Variability of building environmental assessment tools on evaluating carbon emissions

With an increasing importance of sustainability in construction, more and more clients and designers employ building environmental assessment (BEA) tools to evaluate the environmental friendliness of their building facilities, and one important aspect of evaluation in the BEA models is the assessment of carbon emissions. However, in the absence of any agreed framework for carbon auditing and benchmarking, the results generated by the BEA tools might vary significantly which could lead to confusion or misinterpretation on the carbon performance of a building. This study thus aims to unveil the properties of and the standard imposed by the current BEA models on evaluating the life cycle carbon emissions. The analyses cover the (i) weighting of energy efficiency and emission levels among various environmental performance indicators; (ii) building life cycle stages in which carbon is taken into consideration; (iii) objectiveness of assessment; (iv) baseline set for carbon assessment; (v) mechanism for benchmarking the emission level; and (v) limitations of the carbon assessment approaches. Results indicate that the current BEA schemes focus primarily on operational carbon instead of the emissions generated throughout the entire building life cycle. Besides, the baseline and benchmark for carbon evaluation vary significantly among the BEA tools based on the analytical results of a hypothetical building. The findings point to the needs for a more transparent framework for carbon auditing and benchmarking in BEA modeling.     

On the optimal control of carbon dioxide emissions: an application of FUND

This paper presents the Climate Framework for Uncertainty, Negotiation and Distribution (FUND), an integrated assessment model of climate change, and discusses selected results. FUND is a nine‐region model of the world economy and its interactions with climate, running in time steps of one year from 1990 to 2200. The model consists of scenarios for economy and population, which are perturbed by climate change and greenhouse gas emission reduction policy. Each region optimizes its net present welfare. Policy variables are energy and carbon efficiency improvement, and sequestering carbon dioxide in forests. It is found that reducing conventional air pollution is a major reason to abate carbon dioxide emissions. Climate change is an additional reason to abate emissions. Reducing and changing energy use is preferred as an option over sequestering carbon. Under non‐cooperation, free riding as well as assurance behaviour is observed in the model. The scope for joint implementation is limited. Under cooperation, optimal emission abatement is (slightly) higher than under non‐cooperation, but the global coalition is not self‐enforcing while side payments are insufficient. Optimal emission control under non‐cooperation is less than currently discussed under the Framework Convention on Climate Change, but higher than observed in practice. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Examining the uncertainty of carbon emission changes: A systematic approach based on peak simulation and resilience assessment

Efforts to achieve carbon peak is one of the Chinese government's commitments, but the diversity of future development paths leads to the uncertainty of carbon emissions. Based on the carbon peak simulation, this study develops a framework to assess the carbon emission uncertainty, aiming to explore the potential low-carbon paths. The STIRPAT model is firstly introduced to explore the influence of population, economic and technology factors on carbon emissions, which is followed by emission peaks simulation. The resilience theory is then introduced to define the concept of low-carbon resilience (LCR), which refers to the ability to maintain a low level of carbon emissions. The uncertainty of carbon emission changes between different scenarios is identified by considering peaking time, cumulative increase and mitigation process. This study taking 10 Chinese coastal provinces as an example, and results show that all provinces can achieve the target of carbon emission peak in low-emissions scenario, the cumulative growth of carbon emissions is low and can be mitigated over a relatively short term, showing a strong LCR. In high-emissions scenario, Liaoning, Tianjin, Fujian and Guangxi may not have a peak before 2050, the uncertainty of carbon emission changes is relatively high, while Hebei, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Guangdong show relatively low uncertainty for the clear peaking time. The study also designs intermediate scenario to reduce the uncertainty of carbon emission changes to provide reference for each province's emission reduction path. These findings help to understand carbon uncertainty to reduce the risk of increasing cumulative emissions under the scenario of only focusing on peaking times, and provide a basis for future carbon resilience and sustainable emission reduction policies.     

The Impact of Uncertainty in Climate Targets and CO2 Storage Availability on Long-Term Emissions Abatement

A major characteristic of our global interactive climate-energy system is the large uncertainty that exists with respect to both future environmental requirements and the means available for fulfilling these. Potentially, a key technology for leading the transition from the current fossil fuel-dominated energy system to a more sustainable one is carbon dioxide capture and storage. Uncertainties exist, however, concerning the large-scale implementability of this technology, such as related to the regional availability of storage sites for the captured CO₂. We analyze these uncertainties from an integrated assessment perspective by using the bottom-up model TIAM-ECN and by studying a set of scenarios that cover a range of different climate targets and technology futures. Our study consists of two main approaches: (1) a sensitivity analysis through the investigation of a number of scenarios under perfect foresight decision making and (2) a stochastic programming exercise that allows for simultaneously considering a set of potential future states-of-the-world. We find that, if a stringent climate (forcing) target is a possibility, it dominates the solution: if deep CO₂ emission reductions are not started as soon as possible, the target may become unreachable. Attaining a stringent climate target comes in any case at a disproportionally high price, which indicates that adaptation measures or climate damages might be preferable to the high mitigation costs such a target implies.     

The technological innovation of hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles for environment carbon pollution control

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) have been promoted by providing Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) infrastructure as a possible solution to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) and other emissions by utilizing energy instead of oil for effective environmental management. The promising solution for reducing air pollution in cities is commonly regarded as electric vehicles, which helps to optimize the environment management more effectively, as a key to future low carbon mobility. However, their environmental benefits rely on the temporal and spatial sense of real use, and challenges such as limited range complicated for the rollout of an Electric Vehicle (EVs). This paper investigates the environmental carbon pollution in cities and control preventions using Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV). Further, the Artificial intelligence model has been introduced, which defines optimal automobile designs and the assignment of vehicles to drivers across a variety of scenarios, including minimum net life cycle expense, GHG emissions, and oil usage for effective environmental management. By designing overspent vehicle power for corresponding output, weight, and cost impact, the life cycle costs and the emission of GHG are reduced utilizing high battery swinging and replacing batteries as needed. Moreover, energy consumption (EC) and pollution have been greatly influenced by the use of energy sources in the environment. The significant energy consumption and pollution variables resulted in a large proportion of coal-fired energy. The results show that the PHEV can achieve better fuel economy by combining the proposed model with an allowable deviation from the state of the charge.     

Sustainability assessment framework for scenarios – SAFS

To address current challenges regarding sustainable development and support planning for this form of development, new learning about different possible futures and their potential sustainability implications is needed. One way of facilitating this learning is by combining the futures studies and sustainability assessment (SA) research fields.This paper presents the sustainability assessment framework for scenarios (SAFS), a method developed for assessing the environmental and social risks and opportunities of future scenarios, provides guidelines for its application and demonstrates how the framework can be applied. SAFS suggests assessing environmental and social aspects using a consumption perspective and a life cycle approach, and provides qualitative results. SAFS does not suggest any modelling using precise data, but instead offers guidelines on how to carry out a qualitative assessment, where both the process of assessing and the outcome of the assessment are valuable and can be used as a basis for discussion.The benefits, drawbacks and potential challenges of applying SAFS are also discussed in the paper. SAFS uses systems thinking looking at future societies as a whole, considering both environmental and social consequences. This encourages researchers and decision-makers to consider the whole picture, and not just individual elements, when considering different futures.     

Wildfire-induced reduction in the carbon storage of Mediterranean ecosystems: An application to brush and forest fires impacts assessment

Wildfire is one of the most dangerous and harmful phenomena in the world. Hence, fire impacts assessment could become very important in forest areas according to its environmental and landscape values. This paper suggests an approach to identify fire effects on biomass, in consonance with the potential carbon storage of each area used, and its biomass consumption based on fire behavior.Dense mature forests were the most vulnerable landscapes based on its aboveground biomass, mainly tree stem biomass. A significant correlation was found between fire intensity and biomass consumption. Biomass consumption ranged from 16.59% to 98.75% from the two studied wildfires. It is necessary to provide a scenario analysis according to the uncertain CO₂ market. As an example, carbon storage impacts in one fire were between 100,340.66 € (using the minimum price of CO₂) and 741,057.44 € (using the maximum price of CO₂). Differences between scenarios ranged from 35.30% to 46.51% of the total carbon storage impacts. This approach might be a solution to identify and prioritize areas for restoration activities and optimize the allocation of the resources.     

Cumulative effect assessment in Canada: a regional framework for aquatic ecosystems

Sustainable development of the aquatic environment depends upon routine and defensible cumulative effects assessment (CEA). CEA is the process of predicting the consequences of development relative to an assessment of existing environmental quality. Theoretically, it provides an on-going mechanism to evaluate if levels of development exceed the environment's assimilative capacity; i.e., its ability to sustain itself. In practice, the link between CEA and sustainable development has not been realized because CEA concepts and methods have developed along two dichotomous tracks. One track views CEA as an extension of the environmental assessment (EA) process for project developments. Under this track, stressor-based (S-B) methods have been developed where the emphasis is on local, project-related stressors, their link with aquatic indicators, and the potential for environmental effects through stressor-indicator interactions. S-B methods focus on the proposed development and prediction of project-related effects. They lack a mechanism to quantify existing aquatic quality especially at scales broader than an isolated development. This limitation results in the prediction of potential effects relative to a poorly defined baseline state. The other track views CEA as a broader, regional assessment tool where effects-based (E-B) methods specialize in quantification of existing aquatic effects over broad spatial scales. However, the predictive capabilities of E-B methods are limited because they are retrospective, i.e., the stressor causing the effect is identified after the effect has been measured. When used in isolation, S-B and E-B methods do not address CEA in the context necessary for sustainable development. However, if the strengths of these approaches were integrated into a holistic framework for CEA, an operational mechanism would exist to better monitor and assess sustainable development of our aquatic resources. This paper reviews the existing conceptual basis of CEA in Canada including existing methodologies, limitations and strengths. A conceptual framework for integrating project-based and regional-based CEA is presented.     

How to effectively guide carbon reduction behavior of building owners under emission trading scheme? An evolutionary game-based study

The building sector accounts for the largest proportion of global carbon emissions. The implementation of a market-based emission trading scheme offers a wider range of strategic choices and greater flexibility for building owners to reduce carbon emissions, but few of them are enthusiastic and actively engaged. To address the problem, this study explores how governments can effectively guide the carbon mitigation actions of building owners under an emission trading scheme (ETS) by continually adjusting and optimizing their regulation strategies. First, an extended evolutionary game model is built, considering the synergistic effect of multiple regulation policies, to theoretically depict the long-term interactive, extensive correlative, and dynamic feedback relationship between the government and building owners. Second, taking advantage of system dynamics as a policy laboratory, a scenario cultivation and simulation analysis is conducted to fully investigate the implementation effects of different regulation strategies based on the behavioral responses of building owners under different scenarios. The city of Shenzhen is a pioneer in covering the building sector in its carbon trading scheme in China, and its hotels above four stars are selected as the realistic setting for the simulation analysis. The results demonstrate that under the emission trading scheme, compared with increasing levels of carbon monitoring and non-financial incentives for building owners, intervention measures, including penalties, subsidies, and public scrutiny, are more efficient and important for the government. These findings provide important theoretical guidance and practical implications for the government to further adjust and optimize its carbon regulation strategies for the building sector.     

Emissions from gas processing platforms to the atmosphere-case studies versus benchmarks

This study compares oil and gas industry benchmark non-methane volatile organic compounds emission data with predicted and reported emissions from a number of recent case studies. Specifically, we contrast predicted emissions from the Tamar and Leviathan processing platforms in the Eastern Mediterranean with actual emissions where available, and with a compilation of industry benchmarks. This work reveals a series of flaws in the adopted EIA practices in the case studies discussed, starting from the emissions model that grossly underestimates intermittent NMVOC and benzene emissions relative to available data from other sites, and the unrealistic assumption of a constant and uniform emission profile in contrast to real world emission scenarios that are characterized by discrete large emission events. Furthermore, the dispersion model used in the EIAs as part of the request for a business (emissions) permit has a number of significant failings, including the use of an unsuitable model, use of over-simplistic meteorological inputs, and lack of consideration of critical dispersion phenomena. This study highlights the need to rethink the currently used environmental impact assessment and atmospheric permit request methodologies in the oil and gas industry, which rely on unrealistic uniform emission models.     

Dynamic global warming impact assessment integrating temporal variables: Application to a residential building in China

Climate warming is a global concern, and buildings have been recognized as a major contributor because the carbon emissions during their entire life cycles constitute a large share of the total value (almost 40% globally). Many life cycle assessments of buildings have been conducted to quantify the associated global warming impacts. However, few studies have considered the potential temporal variation over the long lifetimes of buildings. In this study, various temporal variables were combined to evaluate the dynamic life cycle global warming impact of a residential building in China. First, annual material and energy consumption data throughout the entire life cycle were acquired from questionnaire survey, statistical reports and literatures. Five dynamic variables (household size, usage behavior, replacement and improvement of components, waste treatment, and energy mix) and their effects on consumption levels were considered. Second, a dynamic inventory analysis tool (DyPLCA) was used to transform the temporal consumption data into dynamic greenhouse gas quantities. The global warming effects of these emissions were quantified using a dynamic characterization tool (DynCO₂). Finally, emission reduction targets for future decades were used to weight the severities of the impacts at different times. The dynamic instantaneous and cumulative global warming impacts of the building were calculated. Dynamic and static assessment results were compared. We also analyzed the contribution of each dynamic variable to the final results and found that the dynamic variables had very different effects (ranging from −42.00% to 45.34%). This study provided an operable dynamic assessment model and available dynamic data for the global warming impact assessment of buildings in China.     

An evaluation of alternative household solid waste treatment practices using life cycle inventory assessment mode

Waste disposal is an important part of the life cycle of a product and is associated with environmental burdens like any other life-cycle stages. In this study, an integrated assessment for solid waste treatment practices, especially household solid waste, was undertaken to evaluate the impact contribution of household solid waste treatment alternatives towards the sustainable development by using Life Cycle Inventory Assessment method. A case study has been investigated under various possible scenarios, such as (1) landfill without landfill gas recovery, (2) landfill with landfill gas recovery and flaring, (3) landfill with landfill gas recovery and electric generation, (4) composting, and (5) incineration. The evaluation utilized the Life Cycle Inventory Assessment method for multiple assessments based on various aspects, such as greenhouse gas emission/reduction, energy generation/consumption, economic benefit, investment and operating cost, and land use burden. The results showed that incineration was the most efficient alternative for greenhouse gas emission reduction, economic benefit, energy recovery, and land use reduction, although it was identified as the most expensive for investment and operating cost, while composting scenario was also an efficient alternative with quite economic benefit, low investment and operating cost, and high reduction of land use, although it was identified as existing greenhouse gas emission and no energy generation. Furthermore, the aim of this study was also to establish localized assessment methods that waste management agencies, environmental engineers, and environmental policy decision makers can use to quantify and compare the contribution to the impacts from different waste treatment options.     

A case study predicting environmental impacts of urban transport planning in China

Predicting environmental impacts is essential when performing an environmental assessment on urban transport planning. System dynamics (SD) is usually used to solve complex nonlinear problems. In this study, we utilized system dynamics (SD) to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with urban transport planning in Jilin City, China with respect to the local economy, society, transport, the environment and resources. To accomplish this, we generated simulation models comprising interrelated subsystems designed to utilize changes in the economy, society, road construction, changes in the number of vehicles, the capacity of the road network capacity, nitrogen oxides emission, traffic noise, land used for road construction and fuel consumption associated with traffic to estimate dynamic trends in the environmental impacts associated with Jilin's transport planning. Two simulation scenarios were then analyzed comparatively. The results of this study indicated that implementation of Jilin transport planning would improve the current urban traffic conditions and boost the local economy and development while benefiting the environment in Jilin City. In addition, comparative analysis of the two scenarios provided additional information that can be used to aid in scientific decision-making regarding which aspects of the transport planning to implement in Jilin City. This study demonstrates that our application of the SD method, which is referred to as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), is feasible for use in urban transport planning.     

Incineration of hazardous wastes

Glaxo has practiced incineration of liquid and gaseous wastes for over twenty years and currently operate eleven liquid and gas incinerators in the United Kingdom and Singapore. The liquid incinerators burn, as their main streams, those solvents that cannot be recovered and recycled within the processes. The early installations were for readily combustible solvents only. However, there has been a progressive move into the destruction of more difficult and hazardous wastes, with the consequential requirements for more sophisticated technology, in the belief that the responsible destruction of waste should be tackled near to its source. The eventual aim is to be self-sufficient in this area of waste management. The incineration of hazardous liquid and gaseous waste has presented a series of design, operational and monitoring problems into account which have all been successfully overcome. The solutions take into account the environmental consequences of the operations from both liquid and gaseous emissions. In order to ensure minimal environmental impact and safe operation the best practicable technology is employed. Environmental assessment forms part of the process development and permitting procedures.Plenary speaker.     

Life cycle impact assessment of home energy management systems (HEMS) using dynamic emissions factors for electricity in Finland

Decarbonising the European economy is a long-term goal in which the residential sector will play a significant role. Smart buildings for energy management are one means of decarbonisation, by reducing energy consumption and related emissions. This study investigated the environmental impacts of smart house automation using life cycle impact assessment. The ReCiPe method was selected for use, in combination with dynamic emissions factors for electricity in Finland. The results indicated that a high level of technology deployment may be counter-effective, due to high electricity consumption by the sensor network, automation system and computing devices. The results also indicated that number of inhabitants per household directly affected the environmental impacts of home automation. A single-person household saw its environmental impacts increase by 15%, while those of a five-person household increased by 3% in the worst-case scenario. The manufacturing phase contributed the major share of environmental impacts, exceeding the use phase in multiple categories. These findings indicate that finding the sweet spot in which technology can promote decarbonisation will be crucial to achieving the goal of a low‑carbon economy.     

Are Nitrogen-Fertilized Forest Soils Sinks or Sources of Carbon?

We developed a simple conceptual model that tracks nitrogen and carbon jointly through an N fertilized forest ecosystem. The stimulation of growth increases the litterfall and imports substrate for soil microorganisms. Microbial biomass forms according to the supply of C and N. The formation of microbial biomass is accompanied by respiratory C losses. The quantity of CO₂ efflux depends on the C use efficiency of microbes. When excess N is available, the microbial activity is accelerated and the demand for substrate is high. Litterfall supplies an insufficient amount of C to the soil. In such a case, labile soil C is mineralized and the net effect of N fertilization is a loss of soil C. A strong N fertilization effect on the aboveground biomass can offset the soil C loss. In the case of a low N dosage or high N losses due to leaching or emission of nitrogen oxides, the soil C loss is small. The conceptual model was applied to a case study. The field data, collected over a time span of several decades, could not support sound conclusions on the temporal trend of soil C because the spatial and temporal variability of the chemical data was high. The conceptual model allowed to give an evaluation of the fertilization effect on soil C based on reproducible principles.     

Monitoring of flow field based on stable isotope geochemical characteristics in deep groundwater

As circumstances of operating and maintenance activities for landfilling and composting in Tehran metropolis differ from those of cities in developed countries, it was concluded to have an environmental impact comparison between the current solid waste management (MSW) strategies: (1) landfill, and (2) composting plus landfill. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to compare these scenarios for MSW in Tehran, Iran. The Eco-Indicator 99 is applied as an impact assessment method considering surplus energy, climate change, acidification, respiratory effect, carcinogenesis, ecotoxicity and ozone layer depletion points of aspects. One ton of municipal solid waste of Tehran was selected as the functional unit. According to the comparisons, the composting plus landfill scenario causes less damage to human health in comparison to landfill scenario. However, its damages to both mineral and fossil resources as well as ecosystem quality are higher than the landfill scenario. Thus, the composting plus landfill scenario had a higher environmental impact than landfill scenario. However, an integrated waste management will ultimately be the most efficient approach in terms of both environmental and economic benefits. In this paper, a cost evaluation shows that the unit cost per ton of waste for the scenarios is 15.28 and 26.40 US$, respectively. Results show landfill scenario as the preferable option both in environmental and economic aspects for Tehran in the current situation.     

Framework for assessing impacts of pile-driving noise from offshore wind farm construction on a harbour seal population

Offshore wind farm developments may impact protected marine mammal populations, requiring appropriate assessment under the EU Habitats Directive. We describe a framework developed to assess population level impacts of disturbance from piling noise on a protected harbour seal population in the vicinity of proposed wind farm developments in NE Scotland. Spatial patterns of seal distribution and received noise levels are integrated with available data on the potential impacts of noise to predict how many individuals are displaced or experience auditory injury. Expert judgement is used to link these impacts to changes in vital rates and applied to population models that compare population changes under baseline and construction scenarios over a 25 year period. We use published data and hypothetical piling scenarios to illustrate how the assessment framework has been used to support environmental assessments, explore the sensitivity of the framework to key assumptions, and discuss its potential application to other populations of marine mammals.     

Theory and practice to integrating health in environmental assessment: Synthesis of an experience with stakeholders to deliver a national HIA guideline

Private or public developers, including local authorities and government agencies, have limited operational guidance to include case-relevant health information in environmental reports. In Italy, the absence of technical indications prompted the Ministry of Health to construct a new model of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) for health integration in Environmental Assessment (EA) processes. A coordinating committee set within an inter-institutional working group was assisted by public and private key stakeholders to deliver guidance on HIA. The three research stages of framing, production and delivery were carried out to: (1) frame the context for HIA guidance implementation; (2) produce the operational guideline and tools; (3) train and disclose the guideline to final users. The guideline and the operational procedures were informed by core criteria to achieve a health standard in environmental reporting. The procedures guide the user to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the population health based on the broad determinants. The environmental reporting integrates health through functional components, divided into levels and supported by related flowcharts and checklists. HIA knowledge and skills were provided to facilitate the guideline utilization within the health departments. The guideline embedded the existing EA national legacy, normative and technical. The entire decisional cycle, from strategic planning to project development was covered in the guideline including the screen of proposals. The experience triggered the definition of an environmental health collaborative platform under the Ministry of Health coordination to fill gaps in competence building, sector operational tools development, methodologies harmonization on the national territory.