Life cycle assessment: a multi-scenario case study of a low-energy industrial building in Thailand

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Author list: Tulevech S.M., Hage D.J., Jorgensen S.K., Guensler C.L., Himmler R., Gheewala S.H.

Publisher: Elsevier

Publication year: 2018

Journal: Energy and Buildings (0378-7788)

Volume number: 168

Start page: 191

End page: 200

Number of pages: 10

ISSN: 0378-7788

eISSN: 1872-6178

URL: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85044171313&doi=10.1016%2fj.enbuild.2018.03.011&partnerID=40&md5=9c8711a9abdf81ea3769d0fd35226420

Languages: English-Great Britain (EN-GB)

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Abstract

A life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted on a low-energy industrial building under construction in Thailand. The building has a gross floor area of 14,938 m2 and a 20-year lifetime. As energy-saving initiatives need to expand beyond the established domain of low-energy residential and commercial buildings, this study demonstrates the successful application of active and passive energy-saving measures to a large, energy-efficient industrial building—the first to be surveyed by an LCA. LED lighting, minimal air conditioning, and passive ventilation architecture reduce operation phase burdens. As a result, the manufacturing phase yields largest impacts in primary energy demand (71%), global warming potential (60%), and four other environmental impact categories. This is largely attributable to steel and concrete production and a higher embodied energy quantity per material. Additionally, four scenarios—a base case, recycling case, photovoltaic system scenario, and combined recycling/photovoltaic scenario—are simulated to evaluate strategies for further energy reduction. Analysis indicates that significant life cycle energy savings can be achieved through recycling (29%) and a rooftop PV system (64%). The combination of both enhancements compensates for all manufactured material embodied energies and results in a building with zero or sub-zero total life cycle energy demand. Buildings that are already low-energy can further reduce environmental impacts through inclusion of the aforementioned approaches in design and implementation. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

Industrial building, Low energy, Rooftop PV