Assessing the gap between a normative and a reality-based model of building LCA

Recognized as a powerful methodology for the evaluation of environmental burdens, life cycle assessment (LCA) must be performed with close-to-reality inputs to be robust and accurate. However, the necessary real-world data is hardly available at the design stage, resulting in current LCA practice being mainly based on standards and norms as hypothesis of building contexts, therefore inducing uncertainties in results. The current paper presents a methodology to collect a subset of such input data in a function of the context more accurately than the standards. It then studies the impact of such uncertainties in the LCA results. Through an academic building case study that measured data concerning the building occupancy (A), i.e. the hourly occupancy rate and density, the hourly appliance consumption rate (B), and the hourly conversion factors of environmental impact of the electricity mix (C), the LCA results for the GHG emissions and primary energy consumption are compared between normative- and measurements-based input parameters. The measured occupancy rate (A) is shown to impact the LCA results the most, especially the embedded impacts, by implying a new occupancy density: the building population increase of +32% leads to a significant increase of the embedded impacts related to furniture. The variability in appliance usage (B) is marginal between measures and standards and therefore does not lead to a significant change in LCA results. The use of hourly conversion factors (C) indicates an underestimation of the GHG emissions and, at the same time, an overestimation of the primary energy when assessed with mean annual values. The combined effect of simultaneously using the three reality-based input parameters (A, B, C) mostly affects the non-renewable part of the cumulative energy demand indicator (-9% reduction of the operational part), followed by the cumulative energy demand (-7%) and GHG emissions indicators (-3%). The research findings affect not only LCA research but also practitioners such as architects or building contractors who need to respect ambitious environmental targets.

On the necessity of improving the environmental impacts of furniture and appliances in net-zero energy buildings

Endrit Hoxha, Thomas Bernard Paul Jusselme

There is now clear evidence regarding the extensive use of furniture and appliances in daily human life, but there is less evidence of their impact on the environment. Responding to this gap in knowledge, this study focuses on an assessment of the environmental impacts of furniture and appliances as used in highly energy efficient buildings. Their primary energy, non-renewable energy and global warming potential indicators have been assessed by extending the boundaries of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study beyond the building itself. In conclusion, we found that furniture and appliances were responsible for around 30% of greenhouse gas emissions and non-renewable energy consumption and 15% of primary energy consumption comparing to the overall impacts of the building. Since embodied impacts represent the largest values, the process for labelling the appliances' energy efficiency should encompass a life-cycle point of view, not just a usage point of view as the case currently. Among office appliances, computer equipment was ranked as the highest impacting element, especially laptops and monitors. As for domestic appliances, refrigerators and electric ovens had the biggest impacts. Concerning furniture, the greatest impacts were from office and kitchen cabinets.

Elsevier2017

Environmental impacts and benefits of information and communication technology infrastructure and services, using process and input-output life cycle assessment

Yves Jon Césare Loerincik

Sustainable development and the Information Society are two concepts that are not commonly associated. However, both could have a major impact on the other. Information and communication technologies (ICT) may have important negative impacts on the environment. At the same time, ICT can also bring improvements. To provide guidance on how ICT devices and applications can be oriented towards positive effects, new methodology and tools are needed to understand and assess these various effects. In that respect, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a pertinent approach, potentially enabling a holistic and in-depth analysis. This thesis proposes to develop appropriate Life Cycle tools and methodology and to apply them to measure the sustainability of ICT devices and of their applications. Specific objectives are: to explore the possibilities of combining Process LCA (PLCA) and Input-Output LCA (IOLCA), and to develop an operational method for ICT applications; to apply the developed method to assess the direct impacts of a computer network, including software and maintenance and developing strategies, to account for the high renewal rate in ICT technologies; to extend the method to consider not only negative impacts, but also benefits of ICT; to develop a method to address effects on lifestyles and rebound effects, and apply it to assess the impacts and benefits of innovative ICT services; Chapter 1 is a short introduction describing the environmental impacts of ICT and how this work addresses them. Chapter 2 presents the main methodological developments: It looks in detail at how PLCA and IOLCA can be compared and used in a complementary way. A method is developed to compare the two approaches in detail and to evaluate the cut-offs processes – the processes that are not traditionally considered in a PLCA – of two specific ecoinvent processes. The conclusions are that a full integration of PLCA and IOLCA remains difficult with our present level of knowledge. IOLCA could be use to complement PLCA when no other evaluation is available, but IOLCA should also be used as a quality check for PLCA and to determine priorities. Chapter 3 assesses comprehensively the environmental impacts of the computer network of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. The LCA shows that the computers have the highest environmental impact, but also that short-term technology changes can reduce significantly their impact. The use phase dominates the impacts, but the production phase is also significant. Finally, using the Input-Output (IO) approach leads us to the conclusion that the service-linked contribution included in the total cost of ownership - that is, all of the costs associated with the computer network - has a significant impact on the environment. Chapter 4 evaluates the impacts and benefits of the ICT application to help the management of urban networks. The CREM, in Switzerland, uses a telemonitoring system to assess the water, electricity, district heating, and natural gas networks to increase the efficiency of their management. We want to know how the environmental and economical costs of the infrastructure and its maintenance compare with the savings. An LCA has been performed using a tiered hybrid approach. It shows that the savings overcome largely the cost and environmental impacts of the infrastructure. Chapter 5 analyses an innovative service developed by France Telecom. The visiophonic station enables the substitution of physical interviews by virtual interviews. A PLCA of the service shows that the saved km due to the shift from physical to virtual interviews dominates the effects on the environment and that the potential savings are therefore important. However, depending on what is consumed when using the time and financial resources made available by the service, the related impacts counterbalance the savings. Rebound effects must therefore be considered, studied, and addressed in the development as well as the implementation of new ICT services. Chapter 6 concludes with recommendations towards environmental beneficial uses of ICT and identifies what is needed for the necessary further LCA developments.

EPFL2006

Socio-Economic Assessment of Fusion Energy Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment Programme

Denis Bednyagin

Providing safe, clean and affordable energy supply is essential for meeting the basic needs of human society and for supporting economic growth. From the historical perspective, the constantly growing energy use was one of the main factors, which drove the industrialised countries to the current level of prosperity. Meanwhile, in recent decades, the issue of global energy security became a topic of increasing concern in the international policy agenda. On the one hand, the world is facing the problem of exhaustion of most convenient and cheep fuel reserves. The situation is becoming worse, because of the constantly growing demand in developing countries, and the oligopolistic behaviour of major energy exporting countries. On the other hand, the society is becoming more and more sensitive to the environmental pollution problems, caused by the excessive consumption of fossil fuels. In the face of energy security challenge, national governments ought to implement adequate strategies aimed at liberalisation of energy markets, diversification of energy supply mix, enhancement of energy efficiency, encouragement of investments in energy infrastructures, and promotion of innovation in energy sector. In a longer term perspective, the latter point becomes increasingly important, because the world is relying currently on the consumption of non-renewable fossil fuels, and the development of new safe, clean and resource unconstraint energy technologies is vitally needed. In line with this strategy, the major world economies pursue the joint R&D programme on thermonuclear Fusion technology, which represents numerous advantages due to its inherent safety, avoidance of CO2 emissions, relatively small environmental impact, abundance and world-wide uniform distribution of fuel resources. Considering the importance of the projected environmental and economic benefits of Fusion, the questions are raised whether the current level of financial support is sufficient, and what could be the optimal strategy to proceed with the demonstration of Fusion technology, given the time span and potential risks of Fusion RDDD programme. To put these questions into the context, one has to consider the current trends in energy R&D funding, which has seen a drastic decline ( ~50%) over the last three decades. The liberalisation of energy sector poses additional problem due to the fact that free markets partially failure to provide public goods, such as basic science and R&D, because of the so-called spillover effects meaning that the firms are not able to appropriate the integral results of their R&D investments. Regarding the thermonuclear Fusion technology, the decision makers responsible for national energy policies and allocation of public R&D funds may face the following specific questions: What is the expected net socio-economic payoff (social rate of return) of Fusion R&D programme, including both internal and external costs and benefits? What are the reasonable economic arguments that could justify the increase in public funding of the ongoing and future Fusion R&D activities and would stimulate greater involvement of the private sector? What additional value can be obtained through undertaking a more ambitious Fusion R&D programme (accelerated development path), which requires bigger number of experimental facilities, increased funding, and more intense overall efforts of international scientific and industrial community? In order to provide sound arguments for policymakers seeking to optimise public R&D funding, a robust socio-economic evaluation of the whole Fusion research, development, demonstration and deployment (RDDD) programme is needed. At the present stage, prospective analyses of Fusion technology have been emphasised mainly on the investigation of technological issues, estimation of the direct costs of Fusion power and analysis of its potential role in future energy systems. Meanwhile, methodological tools and practical studies aiming at a more comprehensive socio-economic assessment of global long-term energy R&D programmes, such as Fusion, are still incomplete. The primary difficulty concerns the evaluation of positive externalities that may reveal through different types of spillover effects, including but not limited to knowledge, network and market spillovers. While the presence of these effects has been identified in the economic theory and confirmed by empirical studies, their quantitative analysis in the specific case of large scale energy R&D programmes represents some methodological lacuna and deserves further investigation. Another problem relates to the methodology of cost-benefit analysis, which oftentimes ignores the hidden value of R&D projects arising due to the possible flexibility in managerial decisions. In fact, throughout the course of any R&D project, its prospective cash-flows can be significantly improved by pro-active management of different implementation stages, e.g. expanding the production, if market conditions are favourable, or abandoning, if R&D process appears to be unproductive. As a result, the strategic value of any R&D project normally exceeds its net present value (NPV) calculated with the traditional discounted cash flow (DCF) method. Although this strategic approach to capital budgeting, known as Real Options, has been propagated recently in several publications dealing with appraisal of lumpy irreversible investments, its practical application in the context of Fusion RDDD programme has not been mastered yet to the required extent. A particular challenge consists in the need for adequate treatment of different types of uncertainty in the model structure, parameters and input data. Accordingly, the main objective of this thesis consists in complementing the existing studies with an in-depth analysis of the positive externalities (spillover benefits) of Fusion RDDD programme and calculation of its strategic real options value subject to different managerial strategies throughout demonstration and deployment stages. Net social present value of Fusion RDDD programme and potential impact of Fusion R&D activities on the economic performance of the involved private companies are estimated using an integrated modelling framework, which includes the following components: (1) assessment of technological potential for deployment of Fusion power plants based on the simulation of multi-regional long term electricity supply scenarios with PLANELEC model; (2) economic evaluation of Fusion RDDD programme and analysis of different implementation strategies using Real Options model; (3) estimation of the economic value of spillover benefits from participation in Fusion R&D projects at the microeconomic level with the help of financial evaluation model; (4) strategic evaluation of Fusion RDDD programme, taking into account both spillover benefits and real options value, and policy recommendations.