In this study, it is found that the most environmental friendly PCB-remediation technique is thermal desorption, whereas the technique with the largest environmental impact potential is sand blasting, due to the environmental impacts induced in relation to disposal of the building waste. Finally, UM-LCA’s ability to work as a tool for decision support is discussed and possible ways of implementing the method in sustainable decision-making is considered. Furthermore, are the remediation efficiencies of each technique and the cost of each method considered and compared. Further discussed is how possible inventory errors affect the results and if any assumptions should be considered as critical for the final results.
OPENLCA BUILDING SOFTWARE
A comparison between the two software tools applied is made, and differences between the two are discussed in detail. The results obtained are presented, and the technique with the smallest impact identified. Based on the assessment results, we compared the remediation techniques and identified the techniques with the smallest and largest environmental impact potentials. In order to validate the results from the simplified software, we carried out the exact same analysis using a more complex tool-OpenLCA 1.5. To process the collected inventory data, we used the simplified product system modeling software Quantis Suite 2.0 (QS2.0). To build an inventory for each technique, we contacted and interviewed experts and studied existing literature, cases, and projects in order to compile information on practical details of the techniques. By combining UM and LCA methodologies, the total environmental impact potentials of the remediation techniques were calculated. To assess the environmental performance of PCB-remediation techniques, the UM-LCA method was applied. The methodological goal of our paper is to test UM-LCA as a decision support tool and discuss application of the method in relation to large refurbishment projects. The actual identification is conducted by comparing four remediation techniques using urban metabolism fused with life cycle assessment (UM-LCA) in combination with information relating to cost and efficiency of the compared techniques. The BIM-based WBLCA approach will contribute to the development of a digital platform that can also support designers through dynamic WBLCA results in the design revision stages.This paper seeks to identify the most environmental friendly way of conducting a refurbishment of Broendby Strand, with focus on PCB remediation. The developed design improvement framework will assist building designers in efficiently improving the WBLCA performance by highlighting the most critical life cycle stages and building assemblies while considering the economic performance. The deliverables of this research will aid in decision making for sustainable urban planning and environmental performances in the building sector. The fuzzy-based multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) approach was used to compare the comprehensive building-level LCA results, and select the most suitable building design by considering all the environmental and economic impacts at different life cycle stages. Building Information Modelling (BIM) and life cycle cost (LCC) were used to ensure the building assemblies are accurate, and to provide dynamic material updates with associated costs for the design improvement framework.
The Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) methods were adopted at the building level to ensure the WBLCA is comprehensive and reliable. The main goal of this research is to develop a design improvement framework based on the proposed WBLCA method to evaluate and improve the environmental and economic performance at the building level. There is no study that provides a building design improvement method based on the final LCA results. Furthermore, the current WBLCA studies usually end after the LCA results are calculated and interpreted. On the other hand, there are very few studies that consider environmental and economic impacts simultaneously at the building level.
However, research studies usually face challenges to systematically evaluating WBLCA performance at the design stage due to the complexity of assessments at the building level. In an attempt to address this limitation, whole-building life cycle assessment (WBLCA) has become a trend in order to ensure the best environmental performance of a building in holistic terms. In the past, most efforts were focused on mitigating environmental impacts during the operational stage of buildings, while the environmental performance of the other life cycle stages received limited attention. The environmental impacts of building stock have received significant attention in recent years, as buildings consume more than 40% of the world’s energy and release one third of total greenhouse gas emissions.