Use of Decision Models under Uncertainty for the Estimation of the Environmental Impacts of a Hot-Water Boiler
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 2
Abstract
Decision models under uncertainty can be used as an alternative method for assessing the embodied energy and greenhouse gas missions of different heating equipment when detailed information is not available. The method can help in the estimation of life-cycle energy use of equipment by removing obstacles in the evaluation of embodied energy. The paper presents the estimation of environmental impacts from manufacturing a noncondensing, natural gas-fired hot-water boiler with a heat capacity of about for residential applications, in the absence of accurate data about the materials used. Results from a case study found in the literature are used for the verification of the proposed method. The embodied energy in a hot-water boiler with the heat exchanger in aluminum, for instance, is about or about 30% of the total embodied energy of a house and in the case of stainless steel, it is about or about 5%.
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Acknowledgments
The writers gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada,NRC and the Faculty of Engineering at Concordia University.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 2 • June 2009
Pages: 27 - 32
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 30, 2007
Accepted: Nov 25, 2008
Published online: May 15, 2009
Published in print: Jun 2009
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