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The growing popularity of the concepts of circular economy and resource cascade has intensified the need for consistent handling of multifunctionality-related challenges when modeling multiple cycles in life cycle assessment (LCA). In LCA, end-of-life upcycling and downcycling effects (also known as quality changes), triggered by the presence of multiple life cycles, have only recently begun to be studied from a consequential perspective, and no studies exist investigating attributional aspects. In this paper, a novel approach that considers quality in attributional LCA is proposed. The attributional, cut-off, open loop, and proposed approaches are compared in the form of a cascading case study. The implications of integrating quality in both perspectives are contrasted by modeling the same case study under a consequential perspective. By performing sensitivity analysis on the quality parameters in attributional LCA, we found that the integration of quality influences the results of the proposed approach by up to 15%. In the case of consequential LCA, the implementation of quality yields an influence between 97% and 138% of the results for each unit variation of quality. Comparison between the two perspectives of quality shows the same trend of supporting high-quality cascades. However, the attributional perspective of quality accomplishes this by redistributing impacts, while the consequential perspective affects the external benefits generated by the cascade. Considering the influence of quality on the results of both perspectives, future work should focus on establishing the technical or economic properties that would allow for practical use of quality in various circular economy and resource cascade applications.
Xavier Tanguay; Gatien Geraud Essoua Essoua; Ben Amor. Attributional and consequential life cycle assessments in a circular economy with integration of a quality indicator: A case study of cascading wood products. Journal of Industrial Ecology 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleXavier Tanguay, Gatien Geraud Essoua Essoua, Ben Amor. Attributional and consequential life cycle assessments in a circular economy with integration of a quality indicator: A case study of cascading wood products. Journal of Industrial Ecology. 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleXavier Tanguay; Gatien Geraud Essoua Essoua; Ben Amor. 2021. "Attributional and consequential life cycle assessments in a circular economy with integration of a quality indicator: A case study of cascading wood products." Journal of Industrial Ecology , no. : 1.
As considerable amount of waste materials and by-products are generated from the urban and industrial production systems, efforts to utilize such materials resourcefully have received increasing attention in order to increase the use of recycled materials and reduce landfill disposal. In addition, construction products often induce significant environmental burden due to the use of emission-intensive materials. Therefore, continuous scientific efforts have been devoted in resource-efficient design with the incorporation of such secondary materials to help save the primary resources and reduce the environmental impacts. In this study, cement-free partition wall block is developed through a number of strategies, whereby emission-intensive Ordinary Portland cement is completely substituted by waste materials and supplementary cementitious materials, and this together with the use of recycled aggregates can make the blocks produced entirely based on secondary materials. The required mechanical performance of the blocks produced under different strategies is verified through laboratory tests. The carbon reduction potentials for such strategies are evaluated through the life cycle assessment (LCA) technique. The LCA results show that partition wall blocks produced with concrete slurry waste (CSW), fly ash and fine recycled concrete aggregates can reduce up to 82% of the total carbon emissions than other strategies. On the other hand, the reuse of CSW in the production of partition wall blocks can potentially save 80,000 m3 of landfill space and US$4 million of costs associated with landfill disposal in Hong Kong annually. To maximize the advantages of such secondary resources in partition wall blocks production, it is imperative to establish industrial symbiosis networks with relevant supply chain and to adopt the developed partition wall blocks widely in practice.
Uzzal Hossain; Dongxing Xuan; S. Thomas Ng; Ben Amor. Designing sustainable partition wall blocks using secondary materials: A life cycle assessment approach. Journal of Building Engineering 2021, 43, 103035 .
AMA StyleUzzal Hossain, Dongxing Xuan, S. Thomas Ng, Ben Amor. Designing sustainable partition wall blocks using secondary materials: A life cycle assessment approach. Journal of Building Engineering. 2021; 43 ():103035.
Chicago/Turabian StyleUzzal Hossain; Dongxing Xuan; S. Thomas Ng; Ben Amor. 2021. "Designing sustainable partition wall blocks using secondary materials: A life cycle assessment approach." Journal of Building Engineering 43, no. : 103035.
Considering the volume of plastic generation and its persistence in nature, the management of plastic wastes has gained increasing attention globally. To select the most environmentally sustainable solution, insights in the environmental impacts of different management strategies are crucial. This study thus aimed to evaluate different plastic waste management strategies such as mechanical recycling, incineration, industrial incineration, construction and landfill, and exemplified with potential case demonstrations in Hong Kong. The environmental impacts of the developed strategies are comparatively evaluated by the lifecycle assessment (LCA) technique in order to identify the most environmentally preferable strategy. The LCA results indicate that industrial incineration is the most potential preferential strategy for Hong Kong, as it can potentially consume the generated waste locally and substitute the imported coal for the cement industry. Mechanical recycling is the second preferential strategy for the city, as it conserves secondary resources significantly. Grate incineration for generating electricity is the third preferable solution, while the use of recycled plastics in construction may not be a benign environmental strategy for Hong Kong. The findings of this study could help policy makers to design strategic direction for environmentally sustainable management of plastic wastes locally based on the circular economy principle.
Uzzal Hossain; S. Thomas Ng; Yahong Dong; Ben Amor. Strategies for mitigating plastic wastes management problem: A lifecycle assessment study in Hong Kong. Waste Management 2021, 131, 412 -422.
AMA StyleUzzal Hossain, S. Thomas Ng, Yahong Dong, Ben Amor. Strategies for mitigating plastic wastes management problem: A lifecycle assessment study in Hong Kong. Waste Management. 2021; 131 ():412-422.
Chicago/Turabian StyleUzzal Hossain; S. Thomas Ng; Yahong Dong; Ben Amor. 2021. "Strategies for mitigating plastic wastes management problem: A lifecycle assessment study in Hong Kong." Waste Management 131, no. : 412-422.
Transportation is a key factor in the fight against climate change. Consumer behavior changes in transportation are underrepresented in energy policies, even if they could be essential to achieve the fixed GHG emission reduction targets. To help quantify the role of behaviors in energy transition and their implications on the dynamics of an energy system, this study is conducted using the North American TIMES Energy Model, adapted to Quebec (Canada). A behavioral disruption scenario (an increase in carpooling) is introduced in the model’s transportation sector and is compared to a massive electrification scenario. Our results highlight the fact that a behavioral disruption can lead to the same GHG emission reductions (65%) by 2050 as an electrification policy, while alleviating different efforts (such as additional electrical capacity and additional costs) associated with massive electrification. Moreover, the results are sensitive to behavior-related parameters, such as social discount rates and car lifetimes.
Marianne Pedinotti-Castelle; Pierre-Olivier Pineau; Kathleen Vaillancourt; Ben Amor. Changing Technology or Behavior? The Impacts of a Behavioral Disruption. Sustainability 2021, 13, 5861 .
AMA StyleMarianne Pedinotti-Castelle, Pierre-Olivier Pineau, Kathleen Vaillancourt, Ben Amor. Changing Technology or Behavior? The Impacts of a Behavioral Disruption. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (11):5861.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarianne Pedinotti-Castelle; Pierre-Olivier Pineau; Kathleen Vaillancourt; Ben Amor. 2021. "Changing Technology or Behavior? The Impacts of a Behavioral Disruption." Sustainability 13, no. 11: 5861.
Buildings are accountable for much of the resource consumption and CO2 emissions generated from human activities. Nonetheless, the focus of building life cycle assessment (LCA) studies to evaluate the environmental footprint are more commonly adopted in an attributional approach. Nevertheless, understanding a direct and indirect consequences in larger system using consequential approach is also needed for policy-making. Rather small body of existing literature has been found on the implementation of consequential LCA and life cycle costing (LCC) in the building sector. In this study, attributional and consequential approach are performed for hybrid wood multistorey building. The results showed that with attributional approach, the phase that contributed the environmental impacts the most in climate change category is the production phase yet it became the use phase if consequential approach is used. By performing consequential LCA-LCC the possible hidden impacts can be uncovered and sufficient insights into the indirect impacts can be seen, thereby offering stakeholders the opportunity to avoid such future consequences.
Rizal Taufiq Fauzi; Patrick Lavoie; Audrey Tanguy; Ben Amor. Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing of multistorey building: Attributional and consequential perspectives. Building and Environment 2021, 197, 107836 .
AMA StyleRizal Taufiq Fauzi, Patrick Lavoie, Audrey Tanguy, Ben Amor. Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing of multistorey building: Attributional and consequential perspectives. Building and Environment. 2021; 197 ():107836.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRizal Taufiq Fauzi; Patrick Lavoie; Audrey Tanguy; Ben Amor. 2021. "Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing of multistorey building: Attributional and consequential perspectives." Building and Environment 197, no. : 107836.
The building sector is responsible for extensive resource consumption and waste generation, resulting in high pressure on the environment. A way to potentially mitigate this is by including environmental considerations during building design through the concept known as eco-design. Despite the multiple available approaches of eco-design, the latter is not easily achieved in the building sector. The objective of this paper is to identify and discuss what barriers are currently hindering the implementation of eco-design in the building sector and by which measures building designers can include environmental considerations in their design process. Through a systematic literature review, several barriers to implementation were identified, the main ones being lack of suitable legislation, lack of knowledge amongst building designers, and lack of suitable tools for designers to use. Furthermore, two specific tools were identified that allow the inclusion of environmental consideration in building design, along with nine design strategies providing qualitative guidance on how to potentially minimize energy and material consumption, as well as waste generation. This paper contributes a holistic overview of the major barriers to and existing tools and method for the eco-design of buildings, and provides guidance for both future research and practice.
Kikki Ipsen; Massimo Pizzol; Morten Birkved; Ben Amor. How Lack of Knowledge and Tools Hinders the Eco-Design of Buildings—A Systematic Review. Urban Science 2021, 5, 20 .
AMA StyleKikki Ipsen, Massimo Pizzol, Morten Birkved, Ben Amor. How Lack of Knowledge and Tools Hinders the Eco-Design of Buildings—A Systematic Review. Urban Science. 2021; 5 (1):20.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKikki Ipsen; Massimo Pizzol; Morten Birkved; Ben Amor. 2021. "How Lack of Knowledge and Tools Hinders the Eco-Design of Buildings—A Systematic Review." Urban Science 5, no. 1: 20.
The comparability of environmental product declarations (EPDs) and the heterogeneity of their life cycle assessment (LCA) methods are considered the main challenges facing the credibility of results. In this study, a probabilistic tool was proposed and developed to gain insight into what is necessary to achieve the unrealized vision of comparable EPDs. The developed framework incorporated several uncertainty sources, such as life cycle inventory and allocation rule choices, and data quality and variability of the input parameters in a consistent way. Then, the framework was applied to a case study of concrete mix designs. The comparative results of the industry benchmarks and the mix design population show that for a given compressive strength level, all the ternary blended cement mixtures have a statistically significant lower GWP than that of the industry-average benchmark. However, a 40 kg CO2eq difference in the comparative GWP results of portland cement and binary mixtures (with an average impact of 345 kg CO2eq) may not result in a statistically significant difference. The major source of variation in the stand-alone LCA results comes from the methodological choice of database selection with portland cement inventory data. However, the impact of methodological choices on the variance of the comparative results is trivial and the variability of portland cement content dominated the variance. Therefore, as long as the LCI database is representative of the context, the methodological choices may be a minor concern in the comparative analysis.
Hessam AzariJafari; Geoffrey Guest; Randolph Kirchain; Jeremy Gregory; Ben Amor. Towards comparable environmental product declarations of construction materials: Insights from a probabilistic comparative LCA approach. Building and Environment 2020, 190, 107542 .
AMA StyleHessam AzariJafari, Geoffrey Guest, Randolph Kirchain, Jeremy Gregory, Ben Amor. Towards comparable environmental product declarations of construction materials: Insights from a probabilistic comparative LCA approach. Building and Environment. 2020; 190 ():107542.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHessam AzariJafari; Geoffrey Guest; Randolph Kirchain; Jeremy Gregory; Ben Amor. 2020. "Towards comparable environmental product declarations of construction materials: Insights from a probabilistic comparative LCA approach." Building and Environment 190, no. : 107542.
Purpose Scientific Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) literature provides some examples of LCA teaching in higher education, but not a structured overview of LCA teaching contents and related competencies. Hence this paper aims at assessing and highlighting trends in LCA learning outcomes, teaching approaches and developed content used to equip graduates for their future professional practices in sustainability. Methods Based on a literature review on teaching LCA in higher education and a collaborative consensus building approach through expert group panel discussions, an overview of LCA learning and competency levels with related teaching contents and corresponding workload is developed. The levels are built on the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) and Bloom’s taxonomy of learning. Results and discussion The paper frames five LCA learning and competency levels that differ in terms of study program integration, workload, cognitive domain categories, learning outcomes, and envisioned professional skills. It furthermore provides insights into teaching approaches and content, including software use, related to these levels. Conclusions and recommendations This paper encourages and supports higher educational bodies to implement a minimum of ‘life cycle literacy’ into students’ curriculum across various domains by increasing the availability, visibility and quality of their teaching on life cycle thinking and LCA.
Tobias Viere; Ben Amor; Nicolas Berger; Ruba Dolfing Fanous; Rachel Horta Arduin; Regula Keller; Alexis Laurent; Philippe Loubet; Philip Strothmann; Steffi Weyand; Laurie Wright; Guido Sonnemann. Teaching life cycle assessment in higher education. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2020, 26, 511 -527.
AMA StyleTobias Viere, Ben Amor, Nicolas Berger, Ruba Dolfing Fanous, Rachel Horta Arduin, Regula Keller, Alexis Laurent, Philippe Loubet, Philip Strothmann, Steffi Weyand, Laurie Wright, Guido Sonnemann. Teaching life cycle assessment in higher education. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 2020; 26 (3):511-527.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTobias Viere; Ben Amor; Nicolas Berger; Ruba Dolfing Fanous; Rachel Horta Arduin; Regula Keller; Alexis Laurent; Philippe Loubet; Philip Strothmann; Steffi Weyand; Laurie Wright; Guido Sonnemann. 2020. "Teaching life cycle assessment in higher education." The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 26, no. 3: 511-527.
Shifting to more circular supply chains is likely to have uneven economic and environmental implications among stakeholders within an industrial symbiosis. However, current macroeconomic models fail to capture such complex interactions with high material and spatiotemporal resolution. To address this issue, this paper presents an economic time-series material-product chain model extended to a multiregional industrial symbiosis. It integrates the interdisciplinary elements of partial equilibrium modelling and material flow analysis. It seeks to minimize the annual systemic costs by optimizing the supply chains of materials (primary, secondary and waste materials) and products of three synergetic sectors within five regions. The model capabilities are demonstrated by investigating the territorial consequences on annual operating cost, commercial trade balances, raw material extraction and greenhouse gas emission of the global cement industry willingness of using more waste-derived materials in cementitious materials. The results show favorable incentive at the global level. When broken down by region along the eastern borders of Canada and the United States, they show winners and losers due to an uneven spatial distribution of secondary material and a profound change in optimal trade patterns. It brings new insights in anticipating geopolitical, economic and environmental consequences of a large-scale circular economy transition.
Jean-Martin Lessard; Guillaume Habert; Arezki Tagnit-Hamou; Ben Amor. A time-series material-product chain model extended to a multiregional industrial symbiosis: The case of material circularity in the cement sector. Ecological Economics 2020, 179, 106872 .
AMA StyleJean-Martin Lessard, Guillaume Habert, Arezki Tagnit-Hamou, Ben Amor. A time-series material-product chain model extended to a multiregional industrial symbiosis: The case of material circularity in the cement sector. Ecological Economics. 2020; 179 ():106872.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJean-Martin Lessard; Guillaume Habert; Arezki Tagnit-Hamou; Ben Amor. 2020. "A time-series material-product chain model extended to a multiregional industrial symbiosis: The case of material circularity in the cement sector." Ecological Economics 179, no. : 106872.
The circular economy (CE) concept has received increasing attention among different parties on various levels recently. Due to the concern on significant resources consumption in the construction industry without concerning the physical limit resources, a paradigm shift of linear economy to CE model is inevitable for conserving the resources and promoting the efficient use of resources. Adopting CE into the construction industry can promote the successful transition to sustainable construction. Although early stage of development in the construction industry, the scientific contribution of CE agenda in the construction industry is significantly increasing. Therefore, this review aimed to identity the implications, considerations, contributions and challenges of CE in the construction industry by systematically analyzing the recent literature. In addition to existing trends and considerations, this study highlighted the numerous challenges under design, materials selection, supply chain, business model, uncertainty and risk, collaborations among actions, knowledge of understanding, relevant policy, integration of urban metabolism, and methodology for CE evaluation. The study found that CE implementation into the case-specific building with full scale evaluation is yet to be conducted, and a comprehensive CE integration and methodology framework is yet to be developed. A prospective integrated framework for CE adoption and evaluation method is proposed by analyzing the contemporary issues. It is believed that the analyzed critical issues for CE adoption, identified future research direction, and proposed frameworks and methodology should help further development of CE research and contribution to effective implementation of CE into the industry for promoting sustainable construction.
Uzzal Hossain; S. Thomas Ng; Prince Antwi-Afari; Ben Amor. Circular economy and the construction industry: Existing trends, challenges and prospective framework for sustainable construction. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2020, 130, 109948 .
AMA StyleUzzal Hossain, S. Thomas Ng, Prince Antwi-Afari, Ben Amor. Circular economy and the construction industry: Existing trends, challenges and prospective framework for sustainable construction. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 2020; 130 ():109948.
Chicago/Turabian StyleUzzal Hossain; S. Thomas Ng; Prince Antwi-Afari; Ben Amor. 2020. "Circular economy and the construction industry: Existing trends, challenges and prospective framework for sustainable construction." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 130, no. : 109948.
Audrey Tanguy; Charles Breton; Pierre Blanchet; Ben Amor. Characterising the development trends driving sustainable neighborhoods. Buildings and Cities 2020, 1, 164 -181.
AMA StyleAudrey Tanguy, Charles Breton, Pierre Blanchet, Ben Amor. Characterising the development trends driving sustainable neighborhoods. Buildings and Cities. 2020; 1 (1):164-181.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAudrey Tanguy; Charles Breton; Pierre Blanchet; Ben Amor. 2020. "Characterising the development trends driving sustainable neighborhoods." Buildings and Cities 1, no. 1: 164-181.
Environmental indicators based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) method are integrated into an energy system model (ESM). This integration allows for the generation of comprehensive environmental assessments of future energy systems and for determining energy scenarios with low environmental impacts and moderate cost increases. In Switzerland, which is used as a case study to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach, it is possible to generate pathways with a 5% cost increase on the cost-optimal situation, causing an impact score for climate change that is 2% higher than the minimum feasible solution. The minimization of life-cycle impacts on climate change generates substantial environmental co-benefits with regards to human health, air pollution, ozone depletion, acidification, and land transformation. However, that minimization also creates trade-offs that exacerbate the effects of metal depletion and human toxicity caused by upstream extraction and manufacturing linked to technologies such as solar panels and electric vehicles. Finally, ambitious reduction targets of 95% direct (i.e., within the country) CO2 emissions for the year 2050 might still result in substantial climate change impacts should emissions embodied in the infrastructure and upstream supply chain not be jointly mitigated jointly.
Laurent Vandepaer; Evangelos Panos; Christian Bauer; Ben Amor. Energy System Pathways with Low Environmental Impacts and Limited Costs: Minimizing Climate Change Impacts Produces Environmental Cobenefits and Challenges in Toxicity and Metal Depletion Categories. Environmental Science & Technology 2020, 54, 5081 -5092.
AMA StyleLaurent Vandepaer, Evangelos Panos, Christian Bauer, Ben Amor. Energy System Pathways with Low Environmental Impacts and Limited Costs: Minimizing Climate Change Impacts Produces Environmental Cobenefits and Challenges in Toxicity and Metal Depletion Categories. Environmental Science & Technology. 2020; 54 (8):5081-5092.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLaurent Vandepaer; Evangelos Panos; Christian Bauer; Ben Amor. 2020. "Energy System Pathways with Low Environmental Impacts and Limited Costs: Minimizing Climate Change Impacts Produces Environmental Cobenefits and Challenges in Toxicity and Metal Depletion Categories." Environmental Science & Technology 54, no. 8: 5081-5092.
In today’s LCA world, one can encounter a variety of LCA practitioners and commissioners from different industries and fields of research who have different levels of expertise, experience, and expectations. Even those with more experience who are actively involved in the field of LCA can have rather varying opinions about what ISO 14044 requires (or does not require) regarding the preparation, critical review, and dissemination of third-party reports in accordance with ISO 14044:2006, clauses 5 and 6 (ISO 2006a). This commentary and discussion paper aims to summarize and discuss the most common misconceptions and ambiguities encountered by the authors in the field. They are presented in two separate subsections to clearly distinguish one from the other, but in no other particular order and without any claim of comprehensiveness. ISO 14044:2006, clause 5.2 mandates that “when results of the LCA are to be communicated to any third party (i.e. interested party other than the commissioner or the practitioner of the study), regardless of the form of communication, a third-party report shall be prepared” (ISO 2006b). Clause 3.46 further defines “interested party” as “individual or group concerned with or affected by the environmental performance of a product system, or by the results of the life cycle assessment” (ibid). As such, the term “third-party report” simply refers to a report prepared to be shared with any third parties other than the commissioner and the practitioner. This also means that even LCA results that are only shared in a business-to-business context require that a third-party report be made available. Clause 5.2 of ISO 14044:2006 states rather clearly that “when results of the LCA are to be communicated to any third party [...], regardless of the form of communication, a third-party report shall be prepared” (ISO 2006b). This requirement does not distinguish between different forms of communicating the LCA results. So, be it marketing collateral, a website, a print ad, a label on a product, an email, or even an oral communication—as long as LCA results are communicated to a third party in any way, a third-party report needs to be prepared. Why? Because clause 5.2 couples the first requirement with a second one: “The third-party report constitutes a reference document, and shall be made available to any third party to whom the communication is made” (ibid). In practical terms, this means that if people are generally expected to believe claims based on an ISO-conformant LCA study, then they are 100% entitled to a likewise conformant third-party report to support them. In addition, note that ISO 14044 further does not differentiate whether the third-party report itself “contains” any comparative assertions, which are defined by clause 3.6 as “environmental claim regarding the superiority or equivalence of one product versus a competing product that performs the same function” (ISO 2006b). Instead, ISO 14044 distinguishes studies, results, or indicators that are “intended to be used in comparative assertions intended to be disclosed to the public” (ibid), and the reporting requirements in 5.2 require that a statement be added to each and every LCA report “as to whether the study intends to support comparative assertions intended to be disclosed to the public” (ibid). Contemporary witnesses can confirm that the comparison of products from competing companies was at the heart of the issue when the ISO requirements around panel review were conceived. However, the language in clause 3.6 about an “environmental claim regarding the superiority or equivalence of one product versus a competing product that performs the same function” (ISO 2006a) is not as narrow. It speaks of “competing products,” not “products from competing companies.” At the very least, and this is rarely disputed in practice, any two products that compete for market share would fall under this language, even if they were made by the same company or two companies owned by the same corporation. After all, ISO 14044, clause 6.1, states that the purpose of such panel reviews is “to decrease the likelihood of misunderstandings or negative effects on external interested parties” (ISO 2006b). When in doubt, it is always better for LCA practitioners and commissioners alike to err on the side of more transparency and scrutiny, rather than the opposite. One can frequently encounter situations where commissioners of LCA studies are more than happy to communicate the results of an LCA study, but they are reluctant or unwilling to share any third-party report with their audience. The reason given usually is that the third-party report contains sensitive information. While confidentiality of business information is a legitimate concern, such restrictions are in direct conflict with the spirit of transparency underlying the reporting requirements in ISO 14044 and not sanctioned by the current language in 5.2, which states that “the third-party report can be based on study documentation that contains confidential information that may not be included in the third-party report” (ISO 2006b). While the extent or even the nature of such confidential information is not discussed in the standard, the intent clearly was not that the entire report can be declared confidential and no third-party report provided at all. In practice, there are several ways to meet the ISO requirement for third-party reports, while at the same addressing concerns about sensitive information: Share the third-party report under NDA Black out or aggregate sensitive information in the report Create a confidential annex, which can be easily removed prior to sharing The last option is, arguably, the most elegant one if it is clear from the beginning of the project that...
Christoph Koffler; Ben Amor; Michael Carbajales-Dale; Joseph Cascio; Alison Conroy; James A. Fava; Caroline Gaudreault; Thomas Gloria; Connie Hensler; Arpad Horvath; Sebastien Humbert; Alessandro Manzardo; Manuele Margni; Philippe Osset; Julie Sinistore; Bruce Vigon; Michele L Wallace; Michael Wang; Martina Prox. On the reporting and review requirements of ISO 14044. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 2019, 25, 478 -482.
AMA StyleChristoph Koffler, Ben Amor, Michael Carbajales-Dale, Joseph Cascio, Alison Conroy, James A. Fava, Caroline Gaudreault, Thomas Gloria, Connie Hensler, Arpad Horvath, Sebastien Humbert, Alessandro Manzardo, Manuele Margni, Philippe Osset, Julie Sinistore, Bruce Vigon, Michele L Wallace, Michael Wang, Martina Prox. On the reporting and review requirements of ISO 14044. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 2019; 25 (3):478-482.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChristoph Koffler; Ben Amor; Michael Carbajales-Dale; Joseph Cascio; Alison Conroy; James A. Fava; Caroline Gaudreault; Thomas Gloria; Connie Hensler; Arpad Horvath; Sebastien Humbert; Alessandro Manzardo; Manuele Margni; Philippe Osset; Julie Sinistore; Bruce Vigon; Michele L Wallace; Michael Wang; Martina Prox. 2019. "On the reporting and review requirements of ISO 14044." The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 25, no. 3: 478-482.
Global warming mitigation strategies are likely to affect human health and biodiversity through diverse cause-effect mechanisms. To analyse these effects, we implement a methodology to link TIMES energy models with life cycle assessment using open-source software. The proposed method uses a cut-off to identify the most relevant processes. These processes have their efficiencies, fuel mixes and emission factors updated to be consistent with the TIMES model. The use of a cut-off criterion reduces exponentially the number of connection points between models, facilitating the analysis of scenarios with a large number of technologies involved. The method is used to assess the potential effects of deploying low-carbon technologies to reduce combustion emissions in the province of Quebec (Canada). In the case of Quebec, the reduction of combustion emissions is largely achieved through electrification of energy services. Global warming mitigation efforts reduce the impact on human health and ecosystem quality, mainly because of lower global warming, water scarcity, and metal contamination impacts. The TIMES model alone underestimated the reduction of CO2eq by 21% with respect to a full account of emissions.
Miguel Fernández Astudillo; Kathleen Vaillancourt; Pierre-Olivier Pineau; Ben Amor. Human Health and Ecosystem Impacts of Deep Decarbonization of the Energy System. Environmental Science & Technology 2019, 53, 14054 -14062.
AMA StyleMiguel Fernández Astudillo, Kathleen Vaillancourt, Pierre-Olivier Pineau, Ben Amor. Human Health and Ecosystem Impacts of Deep Decarbonization of the Energy System. Environmental Science & Technology. 2019; 53 (23):14054-14062.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMiguel Fernández Astudillo; Kathleen Vaillancourt; Pierre-Olivier Pineau; Ben Amor. 2019. "Human Health and Ecosystem Impacts of Deep Decarbonization of the Energy System." Environmental Science & Technology 53, no. 23: 14054-14062.
Previously perceived as a rapid prototyping technique, additive manufacturing (AM) has evolved into a fully developed manufacturing process, with growing accessibility to different industrial sectors. Its technological and economic advantages are frequently documented, but AM’s environmental performance is seldom investigated. Not long ago discrete initiatives to assess AM’s applicability for building large-scale structures started to arise. Mostly focused on technical and economic feasibility, these studies pave the way for the process’s consolidation in the construction sector. This paper aims to systematically and critically assess the available literature on AM’s life cycle environmental impacts and to identify the main challenges and trends on loads measurements. The findings help feed recommendations to perform life cycle assessments (LCA) in AM initiatives, with a special focus on the construction sector. A systematic search led to the careful analysis of 52 papers, out of 353 that matched our search protocol. In terms of LCA methods’ robustness, a lack of transparency stood out in many papers, suggesting that authors were most likely non-LCA experts, applying the tool without much knowledge of requirements and modelling intricacies. In terms of documented global warming potential (GWP) values in comparison to conventional manufacturing (CM), AM processes were portrayed as beneficial in most cases. Most papers documented results ranges, which represented different printing, production or distribution strategies, in which AM’s performance varied considerably. LCA played a significant role in finding an optimum production approach and seems to be a valuable lens to assure 3D printing’s environmental competitiveness. A contribution analysis showed that there is a shift between materials vs. production processes contribution in the life cycle GWP loads of systems manufactured with AM and CM. 3D printing processes account for almost 80% of AM’s total GWP, while for CM that position is held by the material-related loads. For construction related AM processes, the material intensity is, however, still by far the largest contributor to building systems’ GWP, maintaining the impact distribution as in typical manufacturing processes.
Marcella Ruschi Mendes Saade; Ammar Yahia; Ben Amor. How has LCA been applied to 3D printing? A systematic literature review and recommendations for future studies. Journal of Cleaner Production 2019, 244, 118803 .
AMA StyleMarcella Ruschi Mendes Saade, Ammar Yahia, Ben Amor. How has LCA been applied to 3D printing? A systematic literature review and recommendations for future studies. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2019; 244 ():118803.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarcella Ruschi Mendes Saade; Ammar Yahia; Ben Amor. 2019. "How has LCA been applied to 3D printing? A systematic literature review and recommendations for future studies." Journal of Cleaner Production 244, no. : 118803.
Buildings are responsible for a considerable portion of the embodied and operational CO2 emitted by human activities. Some building attributes have taken on the mantle of “environmentally preferable”. Through a systematic literature review, this paper investigates if the literature on whole building Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) confirms some environmental assumptions that are perceived as always truthful, e.g. (i) “wood is better than concrete and steel”, (ii) ”renovation is preferable to demolishing and building anew”, and (iii)“operational loads are more intensive than embodied loads”. The search also allowed to trace if advanced methodological modelling in LCA brings new insights into the mentioned perceptions. The assessment of over 250 case studies pointed that LCAs applied to complex systems, such as a building, embed crucial issues to be modeled, and rules of thumb lose veracity. Furthermore, as LCA incorporates deepened mathematical models, outcomes become less predictable, and paradigms should be interpreted with care.
Marcella Ruschi Mendes Saade; Geoffrey Guest; Ben Amor. Comparative whole building LCAs: How far are our expectations from the documented evidence? Building and Environment 2019, 167, 106449 .
AMA StyleMarcella Ruschi Mendes Saade, Geoffrey Guest, Ben Amor. Comparative whole building LCAs: How far are our expectations from the documented evidence? Building and Environment. 2019; 167 ():106449.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarcella Ruschi Mendes Saade; Geoffrey Guest; Ben Amor. 2019. "Comparative whole building LCAs: How far are our expectations from the documented evidence?" Building and Environment 167, no. : 106449.
Interest in intrinsically low-energy construction materials is becoming mainstream, and bio-based materials form a key part of that group of materials. The goal of this study was to analyse the environmental impact of applying a sol-gel coating on hemp shiv, in order to improve the durability of this innovative bio-based material, using a regionalised LCA model, taking into account regional specific peculiarities. This study analysed the environmental performance of using bio-based materials in the building envelope compared with traditional synthetic construction materials, and compared the impact of a regionalised approach with a global approach. The carbon footprint of treated hemp shiv in a wall with a U-value of 0.15 W/m2.K was compared to untreated hempcrete and a reference cavity wall with the same U-value. Considering the environmental damage caused by the production of hemp shiv, nitrogen fertiliser was the hotspot. The LCA results showed that, using innovative bio-based materials in construction, treated hemp shiv with sol-gel can decrease the carbon footprint of a building envelope through carbon sequestration. Using the more accurate site-specific information in life cycle inventory and impact assessment methods will result in more consistent and site-appropriate environmental results for decision-making.
Mohammad Davoud Heidari; Mike Lawrence; Pierre Blanchet; Ben Amor. Regionalised Life Cycle Assessment of Bio-Based Materials in Construction; the Case of Hemp Shiv Treated with Sol-Gel Coatings. Materials 2019, 12, 2987 .
AMA StyleMohammad Davoud Heidari, Mike Lawrence, Pierre Blanchet, Ben Amor. Regionalised Life Cycle Assessment of Bio-Based Materials in Construction; the Case of Hemp Shiv Treated with Sol-Gel Coatings. Materials. 2019; 12 (18):2987.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMohammad Davoud Heidari; Mike Lawrence; Pierre Blanchet; Ben Amor. 2019. "Regionalised Life Cycle Assessment of Bio-Based Materials in Construction; the Case of Hemp Shiv Treated with Sol-Gel Coatings." Materials 12, no. 18: 2987.
The benefits of aluminum lamination in improving the physical and mechanical properties of wood-based composites is now well documented. This paper shows the contribution of life cycle assessment (LCA) as a tool to assess and compare the environmental footprint in the development of laminated panels. SimaPro 9.0 software, using Ecoinvent database was used to analyze the environmental impacts associated with the manufacturing of wood aluminum-laminated (WAL) panels and aluminum honeycomb panel (AHP). The impact 2002+ method was used to estimate environmental impacts. The LCA results show that the WAL panels manufacturing had a lower environmental impact than AHP manufacturing. In term of product, wood-based composites were the best choice as a core in laminated panel manufacturing. Wood-based composite manufacturing showed environmental advantages in all damage categories except in ecosystem quality. Aluminum alloy sheets manufacturing played an important role in the generation of environmental impacts for laminated panel development.
Franz Segovia; Pierre Blanchet; Ben Amor; Costel Barbuta; Robert Beauregard. Life Cycle Assessment Contribution in the Product Development Process: Case Study of Wood Aluminum-Laminated Panel. Sustainability 2019, 11, 2258 .
AMA StyleFranz Segovia, Pierre Blanchet, Ben Amor, Costel Barbuta, Robert Beauregard. Life Cycle Assessment Contribution in the Product Development Process: Case Study of Wood Aluminum-Laminated Panel. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (8):2258.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFranz Segovia; Pierre Blanchet; Ben Amor; Costel Barbuta; Robert Beauregard. 2019. "Life Cycle Assessment Contribution in the Product Development Process: Case Study of Wood Aluminum-Laminated Panel." Sustainability 11, no. 8: 2258.
Research Highlights: This is the first study that analyzes the environmental performance of wood-based phase change material (PCM) panels. Background and Objectives: Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a powerful environmental management tool. However, a full LCA, especially during the early design phase of a product, is far too time and data intensive for industrial companies to conduct during their production and consumption processes. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for simpler methods to demonstrate a company’s resource efficiency potential without being data or time intensive. The goal of this study is to investigate the suitability of streamlined LCA (SLCA) tools and methods used in the building material industry, and to assess their robustness in the case study of a wood-based PCM panel. Materials and Methods: The Bilan Produit tool was selected as the SLCA tool and a matrix LCA was selected as the most commonly used SLCA method. A specific case study of a wood-based PCM panel was selected with a focus on its application in building construction in the province of Québec. Results: As a semi-quantitative LCA method, the matrix LCA provided a quick screening of the product life cycle and its hotspot stages, i.e., life cycle stages with high impact. However, the results of the full LCA and SLCA tools were quantitative and based on scientific databases. The use of the PCM panel and heating energy had the highest environmental impacts as compared to other inputs. The results of the full LCA and SLCA also identified energy consumption as a hotspot. Insufficient material or processes in the SLCA databases was one of the reasons for the difference between the results of the SLCA and full LCA. Conclusions: The examined SLCA methods provided proper explanations for the bio-based material in construction, but several limitations still exist, and the methods should be improved to make them more robust when implemented in such a specific sector.
Mohammad Davoud Heidari; Damien Mathis; Pierre Blanchet; Ben Amor. Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Bio-Based Material in Construction: A Case Study of a Phase Change Material Panel. Forests 2019, 10, 160 .
AMA StyleMohammad Davoud Heidari, Damien Mathis, Pierre Blanchet, Ben Amor. Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Bio-Based Material in Construction: A Case Study of a Phase Change Material Panel. Forests. 2019; 10 (2):160.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMohammad Davoud Heidari; Damien Mathis; Pierre Blanchet; Ben Amor. 2019. "Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment of an Innovative Bio-Based Material in Construction: A Case Study of a Phase Change Material Panel." Forests 10, no. 2: 160.
Sustainability decision making is a complex task for policy makers, considering the possible unseen consequences it may entail. With a broader scope covering environmental, economic, and social aspects, Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) is a promising holistic method to deal with that complexity. However, to date, this method is limited to the hotspot analysis of a product, service, or system, and hence only assesses direct impacts and overlooks the indirect ones (or consequences). This critical literature review aims to explore the challenges and the research gaps related to the integration of three methods in LCSA representing three pillars of sustainability: (Environmental) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC), and Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA). The challenges and the research gaps that appear when pairing two of these tools with each other are identified and discussed, i.e., the temporal issues, different perspectives, the indirect consequences, etc. Although this study does not aim to remove the shadows in LCSA methods, critical research gaps are identified in order to be addressed in future works. More case studies are also recommended for a deeper understanding of methodological trade-offs that might happen, especially when dealing with the consequential perspective.
Rizal Taufiq Fauzi; Patrick Lavoie; Luca Sorelli; Mohammad Davoud Heidari; Ben Amor. Exploring the Current Challenges and Opportunities of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment. Sustainability 2019, 11, 636 .
AMA StyleRizal Taufiq Fauzi, Patrick Lavoie, Luca Sorelli, Mohammad Davoud Heidari, Ben Amor. Exploring the Current Challenges and Opportunities of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (3):636.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRizal Taufiq Fauzi; Patrick Lavoie; Luca Sorelli; Mohammad Davoud Heidari; Ben Amor. 2019. "Exploring the Current Challenges and Opportunities of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment." Sustainability 11, no. 3: 636.