NDLI: Life cycle environmental impact of different replacement options for a typical old flat roof

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Napola, Loredana Menna, Costanti Asprone, Domenico Prota, Andrea Manfredi, Gaeta
Copyright Year	2015
Abstract	Numerous strategies have been implemented to reduce the global environmental burden of construction activities in order to achieve sustainable development goals. However, with regard to renovating and retrofitting existing buildings, life cycle assessment (LCA)-based studies mostly focus on the improvement of a building’s energy performance rather than on the structural aspects of the retrofit itself. The present study assesses the life cycle environmental impacts of different replacement options for a typical old flat roof belonging to a masonry building. Three different structural options are considered: reinforced concrete joists and hollow clay blocks, steel joists and concrete slab, and reinforced concrete joists and polystyrene panels.The environmental analysis is based on a new approach wherein the structural and functional properties of a new flat roof are set as fixed requirements for the design of the different replacement options. A cradle-to-grave LCA-based study is then conducted for the environmental assessment of the entire retrofit process, including different waste scenarios. SimaPro software and IMPACT2002+ methodology are used for the LCA analysis, enabling quantification of the environmental impacts of the three flat roofing options by means of 4 endpoint and 15 midpoint indicators.The environmental contribution of each life cycle phase related to the replacement of the old flat roof is assessed. The results demonstrate that within the life cycle of each option, the use phase and the construction phase have the highest environmental impact, ranging from 60 to 70 % and 50 to 80 % of the total burden in the Climate Change/Resources and Human Health/Ecosystem Quality damage categories, respectively. Having initially set structural and functional constraints for the analysis, the results show that any of the different options exhibits an overall lowest environmental performance. Consequently, specific environmental burdens/categories can be identified to optimize the sustainable retrofit design.The work demonstrates that a comprehensive LCA-based approach can be used to effectively drive the design of structural and functional retrofit operations on existing buildings. This study also shows how a rigorous environmental analysis, conducted by implementing the proposed approach, can influence decision-making for the most sustainable design alternatives.
Starting Page	694
Ending Page	708
Page Count	15
File Format	PDF
ISSN	09483349
Journal	The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
Volume Number	20
Issue Number	5
e-ISSN	16147502
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publisher Date	2015-01-21
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Construction Flat roof LCA Retrofit Sustainability Environment Environmental Economics Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology Environmental Chemistry
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Environmental Science

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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