återbrukade fönster inte utforskats utan den antas vara tillräcklig. Denna studie har inte undersökt kostnadsaspekten. Sammanfattningsvis pekar studiens resultat på att återbruk av fönster i nybyggnation kan vara gynnsamt ur ett miljöperspektiv vid användning av fönster med låga U-värden, till exempel U = 1,1 W/m2K och i vissa fall även U = 1,3 W/m2K. / This work studies the differences in environmental impact if reused windows are used instead of new ones in new construction projects. Reuse of windows has great potential of reducing the environmental impact of a building since production of new windows generates climate impact. Studies have shown that in Sweden there is an estimated 50 tons of window and glass waste that can be reused per year. Most of these windows are removed from older buildings in favour for newer windows. Since new windows have a lower U-value the heating costs will decrease. Problems identified in earlier research are supply, knowledge, dismantling and storage of reuse windows, as well as the design process that rarely takes reuse into account. The aim of the study in this paper was to investigate how a building’s environmental footprint differs for new and reused windows. The stages included are the building phase and the operational phase. In addition, the climate saving potential is studied between four different locations; Båstad, Stockholm, Östersund and Luleå. The operational phase is limited to 40 years which is the technical lifespan of the new windows. A case study is conducted. The building in the casestudy is Matkulurhuset, designed by Hampus Jonason. It will potentially be built for Bjäre Härads County Association located outside of Båstad. The operational stage is calculated in VIP-Energy. Different scenarios have been simulated for the different types of windows. The new windows studied have a U-value of 0,76 W/m2K. The reused window types studied have different U-values; 1,1 W/m2K, 1,3 W/m2K and 2,9 W/m2K. The climat impact from the energy used in the operational stage has been described as carbon dioxide equivalents. Two different energy sources have been compared, nordic eletricity mix and district heating. For the construction phase the new window’s product declaration was used to determine the climate impact. The results showed that the reused window type I with a U-value of 1,1 W/m2K contributed with less carbon dioxide equivalents than the new windows in all of the four locations if district heating is used. When electricity was used only Båstad and Stockholm showed benefits from the reused window type I. Reused window type II with a U-value of 1,3 W/m2K genereted a lower climate impact only in the southern locations Stockholm and Båstad and only when district heating was used. Reused window type III with a U-value of 2,9 W/m2K did not result in lower climate impact in any case. The conclusion was that in this study it was sometimes beneficial to use reused window types I and II. Therefore it could potentially be beneficial to implement reused windows more often and earlier in other design processes as well. One limitation of this study is that the availability of reused windows has not been investigated but is considered to be sufficient. This study has not investigated the cost aspect. In summary, the results indicate that the reuse of windows in new buildings can be beneficial from an environmental point of view when windows with a low U-value is used. In this case U = 1,1 W/m2K and U = 1,3 W/m2K.

Increasing global demand for energy, supplied primarily by polluting sources, generates severe environmental impacts. Buildings consume approximately 37 percent of total global energy, during the construction phase in the form of embodied energy and during the operation phase as operating energy. In Uruguay, current policies for energy efficiency are focused specifically on operational energy. On that basis, the present study intended to perform an energy analysis to assess the significance of embodied energy of a multi storied building in Uruguay compared to parameters of operational energy, and analyze traditional constructive alternatives in the most significant items. The methodology consisted of a process analysis on a selected building to calculate its initial embodied energy. Then recurrent and final embodied energy were estimated and on site collection of data was performed to assess operational energy, in the framework of a life cycle energy analysis. The survey included data on energy consumed by users for their own vehicles operation, which was used as a comparative parameter. Embodied energy was then compared to operational energy and energy payback period was calculated. Typical constructive alternatives were proposed for reinforced concrete structure and brick masonry. Initial embodied energy of alternatives was computed, and its impact on total embodied energy was assessed. Embodied energy values proved to be significant when compared with operational energy. Results showed that embodied energy was equivalent to about nineteen years of operation of the building, and twenty one years of users’ own vehicles fuel consumption. It was also concluded that the proposed alternatives for the structure did not represent a significant reduction, while for masonry meant a substantial decrease in total embodied energy. Finally lines of work were suggested for estimating carbon dioxide emissions derived from embodied energy, as well as for national data generation on materials energy intensities and materials replacement rates over the life of buildings, in order to improve life cycle energy analysis. / La creciente demanda a nivel mundial, de energía proveniente en gran medida de fuentes contaminantes, general un severo impacto ambiental. Las edificaciones consumen aproximadamente el 37 por ciento de la energía global total, durante su construcción en la forma de energía incorporada y durante su operación como energía operacional. En Uruguay, las actuales políticas de eficiencia energética están enfocadas específicamente hacia la energía operacional. En función de ello, el presente trabajo se propuso realizar un análisis energético para evaluar la relevancia de la energía incorporada en un edificio en altura en Uruguay en relación con su energía operacional, y analizar alternativas constructivas tradicionales en los rubros más significativos. La metodología consistió en desarrollar un análisis de proceso en una edificación seleccionada para calcular su energía incorporada. Se estimaron luego su energía incorporada recurrente y final, y se realizó un levantamiento de datos en el sitio, a fin de determinar la energía operacional, en el marco de un análisis energético de ciclo de vida. La encuesta incluyó información sobre la energía consumida por los usuarios en la operación de vehículo propio, la cual se utilizó como parámetro de comparación. Se comparó la energía incorporada con la energía operacional y se analizó el período de retorno energético. Se propusieron alternativas constructivas para la estructura de hormigón armado y para la mampostería de ladrillo. Se calculó la energía incorporada inicial de las alternativas propuestas, y se evaluó su incidencia en la energía incorporada total. Los valores de energía incorporada inicial demostraron ser relevantes al compararlos con la energía operacional, resultando equivalentes a aproximadamente diecinueve años de operación del edificio, y a veintiún años de consumo de combustible en vehículos propios. Se concluyó asimismo que las propuestas realizadas para la estructura representan una reducción poco significativa, en tanto que las alternativas calculadas para la mampostería fueron relevantes para la disminución de la energía incorporada total. Finalmente se sugieren líneas de trabajo para la determinación de las emisiones de dióxido de carbono derivadas de la energía incorporada, así como la generación de datos a nivel nacional sobre índices energéticos y de tasas de reposición de materiales a lo largo de la vida útil de los edificios, a fin de mejorar los análisis de ciclo de vida energéticos.

Increasing global demand for energy, supplied primarily by polluting sources, generates severe environmental impacts. Buildings consume approximately 37 percent of total global energy, during the construction phase in the form of embodied energy and during the operation phase as operating energy. In Uruguay, current policies for energy efficiency are focused specifically on operational energy. On that basis, the present study intended to perform an energy analysis to assess the significance of embodied energy of a multi storied building in Uruguay compared to parameters of operational energy, and analyze traditional constructive alternatives in the most significant items. The methodology consisted of a process analysis on a selected building to calculate its initial embodied energy. Then recurrent and final embodied energy were estimated and on site collection of data was performed to assess operational energy, in the framework of a life cycle energy analysis. The survey included data on energy consumed by users for their own vehicles operation, which was used as a comparative parameter. Embodied energy was then compared to operational energy and energy payback period was calculated. Typical constructive alternatives were proposed for reinforced concrete structure and brick masonry. Initial embodied energy of alternatives was computed, and its impact on total embodied energy was assessed. Embodied energy values proved to be significant when compared with operational energy. Results showed that embodied energy was equivalent to about nineteen years of operation of the building, and twenty one years of users’ own vehicles fuel consumption. It was also concluded that the proposed alternatives for the structure did not represent a significant reduction, while for masonry meant a substantial decrease in total embodied energy. Finally lines of work were suggested for estimating carbon dioxide emissions derived from embodied energy, as well as for national data generation on materials energy intensities and materials replacement rates over the life of buildings, in order to improve life cycle energy analysis. / La creciente demanda a nivel mundial, de energía proveniente en gran medida de fuentes contaminantes, general un severo impacto ambiental. Las edificaciones consumen aproximadamente el 37 por ciento de la energía global total, durante su construcción en la forma de energía incorporada y durante su operación como energía operacional. En Uruguay, las actuales políticas de eficiencia energética están enfocadas específicamente hacia la energía operacional. En función de ello, el presente trabajo se propuso realizar un análisis energético para evaluar la relevancia de la energía incorporada en un edificio en altura en Uruguay en relación con su energía operacional, y analizar alternativas constructivas tradicionales en los rubros más significativos. La metodología consistió en desarrollar un análisis de proceso en una edificación seleccionada para calcular su energía incorporada. Se estimaron luego su energía incorporada recurrente y final, y se realizó un levantamiento de datos en el sitio, a fin de determinar la energía operacional, en el marco de un análisis energético de ciclo de vida. La encuesta incluyó información sobre la energía consumida por los usuarios en la operación de vehículo propio, la cual se utilizó como parámetro de comparación. Se comparó la energía incorporada con la energía operacional y se analizó el período de retorno energético. Se propusieron alternativas constructivas para la estructura de hormigón armado y para la mampostería de ladrillo. Se calculó la energía incorporada inicial de las alternativas propuestas, y se evaluó su incidencia en la energía incorporada total. Los valores de energía incorporada inicial demostraron ser relevantes al compararlos con la energía operacional, resultando equivalentes a aproximadamente diecinueve años de operación del edificio, y a veintiún años de consumo de combustible en vehículos propios. Se concluyó asimismo que las propuestas realizadas para la estructura representan una reducción poco significativa, en tanto que las alternativas calculadas para la mampostería fueron relevantes para la disminución de la energía incorporada total. Finalmente se sugieren líneas de trabajo para la determinación de las emisiones de dióxido de carbono derivadas de la energía incorporada, así como la generación de datos a nivel nacional sobre índices energéticos y de tasas de reposición de materiales a lo largo de la vida útil de los edificios, a fin de mejorar los análisis de ciclo de vida energéticos.

Increasing global demand for energy, supplied primarily by polluting sources, generates severe environmental impacts. Buildings consume approximately 37 percent of total global energy, during the construction phase in the form of embodied energy and during the operation phase as operating energy. In Uruguay, current policies for energy efficiency are focused specifically on operational energy. On that basis, the present study intended to perform an energy analysis to assess the significance of embodied energy of a multi storied building in Uruguay compared to parameters of operational energy, and analyze traditional constructive alternatives in the most significant items. The methodology consisted of a process analysis on a selected building to calculate its initial embodied energy. Then recurrent and final embodied energy were estimated and on site collection of data was performed to assess operational energy, in the framework of a life cycle energy analysis. The survey included data on energy consumed by users for their own vehicles operation, which was used as a comparative parameter. Embodied energy was then compared to operational energy and energy payback period was calculated. Typical constructive alternatives were proposed for reinforced concrete structure and brick masonry. Initial embodied energy of alternatives was computed, and its impact on total embodied energy was assessed. Embodied energy values proved to be significant when compared with operational energy. Results showed that embodied energy was equivalent to about nineteen years of operation of the building, and twenty one years of users’ own vehicles fuel consumption. It was also concluded that the proposed alternatives for the structure did not represent a significant reduction, while for masonry meant a substantial decrease in total embodied energy. Finally lines of work were suggested for estimating carbon dioxide emissions derived from embodied energy, as well as for national data generation on materials energy intensities and materials replacement rates over the life of buildings, in order to improve life cycle energy analysis. / La creciente demanda a nivel mundial, de energía proveniente en gran medida de fuentes contaminantes, general un severo impacto ambiental. Las edificaciones consumen aproximadamente el 37 por ciento de la energía global total, durante su construcción en la forma de energía incorporada y durante su operación como energía operacional. En Uruguay, las actuales políticas de eficiencia energética están enfocadas específicamente hacia la energía operacional. En función de ello, el presente trabajo se propuso realizar un análisis energético para evaluar la relevancia de la energía incorporada en un edificio en altura en Uruguay en relación con su energía operacional, y analizar alternativas constructivas tradicionales en los rubros más significativos. La metodología consistió en desarrollar un análisis de proceso en una edificación seleccionada para calcular su energía incorporada. Se estimaron luego su energía incorporada recurrente y final, y se realizó un levantamiento de datos en el sitio, a fin de determinar la energía operacional, en el marco de un análisis energético de ciclo de vida. La encuesta incluyó información sobre la energía consumida por los usuarios en la operación de vehículo propio, la cual se utilizó como parámetro de comparación. Se comparó la energía incorporada con la energía operacional y se analizó el período de retorno energético. Se propusieron alternativas constructivas para la estructura de hormigón armado y para la mampostería de ladrillo. Se calculó la energía incorporada inicial de las alternativas propuestas, y se evaluó su incidencia en la energía incorporada total. Los valores de energía incorporada inicial demostraron ser relevantes al compararlos con la energía operacional, resultando equivalentes a aproximadamente diecinueve años de operación del edificio, y a veintiún años de consumo de combustible en vehículos propios. Se concluyó asimismo que las propuestas realizadas para la estructura representan una reducción poco significativa, en tanto que las alternativas calculadas para la mampostería fueron relevantes para la disminución de la energía incorporada total. Finalmente se sugieren líneas de trabajo para la determinación de las emisiones de dióxido de carbono derivadas de la energía incorporada, así como la generación de datos a nivel nacional sobre índices energéticos y de tasas de reposición de materiales a lo largo de la vida útil de los edificios, a fin de mejorar los análisis de ciclo de vida energéticos.

Currently, it is widely recognised that the operational energy consumption of most building types currently outweighs their embodied energy by some margin. However, as we make dramatic increases in energy efficiency the embodied energy of the materials and components that we use will become proportionally larger and may account for a substantial proportion of the energy associated with buildings in the future. The main factor that might contribute to comfort/discomfort perception is the thermal equilibrium caused by the interaction between a person and the interaction of an object.This is easy to demonstrate as an assumption, mainly in situations where almost the whole body is in contact with the object. The main purpose of this work is to determine important parameters that differentiate different materials and develop new way of working with comfort materials (in particular, soft materials like High Resilience foam and High-Density foam) and characterize them based on their response to temperature and humidity. A literature study is performed to gain more knowledge about current state of foam technology and experimental methods are used to obtain analytical data.To characterize the materials, climate chamber is used to evaluate the materials to determine their properties. From the experiment, the key parameters were determined to be Temperature, Humidity, Vapour pressure and Heat Index. These parameters have a significant impact on the comfortability of the material and hence can be used to determine a soft material’s properties and their reaction to certain environments. The most important characteristics such as temperature, humidity, partial water vapour pressure show that HS materials which 400-450mm of PCR coating have much better sweat diffusion which can be attributed to chemical composition of the material and thermal capacity. The most difficult part micro-climate analysis is to accurately represent what is ‘comfortable’, as comfort is subjective but by using these methods of experiments and analysing methods, the characteristics of the materials can be determined, and a conclusion can be drawn. One of the most difficult things in microclimate testing or testing as such is the repetition of equal processes because it requires experience with the device and the complex process to gain comparable data. There are many variables that were not included in this study due to time constraints but can certainly add to the accuracy of the results. The study was conducted only on two materials over a certain period which can be extended for further accuracy.

The main aim of this thesis is  to demonstrate and critically assess life cycle approaches’ and environmental certification (EC) tools’ potential for supporting decisions for improved environmental performance in the building and real estate sectors. Using life cycle approaches, the thesis shows that for new build and renovation cases aiming for low operational energy use that embodied global warming potential (GWP) due to material production can constitute a large portion of a building’s lifetime GWP. Therefore life cycle based information about materials’ embodied GWP needs to be made available to and utilized by design process decision makers. It was also shown that applying the Swedish EC tool Miljöbyggnad was useful in highlighting potential positive and negative changes in indoor environmental quality arising from renovation packages aiming at significant operational energy use reduction in existing multifamily buildings. However such renovation packages are not profitable from a property owner perspective. Miljöbyggnad may be useful when designing policy instruments to overcome this.    The thesis also showed that EC and related environmental enhancements contribute to achieving property owners’ and tenants’ overall strategic objectives for value creation. For property owners this arises for example through lower energy costs and attracting desirable tenants. For tenants, value creation arises as support for internal and external environmental communication. For the further development of life cycle approaches’ and EC tools’ application to buildings and real estate it is important to consider how they can be adapted to consider ‘distance to sustainable’ targets referencing for instance the planetary boundaries approach. It is also interesting to investigate how valuation of buildings and real estate may be performed in a way that expands from the current narrow focus on the economic perspective to also include environmental and social perspectives. / <p>QC 20170210</p>

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T19:24:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Michael_ S A.pdf: 2204905 bytes, checksum: 95f172e9117213f43a2e88631cfe2b2b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-11 / Poultry farming has increased and so does the amount of residues from producing areas with poultry litter and dead broilers, consequently, there is a major environmental problem for the poultry industry. Poultry litter, rich in organic matter, commonly applied on soil without treatment, acidifies it by releasing hydrogen ions since it stabilizes organic matter and also because it is a nitrogen fertilizer. Therefore, other applications for poultry litter are needed and should be studied, as for example, its use for power generation by anaerobic digestion. This process is attractive for the sector by treating waste and generating biogas that may replace the energy used in poultry. There is, however, an environmental restriction to this system because it requires a large amount of water to hydrolyze poultry litter. Therefore, this study has evaluated the anaerobic digestion of poultry litter in a digester built with glass fiber boxes whose total volume was 40.0 m3. There was a system of effluent reuse from the digester to dilute its next feeding and reduce water consumption during this process. The effluent was reused with its recirculation at the feeding moment with a motor pump, in a semi-continuous system (once a day). The anaerobic digestion has been stabilized at the organic feeding charges of 0.5 and 1.0 kg total volatile solids by m3 digester, so, the evaluations 1 and 2 were created, respectively. There was a hydraulic retention time of 10 days for both evaluations. The stabilization process occurred by Shewhart charts while the process analysis occurred by the process capacity and operational energy viability of the system indexes. At the evaluation number 2, the process was capable and viable for power operations, whose energy production as methane was 4.41 times superior to the electric energy consumed on operations of the treating system, 0.0182 m3 methane kg-1 VTS-1added. The produced effluent was not characterized as an adequate biofertilizer for crop yield because it showed small amounts of nutrients content. On the other hand, the sludge is available as organic manure since a great amount of nutrients has sedimented on the bottom of the digester. At the final period, after evaluation number 2, the digester and motor pump did not present any adequate feeding flux due to the large content of solids in the effluent; so, it was not possible to operate the digester. However, pH (close to 7.00) and the ratio between volatile acidity and total alkalinity of the effluent (below 0.3) at the final period indicated that anaerobic digestion showed some potential to be continued. This fact highlights the importance of other studies about dilution of poultry litter mechanism on the effluent of digester / O crescimento da produção de frangos tem concentrado resíduos nas regiões produtoras, cama de aviário e aves mortas, gerando um grande problema ambiental para a indústria avícola. A cama de aviário, rica em matéria orgânica, comumente aplicada no solo sem tratamento, acidifica o mesmo por liberar íons de hidrogênio ao estabilizar sua matéria orgânica e por ser um fertilizante nitrogenado. Portanto, outras aplicações para a cama de aviário são necessárias e devem ser estudadas, como o seu uso para geração de energia pela biodigestão anaeróbia. Este processo é um atrativo para o setor por tratar o resíduo e gerar biogás que pode substituir a energia usada na criação dos frangos. Existe, porém, um entrave ambiental neste sistema por necessitar de grande quantidade de água para hidrolisar a cama de aviário. Por isso, esse trabalho avaliou a biodigestão anaeróbia da cama de aviário em um biodigestor construído com caixas de fibra de vidro no volume total de 40 m3 com sistema de reutilização do digestato do biodigestor na diluição da próxima alimentação, para reduzir o consumo de água no processo. O digestato foi reutilizado pela recirculação do mesmo no momento da alimentação do biodigestor com uma motobomba, em sistema semi-contínuo (uma vez ao dia). A biodigestão anaeróbia foi estabilizada nas cargas orgânicas de alimentação de 0,5 e 1,0 kg sólidos totais voláteis por m3 de biodigestor, para a construção das avaliações 1 e 2, respectivamente. O tempo de retenção hidráulica foi de 10 dias para as duas avaliações. A estabilização procedeu-se pelo gráfico de Shewhart e a análise do processo pelo índice de capacidade do processo e pelo índice de viabilidade energética operacional do sistema. Na avaliação 2, o processo se apresentou como capaz e viável nas operações energéticas, com produção de energia na forma de metano 4,41 vezes maior que a energia elétrica gasta nas operações do sistema de tratamento, sendo 0,0182 m3 metano kg-1 STV-1adicionados. O digestato produzido não se caracterizou como biofertilizante adequado para as culturas por ter pequeno teor de nutrientes. Porém, o lodo é aplicável como adubo orgânico devido à grande parte dos nutrientes ter sedimentado no biodigestor. No período final, após a avaliação 2, o biodigestor e a motobomba não apresentaram mais fluxo de alimentação devido à quantidade de sólidos no digestato e por este motivo, não se conseguiu mais operar o biodigestor. No entanto, o pH (próximo a 7,00) e a relação entre a acidez volátil e a alcalinidade total do digestato (abaixo de 0,3) no período final indicavam que a biodigestão anaeróbia tinha potencial para ser continuada. Tal fato ressalta a importância de outros estudos sobre mecanismos de diluição da cama de aviário no afluente do biodigestor.