Life Cycle Assessment of Rock Wool Board and EPS Board

2014 ◽  
Vol 787 ◽  
pp. 106-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhu Li ◽  
Xian Zheng Gong ◽  
Zhi Hong Wang ◽  
Yu Liu ◽  
Li Ping Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Outer Wall ◽  
Effective Measure ◽  
Insulation Materials ◽  
Result Show ◽  
Rock Wool

Although outer wall thermal insulation technology is an effective measure for building energy-saving, the production of thermal insulation materials causes serious impacts on environment. In the present investigation the resource, energy consumption and environmental emission of the two kinds of thermal insulation materials were analyzed, from the acquisition of raw materials to production process based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The result show that life cycle energy consumption of rock wool board is 415MJ per functional unit, proximately twice of EPS board’s (220MJ). Overall, environmental impact indicators caused by rock wool board is more serious than EPS.

Comparative Study on Life Cycle Assessment for Typical Building Thermal Insulation Materials in China

2014 ◽  
Vol 787 ◽  
pp. 176-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Ping Ma ◽  
Quan Jiang ◽  
Ping Zhao ◽  
Chun Zhi Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Heat Conductivity ◽  
Insulation Material ◽  
Insulation Materials ◽  
Volume Weight ◽  
Rock Wool

Studies on life cycle assessment of three typical building thermal insulation materials including polystyrene board, rock wool board, and rigid foam polyurethane board related to building energy-saving were carried out. Based on the method of life cycle assessment, "1 kg of thermal insulation material" is first selected as one of the functional units in this study based on the production field data statistics and general market transaction rules of the thermal insulation materials, and life cycle resource consumption, energy consumption and exhaust emission of the three products in China are deeply surveyed and analyzed. The abiotic depletion potential (ADP), primary energy demand (PED), and global warming potential (GWP) for production of 1 kg of the three thermal insulation materials are calculated and analyzed. Furthermore, the functional unit is extended to be "1 m2 of thermal insulation material meeting the same energy-saving requirements" so as to compare the difference of environmental friendliness among the three building thermal insulation materials, and the corresponding life cycle environmental impact is also calculated and analyzed. As shown by the results, where calculated in unit mass, the order of production life cycle environmental impact significances of the thermal insulation materials is as follows: rock wool board < polyurethane board < polystyrene board. However, where calculated in unit area (m2) meeting the 65% energy-saving requirements, the production life cycle environmental impact significances of the three kinds of insulation materials are sorted as polystyrene board < polyurethane board < rock wool board, whatever the region is, which is opposite with that of the results for the insulation materials in unit mass (kg). The reason for such difference is that they have different volume weights and heat conductivity coefficients. The polystyrene board has a smaller volume weight and the smallest heat conductivity coefficient, whereas the rock wool board has the highest volume weight and heat conductivity coefficient. Source of the project fund. Subject "the Research and Application of Life Cycle Assessment Technology to the Building Materials for Building Engineering in Typical Regions" of the National Science & Technology Pillar Program during the Twelfth Five-year Plan Period (No.: 2011BAJ04B06)

Investigation of Thermal Insulation Materials Based on Easy Renewable Row Materials from Agriculture

2011 ◽  
Vol 335-336 ◽  
pp. 1412-1417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiri Zach ◽  
Jitka Peterková ◽  
Vít Petranek ◽  
Jana Kosíková ◽  
Azra Korjenic
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Building Construction ◽  
Materials Development ◽  
Insulation Materials ◽  
Thermal Insulating ◽  
Plastic Materials ◽  
Energy Consuming ◽  
Rock Wool

Production of building materials is mostly energy consuming. In the sphere of insulation materials we mostly see rock wool based materials or foam-plastic materials whose production process is demanding from material aspect and raw materials aspect as well. At present the demand for thermal insulation materials has been growing globally. The thermal insulation materials form integral part of all constructions in civil engineering. The materials mainly fulfill the thermal insulating functions and also the sound-insulating one. The majority of thermal insulation materials are able to fulfill both of the functions simultaneously. The paper describes questions of thermal insulation materials development with good sound properties based on natural fibres that represent a quickly renewable source of raw materials coming from agriculture. The main advantage of the materials are mainly the local availability and simple renewability of the raw materials. In addition an easy recycling of the materials after their service life end in the building construction and last but not least also the connection of human friendly properties of organic materials with advanced product manufacture qualities of modern insulation materials.

Life Cycle Assessment of a Reflective Foil Material and Comparison With Other Solutions for Thermal Insulation of Buildings

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Desideri ◽  
S. Proietti ◽  
F. Zepparelli ◽  
P. Sdringola ◽  
E. Cenci
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment Methodology ◽  
Production Phase ◽  
Reflective Foil

In the last twenty years, the exploitation of non-renewable resources and the effects of their applications on environment and human health were considered central topics in political and scientific debate on European and worldwide scale. This kind of resources have been used in different sectors, as energy systems, technological research, but also in private/public buildings and production of consumer goods, involving significantly domestic and ordinary life of every human being. Studies about the effect of this exploitation carried out discouraging results, in terms of climate changes and energy sustenance; this determined a progressive approach process to a new concept of development, able to couple the qualitative standard of modern life with the respect of planet and its inhabitants. Starting from this reflection, scientific community moved towards research on alternative resources and developed a new way to conceive planning process and technical innovations, in order to exploit renewable energies and recycled materials, promote energy savings and reduce environmental pollution. In this context the present paper aims at evaluating benefits relating to different solutions of thermal insulation in building envelope. In fact a high grade of insulation ensures better comfort conditions in inner spaces, reducing energy consumptions due to heating and cooling conditioning. The paper presents the results of a detailed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the reflective foil ISOLIVING, conceived and produced by an Italian company. The Life Cycle Assessment methodology allows to consider all stages of the life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials to the product’s disposal, in an optics “from cradle to grave.” In particular, the study takes into account the production phase of the reflective foil ISOLIVING, the installation phase, the transport of all components to the production site and also the end of life scenario of the material. The possibility to collect many detailed information about the production phase adds value to the study. The analysis is carried out according to UNI EN ISO 14040 and UNI EN ISO 14044, which regulate the LCA procedure. The LCA modeling was performed using SimaPro software application. The results of the analysis allow to make an important comparison concerning the environmental performances, between the reflective foil ISOLIVING and other types of insulating materials.

Comparative environmental life cycle assessment of thermal insulation materials of buildings

2014 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
pp. 466-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuno Pargana ◽  
Manuel Duarte Pinheiro ◽  
José Dinis Silvestre ◽  
Jorge de Brito
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Insulation Materials ◽  
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment

scholarly journals Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Thermal Insulation Tiles for Flat Roofs

Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 2595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raul Gomes ◽  
José D. Silvestre ◽  
Jorge de Brito
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Environmental Costs ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Life Cycle Stages ◽  
Cradle To Gate ◽  
Flat Roofs

Envelope insulation and protection is an important technical solution to reduce energy consumption, exterior damage, and environmental impacts in buildings. Thermal insulation tiles are used simultaneously as thermal insulation of the building envelope and protection material of under layers in flat roofs systems. The purpose of this research is to assess the environmental impacts of the life cycle of thermal insulation tiles for flat roofs. This research presents the up-to-date “cradle to gate” environmental performance of thermal insulation tiles for the environmental categories and life-cycle stages defined in European standards on environmental evaluation of building. The results presented in this research were based on site-specific data from a Portuguese factory and resulted from a consistent methodology that is here fully described, including the raw materials extraction and production, and the modelling of energy and transport processes at the production stage of thermal insulation tiles. These results reflect the weight of the raw-materials within the production process of thermal insulation tiles in all environmental categories and show that some life cycle stages, such as transportation of raw materials (A2) and packaging and packaging waste (A3.1 and A3.3, respectively), may not be discarded in a cradle to gate study of a construction material because they can make a significant contribution to some environmental categories. Moreover, complementary results regarding the economic, environmental, and energy performance Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of flat roofs solutions incorporating the thermal insulation tiles studied showed that the influence of the economic costs on the total aggregated costs of these solutions is much higher than that of the environmental costs due to the lower environmental costs of the thermal insulation tiles at the product stage (A1–A3). These costs influenced the corresponding percentage of the environmental costs (between 14% and 18%) and the percentage of the economic costs (between 70% and 75%) in the total aggregated (environmental, economic, and energy) net present value (NPV). Finally, a complementary “cradle to cradle” environmental LCA discussion is presented including the following additional life cycle stages: maintenance and replacement (B2–B4), operational energy use (B6), and end-of-life stage and benefits and loads beyond the system boundary (C1–C4 and D).

scholarly journals Life cycle assessment of electric and conventional cars energy consumption and CO2 emissions

2018 ◽  
Vol 234 ◽  
pp. 02007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Evtimov ◽  
Rosen Ivanov ◽  
Georgi Kadikyanov ◽  
Gergana Staneva
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Electric Cars ◽  
Electric Car ◽  
Electric Traction ◽  
The Impact

This paper presents an analysis concerning the effectiveness of electric traction in comparison with conventional cars. The Life Cycle Assessment method is used. It estimates the energy spent for the extraction of the raw materials/sources, manufacturing and transportation of the components and the vehicle, motion, maintenance and repair during exploitation period and the recycling process. The impact of the production technology of the electric energy, needed for charging the battery, is taken into account. The energy consumption and CO2 emissions for the life cycle of electric and conventional cars are presented on graphs. Examples for Bulgaria and EU countries are given. The exploitation conditions in which the electric car is more effective regarding CO2 equivalent emissions are shown. The main influence on the effectiveness of electric cars has the structure of the energy mix of the country where the electric car is produced and is used in exploitation.

scholarly journals Examining Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions of Microbial Induced Carbonate Precipitation Using the Life Cycle Assessment Method

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4856
Author(s):  
Xuejie Deng ◽  
Yu Li ◽  
Hao Liu ◽  
Yile Zhao ◽  
Yinchao Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Carbonate Precipitation ◽  
Application Process

Microbial induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is a new geotechnical engineering technology used to strengthen soils and other materials. Although it is considered to be environmentally friendly, there is a lack of quantitative data and objective evaluation to support conclusions about its environmental impact. In this paper, the energy consumption and carbon emissions of MICP technology are quantitatively analyzed by using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. The environmental effects of MICP technology are evaluated from the perspectives of resource consumption and environmental impact. The results show that for each tonne of calcium carbonate produced by MICP technology, 1.8 t standard coal is consumed and 3.4 t CO2 is produced, among which 80.4% of the carbon emissions and 96% of the energy consumption come from raw materials. Comparing using MICP with cement, lime, and sintered brick, the current MICP application process consumes less non-renewable resources but has a greater environmental impact. The major environmental impact that MICP has is the production of smoke and ash, with secondary impacts being global warming, photochemical ozone creation, acidification, and eutrophication. In five potential application scenarios of MICP, including concrete, sintered brick, lime mortar, mine cemented backfill, and foundation reinforcement, the carbon emissions of MICP are 3 to 7 times greater than the emissions of traditional technologies. The energy consumption is 15 to 23 times. Based on the energy consumption and carbon emissions characteristics of MICP technology at the current condition, suggestions are given for the future research of MICP.

scholarly journals Environmental Impact and Life Cycle Assessment of Economically Optimized Thermal Insulation Materials for Different Climatic Region in Iraq

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.37) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Murad Saeed Sedeeq ◽  
Shadan Kareem Ameen ◽  
Ali Bolatturk
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Thermal Insulation ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Expanded Polystyrene ◽  
Insulation Material ◽  
Insulation Materials ◽  
Climatic Regions ◽  
Damage Categories

Environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems facing the world, even it is the most dangerous. Therefore, it becomes necessary to combine all efforts to reduce or eliminate it. Iraq is at the forefront of countries that suffer from major environmental problems. The present study aims to perform a comparative environmental assessment for three commonly available thermal insulation materials in Iraq namely expanded polystyrene (EPS), extruded polystyrene (XPS), and rock wool (RW) to select least environmental impact material. A cradle to gate life cycle assessment is performed to assess the environmental impact of each insulation material taking into account manufacturing, transportation, and installation and disposal stages. A life cycle assessment program SimaPro is used to model thermal insulation materials during its life cycle. A life cycle impact analysis method CML 2001 has been selected to assess the environmental aspects associated with two global damage categories as ozone layer depletion and global warming and two regional damage categories as acidification and eutrophication. Economically optimized amount of each insulation material is selected to represent the functional unit of life cycle assessment. The results illustrate that the EPS has the lower contribution in all environmental impact categories for all climatic regions. So, the EPS can be select as a proper thermal insulation material for the building sector from an economic and environmental perspective. The results of LCA are used to determine the amount of CO2 can be reduced per meter square of the exterior wall by using the economical amount of EPS during the lifetime of insulation material. The environmental impact results show that using EPS will contribute in CO2 emission reduction at about 81.5 % in all climatic regions in Iraq. 

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