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Alice Moncaster
Department of Engineering,University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

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Journal article
Published: 10 July 2021 in Journal of Architectural Conservation
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Two key benefits of building retention and adaptation, over demolition and new build are identified in the academic literature as: the conservation of heritage, and reductions in embodied greenhouse gas emissions from construction materials. A four-year research project, including expert interviews, focus groups and three detailed case studies, developed extensive data on how these benefits are considered in decisions to demolish or retain buildings within larger urban development sites. The research found that heritage and embodied impacts are considered quite differently. Heritage is frequently a key driver towards retaining individual buildings, whilstembodied emissions are rarely key considerations. Where there are insufficient arguments based on heritage value, many buildings are therefore demolished and replaced rather than retained. To reduce the impact of construction on the environment it is crucial that we calculate the embodied as well as operational impacts of demolition decisions and retain and refurbish buildings where this is the lower carbon choice. Using heritage arguments as a basis, this paper proposes that the introduction of policy drivers for retention and against demolition, and the conversion of environmental value into economic uplift, are likely to be necessary conditions to encourage the retention of buildings for lower whole life carbon.

ACS Style

Hannah Baker; Alice Moncaster; Hilde Remøy; Sara Wilkinson. Retention not demolition: how heritage thinking can inform carbon reduction. Journal of Architectural Conservation 2021, 1 -19.

AMA Style

Hannah Baker, Alice Moncaster, Hilde Remøy, Sara Wilkinson. Retention not demolition: how heritage thinking can inform carbon reduction. Journal of Architectural Conservation. 2021; ():1-19.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hannah Baker; Alice Moncaster; Hilde Remøy; Sara Wilkinson. 2021. "Retention not demolition: how heritage thinking can inform carbon reduction." Journal of Architectural Conservation , no. : 1-19.

Research article
Published: 04 May 2021 in Journal of Architectural Conservation
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Significant energy and carbon originate in the existing built environment and retrofit is therefore a key carbon reduction strategy. However heritage buildings -comprising around 20% of UK buildings- are challenging to retrofit appropriately due to their historical values and traditional construction. Retrofit carbon savings are dependent on current energy use which is strongly influenced by residents’ behaviours, and retrofit decisions for domestic heritage are generally the responsibility of homeowners. Therefore both residents’ views and behaviours are important for effective retrofit strategies. However behaviours are rarely considered in standard energy models and residents’ views are often overlooked in heritage retrofit policy. This paper analyses a survey of the views, values and behaviours of 147 residents of pre-1940 buildings. The majority are found to strongly value their homes’ heritage and mainly view exterior building alterations negatively. However residents’ heritage values and acceptable retrofits, frequently differ from those of experts and policy makers. Residents report actively engaging in several positive energy behaviours and many have already undertaken common carbon saving measures. These findings imply that, for effective carbon reduction from heritage buildings, policy and legislation needs to extend beyond current definitions of ‘heritage’ and acknowledge residents’ complex values, motivations and energy behaviours.

ACS Style

Freya Wise; Derek Jones; Alice Moncaster. Reducing carbon from heritage buildings: the importance of residents’ views, values and behaviours. Journal of Architectural Conservation 2021, 27, 117 -146.

AMA Style

Freya Wise, Derek Jones, Alice Moncaster. Reducing carbon from heritage buildings: the importance of residents’ views, values and behaviours. Journal of Architectural Conservation. 2021; 27 (1-2):117-146.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Freya Wise; Derek Jones; Alice Moncaster. 2021. "Reducing carbon from heritage buildings: the importance of residents’ views, values and behaviours." Journal of Architectural Conservation 27, no. 1-2: 117-146.

Journal article
Published: 04 January 2021 in Buildings and Cities
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ACS Style

Freya Wise; Alice Moncaster; Derek Jones. Rethinking retrofit of residential heritage buildings. Buildings and Cities 2021, 2, 495 .

AMA Style

Freya Wise, Alice Moncaster, Derek Jones. Rethinking retrofit of residential heritage buildings. Buildings and Cities. 2021; 2 (1):495.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Freya Wise; Alice Moncaster; Derek Jones. 2021. "Rethinking retrofit of residential heritage buildings." Buildings and Cities 2, no. 1: 495.

Journal article
Published: 30 June 2020 in Energy and Buildings
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Promoting the decarbonisation of buildings requires effective policy measures. An integral part of policy design is ex-ante evaluation of possible policy options and effects. System Dynamics, one of a range of potential modelling paradigms, emphasises the dynamic complexity arising from stock-and-flow structures, feedbacks, non-linearities and time lags of the system in question. It is therefore well placed to model building stock turnover dynamics and the associated energy use and carbon emissions, in order to conduct scenario analysis for policy evaluation. Previous efforts to employ System Dynamics based models in buildings in various national contexts are found to have some common fundamental structural and behavioural limitations. We present an improved formulation that includes both building stock disaggregation and dynamics of energy-related retrofits. The model is characterised by greater transparency facilitating reproducibility and further improvements, high structural and functional flexibility for either extensions or reductions depending upon needs, and high generality and adaptability in diverse applications. It can be used as a stand-alone model or as part of a larger model for policy evaluation and scenario analysis exploring the transformation of building stock from improving energy efficiency and shifting towards low-carbon development.

ACS Style

Wei Zhou; Alice Moncaster; David Reiner; Peter Guthrie. Developing a generic System Dynamics model for building stock transformation towards energy efficiency and low-carbon development. Energy and Buildings 2020, 224, 110246 .

AMA Style

Wei Zhou, Alice Moncaster, David Reiner, Peter Guthrie. Developing a generic System Dynamics model for building stock transformation towards energy efficiency and low-carbon development. Energy and Buildings. 2020; 224 ():110246.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wei Zhou; Alice Moncaster; David Reiner; Peter Guthrie. 2020. "Developing a generic System Dynamics model for building stock transformation towards energy efficiency and low-carbon development." Energy and Buildings 224, no. : 110246.

Journal article
Published: 19 June 2020 in Applied Energy
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Knowing the size of building stock is perhaps the most basic determinant in assessing energy use in buildings. However, official statistics on urban residential stock for many countries are piecemeal at best. Previous studies estimating stock size and energy use make various debateable methodological assumptions and only produce deterministic results. This paper presents a Bayesian approach to characterise stock turnover dynamics and estimate stock size uncertainties, applied here to China. Firstly, a probabilistic dynamic building stock turnover model is developed to describe the building aging and demolition process, governed by a hazard function specified by a parametric survival model. Secondly, using five candidate parametric survival models, the building stock turnover model is simulated through Markov Chain Monte Carlo to obtain posterior distributions of model-specific parameters, estimate marginal likelihood, and make predictions of stock size. Thirdly, Bayesian Model Averaging is applied to create a model ensemble that combines model-specific posterior predictive distributions of the recent historical stock evolution pathway in proportion to posterior model probabilities. Finally, the Bayesian Model Averaging model ensemble is extended to forecast future trajectories of residential stock development through 2100. The modelling results suggest that the total stock in China will peak around 2065, at between 42.4 and 50.1 billion m2. This Bayesian modelling framework produces probability distributions of annual total stock, age-specific substocks, annual new buildings and annual demolition rates. This can support future analysis of policy trade-offs across embodied-versus-operational energy consumption, in the context of sector-wide decarbonisation.

ACS Style

Wei Zhou; Eoghan O'Neill; Alice Moncaster; David Reiner; Peter Guthrie. Forecasting urban residential stock turnover dynamics using system dynamics and Bayesian model averaging. Applied Energy 2020, 275, 115388 .

AMA Style

Wei Zhou, Eoghan O'Neill, Alice Moncaster, David Reiner, Peter Guthrie. Forecasting urban residential stock turnover dynamics using system dynamics and Bayesian model averaging. Applied Energy. 2020; 275 ():115388.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wei Zhou; Eoghan O'Neill; Alice Moncaster; David Reiner; Peter Guthrie. 2020. "Forecasting urban residential stock turnover dynamics using system dynamics and Bayesian model averaging." Applied Energy 275, no. : 115388.

Journal article
Published: 05 June 2020 in Buildings and Cities
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ACS Style

Jane Anderson; Alice Moncaster. Embodied carbon of concrete in buildings, Part 1: analysis of published EPD. Buildings and Cities 2020, 1, 198 -217.

AMA Style

Jane Anderson, Alice Moncaster. Embodied carbon of concrete in buildings, Part 1: analysis of published EPD. Buildings and Cities. 2020; 1 (1):198-217.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jane Anderson; Alice Moncaster. 2020. "Embodied carbon of concrete in buildings, Part 1: analysis of published EPD." Buildings and Cities 1, no. 1: 198-217.

Book chapter
Published: 01 January 2020 in Handbook of the Circular Economy
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ACS Style

Tove Malmqvist; Alice Moncaster; Freja Rasmussen; Harpa Birgisdóttir. Circularity in the built environment: a call for a paradigm shift. Handbook of the Circular Economy 2020, 425 -438.

AMA Style

Tove Malmqvist, Alice Moncaster, Freja Rasmussen, Harpa Birgisdóttir. Circularity in the built environment: a call for a paradigm shift. Handbook of the Circular Economy. 2020; ():425-438.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tove Malmqvist; Alice Moncaster; Freja Rasmussen; Harpa Birgisdóttir. 2020. "Circularity in the built environment: a call for a paradigm shift." Handbook of the Circular Economy , no. : 425-438.

Journal article
Published: 18 December 2019 in Renewable Energy
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In the Mediterranean region façade shading systems are used to reduce operational energy, particularly cooling loads. However, operational savings do not necessarily translate into net energy savings unless they outweigh the embodied energy/carbon required to manufacture, install, maintain, and dispose of these systems. This study analyses two shading devices, louvers and meshes, from a whole-life perspective in Malta. We first establish, through dynamic energy modelling, the operational energy and carbon savings achieved, and results show that both louvers and meshes are capable of savings in terms of operational energy—20%–40% compared to the base case. Secondly, we establish the embodied energy and carbon through a life cycle analysis. Although based on the limited data available for Malta, findings suggest that net energy and carbon savings are only achieved by two of the 22 configurations investigated, both mesh systems. These results highlight the urgent need to investigate shading systems to establish net energy and carbon whole-life balances. The risk is otherwise that we will save less operational energy in the future, from decarbonised energy grids, than we have already spent through a surge of embodied energy from current, carbon intensive grids, therefore exacerbating the climate crisis.

ACS Style

Lara Mifsud; Francesco Pomponi; Alice M. Moncaster. Comparative life cycle analysis of façade passive systems in the Mediterranean: Comfort, energy, and carbon. Renewable Energy 2019, 149, 347 -360.

AMA Style

Lara Mifsud, Francesco Pomponi, Alice M. Moncaster. Comparative life cycle analysis of façade passive systems in the Mediterranean: Comfort, energy, and carbon. Renewable Energy. 2019; 149 ():347-360.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Lara Mifsud; Francesco Pomponi; Alice M. Moncaster. 2019. "Comparative life cycle analysis of façade passive systems in the Mediterranean: Comfort, energy, and carbon." Renewable Energy 149, no. : 347-360.

Review
Published: 11 October 2019 in IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science
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Approximately 20% of UK buildings can be defined as 'heritage buildings', offering unique values that should be preserved. They tend to use more energy than newer buildings, creating a strong case for energy retrofits to reduce energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and improve thermal comfort. However, few studies of heritage retrofits examine embodied impacts, which are the energy and carbon impacts required to manufacture, transport and construct materials and components. This study considers the whole life (embodied plus operational) impacts of retrofitting heritage buildings, through a systematic literature review and thematic analysis. It concludes that; both embodied and operational impacts should be considered in retrofitting projects, retrofitting is better than demolish and rebuild in lifecycle terms, there is a lack of policy mandating for the measurement of lifecycle impacts and low impact retrofitting can be better for conserving heritage values and reducing embodied carbon.

ACS Style

Freya Wise; Alice Moncaster; Derek Jones; Emma Dewberry. Considering embodied energy and carbon in heritage buildings – a review. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 2019, 329, 012002 .

AMA Style

Freya Wise, Alice Moncaster, Derek Jones, Emma Dewberry. Considering embodied energy and carbon in heritage buildings – a review. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. 2019; 329 (1):012002.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Freya Wise; Alice Moncaster; Derek Jones; Emma Dewberry. 2019. "Considering embodied energy and carbon in heritage buildings – a review." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 329, no. 1: 012002.

Conference paper
Published: 06 September 2019 in IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science
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This paper identifies the need for Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) to provide End of Life (EoL) and Module D data for products for use in building level Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Although the provision of data for EN 15804 Modules A4-D is not currently mandatory for EPD, many currently report some or all of these. This paper provides an overview of the existing reporting of the end of life (Modules C1-4) and Module D and the types of scenarios used in European EPD. Using examples from existing EPD for two product groups, this paper examines the variation in approaches to scenarios for Module C and D. It explores the difficulties brought by this variation and discusses benefits from using default national scenarios at end of life, but additionally considers the advantages of providing alternative EoL scenarios for products to promote the circular economy.

ACS Style

J Anderson; A Rønning; A Moncaster. The Reporting of End of Life and Module D Data and Scenarios in EPD for Building level Life Cycle Assessment. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 2019, 323, 012051 .

AMA Style

J Anderson, A Rønning, A Moncaster. The Reporting of End of Life and Module D Data and Scenarios in EPD for Building level Life Cycle Assessment. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. 2019; 323 (1):012051.

Chicago/Turabian Style

J Anderson; A Rønning; A Moncaster. 2019. "The Reporting of End of Life and Module D Data and Scenarios in EPD for Building level Life Cycle Assessment." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 323, no. 1: 012051.

Conference paper
Published: 01 September 2019 in Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering Sustainability
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With more intense rainfall and sea level rises predicted, increasing numbers of people across the UK are vulnerable to flood events. The government has pledged more funding for flood infrastructure planning, design and management. However schemes tend to focus on technical solutions, with the social impact, including needs and concerns of the local community, seen as secondary. Based on a detailed examination of three case studies in England, this paper identifies the mechanisms through which current processes restrict industry professionals from considering and incorporating the social perspective, often in spite of seemingly effective community engagement. The paper argues for an approach that incorporates social concerns alongside the technical. Rather than ‘community engagement’, it is argued that ‘co-production’, in which lay communities work alongside technical experts in the design of flood risk alleviation schemes, would enable both a more socially acceptable, and also a more technically successful, final outcome.

ACS Style

Sarah L Fitton; Alice M Moncaster. Arguments for a co-production approach to community flood protection. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering Sustainability 2019, 172, 335 -344.

AMA Style

Sarah L Fitton, Alice M Moncaster. Arguments for a co-production approach to community flood protection. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering Sustainability. 2019; 172 (7):335-344.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sarah L Fitton; Alice M Moncaster. 2019. "Arguments for a co-production approach to community flood protection." Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering Sustainability 172, no. 7: 335-344.

Journal article
Published: 08 July 2019 in Sustainability
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Building lifetime and stock turnover are both key determinants in modelling building energy and carbon. However in China, aside from anecdotal claims that urban residential buildings are generally short-lived, there are no recent official statistics, and empirical data are extremely limited. We present a system dynamics model where survival analysis is used to characterise the dynamic interplay between new construction, aging, and demolition of residential buildings in urban China. The uncertainties associated with building lifetime were represented using a Weibull distribution, whose shape and scale parameters were calibrated based on official statistics on floor area up to 2006. The calibrated Weibull lifetime distribution allowed us to estimate the dynamic stock turnover of Chinese urban residential buildings for 2007 to 2017. We find that the average lifetime of urban residential buildings was around 34 years, and the overall residential stock size reached 23.7 billion m2 in 2017. The resultant age-specific sub-stocks provide a baseline for the overall stock, which—along with the calibrated Weibull lifetime distribution—can be used in further modelling and for analysis of policies to reduce the whole-life embodied and operational energy and CO2 emissions in Chinese residential buildings.

ACS Style

Wei Zhou; Alice Moncaster; David M Reiner; Peter Guthrie. Estimating Lifetimes and Stock Turnover Dynamics of Urban Residential Buildings in China. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3720 .

AMA Style

Wei Zhou, Alice Moncaster, David M Reiner, Peter Guthrie. Estimating Lifetimes and Stock Turnover Dynamics of Urban Residential Buildings in China. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (13):3720.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wei Zhou; Alice Moncaster; David M Reiner; Peter Guthrie. 2019. "Estimating Lifetimes and Stock Turnover Dynamics of Urban Residential Buildings in China." Sustainability 11, no. 13: 3720.

Journal article
Published: 02 July 2019 in Journal of Cleaner Production
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This paper publishes the results from a major five year International Energy Agency research project which investigated the reduction of embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions over the whole life (‘cradle to grave’) of buildings. Annex 57 collated and analysed over 80 detailed quantitative and qualitative building case studies from the participating nations. For many years the multiple variations in methodological approach of case studies to assess the whole life embodied impacts of buildings have presented a major challenge for politicians and other decision makers. Any real change in design and construction practice has also proved elusive. This paper describes a modified research synthesis and meta analysis as a novel and valid method for drawing meaningful conclusions from large sets of significantly diverse studies. The quantitative analyses consider embodied impacts of the product stage, replacement, and end of life stages, of new and refurbished buildings, and of different building assemblies and construction materials. The product stage is shown to dominate in most cases, with the median value around two thirds of the whole life embodied impacts, with replacements the next highest with a median figure of around 25%; however replacements in five studies were over 50% of the whole life impacts. It should be noted that several life cycle stages are still missing from these studies. The case studies included eleven refurbishment projects, in which energy efficient measures and low carbon technologies were retrofitted to existing buildings; for these projects the median product stage impact was found to be just under half that for the new build projects. While further research is required to compare the operational energy use in the new and refurbished buildings, this suggests that such energy refurbishments have a significantly lower impact than new buildings. Several other studies considered the impacts from technical equipment and internal fixtures and fittings, both frequently excluded, and demonstrated that they can be responsible for up to 45% of the whole life embodied greenhouse gases and up to 48% of the whole life embodied energy. Finally, the paper combines the analysis of the quantitative case studies with that of qualitative studies, to explore the impact of contextual factors at both policy and project level in significantly reducing the embodied environmental impacts of buildings. The case studies have shown that planning authorities, major clients, developers, and individual designers, can all play an important role in reducing embodied impacts through encouraging innovation. The paper concludes with recommendations for policy makers, designers and LCA modelers which will support and effect real reductions in the whole life embodied impacts of buildings.

ACS Style

Alice M. Moncaster; Freja Nygaard Rasmussen; Tove Malmqvist; Aoife Houlihan Wiberg; Harpa Birgisdottir. Widening understanding of low embodied impact buildings: Results and recommendations from 80 multi-national quantitative and qualitative case studies. Journal of Cleaner Production 2019, 235, 378 -393.

AMA Style

Alice M. Moncaster, Freja Nygaard Rasmussen, Tove Malmqvist, Aoife Houlihan Wiberg, Harpa Birgisdottir. Widening understanding of low embodied impact buildings: Results and recommendations from 80 multi-national quantitative and qualitative case studies. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2019; 235 ():378-393.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alice M. Moncaster; Freja Nygaard Rasmussen; Tove Malmqvist; Aoife Houlihan Wiberg; Harpa Birgisdottir. 2019. "Widening understanding of low embodied impact buildings: Results and recommendations from 80 multi-national quantitative and qualitative case studies." Journal of Cleaner Production 235, no. : 378-393.

Review
Published: 01 May 2019 in Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering Sustainability
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The BSI has recently published the world’s first standard on the Circular Economy. The standard is intentionally broad and inclusive to suit all types of organisations and products. However, when it comes to complex products such as buildings – with large numbers of stakeholders, long lifespans, high uncertainties about future scenarios, and formed of multiple products interacting both temporally and geographically – there is a question as to whether BS 8001’s inclusiveness and breadth are best suited to promoting real change. This briefing paper presents a review and a critique of BS 8001 from the perspective of buildings. The paper demonstrates that the standard collates much of the existing information on the circular economy in a commendably comprehensive document. However while it offers a useful resource for the novice, within the context of buildings the standard does not deal with their complexity. It therefore falls short of identifying effective approaches to reduce the environmental impacts and waste streams caused by buildings, and thus misses the opportunity to accelerate the transition to a ‘circular’ built environment. A final section offers some additional documents and resources that could be helpful to those wishing to adopt the circular economy principles within the built environment.

ACS Style

Francesco Pomponi; Alice Moncaster. Briefing: BS 8001 and the built environment: a review and critique. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering Sustainability 2019, 172, 111 -114.

AMA Style

Francesco Pomponi, Alice Moncaster. Briefing: BS 8001 and the built environment: a review and critique. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering Sustainability. 2019; 172 (3):111-114.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Francesco Pomponi; Alice Moncaster. 2019. "Briefing: BS 8001 and the built environment: a review and critique." Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering Sustainability 172, no. 3: 111-114.

Journal article
Published: 01 August 2018 in Energy and Buildings
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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is increasingly used as an early-stage design-decision tool to support choices of structural system. However LCA modellers must first make numerous methodological decisions, and the resultant wide variations in approach are often inadequately described by the modellers. This paper identifies, and quantifies, the three major areas of methodological variation. These are: temporal differences in the stages considered; spatial differences in the material boundaries; and physical disparities in the data coefficients. The effects are then demonstrated through a case study of a student residential building in Cambridge. The cross-laminated timber (CLT) structure is compared with concrete frame, steel frame and load-bearing masonry, considering the influence that varying the temporal boundaries, the data coefficients, and the spatial boundaries has on the choice. While for this building CLT is confirmed as the lowest impact material, the paper demonstrates that varying the methodological choices can change the results by an alarming factor of 10 or even more. The findings confirm the need for the utmost clarity and transparency with all LCA calculations. Making wider industry or policy decisions based on LCA results should be undertaken with extreme caution.

ACS Style

A.M. Moncaster; F. Pomponi; K.E. Symons; P.M. Guthrie. Why method matters: Temporal, spatial and physical variations in LCA and their impact on choice of structural system. Energy and Buildings 2018, 173, 389 -398.

AMA Style

A.M. Moncaster, F. Pomponi, K.E. Symons, P.M. Guthrie. Why method matters: Temporal, spatial and physical variations in LCA and their impact on choice of structural system. Energy and Buildings. 2018; 173 ():389-398.

Chicago/Turabian Style

A.M. Moncaster; F. Pomponi; K.E. Symons; P.M. Guthrie. 2018. "Why method matters: Temporal, spatial and physical variations in LCA and their impact on choice of structural system." Energy and Buildings 173, no. : 389-398.

Journal article
Published: 01 May 2018 in Energy and Buildings
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The dominance of operational energy and related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of most existing buildings is decreasing in new construction, when primary fossil energy of building operation decreases as result of the implementation of energy efficiency measures as well as a decarbonisation of national energy mixes. Stakeholders therefore have a growing interest in understanding the possibilities for reducing embodied impacts in buildings. In the IEA EBC project ‘Annex 57’ a broad call for case studies was launched with the aim to identify design strategies for reducing embodied energy and GHG emissions (EEG) from buildings. The aim of this paper is to identify and provide a collected and comprehensive overview of quantitative reduction potentials of the particular EEG reduction strategies which should be considered by the stakeholders engaged in, and with the capacity to influence the outcome of, individual building projects. This is done by a systematic analysis of the Annex 57 case study collection as well as additional scientific literature. While it should be noted that the actual EEG savings at building level illustrated in this collection of studies are only applicable to each specific case, importantly this multiple cross-case analysis has provided rigorous evidence of the considerable potential to reduce embodied impacts in the design and construction of new and refurbished buildings.

ACS Style

Tove Malmqvist; Marie Nehasilova; Alice Moncaster; Harpa Birgisdottir; Freja Nygaard Rasmussen; Aoife Houlihan Wiberg; José Potting. Design and construction strategies for reducing embodied impacts from buildings – Case study analysis. Energy and Buildings 2018, 166, 35 -47.

AMA Style

Tove Malmqvist, Marie Nehasilova, Alice Moncaster, Harpa Birgisdottir, Freja Nygaard Rasmussen, Aoife Houlihan Wiberg, José Potting. Design and construction strategies for reducing embodied impacts from buildings – Case study analysis. Energy and Buildings. 2018; 166 ():35-47.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tove Malmqvist; Marie Nehasilova; Alice Moncaster; Harpa Birgisdottir; Freja Nygaard Rasmussen; Aoife Houlihan Wiberg; José Potting. 2018. "Design and construction strategies for reducing embodied impacts from buildings – Case study analysis." Energy and Buildings 166, no. : 35-47.

Journal article
Published: 01 May 2018 in Energy and Buildings
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In order to meet the mid-century carbon reduction targets and to mitigate climate change and global warming it is imperative that embodied greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions in the built environment receive immediate attention from policy, industry and academia. While academic research has grown in recent years, the uptake of embodied carbon assessments in practice has been slower. This paper reports the findings of a collaborative project between industry and academia to shed light on how to accelerate a wider uptake of embodied carbon assessments in buildings. Five projects have been each examined by three assessors (independent environmental consultants) for a total of fifteen detailed assessments. Results are presented for each of the five case studies, showing elements of agreement and, most often, of variation. Additionally, each of the life cycle stages as defined by the TC350 standards is analysed both numerically and in terms of its contribution towards the whole life embodied carbon. The results show that significant discrepancies consistently exist even when the initial information available to the assessors is the same. The numerical analysis also reveals that all life cycle stages account for important shares of the whole life carbon, and that therefore partial assessments – e.g. cradle-to-gate - are not sufficient if carbon reductions are to be realistically achieved. Future research in the field should continue to address the challenges identified in this article and work towards greater understanding and reliability of the numbers produced.

ACS Style

Francesco Pomponi; Alice Moncaster; Catherine De Wolf. Furthering embodied carbon assessment in practice: Results of an industry-academia collaborative research project. Energy and Buildings 2018, 167, 177 -186.

AMA Style

Francesco Pomponi, Alice Moncaster, Catherine De Wolf. Furthering embodied carbon assessment in practice: Results of an industry-academia collaborative research project. Energy and Buildings. 2018; 167 ():177-186.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Francesco Pomponi; Alice Moncaster; Catherine De Wolf. 2018. "Furthering embodied carbon assessment in practice: Results of an industry-academia collaborative research project." Energy and Buildings 167, no. : 177-186.

Book chapter
Published: 16 February 2018 in Building Urban Resilience through Change of Use
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ACS Style

Hannah Baker; Alice Moncaster. Adaptation and Demolition in a Masterplan Context. Building Urban Resilience through Change of Use 2018, 57 -81.

AMA Style

Hannah Baker, Alice Moncaster. Adaptation and Demolition in a Masterplan Context. Building Urban Resilience through Change of Use. 2018; ():57-81.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hannah Baker; Alice Moncaster. 2018. "Adaptation and Demolition in a Masterplan Context." Building Urban Resilience through Change of Use , no. : 57-81.

Chapter
Published: 30 January 2018 in Embodied Carbon in Buildings
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This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the art on this subject within Europe. In order to do so, it draws on a cross-case analysis of over 60 European case studies, developed and analysed by the authors as part of the International Energy Agency Annex 57 project. Embodied impacts have been considered for many years in this part of the world and have now reached a certain level of maturity; recently the publication of European standards EN 15978 and EN 15804 has helped to develop a more harmonised approach, while environmental certification schemes such as BREEAM from the UK and DGNB from Germany are increasingly encouraging European designers to use LCA to measure and reduce the whole-life carbon and energy of buildings. However, there are still a wide range of methodological approaches in use both in academic studies and in industry tools, hampering efforts to draw conclusive recommendations for low-carbon design strategies. Two issues are of particular importance for the European context. First, as in other areas of the world, there is a focus on minimising the whole-life energy and carbon cost of new buildings. This paper uses the analysis of the Annex 57 case studies to provide a general quantification of embodied carbon and energy in European buildings for different life cycle stages and building components. It then identifies a number of approaches to reducing these impacts and, by comparing with a review of the international literature, discusses which of these identified mitigation strategies are particularly suitable in Europe. The second issue recognises the unique aspects of this historically urbanised region of the world. Here the high proportion of old and very old buildings means that refurbishment and adaptation projects account for a significant proportion of construction sector impacts. Meanwhile, rising populations are leading to increased pressures for the densification of already-developed brownfield sites. While refurbishment, in preference to demolition and rebuild, has been identified in the academic literature as frequently a lower-carbon strategy, this is seldom an issue taken into account in industry practice. This chapter concludes that this area is one of particular importance on which industry and academia should work together across Europe.

ACS Style

A. M. Moncaster; H. Birgisdottir; T. Malmqvist; F. Nygaard Rasmussen; A. Houlihan Wiberg; E. Soulti. Embodied Carbon Measurement, Mitigation and Management Within Europe, Drawing on a Cross-Case Analysis of 60 Building Case Studies. Embodied Carbon in Buildings 2018, 443 -462.

AMA Style

A. M. Moncaster, H. Birgisdottir, T. Malmqvist, F. Nygaard Rasmussen, A. Houlihan Wiberg, E. Soulti. Embodied Carbon Measurement, Mitigation and Management Within Europe, Drawing on a Cross-Case Analysis of 60 Building Case Studies. Embodied Carbon in Buildings. 2018; ():443-462.

Chicago/Turabian Style

A. M. Moncaster; H. Birgisdottir; T. Malmqvist; F. Nygaard Rasmussen; A. Houlihan Wiberg; E. Soulti. 2018. "Embodied Carbon Measurement, Mitigation and Management Within Europe, Drawing on a Cross-Case Analysis of 60 Building Case Studies." Embodied Carbon in Buildings , no. : 443-462.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2018 in Energy and Buildings
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ACS Style

Freja Nygaard Rasmussen; Tove Malmqvist; Alice Moncaster; Aoife Houlihan Wiberg; Harpa Birgisdottir. Analysing methodological choices in calculations of embodied energy and GHG emissions from buildings. Energy and Buildings 2018, 158, 1487 -1498.

AMA Style

Freja Nygaard Rasmussen, Tove Malmqvist, Alice Moncaster, Aoife Houlihan Wiberg, Harpa Birgisdottir. Analysing methodological choices in calculations of embodied energy and GHG emissions from buildings. Energy and Buildings. 2018; 158 ():1487-1498.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Freja Nygaard Rasmussen; Tove Malmqvist; Alice Moncaster; Aoife Houlihan Wiberg; Harpa Birgisdottir. 2018. "Analysing methodological choices in calculations of embodied energy and GHG emissions from buildings." Energy and Buildings 158, no. : 1487-1498.