BIM-Based LCA Method to Analyze Envelope Alternatives of Single-Family Houses: Case Study in Uruguay
Publication: Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 24, Issue 3
Abstract
Currently, Uruguay is developing several measures to reduce the environmental impact of human activities and CO2 emissions. In 2015 more than 90% of electricity was produced by renewable sources. Despite this fact, the construction, transport, and building sectors are still responsible for more than 60% of CO2 emissions. Reducing building environmental impacts is becoming an increasing challenge. Lifecycle assessment (LCA) is recognized as a method that can help to reduce the environmental impact of the building sector. The LCA can be used as an early-stage decision-making tool to assess design choices that impact the environment. The present paper developed a method based on LCA that integrates building information modeling (BIM) to assess building envelope alternatives. The method is validated by the application in a single-family house, which is the most popular typology, in Uruguay, considering three envelope alternatives including frequent and nonfrequent materials. Results focused on comparing the embodied impacts, transport, and operational energy consumptions of each scenario. The results show that the developed method can help during the building design process, especially when defining dimension and thickness of materials.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the Uruguayan Agency of Housing (ANV), especially Cristina Fynn and Cristina Cardozo, for providing the data on the applied case study. The authors also would like to thank the manufacturers and distributors of materials Retak and Bromyros for providing the needed data.
References
Agya Utama, N., Mclellan, B. C., Gheewala, S. H., and Ishihara, K. N. (2012). “Embodied impacts of traditional clay versus modern concrete houses in a tropical regime.” Build. Environ., 57(Nov), 362–369.
Ajayi, S. O., Oyedele, L. O., Ceranic, B., Gallanagh, M., and Kadiri, K. O. (2015). “Life cycle environmental performance of material specification: A BIM-enhanced comparative assessment.” Int. J. Sustainable Build. Technol. Urban Dev., 6(1), 14–24.
Al-Ghamdi, S., and Bilec, M. (2017). “Green building rating systems and whole-building life cycle assessment: Comparative study of the existing assessment tools.” J. Archit. Eng., 04016015.
ANV-MVOTMA (Agencia Nacional de Vivienda, Ministerio de Vivienda Ordenamiento territorial y Medioambiente). (2017). ⟨http://www.anv.gub.uy/⟩ (Jan. 1, 2017).
ArchiCAD 19 [Computer software]. GRAPHISOFT, Waltham MA.
Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings [Computer software]. Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, Ontario, Canada.
Basbagill, J., Flager, F., Lepech, M., and Fischer, M. (2013). “Application of life-cycle assessment to early stage building design for reduced embodied environmental impacts.” Build. Environ., 60(Feb), 81–92.
Baumann, H., and Tillman, A.-M. (2004). The hitch hiker’s guide to LCA: An orientation in life cycle assessment methodology and application, Studentlitteratur, Lund, Sweden.
BSI (British Standards Institution). (2011). “Sustainability of construction works. Assessment of environmental performance of buildings. Calculation method.” EN 15978:2011, London.
BSI (British Standards Institution). (2012). “Sustainability of construction works. Environmental product declarations. Core rules for the product category of construction products.” EN 15804:2012 + A1:2013, London, 70.
Cabeza, L. F., Rincón, L., Vilariño, V., Pérez, G., and Castell, A. (2014). “Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle energy analysis (LCEA) of buildings and the building sector: A review.” Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev., 29(Jan), 394–416.
Casañas, V. (2011). “La energía como indicador del impacto ambiental de los sistemas constructivos conformados a partir de materiales de producción nacional.” Magister dissertation, UFRGS-NORIE-UDELAR, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Cockcroft, D. (2016). “DesignBuilder–Simulation made easy.” ⟨www.designbuilder.co.uk⟩.
CORFO. (2016). “Programa Estratégico de Productividad y Sustentabilidad en la Construcción.” ⟨https://www.aoa.cl/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/PMG-Informe-final-Hoja-de-Ruta-Construye-2025.pdf⟩ (Jan. 1, 2017).
Cuéllar-Franca, R. M., and Azapagic, A. (2012). “Environmental impacts of the UK residential sector: Life cycle assessment of houses.” Build. Environ., 54(Aug), 86–99.
DesignBuilder v.4.7.0.27 [Computer software]. Thermal Energy System Specialists, Madison, WA.
DNE-MIEM (Dirección Nacional de Energía-Ministerio de Industria Energía y Minería. (2015). “Balance energético 2015.” ⟨http://www.miem.gub.uy/documents/15386/7730255/BALANCE%20PRELIMINAR%202015.pdf⟩ (Feb. 1, 2017).
EeB Guide Project. (2012). “Operational guidance for life cycle assessment studies of the energy efficient buildings initiative.” ⟨http://www.eebguide.eu/⟩ (Feb. 20, 2017).
EU (European Union). (2014). “Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council.” Brussels, Belgium.
Fichtner and LKSUR Asociados. (2004). “Plan Director de Residuos Sólidos de Montevideo y Área Metropolitana TOMO VI: Residuos de Obras Civiles.” ⟨http://www.cempre.org.uy/docs/biblioteca/plan_director/etapa1_estudios_basicos/Tomo_VI-ROC.PDF⟩ (Jan. 20, 2017).
Fouquet, M., et al. (2015). “Methodological challenges and developments in LCA of low energy buildings: Application to biogenic carbon and global warming assessment.” Build. Environ., 90(Aug), 51–59.
Frischknecht, R, et al. (2007). “Implementation of life cycle impact assessment methods.” Ecoinvent Rep. No. 3, Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
García-Martínez, A. (2010). “Life cycle assessment (LCA) for the development of environmental declarations of dwellings in Andalusia.” Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Seville, Seville, Spain.
Garcia-Martinez, A., Carmen, L., and Navarro Casas, J. (2011). “Life cycle assessment of three dwellings in Andalusia (Spain).” Proc., Int. Workshop on Environment, New Energy Techniques and Applications, Yichang, China, 1, 4.
Georges, L., Haase, M., Houlihan Wiberg, A., Kristjansdottir, T., and Risholt, B. (2014). “Life cycle emissions analysis of two nZEB concepts.” Build. Res. Inf., 43(1), 82–93.
Gervásio, H., Santos, P., Martins, R., and Simões da Silva, L. (2014). “A macro-component approach for the assessment of building sustainability in early stages of design.” Build. Environ., 73(Mar), 256–270.
Gómez de Cózar, J. C., García-Martínez, A., Ariza López, I. A., and Ruiz Alfonsea, M. (2017). “Lightweight and quickly assembled: The most eco-efficient model for architecture.” Int. J. Comput. Methods Exp. Meas., 5(4), 539–550.
Gómez Pérez, M. (2014). “Análisis medioambiental de sistemas constructivos y edificatorios. Desarrollo instrumental a partir de herramientas tipo BIM.” M.S. dissertation, Univ. of Seville, Seville, Spain.
GRAPHISOFT. (2017). “Archicad 21.” ⟨http://www.graphisoft.es/⟩ (Jan. 1, 2017).
Hanandeh, A. E. (2015). “Environmental assessment of popular single-family house construction alternatives in Jordan.” Build. Environ., 92(Oct), 192–199.
Houlihan Wiberg, A., et al. (2014). “A net zero emission concept analysis of a single-family house.” Energy Build., 74(May), 101–110.
Iddon, C. R., and Firth, S. K. (2013). “Embodied and operational energy for new-build housing: A case study of construction methods in the U.K.” Energy Build., 67(Dec), 479–488.
INE (Instituto Nacional de Estadística). (2017). “Press release ECH Employment December 2017.” ⟨http://www.ine.gub.uy/censos-2011⟩ (Jan. 1, 2017).
ISO. (2006a). “Environmental management—Life cycle assessment—Principles and framework.” ISO 14040:2006, Geneva.
ISO. (2006b). “Environmental management—Life cycle assessment—Requirements and guidelines.” ISO 14044:2006, Geneva.
Jalaei, F., and Jrade, A. (2014). “An automated BIM model to conceptually design, analyze, simulate, and assess sustainable building projects.” J. Constr. Eng., 2014, 672896.
Jarić, M., Budimir, N., Pejanović, M., and Svetel, I. (2013). “A review of energy analysis simulation tools.” Proc., 7th Int. Working Conf. Total Quality Management Advanced and Intelligent Approaches,” Belgrade, Serbia, 103–110.
Jrade, A., and Jalaei, F. (2013). “Integrating building information modelling with sustainability to design building projects at the conceptual stage.” Build Simul., 6(4), 429–444.
Kellenberger, D., Althaus, H. J. H.-J., Jungbluth, N., Künniger, T., Lehmann, M., and Thalmann, P. (2004). “Life cycle inventories of building products.” Final Report Ecoinvent 2000 No. 7, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Kolokotroni, M., Robinson-Gayle, S., Tanno, S., and Cripps, A. (2004). “Environmental impact analysis for typical office facades.” Build. Res. Inform., 32(1), 2–16.
Lee, S., Tae, S., Roh, S., and Kim, T. (2015). “Green template for life cycle assessment of buildings based on building information modeling: Focus on embodied environmental impact.” Sustainability, 7(12), 16498–16512.
Lewandowska, A., Noskowiak, A., and Pajchrowski, G. (2013). “Comparative life cycle assessment of passive and traditional residential buildings’ use with a special focus on energy-related aspects.” Energy Build., 67(Dec), 635–646.
Loh, E., Dawood, N. N., and Dean, J. T. (2007). “Integration of 3D tool with Environmental Impact Assessment (3D EIA).” Embodying virtual architecture, ASCAAD.
Malmqvist, T., et al. (2011). “Life cycle assessment in buildings: The ENSLIC simplified method and guidelines.” Energy, 36(4), 1900–1907.
Mesa González, A. (2013). “Análisis de ciclo de vida de soluciones arquitectónicas ligeras de rápido montaje: El sistema florín.” M.S. dissertation, Univ. of Seville, Seville, Spain.
MIEM (Ministerio de Industria, Energia y Mineria). (2015). “Plan Nacional de Eficiencia Energética 2015-2024.” ⟨http://www.miem.gub.uy/documents/10192/0/Plan%20Nacional%20de%20Eficiencia%20Energetica.pdf/⟩ (Jan. 1, 2017).
Mimbacas, A. (2012). “Caracterizacao do consumo doméstico de materiais da cidades de Montevidéu mediante Análise de Fluxos de Materiais.” Ph.D. dissertation, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Monteiro, H. (2010). “Life cycle assessment of a Portuguese house with different exterior wall solutions and alternative heating systems.” M.S. thesis, Univ. of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
Monteiro, H., and Freire, F. (2012). “Life-cycle assessment of a house with alternative exterior walls: Comparison of three impact assessment methods.” Energy Build., 47(Apr) 572–583.
Mosteiro-Romero, M., Krogmann, U., Wallbaum, H., Ostermeyer, Y., Senick, J. S., and Andrews, C. J. (2014). “Relative importance of electricity sources and construction practices in residential buildings: A Swiss-U.S. comparison of energy related life-cycle impacts.” Energy Build., 68,(Part A), 620–631.
Motuziene, V, Rogoza, A., Lapinskiene, V., Vilutiene, T. (2016). “Construction solutions for energy efficient single-family house based on its life cycle multi-criteria analysis: A case study.” J. Cleaner Prod., 112(Part 1), 532–541.
MVOTMA (Ministerio de Vivienda Ordenamento Territorial y Medio Ambiente). (2011). “Estándares de desempeño para vivienda de interés social.” ⟨http://www.mvotma.gub.uy/images/stories/doc/estanddesempeno.pdf⟩ (Feb. 1, 2017).
MVOTMA (Ministerio de Vivienda Ordenamento Territorial y Medio Ambiente). (2013). “Informe del estado del ambiente. Indicadore ambientales de Uruguay.” ⟨http://www.mvotma.gub.uy/portal/ciudadania/biblioteca/documentos-de-ambiente/item/10006608-informe-del-estado-del-ambiente-2013.html⟩ (Feb. 1, 2017).
MVOTMA (Ministerio de Vivienda Ordenamento Territorial y Medio Ambiente). (2014). “Reglamento de promoción de la vivienda de interés social.” ⟨http://www.energiasolar.gub.uy/images/Termica/resolucin%20del%20mvotma%20n%20636%202014%20del%2016-06-2014.pdf⟩ (Jan. 2, 2017).
MVOTMA and SNRCC (Ministerio de Vivienda Ordenamento Territorial y Medio Ambiente and Sistema Nacional de Respuesta al Cambio Climático). (2015). “Primer informe bienal de actualización de Uruguay a la convención macro de la Naciones Unidas sobre el cambio climático.” ⟨https://www.dinama.gub.uy/indicadores_ambientales/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/MVOTMA_Primer-Informe-Bienal-de-Actualizaci%C3%B3n-de-Uruguay-GEI_2015.pdf⟩ (Feb. 1, 2017).
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). (2017). “NASA Earth Observatory: Antarctic ozone hole.” ⟨http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/ozone.php⟩ (Feb. 1, 2017).
Navarro Osta, A. (2014). “Arquitectura ligera y de rápido montaje: Búsqueda de modelos. El Análisis de Ciclo de Vida como herramienta de evaluación y corrección de los diseños.” M.S. dissertation, Univ. de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.
Oyarzo, J., and Peuportier, B. (2014). “Life cycle assessment model applied to housing in Chile.” J. Cleaner Prod., 69(Apr), 109–116.
Pelufo, P. (2011). “Analisís de la energía incorporada de un edificio en altura en Uruguay.” Magister dissertation, UFRGS-NORIE-UDELAR, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Peng, C. (2014). “Calculation of a building’s life cycle carbon emissions based on Ecotect and building information modeling.” J. Cleaner Prod., 112(Part 1), 453–465.
Peuportier, B., Thiers, S., and Guiavarch, A. (2013). “Eco-design of buildings using thermal simulation and life cycle assessment.” J. Cleaner Prod., 39(Jan), 73–78.
Ruiz Alfonsea, M. (2016). “Análisis de Ciclo de Vida de modelos de habitación construidos en entornos de clima tropical (Colombia, s. XX-XXI).” M.S. dissertation, Univ. of Seville, Seville, Spain.
Sartori, I., and Hestnes, A. G. (2007). “Energy use in the life cycle of conventional and low-energy buildings: A review article.” Energy Build., 39(3), 249–257.
Schlueter, A., and Thesseling, F. (2009). “Building information model based energy/exergy performance assessment in early design stages.” Autom. Constr., 18(2), 153–163.
Seo, S., Tucker, S., and Newton, P. (2007). “Automated material selection and environmental assessment in the context of 3D building modelling.” J. Green Build., 2(2), 51–61.
Shadram, F., Johansson, T. D., Lu, W., Schade, J., and Olofsson, T. (2016). “An integrated BIM-based framework for minimizing embodied energy during building design.” Energy Build., 128(Sep), 592–604.
Shafiq, N., Nurrudin, M. F., Gardezi, S. S. S., and Kamaruzzaman, A. B. (2015). “Carbon footprint assessment of a typical low rise office building in Malaysia using building information modelling (BIM).” Int. J. Sustainable Build. Technol. Urban Dev., 6(3), 157–172.
Shin, Y., and Cho, K. (2015). “BIM application to select appropriate design alternative with consideration of LCA and LCCA.” Math. Prob. Eng., 2015, 281640.
SimaPro [Computer software]. PRé, Amersfoot, Netherlands.
SNRCC (Sistema Nacional de Respuesta al Cambio Climático). (2010). “Plan nacional de respuesta al cambio climático.” Montevideo, Uruguay.
Soust-Verdaguer, B., Llatas, C., and García-Martínez, A. (2016). “Simplification in life cycle assessment of single-family houses: A review of recent developments.” Build. Environ., 103(Jul), 215–227.
Soust-Verdaguer, B., Llatas, C., and García-Martínez, A. (2017). “Critical review of BIM-based LCA method to buildings.” Energy Build., 136(1), 110–120.
Tally [Computer software]. KT Innovations, Philadelphia, PA.
UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). (2015). “Adoption of the Paris agreement.” Rep. on the Conference of the Parties, Bonn, Germany.
UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). (2016). Proc., 22nd Conf. of the Parties to UNFCC, Marrakech, Morocco.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 24 • Issue 3 • September 2018
Copyright
© 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 29, 2017
Accepted: Oct 17, 2017
Published online: Apr 30, 2018
Published in print: Sep 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Sep 30, 2018
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.