Title : EMERGY-LCA SYNTHESIS MODELS FOR BUILT ENVIRONMENTS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Authors : Ravi S. Srinivasan (1), Daniel Campbell (2), Jaya Lakshmanan (3), Christian Trucco (1) and Paulina Acosta (4)
Publication : February 13-16, 2013
Volume :
Pages : 13-Jan
Price : 250
Abstract : Building assessment strategies range from simple energy evaluations to complex environmental accounting methods such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), emergy (spelled with an “m”), and more. Past and on-going efforts towards synthesizing emergy and LCA approaches have identified a critical need for improving hybrid assessment methodologies, towards addressing not only the energy and environmental, but the ecological impacts of buildings. This paper discusses emergy-LCA synthesis models for built environments that offer a holistic solution for stakeholders’ decision- making. The objectives of this paper are to apply the hybrid emergy-LCA model to evaluate built environments. Using a case study building in a university campus setting, this paper makes available the challenges and opportunities associated with the use of hybrid models to study energy, environmental, and ecological impacts of buildings. The building was evaluated using hybrid approaches, including Economic Input-Output LCA (EIO-LCA), Ecologically-based LCA (Eco-LCA), and emergy analyses. With a standardized assessment procedure adhering to consistent system boundaries, buildings may be optimized to reduce energy flows and emissions and maximize renewable resources use to achieve a high standing in regional and global sustainability