Carbon neutrality

Summary

Carbon neutrality is an approach for climate change mitigation in which carbon dioxide emissions (or all greenhouse gas emissions) are balanced by absorbing carbon via carbon sinks or by removals. This can be achieved by reducing emissions, most of which come from the burning of fossil fuels, and by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The term is used in the context of carbon dioxide-releasing processes associated with transport, energy production, agriculture, and industry. Although the term "carbon neutral" is used, the approach also includes other greenhouse gases, measured in terms of their carbon dioxide equivalence. The term climate-neutral reflects the broader inclusiveness of other greenhouse gases in climate change, even if CO2 is the most abundant. The concept of net zero is used to describe a broader and more comprehensive commitment to decarbonization and climate action. This concept moves beyond carbon neutrality by including more activities under the scope of in

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_neutrality

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District energy network potentials in a city territory

Raphaël Briguet

Following the Covid crisis and the war in Ukraine, the rise of fossil fuels prices demonstrates the insecurity of the supply in addition to the adverse impact it has on the environment. These crises could lead to a global shift in the strategy of building heating. Renewable systems are promising alternatives to fossil fuel heating system. One of them is the District Heating Network that has the advantages of recovering the waste heat from the industry. In the context of a neutral carbon objective set by the aluminium factory Novelis, the city of Sierre is interested in investigating the possibility of develop- ing a District Heating Network (DHN). This study develops a method to design a network between a heat source and a city, based only on open data building’s inventory. The method, applied to the case study of Sierre, shows that, coupled with heat pumps, the DHN could reduce the heating emissions of the connected buildings, between 88% and 96 % and that 50% of the Novelis’ heat is recovered when half of the city is connected to the network. In addition to that, using new generation of DHN, like CO2 based network makes possible to supply cold with the same infrastructure.

2022

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The Cradle to Cradle (C2C) paradigm is emerging as an important regenerative design approach. C2C is aiming to create a positive footprint of the built environment, beyond carbon neutrality. However, there are very few studies that address the application of the C2C concept in building design. More importantly, there is hardly any documentation processes on methods or tools currently being used to design and evaluate C2C buildings. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to design, model and assess a C2C building prototype with a focus on energy and materials. The research methodology is based on literature review, case study design and performance (energy/materials) evaluation (DesignBuilder/SimaPro). The paper articulates the values, principles and goals of the C2C paradigm and translates them through the prototype design in the Swiss context. The results of the prototype design point to a 74% independence from non-renewable energy resources, compensating the operating and embodied energy during the building’s life. On the other hand only 8% of the building materials were totally recyclable according to the C2C principles. The design process delivers insights on the application of the C2C concept in the built environment reporting on the limitation and means of improvement.

2013

Life cycle efficiency of solar shading systems: a proof-of-concept

Sergi Aguacil Moreno, Marilyne Andersen, Thomas Bernard Paul Jusselme, Nazanin Rezaei Oghazi

Solar control strategies are essential for the glare control and decreasing cooling needs or overheating risks (in the absence of active cooling system), however, they come with their own embodied energy. With the carbon neutrality objective looking at the 2050 horizon, life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach is needed to evaluate the impact of decisions made on the different building components, including solar shading systems. To that end, this paper applies a relatively new concept defined as the Life-Cycle Efficiency Ratio (LCER) to quantify the trade-off between operational and embodied energy. Results based on a low-carbon case study suggests that adding solar shadings does not reduce the life cycle carbon emissions of this project. Also, analyses show that the ratio between operational benefits and embodied impacts of external fabric blind is the highest, while this ratio is the lowest for the internal fabric blinds in this case study.

2021