Goal and Scope

Project

•Conduct Life Cycle Assessments of 13 buildings at UBC

•Residences and Faculty Buildings

•Total of 25% of floor space at UBC

Outputs

•Create a materials inventory for each building or complex

•Estimate environmental impacts

Outcomes

• Generate baseline data on estimated environmental impacts

• Use baseline as a reference for future performance upgrades

• Outline approach for conducting an LCA

Intended Audience

• UBC Policy Makers• Use study to help create effective policies and frameworks

• Others Interested in LCA– Developers– Architects– Engineers– Municipalities – Institutions

• Use study as a model for how to conduct an LCA

Scope

• Physical– Structural– Envelope– Operating energy

• Temporal– “cradle to gate” assessment

Assessments are on a per square foot basis

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Tools

• OnCenter OnScreen TakeOff

v 3.6.2.25

• Athena Environmental Impact

Estimator v 4.0.51

Impact Assessment

• EIE compiles an inventory of inputs and outputs for each stage of building life based on takeoff data and database references

• Uses US EPA Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other environmental Impacts (TRACI) v 2.2

Summary Measures

Global warming potentialAcidification potentialEutrophication potentialOzone depletion potentialPhotochemical smog potentialHuman health respiratory effects potentialWeighted raw resource usePrimary energy consumption

Further Analysis

• Sensitivity– Understand how changes in material volumes

affects changes in overall impacts

• Energy Modeling– Model building energy losses through exterior– Investigate how envelope upgrades could

reduce energy loss

OnScreen (Jessica)

Athena Impact Estimator

• Software program takes building materials inputs

• Outputs environmental impacts based on LCI database and TRACI categories

• Helpful during design phase or post-construction assessments– Type and magnitude of

potential environmental effects

– Help to make decisions based on tradeoffs

Inputs

• Name, location, area, life expectancy

• Material assemblies– Foundation– Walls & openings– Beams and columns– Roofs– Floors– Extra basic

materials (XBM)

Behind the Scenes

• Takes inputs to generate materials’ inventory for the building (bill of materials)

• Material assemblies then reference the Athena LCI database

• Calculates absolute values and TRACI impacts

Outputs

• IE generates summary reports– Bill of materials

• Absolute values – Energy– Air emissions– Water emissions– Land emissions– Resource use

Outputs

• Summary measures (TRACI impact categories)– Primary energy consumption (embodied energy)– Weighted raw resource use– Global warming potential– Acidification potential– Human health respiratory effects potential– Aquatic eutrophication potential– Ozone depletion potential– Photochemical smog potential

• By life cycle stage or assembly groups – Manufacturing– Construction– Maintenance– End-of-life– Operating energy

Methods (Jack)

Summary Measures

What is a summary measure

Primary Energy Consumption

• All forms of energy, direct and indirect, that used to process the raw materials into the building product and transport it.

• Measured in mega-joules (MJ)

• GrapGraph of Overall Buildings

• Graph of per sq.ft average

• Average of UBC Buildings

• Average of other study

• hs

Acidification Potential

• Graph of Overall Buildings

• Graph of per sq.ft average

• Average of UBC Buildings

• Average of other study

•

• Acidification is a predominately regional impact that can affect human health when NOX or SO2 reach high concentrations

• Expressed as a hydrogen ion equivalency based on mass balance calculations

Global Warming Potential • The CO2 equivalence for other

greenhouse gases is a ratio of the heat trapping potential to CO2, affected by a time horizon as different compounds have different reactivity in the atmosphere. The time horizon used in the Impact Estimator is one hundred years based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Other greenhouses gases taken into account by the software include CH4 and N2O. The sources of greenhouse gas modeled include combustion for energy as well as processing of some raw resources such as in the production of concrete

• Expressed in terms of CO2 equivalence by weight

• Graph of Overall Buildings• Graph of per sq.ft average• Average of UBC Buildings• Average of other study

Human Health Respiratory Effect Potential

• Graph of Overall Buildings• Graph of per sq.ft average• Average of UBC Buildings• Average of other study

• Particulates, especially from diesel fuel combustion, can have a dramatic affect on human health due to respiratory problems such as asthma, bronchitis, and acute pulmonary disease

• The Impact Estimator uses TRACI’s "Human Health Particulates from Mobile Sources" characterization factor to account for the mobility of particles of different sizes, thus equivocated them to a single size: PM2.5

Ozone Depletion Potential

• Expressed in mass equivalence of CFC-11, based on their relative capacity to damage ozone in the stratosphere

• Graph of Overall Buildings

• Graph of per sq.ft average

• Average of UBC Buildings

• Average of other study

Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential (Smog)

• Graph of Overall Buildings

• Graph of per sq.ft average

• Average of UBC Buildings

• Average of other study

• takes place under certain climate conditions when air emissions are trapped at ground level and are exposed to sunlight. The effect is actually a result of the interaction of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides

• expressed in terms of mass of ethylene equivalence

Eutrophication Potential

• When nutrients previously absence in an aquatic environment are introduced, photosynthetic plant life proliferate, potentially choked out other aquatic life and/or producing other effects such as foul orders.

• Expressed in terms of mass equivalence of nitrogen

• Graph of Overall Buildings

• Graph of per sq.ft average

• Average of UBC Buildings

• Average of other study

Weighted Resource Use• Graph of Overall Buildings• Graph of per sq.ft average• Average of UBC Buildings• Average of other study

• Raw resource use is the most challenging environmental impact to equate to a single, numerical scale. Not only does each resource have different affects, but the carrying capacity of the environmental from which it was taken also plays a major role in terms of the scope of impact. Subjective weighting was developed in consultation with resource extraction and environmental experts from across Canada for the use of this software. These weighted factors were combined into a set of resource-specific index numbers that are applied to the weight of resources in the Impact Estimators bill of materials. The results are expressed what can be thought of as “ecologically weighted kilograms” that represent relative levels of environmental impact based on expert opinion.

Results

0

100

200

300

400

500

En

erg

y (M

J)

Geography

Hennings

Buchanan

HR

MacM

illan

CE

ME

FS

C

AE

RL

Embodied Energy Per Building

Wo

od

C

on

st

Co

nc

Co

nst

Co

nc

Co

nst

Co

nc

Co

nst

Co

nc

Co

nst

Co

nc

Co

nst

Co

nc

Co

nst

Residences (same as previous slide)

• Wood and concrete trends

• Who has most steel?

• Discussed bldgs: Geography, fairview, thunderbird

Differences Between Residential and Academic Buildings

0.000000010

0.000001000

0.000100000

0.010000000

1.000000000

100.000000000

10,000.000000000

Re

sp

ec

tiv

e u

nit

s

Comparison of Averaged Occupancy Results

Academic Buildings

Residential Buildings

Why the inconsistency between energy/resource use and other measures?

Differences between residential and academic buildings

• Primary energy and resources use greater for residential due to partitioning, ceiling heights,

• The subject impact categories greater in academic due to the nature of the building function.. Many more acoustic blocks (sheathings, insulations) items containing higher VOC’s etc

• More use of steel?• More curtain walls in academic? Load bearing in res.• Ratio’s office space, lab space, lecture theaters • Discuss potential of other functional units eg. CF approach, occupant approach, • Difference in fenestration among the two types?

• Brief bldg review• Sensitivity analysis, which materials=most signif• Diff betw wood and conc• Different ideas for modelling• Methods of modelling bldg groups• Diff in comparison among occupancies (ciel heights etc)

Academic  

    Geography Hennings Buchanan HRMacMillan CEME FSC AERL Average

Impact Category Units 1925 1945 1958,1960 1967 1976 1998 2004  

Primary Energy Consumption MJ 76.27 143.08 208.21 481.71 236.82 387.30 362.90 270.90

Weighted Resource Use kg 35.12 123.94 149.88 294.62 120.27 270.84 144.03 162.67

Global Warming Potential (kg CO2 eq / kg) 3.87 13.07 19.46 42.72 18.38 29.83 28.60 22.27

Acidification Potential (moles of H+ eq / kg) 1.45 4.53 6.43 13.85 5.31 7.60 9.06 6.89

HH Respiratory Effects Potential (kg PM2.5 eq / kg) 0.01 0.05 0.06 0.11 0.04 0.07 0.10 0.06

Eutrophication Potential (kg N eq / kg) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Ozone Depletion Potential (kg CFC-11 eq / kg) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Smog Potential (kg NOx eq / kg) 0.01 0.07 0.10 0.19 0.09 0.11 0.12 0.10

Functional Units (Laurent)

• Different Ways of Looking at Results

Sensitivity Analysis

•What is it?

•Process used in CIVL 498C Sensitivity Analysis

•The results

•Importance for future design and renovation

What is Sensitivity Analysis?

• Evaluation of materials or processes to determine influence of specific components on overall system

• Applications

Process used in our Analysis

• 5 most prevalent materials

• 10% variation in quantity

• Effects?

Significant Results

• Detail a couple buildings that had interesting results

Importance to future design and renovation

• Guides decisions in design phase

• Easily pinpoint materials/assemblies significantly impacting performance

• Quantitative/objective analysis

• Combine with other tools for deeper analysis

Energy Analysis

The energy model was defined as:

EMBODIED ENERGY + OPERATIONAL ENERGY

Evaluation of Embodied Energy

R-Value (ft2*deg F*hr/BTU)Area (ft2) 'Original' Building 'Improved'

BuildingExterior Wall 17300 6.28 20Window 8800 0.91 3.45Roof 39500 0.45 40Weighted Average

65600 2.05 29.30

Thermal Resistance Values for the Original and Improved Building

Modelled Building with insulation at REAP standardsCompared R-values of:- Exterior Walls- Roofs- Windows

Not Taken into Account

• Economic Analysis

• Feasibility of Installation

• Maintenance Cycles

The Hennings Building Cumulative Energy Usage Vs Time

0.0E+00

1.0E+13

2.0E+13

3.0E+13

4.0E+13

5.0E+13

6.0E+13

7.0E+13

8.0E+13

9.0E+13

1.0E+14

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Cum

ulati

ve A

nnua

l Ene

rgy

Usa

ge (

Joul

es)

Time (years)

Original Building

Improved Building

Percent Change in R-Value vs Payback Period

Further Analysis

• This is a sample of the energy analysis that can be done by using LCA methods

• This can be used as the backbone of further energy analysis

Where Can We Go?

Manufacturing

Construction

Basic Materials

Where Can We Go?

Manufacturing

Construction

Maintenance

End-of-Life

Operating Energy

Basic Materials

Where Can We Go?

Manufacturing

Construction

Maintenance

End-of-Life

Operating Energy

Basic Materials

Finishing Materials

Furniture

Electronics

Professors

Where Can We Go?

Manufacturing

Construction

Maintenance

End-of-Life

Operating Energy

Basic Materials

Finishing Materials

Furniture

Electronics

Professors

Bring up to Date (renovations)

Keep Updated(do yearly)

Where Can We Go?

Manufacturing

Construction

Maintenance

End-of-Life

Operating Energy

Basic Materials

Finishing Materials

Furniture

Electronics

Professors

Other Buildings

Roads

Walkways

Monuments

Turf Fields

Bring up to Date (renovations)

Keep Updated(do yearly)

Recommendations for Future Applications (Trevor)