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Carbon and Energy Footprints of Prefabricated Industrial Buildings: A Systematic Life Cycle Assessment Analysis

Author

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  • Emanuele Bonamente

    (CIRIAF—Interuniversity Research Center on Pollution and Environment “M. Felli”, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via G. Duranti 67, 06125 Perugia, Italy)

  • Franco Cotana

    (CIRIAF—Interuniversity Research Center on Pollution and Environment “M. Felli”, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via G. Duranti 67, 06125 Perugia, Italy)

Abstract

A systematic analysis of green-house gases emission (carbon footprint) and primary energy consumption (energy footprint) of prefabricated industrial buildings during their entire life cycle is presented. The life cycle assessment (LCA) study was performed in a cradle-to grave approach: site-specific data from an Italian company, directly involved in all the phases from raw material manufacturing to in-situ assembly, were used to analyze the impacts as a function of different design choices. Four buildings were analyzed and results were used to setup a parameterized model that was used to study the impacts of industrial prefabricated buildings over the input parameter space. The model vs . data agreement is within 4% for both carbon and energy footprint. The functional unit is 1 m 3 of prefabricated building, considering a 50-year lifetime. The results of the four buildings decrease from 144.6 kgCO 2eq /m 3 and 649.5 kWh/m 3 down to 123.5 kgCO 2eq /m 3 and 556.8 kWh/m 3 as the building floor area increases from 1048 m 2 to 21,910 m 2 . The use phase accounts for the major impact (approximate 76%). It is found that the carbon footprint is proportional to the energy footprint, the proportional factor being 0.222 kgCO 2eq /kWh within 0.5% accuracy. Finally, a systematic study of the sensitivity of input parameters (insulation, lifetime, foundation type) is presented.

Suggested Citation

  • Emanuele Bonamente & Franco Cotana, 2015. "Carbon and Energy Footprints of Prefabricated Industrial Buildings: A Systematic Life Cycle Assessment Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-17, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:8:y:2015:i:11:p:12333-12701:d:58415
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Emanuele Bonamente & Flavio Scrucca & Francesco Asdrubali & Franco Cotana & Andrea Presciutti, 2015. "The Water Footprint of the Wine Industry: Implementation of an Assessment Methodology and Application to a Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-19, September.
    7. Louise Laumann Kjaer & Niels Karim Høst-Madsen & Jannick H. Schmidt & Tim C. McAloone, 2015. "Application of Environmental Input-Output Analysis for Corporate and Product Environmental Footprints—Learnings from Three Cases," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-24, August.
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    9. Valentina Castellani & Serenella Sala, 2013. "Sustainability Indicators Integrating Consumption Patterns in Strategic Environmental Assessment for Urban Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(8), pages 1-21, August.
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    1. Ida Karlsson & Johan Rootzén & Alla Toktarova & Mikael Odenberger & Filip Johnsson & Lisa Göransson, 2020. "Roadmap for Decarbonization of the Building and Construction Industry—A Supply Chain Analysis Including Primary Production of Steel and Cement," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-40, August.
    2. Débora Lopes R. Silva & Cristina Rivero-Camacho & Diana Rusu & Madelyn Marrero, 2022. "Methodology for Improving the Sustainability of Industrial Buildings via Matrix of Combinations Water and Carbon Footprint Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-20, November.
    3. J.F. Luna-Tintos & Carlos Cobreros & Álvaro López-Escamilla & Rafael Herrera-Limones & Miguel Torres-García, 2020. "Methodology to Evaluate the Embodied Primary Energy and CO 2 Production at Each Stage of the Life Cycle of Prefabricated Structural Systems: The Case of the Solar Decathlon Competition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-15, August.
    4. Emanuele Bonamente & Sara Rinaldi & Andrea Nicolini & Franco Cotana, 2017. "National Water Footprint: Toward a Comprehensive Approach for the Evaluation of the Sustainability of Water Use in Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-12, August.
    5. Emanuele Bonamente & Andrea Aquino, 2019. "Environmental Performance of Innovative Ground-Source Heat Pumps with PCM Energy Storage," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.
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    7. Ester Pujadas-Gispert & Joost G. Vogtländer & S. P. G. (Faas) Moonen, 2021. "Environmental and Economic Optimization of a Conventional Concrete Building Foundation: Selecting the Best of 28 Alternatives by Applying the Pareto Front," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-19, February.
    8. Francesco Pomponi & Bernardino D’Amico & Alice M. Moncaster, 2017. "A Method to Facilitate Uncertainty Analysis in LCAs of Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-15, April.
    9. Li, Wei & Sun, Wen & Li, Guomin & Cui, Pengfei & Wu, Wen & Jin, Baihui, 2017. "Temporal and spatial heterogeneity of carbon intensity in China's construction industry," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 162-173.
    10. Ling Dong & Yu Wang & Hong Xian Li & Boya Jiang & Mohamed Al-Hussein, 2018. "Carbon Reduction Measures-Based LCA of Prefabricated Temporary Housing with Renewable Energy Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-22, March.
    11. Anand, Chirjiv Kaur & Amor, Ben, 2017. "Recent developments, future challenges and new research directions in LCA of buildings: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 408-416.
    12. Leslie Ayagapin & Jean Philippe Praene, 2020. "Environmental Overcost of Single Family Houses in Insular Context: A Comparative LCA Study of Reunion Island and France," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-21, October.
    13. Andrea Aquino & Flavio Scrucca & Emanuele Bonamente, 2021. "Sustainability of Shallow Geothermal Energy for Building Air-Conditioning," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-30, October.
    14. Kun Lu & Xiaoyan Jiang & Vivian W. Y. Tam & Mengyun Li & Hongyu Wang & Bo Xia & Qing Chen, 2019. "Development of a Carbon Emissions Analysis Framework Using Building Information Modeling and Life Cycle Assessment for the Construction of Hospital Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-18, November.
    15. Velasquez-Orta, Sharon B. & Heidrich, Oliver & Black, Ken & Graham, David, 2018. "Retrofitting options for wastewater networks to achieve climate change reduction targets," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 430-441.
    16. Sara Rinaldi & Emanuele Bonamente & Flavio Scrucca & Maria Cleofe Merico & Francesco Asdrubali & Franco Cotana, 2016. "Water and Carbon Footprint of Wine: Methodology Review and Application to a Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-17, July.

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